Secret Mommy-Hood Confession Saturday

I found a new favorite blog this week.  It's called All Work and No Play Makes Mommy Go Something-Something.  I stalked her blog like a psycho bitch because she's all kinds of awesome.
Anyfatalattraction, she does this thing called Secret Mommy-Hood Confessions and Lord knows I always have something to confess.  I could do this every day.  But let's just take this one day at a time, shall we?

Today's confession is this:

Anxiety makes me a bitch.  

I initially figured this out a couple of years ago.  I was cranky as hell and at the same time, I was jittery, my heart was racing, and I was shaky.  It finally dawned on me that I was bitchy because I was having severe anxiety.  I got on medication and it helped tremendously.

Several months ago (under doctor's supervision, don't preach at me) I weaned myself off of all medication. I was feeling good and wanted to give it a try.  And I did great for a while, until my life got turned upside down.  And I went to live with my Auntie and Uncle in Bel Air.
Oh wait, that was the Fresh Prince.

Anyway, recently, the old Bitch Monster started rearing her ugly head.  Again, I didn't immediately realize what was going on but after a few incidents I put 2 + 2 together and got 5.  (Math was never my strong subject.)  The way anxiety makes me feel makes me SO irritable.  And I don't like it.  I hate that something so out of my control effects my moods and my interactions.  I wish I could tell myself to chill and myself would actually listen.  But it just doesn't work that way.  Myself has a mind of her own.  Myself stresses and worries and kicks herself up into a tizzy.  A bitchy little tizzy!

So I'm going to take care of it.  I'm going to tame the Bitch Monster.  Because anxiety might make me a bitch, but I won't let it make me ITS bitch!
Booyah anxiety!  What then?!

Now go visit All Work & No Play Makes Mommy Go Something Something for more confessions!

Every New Beginning - Friday Fragments

~ Have you heard the devastating news??  Next year there will be a shortage of BACON.  What is this world coming to???  Why bacon?  What did bacon do to deserve this?  Take the broccoli.  Take brussels sprouts.  Take liver and gizzards if you must have meat!  BUT LEAVE US OUR BACON!!!

~ Tonight (Thursday night) was a WONDERFUL night.  Not only did I have all 3 of my kids home, I had FOUR wonderful friends here as well as my parents.  And I cooked a DELICIOUS dinner thankyouverymuch.

~ Sometimes love comes around the corner, takes you completely by surprise, and bites you in the butt.  I'm just saying.

~ Y'all.  In case you missed it - I've been blogging for FIVE YEARS.  Impressive, no?

~I've always loved this song and it has special meaning to me right now - this line - "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's END ~~~"

 

Have a reat weekend, visit Mrs 4444 - you know the drill.

Five Years.

 

 Yesterday while browsing through my reader, I noticed a post in which someone mentioned it was their Blogiversary.  I thought to myself, ya know, I think mine is coming up sometime soon.  So I decided to check....and it was YESTERDAY.  As in, the day I checked WAS my Blogiversary!  Yesterday was five years since the day I published my very first blog post.
How weird is that?!  I wanted to post right away, but I'd already blogged yesterday and too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing.  Like Mexican food, for example.

Anyway.
I have been blogging for FIVE years.  I have published 933 posts.  That's a lot of silliness, a lot of journaling, and a lot of pouring out my soul in this, my little space in the world wide web.  So much has changed in those five years that it's mind-boggling.

I have shared a lot here.  Maybe sometimes too much.  On the flip side, there is a lot that I haven't shared here, and maybe never will.  And that's okay too.  This space is mine.  What I do with it is up to me.

I love to write.  I wish I could devote more time to writing.  I've posted a lot of stuff that was just journaling, listing what we did that weekend or what was going on in our lives.  I've done a lot of fun, silly memes and hops.  But I've done some real writing here, and I'm proud of that.

I've made some wonderful friends.  Some that I met early on and am still friends with, some who drifted off throughout the years.  Some who I miss and wonder what is going on in their lives now.  Some who I've met in real life, some who I very much want to.  Some who have been there for me in some dark times, and whom I love even though I've never actually seen them in person.  I talk about them to other people and refer to them as "my friend in California" or "my friend in Texas".  Because they are my friends, true friends.  It's crazy to know that someone in Canada is thinking of you and wishing you well.  But it's true and it's real, and it's all because of blogging.

I must say, the blogger that has impacted me the most is Hallie from Wonderful World of Wieners.  She lost her beloved son CJ, and I honestly don't think a day goes by that I don't think of both her and CJ.  I hurt for her, I worry about her, I think of her, and I remember CJ.

I've drifted away from here a few times, but never really left.  I feel like I'll always need this place to express myself and I hope I always have it.
I've never been to a conference.  I rarely log on to Twitter.  (I do love me some Pinterest though - hit me up!)  I rarely check my stats and don't really get SEO and branding and all of that stuff.  But I'm still proud of my little spot in the interwebz.

Thank you for coming by!  Here's to five MORE years.

Photo by Shelbie

Fall Good Times

photo courtesy of Elayna & Picmonkey

We had SUCH a good weekend.  Nothing spectacular, just FUN.
And yeah, I understand that it's Fall where you are.  We LOVE Fall here too.  In theory.  In reality, around these parts, Fall happens for about 5 minutes in October.  So we're still enjoying lovely warm temperatures down here!

{Layna kidnapped my phone and took a bunch of pictures - mostly self-portraits.  

So this post is dedicated to Elayna!}

Friday night we had movie night at home.

Saturday we watched the Gator game (we WON!  Go Gators!!), swam, and ate BBQ with some friends.

On Sunday, we went to another friend's house and hung out at the lake, laughed our butts off, and ate bacon-wrapped venison cooked on the grill.  Amazing.

{She is looking SO grown up.  *sniff, sniff*}

idk what's going on with my hair here.
it has a mind of its own. 

Mostly we laughed & laughed & laughed.  One of the funniest moments of the weekend:

The girls are sitting in the back of the truck.  They're playing punch-buggy and "banana", which is where you punch the other player if you see a yellow vehicle.  (I'm convinced these games were created by sadistic siblings.)
So at one point Elayna says "Do school buses count?"
And I said:
"If so, I'll drive by the School Board bus yard and y'all can beat the CRAP out of each other!"

Good times!  Hope y'all had a good weekend too.

"You better REDNECK-OGNIZE!!"

It's Where the Heart is. Also, the dog hair.

This week's listicles theme was 10 THINGS IN MY HOME.

My list is going to be all kinds of random, because random is pretty much my middle name.

1. Candles.  My home is always filled with candles, no matter where I live.  I love for my home to smell good and I love the warm feeling candles provide.

2. A dishwasher. And this makes me VERY happy.  Haven't had one in years!

3. Dog hair.  OMG, dog hair.  I could sweep and mop 24/7 and never be done.

4. Laughter.  So much laughter!

5. Love.  Lots of that too.  Unconditional.

6. Friends. I am continually amazed by my wonderful and supportive friends.  I love having them in my home.

7. Laundry.  It's a neverending battle.  At least it smells good (see #1 lol)

8. Food. I have been cooking some DEEEEELICIOUS meals lately.  And I plan on cooking another one tonight!

9. Music.  I can't deal with silence (or loud noise - I know, I'm a pain in the ass).  If I'm not watching something on tv, I need noise, and that comes in the form of music.  I love it, it keeps me going.  Cooking, cleaning, even sleeping - there's always background music.

10. Comfort.  We can be ourselves.  Goofy, bitchy, crabby, silly, whatever mood strikes us.  We don't have to impress anyone.  Because of #5.

Visit Northwest Mommy to join the Listicle fun!

Happy Fragments

Well hello, my dears!  It's been an exhausting week.  I'm not sure why, really, but it has.
I've had some good things happen this week though.  And I thought I'd share that with you - in Fragment form of course!

~ I received an offer from two amazing friends this week that has me amazed and overwhelmed with gratitude.  It's always good to be reminded that there are wonderful people out there who truly care about me.
Hopefully I will post more about this in the near future.

~ I have a job interview next week.  It would be a very-part-time job to begin with but could lead to more.  I am not leaving my current job at this time - this would be to supplement that (at least to start off with).  It's a second interview, I already made it past the phone interview.  Fingers crossed!

Me & Elayna 

~ The girls & I went to Wendy's for dinner last night and played the goofy Where's Waldo game.  It was surprisingly HILARIOUS and we had a blast!  You have to ask questions and guess what the picture is on the card on the glasses you're wearing.  Hilarity insued!  Also, a man walked in, took one look at me and burst out laughing.  Glad I could make his day!

~ And I was reminded of this:

Have a good weekend, y'all!  

Where Were YOU?

I don't know what it is about sharing where we were, and what we were doing, during the time of a major event.  It seems to provide a connection, and take us back to that moment.

The morning of September 11th, 2001 started out just like any other morning for me.  I took my oldest two children to school, and then went home with my baby, Elayna.  She was seven months old.  I was probably feeding her breakfast; the details of the day didn't take on that odd clarity until later in the morning.
I was watching Good Morning America when Diane Sawyer reported that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  Like most of America, I thought and hoped that it was a crazy accident.  I continued watching GMA and listened to the reports of what was going on.  And as I watched the live coverage going on behind Diane Sawyer, I watched along with so many Americans as a second plane struck the World Trade Center.  That's when I knew, and so many others, that this was not an accident.  I remember thinking, We're being attacked.  

I was terrified.  I had little kids and our country was under attack.  It was the scariest thing I could have imagined.  A few minutes later my phone rang.  It was my Mom, just asking what I was up to.  She worked at an elementary school, and nobody there had any idea what was going on.  I said, "Mom, our country is being attacked by terrorists.  Turn on a TV - NOW."  She worked in the Media Center.  They turned on the TVs and that's how her whole school found out about the attack.

Then it was my best friend calling a few minutes later - again, with the typical "how's your morning going?" questions.  "Danielle, have you turned on your TV yet?"  She said no....I told her to turn it on.  And yet another life changed forever.

The next few days I just remember staying glued to the TV and crying.  I had three small kids and our world was forever changed.  And the stories.....stories of missing children, mothers, fathers....it was overwhelming. I still remember a mother and daughter being interviewed about the missing father, and he literally walked up during the interview.  I wept.

I don't know anyone personally who was lost in the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.  But this was something that touched every single American.  Even down here in Florida, our every moment was forever altered on that day.

Where were you?

Turn it up Y'all!

I don't think I've ever linked up with Monday Listicles before, but when I saw the topic over at  Single Mom in the South's place, I knew I had to join in.  The topic this week is 10 Songs.  Summer is a great time for music and I love music, period.

So here I go....

#1 - This song is FANTASTIC.  In fact, it hit #1 on the country charts this week!  Which makes it Little Big Town's first number one hit.  It's the ultimate summer song.  As soon as the first notes come over the radio, we all want to get up and dance!  Love it.



#2 - This song is SEXY.  Mmmm mmm mmmm.





 #3 - This song has been on my mind a lot lately. One line in particular - "People say they wouldn't change a thing, even if they could. Oh but I would...."

 

#4 -This is my signature karaoke song. I love it, and can actually sing it without being booed off the stage. So, win/win!



 

#5 - The lyrics of this song are really perfect for where I am at in my life right now.  Every time I hear it I'm amazed.




#6 - Speaking of....my friend Jay and I both love 80's Music. We sit around and listen to 80's songs and try to remember some of the more obscure yet fabulous one-hit wonders. Because we are COOL like that. HA! Here's one I came up with the other night:

 

#7 - Who remembers this one? That high note at the end will shatter your glasses!

 

# 8 -  Just a damned good song....

.

#9 -  Flashback to middle school in 3, 2, 1.....

 

#10 - This past Friday night we went to another Free Friday concert. This one was an Eagles tribute band. We had a great time, but they didn't play one of my favorite Eagles songs - one that my kids also know very well and wanted to hear.




But they did, of course, play Hotel California, so I can't complain too much.


Hope y'all enjoyed this - I did!
Visit Northwest Mommy for more Monday Listicles posts!

 

 

PS - Some of you asked for an invitation to my private blog, but you are no-reply bloggers.  I have to have your email address in order to invite you.  So shoot me an email if you'd like an invitation.  puttingthefunindysfunctional(at)gmail(dot)com . 

PSS - There's a new post up over there.

Who Broke the Baby???

My parents were babysitting my great-niece, Hayleigh, last week so I went to see the baby visit with them.

When I walked in, she was sitting in her pack & play, happily entertaining herself.

I told Hayleigh I had to wash my hands and then I'd be back to play with her.

When I got back, this is what I found....

Who broke the baby????

I burst out laughing.  She looked broken!  I had to send the pic to my niece, her Mama.  I told her I promise I did NOT break her baby!  

Happily, she is not broken; in fact, she is working quite well!  She now sits up on her own, waves, claps, and says HI!!!  She has two teeth and is working on cutting her third.  She will be seven months old tomorrow!

I know, all of us say it all the time, but the time just flies by SO quickly.  She was born, we blinked, she's seven months old.  It just goes by too fast. 

Linking up with Parenting by Dummies & Seven Clown Circus

 for Wordful Wednesdays!

Dove Damage Therapy Conditioner: Review & Sweepstakes

I confess: I love Dove products.  

 I have used them for years, 

from the bar soaps to the deodorants 

and everything in between.

So I was excited for the opportunity to review another Dove product.

This time, it was the Dove Damage Therapy Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner.

You may notice the package is all bent out of shape.  
That's because, by the time I took the picture, we'd already used it a LOT!  

When it arrived in the mail, the first thing I did was pop the cap and smell it.  It smells wonderful.  I wish I knew how to describe it, but it's not a fruity or floral scent.  Just a very clean, soap-like aroma.  Love it!

It's a thick yet weightless formula.  I condition my hair every time I wash it because I like for my hair to feel soft and free of tangles.  This conditioner was perfect for that!

We also took it camping with us last weekend.  I liked that it was in a lightweight, portable container.  It made it really easy to toss in the caddy and bring it along.

We swam in chlorinated water and lake water, and baked in the sun.  

Our hair definitely needed repair and protection, after all of that abuse!

After my 16 year old daughter, Shelbie, used it for the first time, I asked her how she liked it.

She said that she hadn't styled her hair after using it (obviously, since we were camping), but her hair definitely felt soft and she was able to comb through it easily and had no tangles.

Our hair looked great and never had that straw-like feeling it so often gets in the summer after the typical summer activities in Florida.

Instead of the dry, rough hair we often experience at this time of the year, 

our hair was silky-smooth.  

Dove uses a patented technology to achieve this; it penetrates deep inside the hair strand, helping rebind damaged proteins.

The patented Micromoisture Serum targets damage, 

repairing the surface of hair by sealing lifted cuticles.

It's available in two daily treatment conditioners:

a nourishing oil care daily treatment conditioner as well as the intensive repair daily treatment conditioner.

There are also other formulas that I'd like to try, like the Color Repair Conditioner - 

Mama colors OFTEN to cover up the gray!

Many conditioners that I've used in the past for repair of damage and dryness left my hair greasy.  It can be hard to nourish and moisturize your hair without leaving it oily as a result.  But Dove succeeded in that area as well.  My hair is soft, smooth, silky and shiny - not weighted down with oil.  

It feels great, and I think it looks pretty good!

me & Shelbie during our camping weekend

For more information about this and other Dove hair products, visit dovehair.com.

And now - what's in it for YOU?

We wanna know - what's the most important thing you look for in a conditioner?

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

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COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt:
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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

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Remember - comments here don't count - you have to follow the links!  GOOD LUCK!