The big 40!

Mike's birthday was just a couple of days ago and it was the big 40. Mike didn't want a fuss made and he didn't want presents, so the best I could come up with was the cake. I felt like I had let him down, by it not being a special birthday but Mike didn't seem to care. And then it hit him a day later. He was 40. The psychological button tripped and suddenly he felt old. I remember talking to my Mum as a teenager and her complaining about 40 and how old she felt and I used to tell her off. I would tell her that she wasn't really old and that she was only as old as she felt. I also promised myself that I wouldn't constantly be worrying about age as I got older. Now here I am heading towards 38 and whilst I'm not sure that I'm old, I'm certainly not young anymore. In my family you're lucky if you make it to 60 and I suddenly realized that perhaps that was what bothered my Mum. Our track record is not good. Mike all of a sudden felt old. Not because of something significant that happened but he just woke up and felt old. I think perhaps that in todays society these ages are hyped up and we're told that you are indeed old if you are ...... Fill in the blanks. By certain ages you are expected to have accomplished different things in your life. Married and started a family by 30, house by 40 etc etc. I finally told Mike that we had to go off of our expectations and not societies. We have been a part of the military for a very long time now and that has given us different expectations to fulfill. Our time to accomplish things like our own house is rapidly coming and we are ready for it. As for a persons age, it is just a number and we should not feel depressed by any certain number. We can never go back and so we should willingly look to the future and the positives, instead of the past and the negatives. Age is just a number!

Comittment

Yesterday we received a phone call from Jessica's violin teacher, Mrs Cordero. It turns out that Jessie had missed 3 orchestra lessons and hadn't even received the music for the christmas concert yet. Her teacher was concerned she was falling behind. When Jessie came home from school I asked her what was happening. At first she said that she just forgot her violin, but I know my daughter well enough to know when there's more to it than that. She started to cry and confessed that she didn't want to play anymore. I hate it when my kids start to cry. My heart aches for them and I want to make them feel better, but this time I knew I was going to have to do something that wouldn't be popular. We have a school instrument for her. I pointed out to her that she could have prevented another student from learning violin this year because she had a school instrument. I also discussed comittment and how she had made a decision earlier in the year, had us fill out paperwork to get her instrument and now after playing for 2 years she wanted to stop. I told her no. I talked about when you start something, you need to finish it. When I was done giving her advice, I realised that it was great advice for myself too. Always finish what you begin. Lecture done!

Confessions of a football freak...

It occurs to me as I sit in front of my tv, glued to the Cowboys game, that I am a football addict. Every Sunday is the same. I'm extremely useful and productive, until 1pm. Then all work comes to a complete stop. I gravitate to the tv and become a couch potato for the entire rest of the day. I then proceed to become verbally abusive to players and plays that irritate me and extremely loud and agitated when good things happen. Then I watch the Patriots play and we enter a new realm of experience. I'm not just loud, I'm screaming and shouting. I'm not just rude, I get mad! Tim and Emily drove by my old house once and were laughing at me because instead of being sat on my couch, I was perched on the edge of the coffee table shouting at the tv. How did this happen? Once upon a time I didn't like sports period. I grew up watching the occasional soccer match, but that was about it. One time in Scotland before I married Mike, he asked if I wanted to stay up late and watch the superbowl. I ridiculed him. Then I got married and one monday night, Mike told me he was going to teach me everything he knew about football. He handed me a beer and turned on monday night football. I have never looked back. We were living in CT and I was from England, so it was a no brainer to me that I should support the New England Patriots. 11 years later, I am a freak. I watch every game I can and I'm so sad that even the kids know not to bother me when there's a game on. I wear my Teddy Bruschi shirt with pride, fly my flag and look forward to September with a passion. I frequent message boards, constantly check nfl.com and espn.com and participate in fantasy football, even though I stink at it. What else can I say except that I love football! I absolutely 100% love football and the New England Patriots. I just needed to share my addiction. I'm done now.

Time to drop excess baggage

As I come to the end of nursing Chloe-Anne it is very bittersweet. One chapter of my life is ending and one is beginning. I have loved the years that I have gotten to have this special relationship with my babies, but I look forward to moving on also. So this brings me to the point of this. Having had 6 kids, it seems that I magically grew a spare tire around my waist. I started on weight watchers back in Virginia and did amazingly well on it. I lost 30lbs and was super happy and then we moved up here. The pitfalls of moving are that you end up eating junk for several weeks until you get settled in and then right after that my life fell apart for a few months. Wouldn't you know it, the weight went right back on. Then I had Chloe-Anne. The time has finally come when I can make a concerted effort to get some of this weight gone forever. Its not just a vanity thing (although who doesn't want to look better!), but a healthy thing too. I want to stick around as long as I can for my family and not be taken out because I didn't take care of myself. It is very easy to complain about diets and talk about how deprived you are, because you can't eat what you want to but the one thing I have learned is that you have to view it as a lifestyle change. I do know that I didn't gain this overnight and I won't lose it overnight, so now I just have to get going with this. What's my favourite thing to help me with the exercise part of this you ask? Wii fit! Who would of thought it! I've been doing strength training, yoga, step aerobics and running, all from right in front of the tv. Things really have changed! Thanks for letting me ramble.