Longing for Spring

Image: blessthismess.com.au

Winter, by far, is my least favorite season. The cold really jacks up my pain levels and I hate being cold. The weather this year can't make up its mind, which gets really annoying. We had massive rain / wind storms last week and a few days later it was snowing.

So I'm longing for spring. Warmer weather, no snow and hopefully not so much with the yo-yoing temperatures. Plus getting winter done puts me one more season towards fall.

Hopefully with March coming in a couple days will also bring consistently warmer weather. I do live in the South and our winters tend to be shorter than up north. My birthday is at the end of March and it wasn't uncommon for it to snow on my birthday when I lived in Michigan.

I know Emily will be happy to be able to play outside with her friends more and hopefully I can start walking around the neighborhood again.

Are you looking forward to Spring?

Lazy, Not Lazy and the Struggle

Image: www.clipartpanda.com

I will fully admit that I was pretty lazy as a kid. My room was usually a mess because I didn't like picking it up. I'd much rather be reading or watching TV. Even after I got into college, I was still pretty lazy.

My life turned upside down after I graduated from college. I moved back home, my mom passed away, and then a year later, my chronic pain started. Being in that much pain all the time makes one lay around and do nothing a lot. It's not being lazy, per say, but trying to cope with the pain.

I think what really caused me to become really not lazy is when I had a kid. Especially as she got older. Our house isn't very big and Emily has a lot of stuff for someone so small. My dear husband tries to pick up but his idea of clean and mine are not the same.

Chronic pain is still a part of my life though so I have to walk that fine line between overdoing and not doing enough. Some people might be shocked to hear that I overdo it more often than not. A

After I've been stuck in bed for a few days in the middle of a flare, I get all antsy and want to clean all the things. This last week has a major flare with the weather, and I've been so bored and wanted to clean.

This morning, while working, I organized some stuff that I'm selling by cleaning off a shelve on the bookcase I have in my office. I would probably clean more if the cord to my headset would reach further. Later I will do laundry and dishes! And hopefully not overdo things!

It's a struggle day by day, but I try to manage the best that I can. I surely am not lazy. I parent, I work, I write, I clean, among other things. Hopefully the winter will soon be in the past so I can get even more done around my house!

Grrlbox!

Subscription boxes seem to be all the rage these days. Probably because it's fun to get a box of goodies in the mail every month. I've been tempted by some, like Lootcrate, but my house is small and I don't need more stuff.

But last month I jumped on the bandwagon by getting my first box from Grrlbox! The idea is to make that time of the month less crappy. There are several options including a teen box, a first period box, a no more flo box for those people who don't actually get a period anymore. I just got the regular box.

There was a lot of fun and yummy stuff in the box. Blue vanilla cake mix - I bought blue frosting to go on top so our tongues have been blue since I made it.

Waterless shampoo, a little planner which is something I needed to keep track of Girl Scout stuff, fancy pads, a book, and an

awesome pen! I also got chili dark chocolate which tastes like dark chocolate but my mouth did feel a burn after a few pieces.

The weirdest thing in the box was coconut chips that were bacon flavored. I could taste the coconut but the bacon came through really strong. Still on the fence if I like them or not, but it's fun to try something new! Emily said she liked them but there isn't a lot of food she doesn't like, especially when it's mine.

The best thing in the box was the Wonder Woman underwear. They are super cute and they are also really comfortable!

All the stuff I got was either edible or useful in some way. And you can never have enough books so that's awesome too!

Being on your period can really be miserable, but Grrlbox makes it a little less crappy. I'd highly recommend it to anyone!

Selling Girl Scout Cookies

If you don't know anything about Girl Scouts, you probably at least know about their cookies. It's the time of year when girls stand outside stores hawking their delicious cookies.

I wasn't ever a Girl Scout but I was a Campfire Girl. We sold chocolate bars and I hated going door to door to sell them. I'm not a good salesperson even to this day.

When Emily wanted to sign up for Girl Scouts, I knew that selling cookies was going to be part of it. And I knew that I would be selling cookies as well - since Emily is only 7.

This past Sunday was the first cookie booth Emily ever did. It was for three hours outside the Hendersonville Walmart. I wasn't sure how Emily was going to do. I was afraid she was going to get bored and cranky. But she proved me wrong!

It took her a bit to get into the swing, but she yelled 'Cookies for Sale!" with the other Girl Scouts helping man this table. When we got a customer, she would hurry over and explain the prices and kinds of cookies. She would help get the money and hand the change back.

She had a lot of fun and it was a great experience. It helps the girls learn skills they will need - like making change. And we sold a ton of cookies which will help their troop out!

We are signed up for two more cookie booths and I'm sure now that Emily will do a great job. If you see any Girl Scouts selling cookies, consider buying a box or two. If you don't want to eat the cookies, you can always buy a box that will be sent overseas to the troops!

Our Newest Addition!

Our family is growing! Not with kids, one kid is enough for us. But it's been about a week since we adopted our newest cat!

When I was growing up, we always had dogs. I'm not a huge fan of dogs and always wanted a cat. We adopted our first cat, Star, right after we bought our house. Willow was adopted as a kitten after we got married and then we brought Sam home when Emily was about three.

Our Star kitty passed away a couple of years ago and he left a hole in our family. Todd didn't want to get another cat though - he's a dog person. But a few months ago, he decided that he would like to have another cat.

My dear husband tends to research a bunch and starting looking at available cats in the area. We decided to wait until after Christmas to get a new cat because of the tree and because were going to be going out of down for Christmas day. We also decided not to adopt a kitten, but instead an older cat.

The weekend of the big snowstorm, Todd happened upon the profile of a kitty named Sirius Black. He contacted the shelter he was at, and he and Emily went to look at him as soon as they were open again which was last Tuesday. They came home with him, and we couldn't be happier!

Sirius Black is a black kitty who is two years old. He's very affectionate and loves getting pets. Willow was indifferent to our new addition - she tends to ignore everyone unless she wants something. Sam was not happy, but he's mellowed out in regards to Sirius and it's only been a week since he came home.

 Our cats are members of our family. We talk to them and they talk back (especially Willow - she's a big talker). Emily is very happy and Sirius loves her because she protected him from Sam when Sam was trying to display his dominance. 

Our family is complete again!