Say Hello to My Little Friend "Mirena"

Had an appointment with the doctor today to have the Mirena IUD inserted. The doctor explained that it wouldn't take too long, "about twice as long as getting a Pap Smear", the only pain I would feel was a "little pressure", and a "bit of cramping". Holy crap. What the hell!

It hurt like a son of a bitch! Seriously I thought I might faint. At one point I considered telling the doc, mid procedure, to "take it out". "Take in all out".

I'm not a wimp, usually I tolorate pain very well, sometimes too well. But I would rather have another child come screaming through my body than to go through that "little procedure" again. I have no idea how this torture device is going to be removed in 5 years.

Son of a bitch!!

37:07

It's been a long time since my last post...where does the time go?

My Winter Running training program is over and I COMPLETED MY FIRST 5K RUN. My time, not that it matters, was 37:07 seconds. Not a great time, but my only goal was: 1) finish the run, 2) finish the run BEFORE the 72 year-old woman in our group, and 3) finish the race BEFORE the woman pushing twins in the stroller.

No, I'm not at all competitive!

Winter Running 101 - Prescribed Run #2

Last night was the second meeting for my Winter Running 101 training. I'm happy it was last night and not tonight since there is going to be quite the change in the weather. We're expecting snow in the mountains and rain here in the valley.

Anyway, the run was good. This week's run was 1 minute of running and 3 minutes of walking...10 times. I was able to keep up and recover during the 3 minutes of walking. Yeah!
Again this sounds easy, but we will be working our way up to a 5k run over the next 11 weeks. For now, I need to resist the urge to forge ahead and do more than is prescribed, so that I stay injury free.

My homework for this week is to do 2 honor runs. This would be much easier if I had a running partner. Maybe someone from the training class will live on my side of town.

Finally

Finally it's looking like Christmas. The tree is up...

the decorations are up...

and the baking has begun...

Now all that's left to do is the shopping!

Winter Running 101 - Prescribed Run #1

Yesterday was my day to run the prescribed run from my running class. So after work and after picking up my boy from school, we packed up the car with his bike and a ball and headed to the park.

The run went well. I was able to complete the run/walk without any problem. I'm sure the training will become more challenging but for now I'm sticking to the program and hoping to get stronger and faster all without injury.

Tonight I'm on my way to a Holiday Party at Sullivans and the anxiety is high. I have a whole bunch of excuses for not going like: I'm not a party person; nothing fits; I didn't shop for anything new; I don't want to be out late since I have so many holiday projects to complete tomorrow; blah, blah, blah.

I'm sure I'll be fine once I get there.

Twelve Days of Christmas

I came across a beautiful blog by Design Mom today while I was supposed to be working. Design Mom's blog is full of design ideas and beautiful photos.

If you are not a reader of her blog, you should definitely get on over, check it out and sign up for her Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway.

Winter Running 101

Tonight I started the Winter Running 101 5K Training Program. It's a program designed to get me to the starting line of the YMCA 5K run in 11 weeks...without injury, (hence the name 5k training program).

Tonight went well, despite it being the coldest day of the year so far! I was stressing that I would be the last person to finish, but there wasn't a last person. We all started a 5 minute warm-up walk, and then a 1 minute run. At the end of 1 minute, the person in front walked to back to the last person and everyone followed and walked for 4 minutes. We did this 7 times.

This may not seem like a lot for someone reading this, but it is a Running 101 program, for the very beginner. There were all different levels of fitness, young and old (the oldest was 69 years- old), and varying weights.

This group will meet once a week and have two prescribed runs to do during the week. I think I'll be able to hang with this group for the next 11 weeks.

I Voted

Boo!

We had a pretty poor showing this year for Halloween. We had exactly 9 visitors! NINE! I couldn't believe it!

The Boy wanted to stay home this year to hand out candy instead of going out to Trick or Treat. It was a very Charlie Brown moment -- The Boy and his Dad sitting outside waiting to see all of the kids and their costumes, but sadly after 2 hours and only 9 kids, they gave up, came inside and called it a night. Poor kid.

Happy

Color Dots
Originally uploaded by Posey C

Lately I've been into making rings, and I really like the way these turned out. They are made of sterling wire with tiny cups filled with color. Looking at all of the colors together just makes me happy.

You can wear one or stack several.

Oprah Is Dead To Me

Last month I saw that Oprah was looking for Moms who have lost their sexy. Where do I sign up? Immediately I went on the Oprah website, filled out the form, submitted it, and then to my surprise I even got an email back from the producer. The producer, just to get my hopes up a little bit more, asked that I send additional pictures (for God's sake I even sent them pictures of my unsexy underwear). I then waited, and waited, and waited.

Yesterday I get home and turn on the TV only to find...Oprah is doing a show on Sexy Mom Makeovers. It's not fair! That was supposed to be me! I need the makeover! Why? Why? Why?

Oprah is dead to me!

Clean, Simple and a Little Whimsical

I thought giving my blog a new look would help to motivate me into posting more often. I've been watching way too much TV lately, which is sucking all of the creativity out of me. We'll see if this helps. I wanted a clean simple look with a little whimsey.

Last weekend I actually tore myself away from the TV and ventured out into the world...the world of "NightFall - Release the Beast" at Old Tucson Studios. Nightfall is an annual Halloween event set in an old movie studio in the middle of the desert.

My boy is 8 years old and really had no desire to go, that is until all the kids at school starting talking about it and he decided that Nightfall was something that he couldn't possibly miss. So against my better judgement, we met up with friends and off we went. I must say that I thought this was a b-a-a-a-d idea. This is a boy who is afraid of his own shadow! So I knew there would be sleepless nights following this little outing.

"My Boy" with Vanessa, Camille and the Beast.

"My Boy" with another Beast and "B".

I have to admit "my boy" put on a very brave face the entire night. There were some things that were really scary for him, like the werewolf that climbed down from a building with a chainsaw and chased a random girl behind a opaque plastic sheet, where her blood was being splattered. I had to reassure him that the girl was planted into the crowd and none of it was real real and that everyone was an actor in costume.

Of course I slept in his bed for the past two nights and my hand still hurts from him squeezing so hard.

Flower Power

Sterling silver flowers with colored dots strung on a fine sterling chain.

My Boy

I ran across a blog by Amanda, a few weeks ago named Mama's Other Side. Amanda wrote some thoughts about the loss of her baby girl that were very loving and touching. Amanda's words brought me to tears and made me think how grateful I am and how much I love my boy. Like most Mothers, I'm sure there are no words to describe what I feel feel for my child.

Most days he is a sweet mama's boy who is loving, affectionate and smart. Other days he is exhausting, loud, messy and sticky; and I wouldn't trade him for the world. There are days when I feel like I just want to drive away, but I know I would only get a few miles down the road before I would missed him terribly. I couldn't love anyone or anything more.

I don't know what's up with this picture, he really doesn't have a mustache (he's only 8).

In honor of my boy, I had Nina Gibson make a custom charm for me. Nina does wonderful and creative work. Thanks Nina!

The back of the charm is stamped with my boy's name and birthdate. I've strung the charm on red leather and finished it off with a sterling lobster clasp.

Check out Nina Gibson Designs.

Lovin' J Crew Lately

I'm lovin' the new J Crew catalog. When it comes in the mail I just can't wait to get everything done and get the boy in bed so I can relax and flip through the catalog and dream. It is filled with great pieces for Fall.

For instance, the Snow Lepoard Simone Peacoat

and the Vintage Slim Selvedge Jean.

Thankfully JCrew has sales quite often, because the price tag for the jacket is $260.00 and the jeans, a cool $175.00.

It may be a little while before the UPS guy delivers to my house.

The Weatherman Says...

Yipee! I just heard the weather report and finally...the weather is supposed to take a turn. By Sunday, temperatures are expected to drop to 79 degrees and possible thunderstorms. I can hardly contain myself! Seventy-nine degrees may not seem like a big deal to the 2 people that read my posts, but it's been in the high 90's for the last few weeks. It's October for goodness sake.

Fall makes me want to bake and fill my home with wonderful smells. My family may not eat delicious, well-balanced nutritional meals, but by God, they do get their fill of baked goods.

We Have Termites

Even worse than having termites AND paying $500 to have the house treated, is having the termite guy come to your house at 7 am to begin work and shortly thereafter ask I he can use your restroom...and proceed to poop in my bathroom! O.M.G!

Thank goodness I had already left for work. But "my boy", who by the way is becoming more and more like me everyday, calls me at work to report the incident:

Boy: Mom, the termite guy came in the house to ask if he could use the bathroom, and he pooped! My ball rolled into the bathroom after he was done and he had turned on the fan and everything. I almost choked.

(of course his report was much more descriptive but I'll spare you).

Me: Put your Father on the phone.

Me: Why would you let a total stranger put their bare ass on our toilet? That's what fast food resturants are for! There's a Carl's Jr. right down the road.

T: I didn't know he was going to poop.

Me: Well you're cleaning that bathroom TODAY.

I have a hard enough time cleaning the bathrooms after my own family, there is no way I can clean up after a stranger. Maybe I'll just board that bathroom up and paint over it.

Double the Love

I had a rather large checklist for this weekend and I, for the most part, got everything done:

• Laundry - check


• Mop floors - check


• Clean bathrooms - Ugh! check


• Fit in a yoga class - change of subject


• Fit in a run/walk - change of subject


• Find a recipe for buttermilk cranberry scones - check


• Actually cook a semi-healthy meal - check


• Post on blog - check


• Finish a project for a co-worker's wife that just had twins (well she had the twins 3 months ago. It's the thought that counts right?) - check!

Finally I finished the necklace and as usual I'm unsure of giving it as a gift. I start to second guess myself - will she like it? is it her style? do people actually like handmade gifts?

It's a sterling silver photo frame that is completely handmade by me and strung on a 18" sterling ball chain. I call it "Double the Love". The pictures can be changed just by sliding new ones in the back. That's "my boy" in the frames.

Ugh! I just don't know what to think. Anyone out there with any feedback. I'd love to hear some thoughts.

I'm Just Saying...

I'm not an advocate of violence, but I can relate, "Dirty Dishes Sparked Girlfriend's Rampage".

09/09/08 1:40 pm

I've been sick for a few days. In fact, I know the exact day and time that I contracted this bug. It was Tuesday September 9, at 1:40 pm.

I was coming up the stairs near the men's restrooms at work. A man came out of the restroom, introduced himself to me and held out his hand to shake. When I got back to my office, I sat at my desk and proceeded to put a pretzel in my mouth. It was at that very moment that the following thoughts went through my head: 1) OMG, what if he didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom 2) OMG, what if he DID wash his hands, but touched the bathroom doorknob; and 3) eewhhh!

I just knew I was going to get sick, and I did.

Anyway I'm feeling a bit better today, or at least I was, until I ventured out of the bedroom among the living. Seriously my living room looked like something out of a cartoon. Stuff was EVERYWHERE! There was actually a banana peel hanging off of the dining room table.

I decided that I really wasn't feeling better after all!