Music That Makes Me Dance-thereby, Happy

Okay, i've been screwin around with this music playlist site for over an hour now and i'm supposed to be getting things done on my very LONG list of "TO DO"s before I leave in less than 48 hours!

What I have found fun today is making up this list of fun songs to dance to and me & Quinn have been dancing around and being goofy. She says "Mama, this is good exercise!" Of course she is dancing around naked (her favorite thing--being naked that is).

But i also found a way to post my playlist under "My Daily Clicks" section above....hope i don't decide to move it and will have to go back and revise this darn post again...

Down here in this post, if you "hit" the "Pop-Out Player" button, you can listen to my songs. I thought it would list them like the Players they have on myspace or facebook.

Here's a sampling:
Pink-Let's Get this Party Started
Romantics-What I Like About You
Flo Rida-In the Ayer
Vengaboys-We Like to Party
Madagascar Soundtrack-I Like to Move It
Katrina & The Waves-Walking on Sunshine

Getting Ready for a Trip

OH BOY! This is hard work! It took nearly an hour to just make the DRAFT schedule and list of my kids' routines/rules for my in-laws who will be watching our kids for about 6 days while we go on our first vacation ALONE (to celebrate our 10th Anniversary).

Now that it is in DRAFT form, i need to double-check what I wrote and then check with everyone (my bro, sister-in-law and sister will be helping some too) to make sure nobody has questions. Next, I need to make a list of everything i need to complete before Saturday (or departure date).

Quick list:

1. make sure laundry is up-to-date (including put in the correct drawers so grandparents can find it!),
2. make sure we have adequate food in the house,
3. CLEAN house (in-laws will be staying HERE),
4. determine any school needs this week and next.....more to come, i'm sure!
5. PACK

I'm also stressin, b/c Friday night is Halloween and I'm helping with Jack's class party at 2:30 pm and then I'm IN CHARGE of the neighborhood party that starts at 5 pm....and our flight leaves at 8 AM on Saturday....

But, boy oh boy, is it ever going to be worth it to get away ALONE with Chris visiting CALIFORNIA for SIX WHOLE DAYS!

Here are a few sample routines i listed for my in-laws:

• BEDTIME ROUTINE:
  If they need a bath or shower, then start bedtime routine around 7:15 pm.
  Otherwise, start around 7:20 and it’s best to each take one kid…some nights they switch and Daddy helps Q and Mommy helps J or vice versa.
  Ask them to put on their pull-ups and pajamas.
  Ask them to brush their teeth and wash their faces.
  Read them a book and then cover them up, kiss & hug em and say goodnight.
  Quinn leaves the little lamp on her dresser on and Jack keeps his closet light on.
  
  Quinn usually poops IN THE POTTY at night after you have her all ready for bed and IN bed…it’s her stall technique, but she actually WILL poop, so please let her get up and do it. Sometimes she tries to go to the potty more than once and I usually let her try til she poops b/c this is her regular time.
  
  If they say they are hungry, we usually just offer them some water from their bathroom cups.

• Computer:
  They each are allowed ONE hour of computer a day.
  Sometimes they don’t care a bit about it and sometimes they constantly beg for it.
  On school days, it’s better to put it off til AFTER school.
  They have “coupons” that equate to 15 minutes each.
  We set the timer (down on the door of the wine closet) for each coupon and when the time is up, they either take turns or the person playing can request another coupon to continue play until they have used up their coupons.
  If you are trying to get somewhere soon, then let them know that they can only use one coupon at the moment and save the others for later.
  You can also let them “earn” additional coupons if they do something particularly good (for Jack, that usually means pooping in the potty). Or you may want to use it as leverage to get them to do something they are reluctant to do.

More Topics to Explore when i have time

Here are some more things that i have jotted down over the past few days...ideas that i want to write more about. I also want to create clever "headlines" for my blog entries...

• Facebook-real friends, TOO many friends
• Everyone is a Loser--we've all lost something or someone
• Finding My Style
• Needing a Connection
• Prioritizing my causes
• Journey of 20 pounds
• Internet-dangerous for the curious
• Marketing me
• Everyday is a List
• Patience-learning it over the years
• Finally "listening" to my body
• White Privilege

Do I want to add old blog entries from Sparkpeople (my weight-loss journey) and from myspace?

This is ME going CRAZY-obsessed with doing brainless activities (such as this). With all these ideas i've come up with, i'll be writing a lot....well, if i find some time. Maybe i can devote a day or two to each topic, journal it, then post here what i think is relevant....

not gonna...

....let this new hobby (blogging) or any time on the p.c. take up a majority of my time. I want to be out LIVING my life, not dreaming about it or reminiscing about it.

today, we (me, Chris & kids) spent a few hours at the local nature center with Chris's mom, sister from Dallas, sister-in-law and her two boys from NYC. It was great fun hiking around and watching what interested the kids (5, 3, 3.5, and 1). I went and grabbed the lunch from the car and met back up with everyone at the lake pavillion. I got there about 15 mins before them (it takes a LONG time to get kids under 5 to walk a short way) and ate my sandwich in peace and got to sneak up (this would have been IMPOSSIBLE with the kids) on a great blue heron sitting on the bridge and got his picture before he flew off!

there's the blue heron in the left end of the bridge railing furthest away from me.

THESE are the MOST IMPORTANT things I want to be doing with my life.

I want to come here occassionally to "mind-dump" about things I'm thinking about. It is also a nice little break from the "boring" everyday things in my life...okay, to be honest this is really a way to escape and procrastinate away my time rather than clean the kitchen or do the laundry or clean the kids rooms or vacuum or dust or .... oh, the list is endless.

Officially Obsessed

Okay, this stupid blog is all i've been thinking about ever since i started it...um, only a few hours ago!

here are a few things i jotted down in the car waiting to pick up Q from school that i will write about later:

• coordinating the various sites that i visit and "report" to daily
• does reporting in to a group or site daily keep me honest (meaning, if i promise to do something publicly, will i have to follow-thru)?
• should i give fundraising advice online here (i am, well was, a CFRE, but it lapsed during my 3 year sabbatical)?
• share my poems?
• can you have different topics or sections on your blog?
• do i want to share my likes in music, books, etc (just like facebook and myspace or coordinate this somehow)?
• i want to write about how my spirit is getting stronger each time it's "broken" sort of like muscles are only built when they are damaged.
• i see blogging as the "next step" from e-mail in the way people can connect on a somewhat deeper level. i see blogging as a way for people to share what they have wanted to share but in the past (prior to the Internet) they only could share with those they were close with via talking. do we not need to actually talk anymore to get to know others deeply/intimately? and what about those who never had anyone to share with...now they do...the "anonymous" masses of the world who are reading their thoughts...

okay, this is kind of pathetic that i'm so obsessed with this "new" (for me, it's new, not new to those who've been doing it for a while) way of reaching out and communicating my thoughts and ideas....i really need to get a grip and spend more effort on my kids and my exercising.

Racing for a Cure-Oct 25th

As may already know, my good friend Maggie has breast cancer and underwent a double masectomy THIS MORNING and then 6 weeks of radiation (she has already completed a full regimen of chemo).

As I did last year, I will again accept the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Memphis-Midsouth Race for the Cure® on October 25, 2008 in the fight against breast cancer. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime and the more we raise, the more the Memphis-Midsouth Affiliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure.

Please join me in the fight by pledging in support of my participation in the Race or contributing generously to Komen Memphis-Midsouth. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities in Memphis and national breast cancer research. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below. Whatever you can give will help!

I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Every step counts!

Komen Memphis-Midsouth Race for the Cure®
P.O. Box 1000 Dept. 75
Memphis, TN 38148-0075

Click here to visit my personal page.If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:http://race.raceforthecurememphis.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1125522&pg=personal&fr_id=1080&et=gMaz_s5mjCcsZvdRvm1O5A..&s_tafId=3250

THANK YOU!

Why am I Special?

I've been writing in a journal for close to 30 years. I used to think that I would someday share my journal with my children so that they would know that I was once "walking in their shoes" or "just like them".

Now that I have a 5 year old son and a 3 year old daughter, I'm totally re-thinking this idea of sharing it with them. The early years would be okay, but all the STUPID stuff I did in college and during my early 20s....not sure I EVER want them (or anyone else) to know about that. However, I don't have to make that decision anytime soon. They won't be interested for at least 5-10 more years. So I can keep pondering the wisdom of sharing my journal with them.

In the meantime, I will share a little here...occassionally when the "spirit moves me."

To get to know me better (and just who am I speaking to? the Internet god? the Internet lurkers? will I invite people to read this?), I will share something from my newly-digital version of my journal. I guess at some point, I will want to transcribe the written journals...oh, that would be a pain. Can I cuss on this blog? b/c i certainly do in my journals....


hmmmm...i was just about to "cut n paste" and thought that maybe i should "run this by" my family....we'll be getting back to you.

in the meantime, here's something i've already "published" on myspace and facebook:

What I am trying to accomplish:

I continue to work on being a better me everyday!

There are many aspects to this:

• Starting with a "healthy and happy" ME....eating better, drinking less, exercising more, reading to expand my "horizons" and praying all the time!
• Next with a better "wife" me....having good talks and "other activities" with my hubby and doing my daily family duties (kids and house organization).
• Next with a better "mommy" me....balancing the day with a variety of activities to keep the kids happy and healthy and educated.
• Next with a better "family-member" me....regular interest in their lives and communication with my parents, bro and sisters and now SILs and BILs and parents-in-law, meeting up for family-fun, etc.
• Next with a better "friend" me....meeting up regularly for fun with friends near and far.
• Next with a better "community" me....volunteering at the church, kid's school, the food pantry and the education foundation. Also, very interested in politics and seeing that a DEMOCRAT is elected in 2008! GO OBAMA!

Because Everyone Else is Doing It

This whole blog phenom has pulled me in. I named mine "Jumpin Off the Bridge" b/c everyone else is doing it. I want to be original and maybe I have some original thoughts to share. I also want to be noticed and interesting, but I don't want my self-worth tied up into whether anyone notices or thinks I'm interesting. So really this is just for me, but if you happen by and find something interestiing, then please comment (it will give my ego a little boost)!

I just see this as a place I can "journal" publicly and share what I think might be somewhat helpful to others.