I. Am. Out. Of. Control.

Really.

I am.

I guess the stress of my life is finally catching up to me.  And I've seriously developed an Internet addiction.

It's very debilitating.

I spend all day online, doing nothing.

NOTHING.

I just can't seem to figure it out right now.

I'm letting the laundry pile up

I ignore the dishes,

the grocery shopping,

the house cleaning,

my kids...

and here I am, up in the middle of the night, after my daughter puked all over everything...everywhere.  The bathroom is nasty.  :(

And I can't sleep.

I've been ignoring the gym because of the Internet. I only made it there 12 times last month. That's pathetic. In Dec, I joined on the 10th, and I was there more times. :(

Is it stress?

You betcha.

After I took over all the household finances I thought it was going to be easy, but then stuff creeps up on you, and you overspend, and voila!  No money=stress=overeating and sleeplessness.  It really blows.

Literally(my daughter, not me).

On a lighter note, I'm doing well at not drinking soda.  I got some of those water enhancers from Aldi(like Mio, but waaay cheaper) and it has been pretty easy to use at work.  It fits in my pocket and I can add it to any cup of water I get.

Which, at a hospital is plentiful.

The Aldi's has the berry pomegranate and also a strawberry watermelon flavor.  It's pretty good, since I hate the taste of plain water.

Soooooooo,

starting tomorrow I will be different.  I'm setting up an Internet restriction/limit for myself.

I get to check my email and fb and esty in the morning, with my coffee.  Then I have to stay off til I get at least one chore done.

(Hopefully once I start chores I won't be able to stop, right?)

Then I get more time online.

Sounds reasonable right?

Let's hope it really works, because if not, I need to get some professional help,

really.

Story of my life....

Damask Valentine's Dress

Here is the dress/tunic I made for my daughter to wear for pictures.  This is a pattern of my own design.  I've been sewing dresses like this for more years than I care to admit!

I haven't shown it to her yet, but she will love it!

It's super simple to make, and only took me about 2.5 hours! Yay!

(I can post a simple tutorial if you want)

Just leave me a comment!

Here's a picture of it with a flower hair clip between the straps...looks so stinkin cute!

Sometimes I wish she was still smaller, so I could dress her like this all the time.  Now she has an opinion...

But I like it, she's very original and colorful.

Here's the shirt and tie side-by-side.

They're wearing them with jeans and bare feet!

I can't wait to see how cutie patootie they look together.

She could always wear them as a set?

Maybe not...

Thanks for reading!

Valentine's Damask Tie

I got started on my kids Valentine's outfits.  They are getting their pictures taken on Saturday morning, and yesterday I came up with the great idea of making them matching "somethings" for their pictures.

The problem with that is there is such a big age gap.

2 and 9. Boy and Girl.

What do you make for a boy and a girl?

Well...

I had this very pretty damask fabric.  It's not super girly, right?  I actually have it in pink and red!

Yay for preparedness!

So I was trying to decide if I wanted to do a tie shirt, or a tie itself...I decided on a real tie. 

How handsome.

I found this super great tutorial at

The Purl Bee

I printed it out and got started.  And then I figured out that I'm not much of a hand sewer.  :(

In fact...

I kinda dislike it intensely.

Good thing I don't have to make a bunch of these ties!

Maybe Easter...and Christmas

(I could always re-use this one)

I put the pink on the inside...looks pretty cute if you ask me! (I know you didn't, and I'm not sure if I care.)  :P

He's going to look super cute in his pictures.

Mohawk and all!  He looks like Puck on Glee

(my favorite character)

Shhh, don't tell anyone.  :)

Tomorrow I will post my daughters shirt

After I finish it...  :)

Sparkly Valentine's Garland

This year I decided I needed to actually decorate for Valentin'e Day again.  I haven't for a few years now, either because by the time I thought about it I was too late, or I was just too lazy to bother.  :)

So I got these felt hearts with grommets on clearance last year.  They were like a buck or less at Hobby Lobby

(gotta love Hobby Lobby)

Anyway, I had no idea what to do with them...then I found these glitter glues that someone had given me (free, yay!)

So I preceded to slop a whole lot of glitter glue on the middle of each felt heart, I spread it around, strung it on some pink satin ribbon I had on hand, and TaDa!

Sparkly Valentine Banner!!

It looks great in my living room, and is the perfect length.

Almost like it was meant to be. See...

 My husband only barely hits his head on it...sometimes.

You can make one too!  Here's what you need.

• felt hearts(you can cut them out of any color)
• glitter glue(or glue and glitter of any kind)
• ribbon(on hand)

That's it!

Have fun making your own banner, the kids could even help you paint the glue on the hearts.

Have fun!

:)

Hooray for Small Victories

Here's to small victories!

Hooray!

A couple of days ago I made a decision to stop drinking soda.

I am sad, because I truly love soda.

Truly and deeply...

So for me to tell you this is inspiring to me.

2 days...

without soda.

This has been the hardest 2 days of this war so far.  The true test of time is work.  I usually drink a 20 oz when I first get there, then I get a 32 oz fountain soda that lasts me until I get off.  Last night I went for 4 hours without drinking anything.  It was torture.  My mouth was so dry.

Like the desert.

First thing I did, was hit the gas station for some Propel Zero.  It's not very good though, so I don't recommend it.  It has a nasty aftertaste.  But I drank it all, then had the other one...

Today will be the true test, an 8 hour shift.

I will let you know how I do.

Tomorrow e are going to our favorite indoor water park, for some much needed family time.

All of us, in the car together, the small hotel room together, eating meals together...maybe I didn't think this through all the way. (Oh well.)

It'll be fun anyway.  Grizzly Jack's here we come!



Soda is the Enemy(but I love it soooo)

I love soda!

Diet Soda is my drink of choice.

I'm a soda addict.

However,

I really should rethink this...

I just read another article about how bad soda really is.  Besides helping to keep me fat, they actually make Mt Dew with some sort of flame-retardant chemical thing to keep the flavor together.  Don't even get me started on regular soda.  It has been proven to give you fatty organs.  Fat isn't good on the outside of your body, so I know it's bad on the inside.  Take a look at this gruesome image I found.

On the left is a 250 lb woman(me, almost) and on the right is a 120 lb woman.  The outside differences are apparent, but it's the inside differences that freak me out the most.

Look at her giant heart, and all that extra stuff in the abdomen.  What is that?

Look at the enlarged stomach.

See how her ankles are turned?  That is not how I want to look on the inside, let alone on the outside...

I swear this is the hardest battle of my life.  I can't just stop eating.  Why is it that I had to become addicted to something that gave me diabetes and can kill me?

It's not just soda either.

Food is killing me.

I'm going to stop drinking soda...

if it kills me.

:D



Getting it Together Part III

Hi to all of you out there who actually read this!

THANKS!

Really...I appreciate it.

So, on to my next great organizational project for the new year.

A Pantry!!!  YAY!

For those of you that don't know, I live in a small house.   No, not small, minuscule.  That's a better word for it.  In my kitchen I have a grand total of 6 cabinets.  Huh, 6 sounds like alot when I actually count them and write it down...

Anyway, it's not.  At all.

I got one for pots and pans and cookie sheets.

I got another for Tupperware and bowls and pitchers.

I got one for the cleaning supplies(under sink).

And I got 3 small ones for food.

I feed a family of 5!

We need way more food than that.

Obviously I do not have the room, or the money (HA!) to add on to my house...therefore VOILA!

The basement door!

What better way to utilise a much overlooked part of the house, by adding some storage to the back of the basement door.  It sure beats the top of the fridge, in plain sight(yuck).

TaDa! How does it look?

The best part is that the shelves are adjustable.  And they hold all of the snack type food, and it is within easy reach of the children.  LOOOVVVEEE this thing!  Thanks Closetmaid for creating it!  I got it at Target and you can too!

Best investment ever!

Did I mention that it is awesome?  And holds lots of food?

I did?

Oh well.

:D