thunder thighs
30 May 2012 2 Comments
in Beckie Tags: chicken, gym, pecs, pools, prancing, step class, super models, swim suits, swimming, water parks, zaycon
I took my boys to SunSplash today. We had planned to go since yesterday but it still took us until after 2pm to get our acts together and out the door. It wasn’t like we were sitting around wasting time all morning…..only part of it. I managed to go to a step class at the gym (which kicked my butt), pick up my chicken shipment (love Zaycon!), can 45 jars of chicken and take a nap on the couch. My kids managed to clean their rooms (kind of) and watch way too much Drake and Josh (yay).
Even though I purchased season passes for the kids, I really wanted to go this week. There are several schools in the area that are still in session this week so I thought the lines might not be too horrendous. Besides, the weather is still freakishly nice so….take advantage of that!
We had a great time going down the crazy twisty slides, playing in the wave pool and jumping off the side of the deep pool. Ben actually wanted to just be in the water more than he wanted to go down the slides. I think he was feeling a bit….blocked….and didn’t want to get his system too excited. I managed to lay out a bit while they just splashed around in the big pool. All in all, it was a really nice day and no one even got sunburned! (small miracle!)
I can’t help but notice what people wear (or don’t wear) when I’m at the water park. I was raised to always be modest, even at the pool or beach. My mother would have poked out her own eyes before she would have let me wear a tiny little bikini in a darkened cellar under a library in Montana, let alone out in public for the world to see. I wonder what kind of mothers these girls have that let them out in dental floss and a few eye patches. I also wonder where they got the self esteem they obviously have to put on such small items. I’ve never had that kind of confidence in how I look.
As I looked around today, I noticed all body types. It seems that most people are more interested in getting wet then they are in looking like a super model. I think it is great, especially since I don’t look like a super model either. I felt like I was just another carrot in the great stew pot of public swimming. It made me feel just a smidge more confident in myself too.
Another interesting thing I noticed about myself…don’t judge me…is that I didn’t really notice any guys. I know guys were probably prancing around the place flexing their pecs and trying to look all amazing and stuff…but honestly, I was too busy comparing myself to all the other girls/women there. Am I alone in this? Do all girls look at the girls more than the guys and try to justify their own love handles and flabby thighs and lack of make up? Before you get any weird ideas, I am definitely appreciative of the male species. But, I’m way more interesting in seeing that the girl that looks like a super model from a distance actually has stretch marks on her thighs, just like me…..cause I said so.
photo credit: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=images+of+peacocks&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1345&bih=599&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=GM9EFf_0e9HZ_M:&imgrefurl=http://laurensdaddy.com/2010/02/peacocks-by-lauren/&docid=0hX_FR-mfiNNhM&imgurl=http://laurensdaddy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/peacocks-poem_html_m55d74f07.jpg&w=340&h=480&ei=HbrFT9TMFe3LsQKjktyfBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=927&vpy=221&dur=963&hovh=267&hovw=189&tx=90&ty=239&sig=113066672481944259300&page=1&tbnh=123&tbnw=87&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0,i:113
don’t blink
29 May 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized, Beckie Tags: aging, Arizona, baby soft, crypt keeper, Florida, grandmother, hands, lotion, Marcy, mother, pedicures, photo shoots, pictures, Q, skin, slimy
I think I look pretty good for my age. I get that from my mom and my grandma. They have both aged well. My mom gets mistaken for my sister pretty often. She loves it….me? well….at least I’m not mistaken for her mother. That would be a bit of a downer. People are usually surprised when they hear my age and then hear that I also have six kids. For some reason, I don’t look old enough to have six children. I wonder if it is because I usually wear makeup and have my hair fixed. I think a lot of people may assume that mothers of six kids run around looking like a chicken without a head, or fixed hair. I do feel like that a lot, but I manage to put a good face on it most days.
Even though I may feel and supposedly look somewhat young, nothing changes my feelings like pictures of my hands. Marcy sent me the pictures (the best ones I assume) from our photo shoot yesterday. They turned out pretty good. I am happy with them. She did one picture of our hands together. I have to say….nothing makes me look older than my hands. Sometimes I feel like the mother with the daughter inside her on Freaky Friday…..”I’m the crypt keeper!” My hands definitely show my age. I’m sure it is mostly my fault since I don’t lotion very much. I don’t like to feel slimy and greasy and sticky. Most lotion makes me feel that way. You would have thought that the time I lived in Florida would have moistened me up for a while but my skin was actually drier there than here at times. That is where I started using lotion, finally, late in life. Regardless of my recent lotioning….the damage has been done.
When we went for our pedicures on Saturday, Q sat by me and watched every move the pedi-tician (?) did while doing my toes. She tested the water and checked out all the ‘tools’ and asked me lots of questions. One of the questions was about the cheese grater they used on the bottom of my heels. I told her it helped make my skin ‘baby bottom smooth.’ She smiled up at me and said, “you mean like mine?” Yes, dear….like yours. She still has that super sweet, soft skin of a little girl. I wonder if I ever really had skin like that…..
I joke with my parents that I raised them, since they had me when they were so young. At times I feel I still am raising them actually….but in a good way. I’m just taking credit for all the good stuff they do now. I wonder if my early maturing made my hands prematurely age? Is this something I can blame on my immature parents instead of my rebellion against lotion? I doubt it. I am not one of those people that spend time and energy blaming others (especially my parents) for the choices I have made. I figure, if I am going to blame someone else for all my mistakes, I would equally have to give someone else credit for all my achievements. I mean, it has to balance out somehow, right? I’d rather take credit for both, and hope I come out ahead on the achievement side of the scale. I guess I better stop taking credit for my parents good stuff or they will be happily giving me credit for their mistakes too. Darn it…thinking things through can really throw off a girls back patting. Oh well, I think I’ll go lotion my hands…..cause I said so.
photo credit: http://www.treklens.com/gallery/photo450261.htm
agrippa
28 May 2012 3 Comments
in Beckie Tags: pictures, sunflowers, gardens, restaurants, agritopia, co-ops, photos, photo shoots, photographers, photo shop, eating outside, killer grapevines, dirt in my shoes, rainy days, clouds, playground equipment
The weather has been a bit odd here in the desert of AZ. Usually, by this time of the year it has reached extremely hot and is teetering on unbearable. It has gotten up above 100 in the last week, but right now it is actually chilly outside. I mean, if I was to go for a much wanted walk, I would wear a light jacket. I’m pretty sure the world is coming to an end if it is cooling off at night in AZ in almost June. Then again, I might just be totally off on my memory of the climate here. I mean, I’ve only been back for almost three years….what do I know?
Regardless of why it is so nice out today, it was convenient for the photo shoot Brian and I had for our announcements. My dear, sweet, wonderful, talented, kind, funny, patient friend Marcy agreed to come take picture at a local ‘site’ after church today. I had no idea where to go so I left it up to her. She picked a place that has ‘events’ at it but was closed today so we could use it for free, as well as an outdoor restaurant with an attached farm. I have no idea how the pictures are going to turn out….I’m hoping she photo shops in someone cuter than me….but I really liked the feel of the farm/restaurant. Why can’t I live on a farm like that? When Brad died, I could have moved anywhere. I had nothing keeping me in Florida, and no job to worry about, so I could have picked anywhere I wanted to move to. At the time, it made sense to move back by family. I bought the quickest house that fit the basic requirements I thought of and moved. Don’t get me wrong, I like my house just fine. But some days, when I see other yards that are big or that have huge gardens or even horses in them….I get a bit of ‘yard envy.’ Its an ugly thing, I admit, and I try to repress it, but it is there.
I’m sure part of my feelings of envy tonight stemmed partly from the amazing weather. I remember WAY BACK when Brad and I were actually trying to live in AZ (before he got transferred to CA and our trek across the US began)….we looked at a lot of houses in the valley, trying to find one we could both afford and bear to live in. After a while I realized that whatever house we looked at on a cloudy day was my favorite one. It didn’t matter if it had sloping floors, gravel yards and cracked walls….it felt peaceful and cool because of the weather outside. Once I figured it out, I made a point not to look at houses on cloudy days. (there aren’t that many so it was pretty easy) Even now, when I look back at those houses….I still feel a strange draw towards one of them that we looked at on a cloudy day. Weird.
I suppose I could sell my house, uproot my kids, and move yet again…but there is really no reason other than the fact that I want a different yard. Well, that and I would like a bigger living room….and a pool, and another bedroom, and and and….o never mind. I hate packing, remember? I’m gonna stick it out. Who knows, if the seasons really are a sign of the end of the world….I’d rather spend my last few months ‘not moving’ and just enjoying my family where I am. Cause I said so……
photo credit: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=PsY&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=922&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=SH7RA9_ITz0IiM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sunflowerguide.com/&docid=wGjzab78rE4gsM&imgurl=http://www.sunflowerguide.com/images/sunflower-2.jpg&w=160&h=172&ei=1QrDT82hN-WliQLwkenxBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=252&sig=113984122180083014531&page=1&tbnh=113&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=51&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:115&tx=82&ty=52
lifetime warranty
27 May 2012 2 Comments
in Beckie Tags: are you reading this, cheese nuggets, chow mein, control freaks, decisions, dilly dally, hot chocolate, kicking people, laughter, pedicures, ramblings, toenails
Its been a few days since I have written and I have missed it. I opted for sleep instead of blogging. I know, my priorities are completely whacked. I will strive to do better.
If it makes you feel any better, I was supposed to go on a bike ride with my sister this morning at 5am. I really wanted to (felt I should) go. I even set my alarm. My body had alternative plans apparently because my ears teamed up with my arms to make sure my head was under my pillow so I could not hear my alarm. I ended up sleeping til 9:30 this morning. The world was a wonderful, new, less painful place when I finally roused myself. Although, my back was hurting a bit….yoga on Friday kicked my butt. Thanks Rhea.
I learn new things about myself all the time. Do you? I remember when I learned I was a control freak. It was an uncomfortable feeling at first, but then I embraced it and then I moved on to disprove it. I no longer feel I am a control freak at all. I have become a pretty easy going person. (as long as you do what I say.) I learned that I had an irrational fear of my children being around water. I got over that too. (my kids learned to swim) When I was a teenager, I was known far and wide (through my house) as a person the firmly believed in and practiced the art of “mind over matter.” It was most obvious when I got my wisdom teeth out and then later had jaw surgery. I decided it was going to be ‘no big deal’ and it wasn’t. I pushed the pain away (with the help of painkillers) and just kept on truckin.
Lately I’ve learned something else about myself. I’ve learned that although I may have a hard time deciding something, when I do finally decide on something, it is written in stone. I say that….and yet I feel a waver inside of me. hmmm maybe I spoke too soon? I’m not sure. I feel like it is true. I feel like when I decide on something I go forth with much courage and conviction. I think that is why I take so long to make decisions at times. Case in point: I went for a pedicure today with all the girls (minus Sarah). It took me quite a while to pick a color for my toenails, but when I did…that was it! I went with it without reservations. These are serious decisions in life. I’m tellin ya, wearing the wrong toenail color can drastically affect your mood as well as the effect your foot has when it kicks someone that annoys you. It isn’t a decision to be taken lightly…cause I said so.
Other decisions can be equally important like, what car to buy, glasses or contacts, shaken or stirred, and chow mein or rice. The think you have to remember is no matter what happens, the choice is yours and you have to deal with it and it’s consequences. I strive to live by my choices and make them work regardless of how stupid the choice may have originally been.
Photo credit: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=jZX&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=920&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=qASdqY3-aX_QLM:&imgrefurl=http://getflocked.com/&docid=s-22QcohOqT0KM&imgurl=http://getflocked.com/getflocked_group.jpg&w=300&h=225&ei=-8DBT4znDOmeiQKbm_XfBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=465&sig=113984122180083014531&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=176&start=0&ndsp=50&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:88&tx=112&ty=70
splish splash
24 May 2012 4 Comments
in Beckie Tags: activities, barbeque, bobcat, boredom, broccoli, christmas eve, do it yourself, excavation, kids, pool, summer, swim, tonka, vacation
Last day of school. The summer begins….sunshine, watermelon, shorts, hats, barbeques, and boredom. The kids are on break, but my work has just begun. When the kids get out of school, I suddenly get promoted to the position of activity director. I wouldn’t mind it if it was on a cruise ship instead of my own home. It amazes me that my kids have no idea what they can do without electricity.
Every year when the weather heats up, I start wishing I had a pool. When I bought my house, I could have gotten one with a pool but I was feeling overwhelmed with being a new widow, moving across country, dealing with kids, going back to school….etc. I thought a pool would just be too much hassle. Nobody’s perfect. I really wish I would have gotten a house with a bigger back yard and a pool and one more bedroom. Hind sight…remember that? Anyway, I have no plans to move so I have to make things work here. I have had many different companies out to give me quotes and advice on adding a pool to my yard. Usually, by the time they leave, I am talked out of even trying. It isn’t so much the price (it is) but it is the demolition that will have to take place to my yard to make it happen. I don’t have a lot of room to get the equipment in and the dirt out of my back yard so it will have to be a creative process. I look at my neighbor down the street that just put in a pool a few months ago (planners….bah!) and think how unfair it is that they had a nice big double gate with a gravel drive that led right up to the excavation site. Sheesh….I will have to use a bobcat that can maneuver between trees, walls, electrical, bushes and a broken down basketball hoop on it’s side. The pavers I just put in (last year) will most likely be destroyed and I may have a permanent brown stripe over my patio by the end of the process. It sounds like such a major hassle that I say never mind. Then there’s the fact that even if they started digging ‘tomorrow’ it would be at least 5-6 weeks before the pool was swim ready.Heck, by that time, the summer is almost over!
An above ground pool would be quicker and easier, but I would still have to clear the yard of gravel, grass, curbing, and several mammoth sized bushes. For all that work…I’d want a ‘real’ pool. Lucky for me, my fiance is a do it yourself kind of guy that is not afraid of a big project. Instead of telling me I was a nut case and needed to not spend money, he jumped right on my bandwagon to crazy when I suggested we ask my brother to come dig our hole and have all the guys in the family come move landscaping. My brother is an ‘official big toy operator.’ I think he was actually certified through Tonka. It’s quite impressive to see the gigantic machinery he can drive without killing, maiming, or flat out destroying everything in his path.(he sticks to destroying what is on his little list). I take full credit for inspiring him in his field ….. I got him a stomper truck for his birthday……
The kids are all for the pool and I do think it would be fun. But honestly, when October and November roll around each year, I look in the back yard and sigh with relief that I don’t have to take care of a big water hole when it is too cold to swim in it. That being said….I do remember swimming here in Arizona in December when I was a teenager. Christmas Eve to be exact. And I didn’t freeze. (my date was hot) So the dilemna remains. To pool or not to pool. I think the final decision will be made by an impartial third party I like to call ‘the bank.’ He always get his way….cause I said so.
photo credit:
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=45&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=of7&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=916&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=3YUfaPeo4C3UaM:&imgrefurl=http://www.poolsnow.net/blog-0/&docid=0e2q_aE-m7VAmM&imgurl=http://www.poolsnow.net/Portals/91338/images/swimming-pool-woman-underwater.jpg&w=500&h=375&ei=fs-9T6SRJqOviALNxOTCDQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=460&sig=113984122180083014531&page=2&tbnh=134&tbnw=179&ndsp=54&ved=1t:429,r:55,s:45,i:123&tx=77&ty=65
beat the devil
23 May 2012 3 Comments
in Beckie Tags: allergies, chocolate, convention, crafting, creativity, hershey, receese, sneezing, stampin up
Chocolate makes me sneeze. Good chocolate that is. Cheap chocolate does nothing but coat my tongue and make me wonder why I bothered to add pointless calories to my daily intake. There used to be a lot more good chocolate around when I was a kid. Now a days, there are only a few real chocolate makers out there. There may be more, but those are probably high priced top-of-the-food-chain chocolates that I never partake of due to my income. The real chocolates are as follows; Hershey, Tolberone, Cadbury and Hershey. Did I mention Hershey? Reese may have had real chocolate at one time, but they have left it behind in favor of a dark brown sugar substance that makes my stomach churn. M & M’s have some chocolate in them….but I don’t love them so they didn’t make the list. Whenever I eat any of the above mentioned ‘real chocolates’, I sneeze.
I don’t think it is an allergy so much as my bodies way of giving me an excuse for feeling bad after eating something so good. I wouldn’t want to feel ‘guilt’ for eating chocolate, so instead I feel …. sneezes. Wouldn’t it be nice if all our guilt or pain was substituted with another action that was quick and easy and short lived…like a sneeze? It would probably affect our learning curve quite a bit, and not in a good way.
I don’t eat a lot of chocolate. I know it makes me sleepy (after the sneeze) so I try to avoid knocking myself out. I have too much to do, and I’m already tired anyway so adding a sleep aid is not recommended. That being said, I did have a Hershey bar tonight.( It had almonds, so I felt justified by that tiny bit of protein.) I went to the store to pick up a special order (Thorin wanted bagels AND cream cheese…at the same time!) and Chocolate was on sale, buy two get one free. I picked up nine different candy bars and made my way to the check out along with my other ‘awesome deals’ I had gathered from around the store. The check out guy, who NEVER checks me out by the way…., took a moment or five to dutifully read my coupons in depth before informing me that I didn’t get the right candy bars. I should have taken this as a sign, but I still bought three candy bars. (instead of nine so….yay?) The ‘reasoning’ behind me buying any chocolate bars was for them to be rewards to my sweet piano student. I regularly buy her sweets that end up getting eaten by someone else(me). It is a bit frustrating to say the least.
I have found that she does like getting the treats and she even seems to practice more when she knows there is ‘reward’ coming. Aren’t we all like that? I don’t think we like to admit that we are so easily manipulated by ‘prizes’ but it is true. Take my convention for Stampin’ Up! as an example. Going to the convention costs me close to $1k every year but I still go and get totally googoo crazy over the ‘free’ stuff they give us. If I was to think about this rationally, I would see that the ‘free stuff’ is stuff I could buy from my computer at home without having to spend the $1k to go and get it. Yet, I go every year. Of course, there is a lot more to convention than the free ‘stuff.’ I love the creative energy and amazing ideas I see all over at convention. I love mingling with other stampers and seeing old friends. Any time I am at a Stampin’ Event, it makes me inspired in some way.
I went to a Stampin’ Up! meeting just last night with my upline Kimber. I don’t get to see those ladies very often but they always make me feel like I am their favorite person and they miss me when I’m not there. I don’t know what else a girl could ask for….except maybe a bit more chocolate….and sneezes…..cause I said so.
photo credit: http://wordsohmy.wordpress.com/2011/05/
fire and ice
21 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Beckie Tags: alarm, children, cold, complacency, fire, fire plan, Home depot, hot, lowes, sleep, smoke detector, temperature
I think we may have become complacent in our home. I don’t want to say lazy because that sounds a bit judgmental. I think we have just gotten to a place where we assume that everything is going to be fine. It isn’t a completely bad thing, I mean…I don’t want my kids to be worry warts or have ulcers, but there is a limit. This morning I woke up a bit late due to my late walk and reading, and found the house a bit on the chilly side. I checked the thermastat downstairs and saw that although it was set at 78, it was reading 74. Interesting…I went up stairs “Into the artic ring” and discovered that someone had turned that thermastat down to 64. My kids were bundled up in all the light blankets within their reach. Nobody wanted to get out of bed in the frosty air. As I was trying to rouse them all from their winter land dreams, the smoke alarm in my oldest sons room started beeping. It was soft at first, but within moments had reached an ear splitting decibel.
Now, at this point, one might assume that people, my children to be exact, might get out of bed to see what was going on. What actually happened was that they burrowed deeper under their covers and tried to block out the noise. (not possible, by the way) I went to work trying to turn off the insanely loud and annoying shrieking sound from the ceiling. Before I could get it to stop, peer pressure won and all of the smoke detectors up stairs started wailing along in unison. I ran downstairs and got a package of 9 volt batteries and tried to change out the batteries as quickly as my fingers could. It was dificult, since I’m pretty sure the part of my brain that controls fine motor skills was leaking out the crack that had formed due to the sounds of alarm. After changing out four batteries in the area ‘affected’, I went back down stairs to stick my head in a large bucket of ice water. Before I could find any relief, the darn alarm started going off again. I didn’t have any more batteries….and maybe that wasn’t even the problem? I went back upstairs and tried with all my might to smell smoke or CO or something that would make the alarms keep going off. In the midst of my searching I realized that my other son did not have a detector in his room at all. It had been removed. Interesting….when I asked him about it (shouted) he reminded me that it kept going off so we removed it.
We ended up removing the detector from my other sons room. It was the only way to get it to shut up. I will be going to Home depot or Lowe’s today to get two new ones. I guess they wear out over time? I don’t know what else could be wrong.
Actually I do know what is wrong. Very wrong. The problem with this whole picture is that we ‘supposedly’ have a fire plan in our house. If the house is on fire we have a predesignated place we are supposed to go to so we can get out of the fire and count heads. As I watched my kids burrow deeper under their covers to escape the ear splitter noise, I realized….they weren’t worried at all about the fire alarm going off. At some point in my struggles with the alarms, I shouted something to them like “hey! This is a fire alarm….if there was a fire, we would be burning up!” My poor son Ben jumped out of bed and went to the front door and started down the street to our meeting place. I told the rest of them that Ben was our only survivor. They were full of excuses, like “you should have told us we were having a fire drill” and “I thought it was the house alarm…”
When I finally quieted the noise, I ran down the street (walked) and got Ben and brought him back. The poor guy was a bit rattled. He hid his face in a pillow to hold back tears as he told me how much he hated that sound and how he didn’t get any sleep because he was freezing all night. Sarah and Ethan also complained about how cold it was to me. The funny thing is….these were both problems they could have gotten away from. I have told them in the past that if they are uncomfortable at night, either hot or cold, to come get me and I would try to adjust the temp to make it better. I’m downstairs and they are upstairs so I don’t know what the temperature is like up there most of the time. Especially when I am asleep with my door shut. In both instances, sound and cold, they all just elected to hide from the problem.
It makes me a bit worried. I’m not one to over analyze things, but I am hoping they aren’t like this in all areas of their lives. When something is wrong, it isn’t always a good idea to just hide from the trouble til it goes away. Sometimes the answer is to get out of bed and find a way to fix it. Cause I said so.
photo credit: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=images+of+dragons&start=57&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=bg&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=916&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=qp_bjiiFHgVGkM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bestfreewebresources.com/2010/08/35-awesome-examples-of-dragons-illustrations.html&docid=o7oATPCRfK8uyM&imgurl=http://www.bestfreewebresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/76.jpg&w=630&h=421&ei=zFm6T7WeHfHWiALf5YymBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=397&sig=113984122180083014531&page=2&tbnh=127&tbnw=171&ndsp=66&ved=1t:429,r:73,s:57,i:89&tx=75&ty=46
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