Sometimes slowing down is a good idea!

The world has been telling me to slow down the past few days. And for the most part I have listened(I know - so very UNLIKE me)

-First I got what I thought would be a minor cold, caught it from Cooper, he literally coughed 4 times and had a runny nose for a day. I have had a fever for off and on 3 days, cough like I have emphysema and in general am listless and not able to function as normal.

-Second we had a new phone system installed at work and today it logged me out of my phone about 100 times and lost my connection. I had no choice but to crawl through the workday

-Third my monitor for my work computer is pretty much non-funtional, when I say non functional I mean the tube is blown on it or something and the screen gets progressively blacker as the day goes on. I have notified tech support, however they are swamped with the silly phone problems. So again, I have no choice but to relax and wait it out.

WOW this is hard!

My Good Idea & My Bad Neighbor

2 totally non connected things to chat about - both make me laugh. If you are new to reading my blog or don't know me all that well, I like to crack myself up. I many times say things just to make myself laugh. It's great if other people think they are funny, but really I say these things for my own benefit. Yes - I am that selfish.

So my new great idea involves Lanolin and it happened out of necessity. Lanolin is super power lip balm. For whatever reason, my lips have been dry and cracked and gross for about a week. I was starting to become desperate, nothing was working to improve their condition. Finally I discovered my leftover bottle of Lanolin from when I was a nursing mom. I thought - what the hell and put some on my lips. Ta-Dah, they are repaired. You are welcome nursing moms everywhere, I have found another use for your Lanolin. I should start writing for Good Housekeeping.

Ah yes, the joys of neighbors, we seem to have some trashy luck in this department. Our newer neighbors in the duplex across the street started out okay. However they are incapable of containing their dog. The dog has left piles of evidence all over our yard this summer. I have been trying to corner the neighbor at the right moment to say, you seem real nice, but let me tell you, if I see the dog in our yard once more, I will be calling the cops. The dog especially likes to come over about 11pm and bark loudly right outside my window. So a few days ago Jeff & Cooper were playing outside and I leaned out the door to tell them dinner was ready or something and I see the neighbor walking towards Jeff. She calls out, "I really love your new landscaping." Jeff says thanks. She then continues with, "My dog peed on it." WHAT!?!?!?! Did you really just tell us your dog peed on our yard? And you don't feel bad about it? It's on woman!

Not really through with the blogging, I guess

Even though I have been beyond a slacker when it comes to blogging and have thought for many months about quitting completely, I can't throw in the towel quite yet. I have been thinking lately about all of the wonderful things I could use this blog to chronicle and track. So here is my laundry list:

1)Milestones from Cooper

2)My diet and exercise log

3) Mothers & More ideas & events

4)Gardening things I need someplace to centralize and be able to recall for next year

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, so since blogging is so valuable, I will have to restart. And truthfully, I have missed having such a wonderful platform for venting!

Is it really February already?

What happened to January? Just kidding I know - we celebrated my dad's 60th, Jeff's holiday party, I was in Milwaukee for the sales awards, we went out with our Mothers & More pals, Jeff started teaching confirmation classes, Cooper has hosted plenty of playdates & yesterday I hosted an Arbonne Spa party. So as usual, the days just fly by with tons of fun, friends and activity!

I am happy to report I have been working on my goals for the new year steadily. In fact I finished the book "Eat, Pray, Love" today and have already started my February book. Few books have inspired me as much as EPL, even though I feel as if everyone else read this book a year ago, this was the perfect time for me to pick it up. I needed to do something different with my life and this book has truly made it happen! I am even surprising myself with my reactions to people and situations lately. The inspiration continues all the way til the last line of the book:

"In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices."

Thank you Elizabeth Gilbert, I was skeptical when I saw you on Oprah, but now I am forever indebted.

What I love about 2009(thus far)

There's 3 things really:

#1) Cooper - this kid is freaking hilarious. He speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently and just runs around the house saying tons of stuff we can't understand. Beyond the Chinese there are some words sprinkled in, "UH-OH", which we seem to hear pretty often, "ByeBye", "Oh", and our favorites, "momma" & "dada". Cooper has also acquired some very interesting skills, he just started saying "MWAH" as he gives kisses, so if you say "MMMMWAH", he will run over to you and give you a kiss, at least that is what Jeff thought would happen as he was playing with Cooper and started making the MMMM sound. Cooper quickly scampered over to his daddy and slapped him right across the face. We are raising a comedian, I tell you, his timing is terrific!

#2) Mothers & More - I can not tell you what a blessing the GB Mothers & More group has been for me. If you are a GB mom and haven't checked out this group -- it is worth it, great support, fun events, playgroups for the kids, I could list about 100 things I have gained after becoming a member, join sooner rather than later, you won't be sorry. This is how I explain it to Jeff, "imagine you are a rookie in the NFL and you get to consult Brett Favre, John Elway, and Mike Ditka about your personal challenges any time you need something. Any question I have about parenting provides an instant 20 responses from ladies who have been through it before. LOVE IT!!!! It is a national group, so for my readers far and wide, google them in your area.

#3) Meditation, my new hobby, as inspired by reading "Eat, Pray, Love", I sleep better, I am able to relax in tough situations, I am able to zone out in boring situations, who knew I would EVER be meditating, and I am doing it everyday!

I hope 2009 is being as fabulous to you as it is to me - CHEERS!

One more thing I LOVE to do

How could I possibly forget my love of organizing things? I would like to also resolve to reorganize as many things as possible. I am sure this makes some people(like my mom) sick to their stomachs, but there is nothing like a project involving sorting, reorganizing and making things more efficient that makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

Today I reorganized the magnets & photos on our fridge - that thing was a MESS! And we are in the midst of toy swapping and reorganizing all over the house. It is FUN!

For the moms out there, I also got a great tip I wanted to share that we just started using. Organize all of those storybooks into different baskets for each room. This way the books are where they belong and you have a nice place to quickly get them back into when it is clean-up time. Super obvious, but still wonderful and helping my house look a lot nicer than it did with 300 books everywhere. Also, less tripping, stubbing your toe, and accidentally sliding across the floor on a book opportunities.

The Theme for 2009

I decided I needed a theme for 2009, especially after last night when Angie put us on the spot at her New Years Eve Party and had us sum up 2008 and say what we hoped for in 2009. I literally had NOTHING to say. And as we all know when I have nothing to say I usually say something dumb. So Ang, if you are reading this, please delete the video I made. And a HUGE thank you to Mike & Ang for hosting Jeff, CJ & I for a fabulous NYE celebration filled with scrumptious Chinese takeout, rockband and Barb's delicious pistachio cupcakes.

So, back to the theme, I may also need a theme song, (remember Ally McBeal?), but first I will start with a theme. I think I will go with Re-dedication to the things I LOVE doing besides being a wife and mommy. I don't want anyone to think I am going to stop changing diapers and making Jeff chicken potpie, but hey a sister needs to recharge the creative juices once in awhile. Here are the things I need to do more of:

#1)Workout

#2)Cook

#3)Blog(how lucky are you?!?!?)

#4)Craft

#5)Organize a girls weekend away for my other pals that need to recharge.(if you have ideas on this, email me!)

I am happy to report I spent a giant part of today cooking, first I made a cookies and cream cake spur of the moment, literally saw the picture in one of our cookbooks, and started baking. Totally worth it, Jeff declares it a potential birthday cake contender. Second I made a home made chicken club pizza with bacon, tomatoes, onions, chicken & Cheese, the sauce was literally just a smidge of mayo with lemon zest - SO GOOD!

Happy 2009 to you all!