Zumba vs. Me vs. My Kids

Well, in an effort to win the "battle of the bulge," I started Zumba last night. My mom and I found a complete set of Zumba videos last week at SavABundle in Benton that were so cheap, it made me suspicious. Like, if these are so great, why are they so cheap? I guess nobody wants them and they are terrible! Well, my pre-assumptions were wrong. It was a lot of fun, with the exception of the audience of children that slowly gathered around to watch my fat jiggle to a variety of musical stylings.
I gotta tell you, excercising with children is an annoying and self-esteem-challenging experience. First, there was my daughter standing behind me and laughing. Then my oldest son came in and rolled his eyes. (what would I do without him?) Then, the three little boys came in and the comments began. It's like being on your own commentary show! Here are some of the highlights:
1) Mom, don't lose weight! I want you to look like this!
2) You look like you lost weight already! (it was a lie, but I chose to believe it anyway)
3) You're not fat, but the people on TV are really skinny. (nice, right?)
Well, wish me luck. At this rate, the only thing I expect to lose quickly is my sanity...
and maybe some kids. 

I have a follower!!!

Can you believe it? Someone is following my blog! To celebrate this occasion, I would like to introduce you to my first friend on Blogspot! I am aware that this may be overkill, but I may never have another, so here goes:
Nikki Paxton is one of the coolest people i've met in a while. She has a Master's in Public Adminstration, she is a hard worker, wife, and mother of three handsome sons. Here are things that I have learned from Nikki:
-White people wear flannel in Christmas pictures. No kidding. Seriously, they do. She pointed that out to me, and I noticed my very own flannel-clad portrait of Noel in my office.
-We are not to submit to foolishness. We are called to honor certain people in our lives, but we don't have to participate in their foolish decisions. (This one changed my life forever. She has a way of doing that.)
In even better news:
Nikki has a blog. It's Nikkimopapercrafts.blogspot.com, and she talks about life and all the cool things that she does to make life beautiful: creatively-themed parties, papercrafts, artwork, and more. I want to be more like her when I grow up. And she's pretty too. Her husband is a lucky guy. Check it out.

Balance

Okay, look. I don't know if I'll ever be a dependable blogger. And two posts in one day? There's got to be a rule against that...somewhere. I've never been good at rules. I long for a life that's not feast or famine, all or nothing. Before today, I hadn't blogged since Christmas. And guess what. That was kind of morbid too. I'm not always unhappy, so please give me the benefit of the doubt.
Anyway, I like to say or do something happy or positive after every difficult statement. So, here are some of my favorite quotes from the past week:
1) "One time, I made a candy cane!"-4yr. old, while going #2, referring to a previous #2.
2) "It was like a nightmare, only I felt great!"-good friend, can't elaborate.
3) "Lord and Holy Spirit, help me." -4yr. old, preparing to roll dice in a heated game of Farkle.
4) "Thank you for being a reflection of the Lord." -a friend who gives me way too much credit.

It's Just Another Day

Did you have a Happy Father's Day? Well, for various reasons (that you understand if you know me) holidays and special occasions are not as happy as they used to be. I really do love holidays, but no matter how great I feel about the day, there are people and things (in an extremely large, painful nutshell) that are gone. Do you feel me? If not, that's okay.
If so, let's talk about it.
Yesterday, I had a horrible morning and I let it cause me to make some bad choices (nothing illegal, don't worry). I didn't realize how badly I was hurting until that happened. I've struggled with special occasions for a while, but yesterday made me realize how important it is to have a plan for special days. And yes, i've tried just getting over it. It didn't work.
Anyway, here's a list of things that help me get through those sad days:
-Call someone and talk about it.
-Gripe, say it stinks, identify the feelings and get them out before they try to beat the peace out of you.
-If you need to, tell yourself that it's "just another day." I probably just offended someone that hates the idea of saying a religious holiday is "just another day." Don't worry, I'm not dissin' on Jesus. He knows that. (Thanks to LouDog for that piece of advice-it might not work for everyone, but it works for me.)
-Plan something special, so you're not at home all day in dirty pajamas, eating things you will regret. You know, thinking things like, "What kind of person sits home all day on _________, wearing dirty pajamas and eating things they will regret?" *disregard this last statement, if you feel really good about wearing dirty pajamas and eating things you will regret. To each his or her own...
But I digress...
I felt terrible, I screwed up, and then I picked myself up, reached out, and did something for myself. It was a great end to the day.
How do you deal with tough days?

p.s. I love my dad. :)