Manic Friday.

Emphasis on the MANIC. 

Let me start off by saying, I love my children. So much it hurts. And I am so blessed in so many ways.

But.

Today is one of those days where I honestly wonder if my three year old is possessed.

One minute she's happy, joyful, bubbly, ecstatic!!! Puppies and rainbows and rah rah, YAY!!!!!! And then BAM! She's a screaming, crying, flailing banshee from the depths of the underworld.

Ok, that may or may not be an exaggeration. Leanings towards NOT.

The logical, level headed, intelligent side of me knows this behavior is very typical of a three year old. I get that. Really, I do. Testing boundaries, asserting independence, learning to express emotions, yada yada yada. yada.  Roger that.

But the emotional, human, tired side of me JUST WANTS YOU TO PUT YOUR PANTS/LEGGINGS/DRESS/SHOES ON/BRUSH YOUR TEETH/TALK IN A QUIET VOICE/ STOP LICKING YOUR SISTER/*Insert perfectly reasonable request here*! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

And you know what really gets me? She is an exact carbon copy of.....me. Stubborn? Check. Emotional? Check. Quick temper? Check.  Except I am the adult here. I *should* be able to regulate my emotions. I know how to express my feelings in ways that do not involve kicking/screaming/throwing. But yet that's where I end up 95% of the time. Arguing with an emotionally charged preschooler about something that is not worth arguing about. Throwing the adult version of a three year old tantrum. Issuing empty threats that I KNOW I won't follow through on. And the super stellar part of that? She knows it too. So we end up screaming at each other, crying and stomping around until one of us ends up in our room for some quiet time.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Once the storm blows over, we're back to love fest 2011.  She tells me things like "Mama I love you as much as a rainbow!" And I feel horrible for yelling and threatening to sell her to the gypsies*. And we hug and cuddle and love and go on with our day. Until...BAM!

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Until she goes away to college. And then we can do this all via text.














*Note: I don't actually tell her I am going to sell her to the gypsies. I only dream about it during quiet time.

Eleven in '11. The Update.

Someone asked me today how I was doing  on my Eleven in '11 goals. And I realized I never got around to posting an update. I meant to update on my progress back in June. Oops. Better late than never.

I have to say, I haven't done too shabby.

I give you Eleven in '11. The Update. 

1. Learn to sew. Yeah, haven't done this. I have been knitting more, does that count? No? Crap.

2. Run a half marathon. If my back/knees/feet will allow it. If not, then a 10K or two. Heck, 2 miles might be pushing it. We'll see. Maybe I should just say start running again. Have not a half marathon. BUT I did TRY to get into one. Just didn't happen. This year. I did however, run a 5k. I am calling this a success. I would really like to run on a regular basis so I am going to continue working on that.

3.  Eat clean/less processed food. We don't eat much as it is, but I would like to cut it out as much as possible. This is definitely a success. I still enjoy a bag of Frito's as much as the next person, but we have definitely cut back on our processed food intake. Feels so much better to eat fresh/homemade food. More work but worth it. 

4. Learn to drive a stick shift. Negatory. Still time.

5. Exercise DAILY (pretty sad that this is even on my "to-do" list) Mostly yes. Sometimes it's something little like push ups and sit ups while my computer is spazzing and sometimes it's bigger like a workout dvd or walk/run. We re-joined the gym, so hopefully i will be getting my sweat on more regularly. 

6. More positive, less negative. Thoughts, actions, people, feelings, etc. Check. Feels good. And not only am I trying to be more positive in general, I am more accepting of the negative/crappy. It is what it is and nothing more. Sometimes you just have a crap day.

7. Spend less, save more. Done. We have never been huge spenders but we're more conscious of our spending habits now. We also set up an automatic daily deduction from our checking to our savings account. It's not much but it adds up quickly. And to be honest, we don't even miss it from the checking account.

8. Volunteer. Work in progress. I am on my MOPS Steering Comittee and plan on volunteering at Olive's preschool. I would also like to do some sort of volunteering around the holidays.  

 

9. More meal plans. Less grocery shopping. This is hit or miss. We go in stretches of being really organized and well stocked to total chaos and scraping the bottom of the barrel (or fridge) to throw something together. Could be better.

10. Take golf lessons. Maybe. Still undecided about this one. This got the boot. See below.

11. Enjoy the crap out of each and every day. Life is too short not to. You betchya. Life is good.

So all in all, I'm not doing too bad. And there is still time to work on some these. 

How are you doing on your goals/resolutions?