LENT: I'm giving it up, yup THAT!

What is Lent? See the calendar here and some explanation . Though I do not follow it exactly because I am not as Catholic as I could be. I know I can give up anything I wanted at any given time. The thing is, i have no will power. I use Lent as my way to force myself to give up the things I obsess about. It's a test to see if I am strong enough to go without it and stay away after Lent. I have failed every year so far. This year I will not fail. I want to push myself to my limits this year. What am I giving up? I am giving 6 things this year, yes 6, I said I want to push myself...

1. Soda- No big surprise. i am addicted to Coca Cola & RC. I know it's bad for me, but I love it. So it's time to really kick the habit or I really need to go to sodaholics anonymous.

2. Meat- Beef, Pork, & Poultry (Poultry only once a week). There is more to life than meat. I'll still buy some for my kids, but I will reduce how much they eat. My son will freak because he is a serious carnivore. I know in the long run it will be better for me. Plus I will use this time to learn new recipes and what other foods have the protein & nutrients I need that meat provides. I will allow myself ground turkey & chicken once a week, mostly so I can test out new recipes. i would like to completely remove Beef from our diet, and reduce Pork to once or twice a week.

3. Dining out- Yes I am giving up food that is not made or cooked in my house. With one exception: Samantha's birthday party. I will order pizza and sodas for that night. Yes I know I could make my own, but it's less stress to just buy it. I won't have soda but I will allow myself 2 slices of pizza.

4. Cussing- This will be my hardest to give up. I curse like a sailor. I curse so much I have had people tell me I'm rude. My kids are starting to curse on a regular basis at home. It makes me wonder what they sound like when I'm not around. So I need to cut it out. Only words allowed are Ass, and Hell. Why those words? I don't really consider then curse words.

5. Social Networking/ Facebook- YES I am going to give it up for 40 days. I know I can do it. I tested it out already. The question is whether or not I should deactivate my account or leave Facebook open so people can still leave messages on my wall. I will still use email, AIM, Skype, and my blog. My family is trying to get us all on Skype so we can chat weekly. I can't wait to see how that goes. I will also still use my phone, so call or text me.

and number 6 dun dun dun....

6. SEX- Anything sexual which will include watching porn, masturbation, NSFW sites, sex, men, women, kissing, cuddling, EVERYTHING!!! Hugs are okay, I can handle hugs.

I'm going to die

I should be cleaning, but....

oohh scary

I have too much on my mind today. I have been cleaning, I swear. If you saw my room right now you would scream in terror. The dust bunnies may attack, I'm not sure if they will, but you never know.  I started my Spring Cleaning today in my room. I am about half way done since I didn't start until 2:00pm. All this week is conference week at Turner and I am watching my neighbors kids after school for about an hour. So I decide to wait until after the kids left to start cleaning. I already went through my clothes in my room the other day. I still have to get the ones I packed away and sort through them. I even cleaned my computer inside and out; transfered files to the external, cleaned the tower, keyboard, and dusted the desk. It must have been a while because it took me 2 hours to do that. Yikes!
  Though I am cleaning and all, I feel out of place. I keep trying to focus on the cleaning as what it is. For some reason I feel like I am purging my life with this cleaning and letting go of a part of me. It's weird to explain the feelings I have as I remove some things from my home and my life. All I am doing is cleaning, nothing different than before, I just feel different this time around. It's as if I am turning the page to a new chapter in my life. I did throw away things I have held on to for so long. I really didn't need them, but I couldn't let them go. I don't feel a sense of loss, those item did bring back memories that were lost and maybe thats where the feelings are coming from. The music may not be helping either. I love Colbie Caillat. She has a fabulous voice and great music. Her music usually sooths my mood. Today I think she may be making me feel sentimental. I don't like it.
  As I sit at my desk typing these words I am laughing at myself and my feelings.Thinking: Ryan would say I'm thinking too much, and yes I am, aren't I?... I just realized I am showing the world how mentally unstable I can be; haha thats okay I don't mind. I'm crazy, but not THAT crazy, yet.

So I am done with my break. I needed one after removing the mattresses from my bed and vacuuming the floor, bed frame, and mattresses. Those things are heavy! Plus it was that time of year to flip the mattress. Now onto reorganizing the rest of the furniture and dust. I also need to organize Ryans DVDs and and games.

Oh by the way....

THATS ONE BIG DUST BUNNY

March is Spring Cleaning Month

Picture is from this article on Spring Cleaning. Read it!

  Every March & October is Spring/Fall cleaning. I would always make a list of what exactly i wanted to do & get done. Most of the time I would do a half ass job. This year will not be the case. I have a new list and a new plan to get things done. We'll see how it goes.
 I did a lot of cleaning last fall. Each month I tossed out 20 items. Unfortunately it wasn't enough. I still have a lot of stuff because I have been a serious pack rat. So i will do something similar through out the month of March. Each day I will either reduce, reuse, or recycle 2 items. Sounds easy, but i am sure it will not be anywhere near easy.
 I have broken my cleaning into 2, two week cleaning cycles. I have 8 rooms in my Townhouse. This is not including other parts of my home/property that will be cleaned. I will divide my home by floors. Upstairs (3 bedrooms, full bath, storage closet, linen closet, water & heating closets) will be week one & three. Downstairs (kitchen, dining room, living room, 1/2 bath, 2 closets, patio) will be week two & four.  I will use one day for each room. The linen closet & water/ heating closets i will do the same day The same goes for the closets & bath downstairs. I will probably take more time on the kitchen & living room since that is where we spend most of our time.
Today is the day I sit and plan it all out. I use Google Calendar to organize what days I will clean what rooms and a way to remind myself of some things i would normally over look while cleaning. I will be totally honest- I HATE CLEANING, and I suck at it, but someone has to do it. I am off to a good start and It's not even March.

This is what I end up doing. 

On another note: March will be starting another kind of "cleaning" for me. Ash Wednesday is March 2 & Lent starts March 7. For those of you who are not Catholic & do not know what Lent is click Here. I will go into more detail on the topic later this week.

Wishlist Wednesday

Sarah: I can bear it no longer! Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be take this child of mine far away from me! 
Goblin: That's not it! Where did she get that rubbish? It doesn't even start with "I wish!"

Every time I hear "I wish" I think of the movie Labyrinth. It's Wednesday and I have a wish or two, and here they are. From Urban Outfitters.

I want these cute flowers. They look awesome. You get 25 for $40.00. hmmm though they are made of something much more sturdy than paper. I think I could make some myself.  I still want them though.














Next is a duvet cover also from urban Outfitters. I love the fact that it's reversible and has folk woodwork art on it. I have a book with those patterns in it. I love vintage art and this would look awesome in my room.

I really like what is offered they even have some awesome books I really want like Snuggle Sutra :)

I guess thats it for now. We'll see if Urban Outfitters gets pissed because I used their photos even though I linked the crap. Have a good night.

xoxo,

Lisa

Heavy Weight

As of this morning I weigh 160 even, and yes I was naked when I weighed myself. I wonder where the 5 lbs extra I had last week went. I'm not going on another diet! I will learn how to eat healthier & proper portions. Honestly I should be ashamed of myself. I took a nutrition class and other Bio- Health classes; yet I am over weight/ obese. I read somewhere that the best time to start a new diet/ exercise/ healthy living program is when a woman starts her menstrual cycle. I'm not sure if that is true, but I don't want to wait either. So I will start with Lent which begins March 7. On that morning I will do a full weigh in, measurements and physical fitness test. I took a circuit training class and we did the test and weigh in the beginning of the semester and at the end, so I will do the same here. Maybe I'll even do a little video/ picture comparison thing. MAYBE. I have already made some changes in my eating habits, but because it has been cold (I hate the cold) I have been lazy and just snacking. Bad, bad, Lisa ...I really need to stop drinking soda. I don't have the will power to drink it occasionally, I always over indulge. The good thing is I will have a partner in crime on healthy living.

 My friend Briana is also trying to better her health, so I have offered to be her long distance "Healthy Living" buddy. So you may see some guest blogging from her on here. She has some great ideas for better living and not just when it comes to food. She is an new blogger, but she is worth reading and has great insight on living simpler. Living simple has caught on since the economy took a nose dive. I honestly believe it is a better way of living. Well I'll leave my thoughts on simple living here; it's really a whole blog topic on it's own.

It's 12:13 am.

I can't sleep. I don't know why my sleep schedule is so off . I think it's time to really remove the soda from my life and start forcing myself to go to bed at the same time every night. No more late night gaming or social networking. No one else is on right now anyway.  Plus I think I am getting whatever the kids have and it doesn't help that Samantha is sleeping in my bed tonight.

Lets try to get some sleep

xoxo,

Lisa

Facebook Note turned Blog part 1

I understand that the Facebook Notes are a type of blog. Myspace has blogs and now so does Friendster. I used to blog on Myspace regularly and plan on going back to it. I did more ranting & raving there than anything and I think it's best to keep it there.

The Note titled "15 Things I No Longer Give A Sh!t About" was one of those tagging games you pass around. As I was writing the Note I thought I could say so much more than 15 things and maybe even elaborate on some. I'm sure everyone can. So here it is, those 15 things.

1.Politics -  I try to pay attention, but most of the time I get lost. I do vote, but I don't understand some of the things I'm supposed to be voting on. I may actually be making things worse than better. My bad.

2. The News - This one is a 50/50 chance I'll care. I like watching foreign news.It's a little exciting. I feel U.S. news is boring. We sound like a bunch of 1st graders telling on each other. Though the recent issues in Egypt & the camera woman getting attacked caught my attention. I do enjoy watching the news cast interact with each other sometimes. It is nice to see them as real people rather than stiff puppets reading off a teleprompter or computer screen.

3. Celebrities - I don't care if they had surgery, I don't care if they have a melt down or have the same issues as the rest of us. I expect it. They ARE people, just like you & I. Stop putting them on these unrealistic pedestals. They do everyday things & make mistakes just like us. The only difference is their job/career is in entertainment. they work just as hard as we do. They deserve the money & luxuries they have. Get over it.

4. Fashion - I don't care and that all there is to it. I wear what I like & I don't care if you have a muffin top cause your pants are too tight, or you're too fat to wear an outfit. If you like it wear it. I do have only 1 pet peeve about fashion- saggy pants. If I wanted to see your underwear I would ask. But I'll just have to deal with it.

5. Drama - Everyone says they don't like drama, and it seems the ones that bitch about it most cause the most drama. Sometime drama can be fun; fights at bars, T.V. shows, movies. I don't mind a little here and there, such as you needing my help in a small family dispute, getting over your ex, or you need to vent for a minute. It's the drama that constantly spills into my life that I don't like. I would like you to keep your negative thoughts, stalking exes, and psycho family out of my life thank you. Some people are just negative all the time and thats not cool.

6. Your Opinions - I can accept that we will disagree on many topics. I will also listen to your point of view & respectfully agree or disagree. Please do not think you will be able to shove your opinions down my throat or beat them into me. Thats when you become the person in #5 and I will distance myself from you.

7. Your Feelings - I will always try to be as honest as I can with you. Do not ask me something and then get mad when it's not what you "want" to hear. I also don't expect you to feel sorry for me or walk on eggshells so you don't hurt my feelings. Honesty is much more important to me.

8. How "smart" you think you are & what "college" you went to.- This is for those people who went to trade schools and try to make it sound like they are better than me because I'm in Community College right now. Good for you if thats what you wanted to do. I don't, I want a Masters Degree, so I need to go to college for a long ass time. I'm okay with that. So I don't give a rats ass if you're done already. It has nothing to do with me.

9. Your insecurities - This brings numbers 5-8 together. Most of the people who I'm talking about in the last few have issues with insecurity. They either have an inflated sense of importance or they are so down on themselves, you want to commit suicide to get away from them. Both people just want to bring you down or are fishing for compliments. It's very unattractive, so stop it or i will keep my distance.

10. Most Peoples Kids - I have 3 kids and I know they can be a pain sometimes. I don't know if it's just me or if kids are just plain brats. I'm starting to understand the elderly as I age and see kids these days. Growing up I did not cuss at my parents and do what ever i wanted. Other peoples kids either hate me or are afraid of me because I am not afraid to put them in time out (face the wall standing up). I will make sure you stay there too. I have had friends tell me I was mean. Which brings me to the next one.

11. Most parents today - I am not even close to mother of the year. I don't expect you to be either. Now I'm not saying give every parent a break, but don't expect us to be the parents of the 1950s. I understand that it's hard to raise kids these days and every parent has their own way of doing it. I just think it's sad to see so many parents try to be friends with their kids rather than the parent they could be.

12. How messy or clean your house is - So what if you couldn't clean your house before I came over to visit. I don't clean my all the time. Your super clean house looks lovely but it will be messy in 5 minutes if you got kids. Your house doesn't have to be spotless when I visit and don't expect mine to be. I'm already your friend and except you as you are, messy/clean house and all. I will not judge you based on how clean your house is.

13. I don't drive, or own a car - For some reason it bothers everyone around me that i don't drive or own a car. WHY? I hate driving, it makes me feel nauseous, and jittery. I have panic attacks just sitting in the drivers seat. Why would you want me to drive and put others at risk? This is where your opinion doesn't matter. I have no intentions of driving. If you don't like it then too bad. Plus I feel there are too many vehicles on the road these days.

14. Not acting my age - I don't understand where people get this. How does a 33 year old act? I believe we are as old as we feel & think we are. I also believe there is a time for maturity & there is a time for being immature. You just have to know when the right time is for you. You can't be serious and "mature" all the time, nor can you be immature and reckless all the time. There has to be a balance.

15. My Past - This took a long time to happen. I have made some bad choices and I have been through some unpleasant experiences. I no longer dwell on what I cannot change and look forward, and bring with me the change I can make. Fuck the rest!