Michael Phelps, the Michelle Duggar wannabe, and a few other things weighin' on my mind...

This week for Mama Kat's Thursday Writer's Workshop, I could have written a poem, told you about a talent I have, shared a lie I told, or - OR - I could choose to do one of my most favorite hobbies - write a list. The list must be made up of ten things that were on my mind this week. That shouldn't be a problem, since the wheels are always turning up in this noggin. So, let's get on with the list, shall we?

Ok.

1. Michael Phelps. What the hell, Michael Phelps? You let someone take a picture of you smoking pot? Your a friggin' celebrity, dude. Have you not heard about Paris Hilton's little snafu? And now you're trying to pass this off as a youthful mistake? You used up your stupid youthful mistakes quota when you got your DUI at age 19. Knock it off, dude. Like you NEED something to give you more of the munchies - you already eat 80 bajillion calories a day and have zero percent body fat (for that I hate you, by the way). Quit being such a cotton-headed ninny muggins, you stupid fool.

2. The lady who had 8 babies at once. Ok, so at first I heard the story and I was all, "WOW. That's so amazing - the babies were all born healthy! What fantastic news - this is such a miracle." Yadda, yadda, yadda. Then I find out she already HAD 6 kids and now she's asking for $2 million before she'll give any interviews and such. Father of the babies - not involved, apparently. Two words, people: NUT CASE. Why are such stupid people allowed to keep having babies? She's on the fast track for the Michelle Duggar plan, I guess...

3. It's great to be done nursing, but I forgot about the fact that I no longer burn 500 - 1,000 calories a day for being a dairy cow. Dammit. My pants are starting to be too tight. Now I actually have to do workouts that make me sweat. Someone pass me a tissue, I'm about to cry...

4. I've been a little nervous that maybe Kaylee will start to walk soon. She is now pulling herself up to a standing position like it's nobody's business. And she crawls faster than her little legs can keep up with sometimes. I think it's only a matter of time until she discovers that there's an even faster way to move. Well, tonight I find out that my husband and his sister each walked at 9 months old. Now, what has become a nagging thought in the back of my mind for the past week has become a potential case of severe heartburn. For Pete's Sake, I'm still trying to child proof my house appropriately for a crawler. God help me, but I'm going to push the kid down (ever so gently) when she stands without support. I will do it. And you will not stop me.

5. What the FRICK is up with all these "tell us 25 things about yourself" facebook tags? Holy jeepers, people. I think I've received 875,326 requests to tell you 25 random things about myself. Everyone and their brother is doing this (well, except me, and my brother now that I think of it - I don't think he's done it...). And I'm not. So keep sending me your requests all you want, but I'm not doing it. Even if a teeny weeny part of myself wants to do it, just because...

6. I continue to think about my decision to stop breastfeeding Kaylee, and I continue to have more confidence that I made the right choice. At the same time, I was a little overwhelmed with all the comments that other women had in response to my post about being done. Holy crap, people. Every comment talked about a struggle with breast feeding in one way or the other. Never in one place have I read so many open and honest struggles with the issue. It has really got me thinking, and in fact - I've gotten a little upset that the issue of breastfeeding induces so much guilt among mothers. Guilt that they don't breastfeed. Guilt that they DID breastfeed, but not long enough. Guilt that they could breastfeed one child and not the other. Promoting breastfeeding is a great and all, but it's become a bit more clear to me that SOMEONE had better start sending out the message that if you don't breastfeed you're not a bad mother, and that if you don't have problems along the way, well then - guess what? You're in the frickin' MINORITY, people. *stepping off that soapbox*

7. I've had the chance to have a few consecutive days off of work, and I'm realizing that I'm beginning to feel more confident and comfortable in my role as a mother. I'm starting to loosen up a bit. I don't worry quite as much about if I'm doing things the right way. I'm having more FUN, and I'm not taking myself so seriously or being as hard on myself. Most of the time.

8. Money. This always seems to be on my mind these days. Whether it's trying to balance the checkbook, pay the bills, figure out new ways to save, clipping coupons, or worrying about not having enough days of work this month, it's always there - always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I wish that it weren't an issue - that it was not something that caused me stress. But, if I had so much money that I wasn't stressed out about money, I think I'd have a whole nother set of issues, and frankly - I think I'd rather worry about not having enough.

9. I've also been wishing that I had more time to catch up on all the shows I have DVR'd. I love that stinkin' machine - I just wish I wasn't so far behind on my shows. And I wish I had a pair of 3-D glasses so I could watch Chuck. It looks funny this week if you're not wearing 3-D glasses. Anyone know where I can get a pair?

10. Ok, so remember my post about cleaning my house all day while my mom watched Kaylee? I got my kitchen, living room and dining room all cleaned? Well, we're approaching 2 weeks of keeping those rooms clean, and I'm still scratching my head about how we're managing to pull it off. I guess it's not so bad when you can just maintain it on a daily basis. I kinda feel like giving myself a quick pat on the back. But then following that pat, I feel like giving myself a swift kick in the pants because I still have 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, an office, a car, and a garage that need cleaning, too. Ahhh, cleaning, shmeaning. Always on my mind...

Monday's Confession

Here's my confession:













A few weeks ago, my boss called me and told me that I did not have to come to work on November 24th because she over-scheduled our staff. Yay, right? Sure, but it's only a "yay" if you remember to mark it down on your calendar that you, in fact, DO NOT have to come to work. Since my brain cells seem to be escaping my body at an exponential rate these days, I somehow managed to forget to make this itsy little correction to my calendar.

So, I get up, get the baby ready, get my car packed, and right before I get ready to leave, I realize I don't have the stroller in my car. Dennis still has it in his Jeep. And he's already left for work. Which, is a problem because the babysitter walks her kids to school every day and pushes Kaylee in the stroller. I call Dennis up to tell him about our little stroller situation, and lo and behold, he happens to be at the babysitter's when I call him because he realized we forgot to make the stroller switcheroo this morning, and he was there to drop it off for her. He informs me that while the babysitter is still willing to take Kaylee today, she has just informed him that I told her weeks ago that we didn't need her today after all.

CRAP.

I was just thankful that we had our little snafu with the stroller, beacuse what if I had actually shown up at the babysitter's this morning? All snazzy in my work clothes, la-dee-da, "Here's Kaylee - I sent pears and squash with her today - there's an extra bottle for you to keep at your house in case I forget to bring one like I did LAST week, your check's in the mesh zippered pocket, and oh - by the way - she's got a mean diaper rash, so be sure to put lots of the Burt's Bees on her bum today? Ok? Ok. See you after work! What? You're not supposed to be watching Kaylee today? Silly lady. I knew that. I thought I'd just get dressed up nice in my work clothes (that I ironed this morning), pack the car, rush around, and pretend to drop my child off beacuse I wanted to play a joke on you. Ha ha ha - aren't I funny? BYE!"

Wow. I can't even describe to you how much of an idiot I feel like right now.

And, one more confession, just for the heck of it. I absolutely could not say no to the dinner rolls at Texas Roadhouse on Saturday. Seriously. Have you ever had them? Warm, fresh from the oven, with that addicting cinnamony butter stuff? Uh, I lost count of how many I snarfed down. But, it was okay because I didn't eat lunch that day.

Please indulge me today. Prove to me that you, too, are a Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins and share a confession of yours from this past week. Pretty please, with sugar on top?

(Oh, and you'll definitely want to head on over to Mama's Losin' It at some point today so you can enter to win these beautimous earrings made by Jessica.)