You're Up then You're Down

My name is Janelle, and I love to eat.

So I’ve gained some weight.
I’ve blamed my past surgery- it must be hormonal I say.

I also try to convince myself that I don’t care,

I’m happy with the way I am, I think to myself.
But when clothes are no longer fitting properly

and my muffin top has now become a cupcake with extra topping

I realize that I’m kidding yourself.

I try eating right again.

Getting on the treadmill a few days a week.

How to Love

We were having dinner at a local Mexican cantina that we found The Boy, Teen 2, hubby, and I.

The Boy is a restless eater.
He can never sit still.
At home, he leans back on the chairs lays down,
rolls around in the chairs
slips out from under the dining table to fetch a glass of this or that

At the restaurant, he finishes a portion of his taco plate
stands up and makes his way over to me

I look at his little face thats growing and changing
I stare into his warewolf eyeballs that change colors
I admire the little freckles across the bridge of his nose and upper cheeks

I look at his face, pull him in close to me and say "I love you son"
He looks at me, smiles, then turns away.

Son, I love you. I repeat.
He gives me that one raised eyebrow crooked face.

Tell me, you love me. I plea.
I look at his dad with that "you better make him tell me he loves me" face.
Hubby nudges the boy, tell your mom. iloveyou.

he quickly says without looking at me.
Sheesh, who taught you how to love, your dad? I ask.
With a straight face, he looks at me and replies- Little Wayne.

The Kitchen Table

is where our meals are served

is where we gather every night

is where we discuss our day

is where we delegate chores

is where discussions get heated

is where we pout

is where we laugh

is where we cry

is where we make up stories

is where we tell our story to be heard

is where the boy irritates his sissies

is where the pre-teen is reminded everyday to use her fork, not her fingers

is where they roll their eyes

is where the fruit bowl sits

is where we share ice cream, smoothies, and pie

is where mom tries to convince someone, anyone to play dominoes

is where we drink

is where we eat

is where we sit

is sometimes quiet

is more often loud


The kitchen table…

it’s small and intimate for our party of 5

it’s large and accommodating on a moments notice

it’s where we laugh

it’s where fights are made

it’s where fights are made up

it's where we realize we're loved


www.daysoffivelives.blogspot.com

Dinner...again?

The boy is a sugar freak!
I think he dreams about his juice, candy, gum, ice cream.

He loves it!

He gets that from his Daddy.

Hubby picked up the boy from school a couple days ago and took him to the grocery store. When they arrived home, the boy was just ecstatic because his daddy bought him Bubble Tape.

Yes, 3 feet of ooey, gooey, sugar goodness!

(I'll admit, I'm not a perfect Mom, I give in, he does eat sugar and processed food sometimes. He's #3, I'm too tired to argue! He'll be ok, really)

So night #1 hubby tells the boy, you can have a piece of gum AFTER you finish all your dinner.

He complies.

However on morning #2, as soon as Daddy leaves for work, he pops another piece in his mouth. I told him to spit it out and brush his teeth, at least eat a processed waffle with some syrup first!

As dinner rolls around, the boy has his piece of gum prepared. It's sitting on his dinner plate so that he can enjoy it after he finishes all his food.

What was that?! Daddy heard you had a piece of gum in the morning??!!

Oh no Son, sorry, no gum for you tonight!

Oh, the torture. He was devastated.

Move on to night #3, as we're driving home from pre-school the boy asks if he can have a piece of gum tonight.

After dinner son, I reply.

D I N N E R??!!!

(with the most perplexed look of disappointment on his face)

A G A I N??!!

Why do we always have dinner??!!

I couldn't help but laugh.

Sorry, Son, you're gonna have dinner every night for the rest of your life.

Dinner was great!

and even more fantastic because the Teenager cooked a whole chicken all by herself!

And this was probably the look she had on her face when she read the directions via text message. Mixed with that look my lil' sis is giving in the background!

I'm so proud of you girl, Mom's never even done it! Thanks for your help.

Here's a copy of the recipe, fairly simple, and delicious! (you probably shouldn't make it on the hottest night of the year like I, ahem, I mean she did!)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Juicy-Roasted-Chicken/Detail.aspxINGREDIENTS
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
1/2 cup margarine, divided
1 stalk celery, leaves removed

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy your dinner!

Insomniac Hour

Have you ever have one of those nights that you feel so tired

you've worked all day

made dinner (or picked up some El Pollo Loco)

washed dishes

put the kids to bed

picked up arond the house some more

you just can't possibly keep your eyes open a minute longer

can't possibly fold that last load of laundry that's calling your name cause you'll be looking for those socks in the morning

you stumble to bed

and as soon as your head hits the pillow

You're W I D E awake!!

Last night was one of those nights

I hate those nights!

Alot of the times it's usually me waking up in the middle of the night

because I've forgotten to put the "sleep" timer on the tv

I wake up to the rumbling laugh of the audience on the David Letterman Show

or even worse Late night with Craig Ferguson, I find him so funny that I begin to laugh along

I know what you're thinking, the same thing my hubby thinks

Turn off the tv before you fall asleep

Well I simply can't!

The tv is the only way that I can get my brain turned off long enough to fall asleep

I'm usually asleep before the opening credits roll on movies

before House's case is presented to him

or right before they're about to break the case on Dateline...ugghh!!

Once I'm up

I'm up

and I get stuck in marathons of Intervention

For some odd reason

my brain will not turn off when I'm watching the most depressing things

I will wake up at 1am and watch reruns of Intervention til 4am,

knowing darn well that I need to be at 6am for work

My brain will not shut off!

I will lie awake getting pulled into their story

feeling the pain of the family

and crying tears as the intervention begins

Last night I was pulled into All the Pretty Horses

An older movie

a slow movie

a cowboy movie

a story of friends

a story of love

a story of the pain

I think I may have laughed once

depressing, I tell ya'

but there I was sucked in again

It was actually a pretty good movie

such a love story

I can be such a hopeless romantic sometimes...

but I was sucked in and watched it from beginning to end

without dozing off once!

Part of my problem was my stomach has been bothering me the past few nights

The boy and hubby were passed out in our bed

So around midnight, I moved the boy into his room

Was irritated hubby was fast asleep

while I was clearly wide awake!

So I proceeded to turn the fan on and off, on and off, trying to figure it out

Pretty loudly opened the front door

(not on purpose of course!)

unlock, unlock, opened the paint stuck by the heat of the night door

(which is right by our room)

Not a rumble or even a look from the room

unlock, unlock open the screen door

Nothing again

Run out to my car

get some medicine

Close the door

lock, lock

Nothing!!

Doesn't he know I'm wide awake??!!

Then I have to realize he's been working a crazy full schedule

helping my brother with home renovations all weekend

he deserves to be tired

but hey, I'm a woman,

I'm moody

I'm tired

I'm probably hungry

so I'm irritated!

Then I do the just before bed routine of brushing teeth, washing my face

and

I think that now I may be tired enough to hit the sack

turn on the tv

and you guessed it... I was sucked in again!