Tripping

Have you ever noticed that if you are with certain friends and they trip or fall you might say, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"  But then you might be with a different friend who trips and falls and you laugh hysterically?  Why is this? I know exactly why.  It's because some of us are trippers and others never do that sort of thing except on a rare occasion.  I am a big tripper.  Anybody that knows me and who is with me when I fall up the curb or over my own feet instantly starts laughing - it doesn't really matter if I am hurt or not.  There are no surprises in the fall itself, just the laugh when they realize I did it again.  Two out of four of my kids are the exact same way - yes, they are blond like me, but then again so are my two kids who are not trippers.  One of my daughters was on crutches last year for falling up the stairs at school!  My other daughter falls down the stairs so often that we just smile and continue whatever it was we were doing before we heard the thud thud thud.  Trippers don't have difficulty walking - they just trip - often - and in the most embarrassing places.  This is a life long condition - it starts young and doesn't improve with age and evidently is hereditary.  I remember my parents continually wondering how I could dance gracefully at every dance recital but then was a never ending klutz upon walking.  Trippers have other symptoms.  We are also spillers.  Trippers/spillers should never wear white.  We do anyway because we always think that we will be careful on those days but it never fails, we spill or stand too close to something and get dirt or something on ourselves.  Again, people laugh.  Someone else might have a stain and people offer to loan them their jacket, but spillers and trippers are pretty much expected to have something on them.  Occasionally something really unfortunate occurs and we are carrying something and we consecutively trip and then spill.  This is especially unfortunate when we spill on someone else.  I remember spilling on my prom date my senior year at dinner - luckily it was just water.  Actually people don't get too annoyed with trippers/spillers.  They usually provide the entertainment.  When I reevaluate the reasons my fellow trippers/spillers and I trip and spill I think it's because we are people who are always in a hurry.  We have a lot of energy and get excited to get somewhere and are more focused on where we are headed than the manner in which we are walking or the things that are in the way or the manner in which we are drinking or eating.  Remember, after we have been outed, tripping and spilling is expected of us so it's just another way we can entertain others and provide them with a moment of laughter.  As far as any self-help suggestions for trippers and spillers, there are none.  I could tell you to slow down and to be careful but that doesn't usually stick.  What I can tell you is to look at the bright side and be proud to be a tripper/spiller.  Not everyone can be so predictable and entertaining at the same time.

Plan ahead, avoid cookbooks and thimbles

I collect recipe books like some people collect thimbles. Does anybody really collect thimbles or is it just an easy trinket to sell in airport gift shops? I've seen shot glass collections, plate collections, but never a thimble collection.  Anyway, I love me some cookbooks.  I buy them way too often.  I love to look at all the different creations I could make if I spent the time.  In all actuality I would say I probably only really make three recipes out of every cookbook I buy.  As usual, my intentions are better than my actions.  Allrecipes.com is the best way to go.  It's free, it doesn't require storage in the kitchen cupboards that you are about out of, and you can find about any recipe you ever wished for.  I like that I can use my iPhone to browse Allrecipes.com and find a recipe when I have free time during the day.  Today I browsed Allrecipes.com  to come up with a menu for the week. I'm substitute teaching quite a few times this week and I have a habit of picking up take-out for my family after a long day of teaching, and spending almost half of what I made that day on dinner! Most women would agree that making dinner is not a problem, but deciding what to make is the problem! Then once you decide what to make you usually don't have the necessary ingredients. My Grandma Fraser used to say that you should have your dinner planned (and even started if possible) by 10 a.m. every morning.  This week I'm following her cue! Chicken enchiladas, spaghetti, French dip sandwiches, taco salad and leftovers are what I'm preparing this week. I truly believe if I follow this menu plan for the week I will save myself significant time, money and stress.  I'll let you know if I break down and hit Subway after one of my teaching days!  Now I'm off to turn the pages of my new cookbook with my new Nevada thimble...

I'm in the naked dream!

You've all had the dream.  You are out in public.....naked!  You wake up and are so glad it was just a dream.  I'm sure the dream analysts all explain your subconscious is feeling exposed to something.  Well two days ago my 17 year old asked me if she could use her flat iron on my hair and I showered and let her do my hair.  It was great not having to worry about doing it myself.  I rushed my ten year old to her basketball game where I stood with a crowd of parents waiting for the gym doors to open.  I then remembered I was naked.........well I was fully clothed but I didn't have a lick of makeup on.  Now I'm no Tammy Faye Baker who puts tons of make up on to disguise what they really look like underneath but I always make sure I at least put on mascara!  The years have not been kind to my eyelashes and I prefer to look like I actually have some.  So as I'm standing naked (make-up-less) in the fluorescent lighting of the large gym, running into every parent I know, I felt completely exposed.  I thought about putting my hood up on my sweatshirt - but that would just make me look like an eyelash-less gangster mom.  Maybe I could find a sharpie in my purse and I could just permanently color my eyelashes black - but I'm sure if that would work, somebody would have thought of that by now.  I looked around to see if I was the only one without eyelashes and sure enough, everyone I looked at actually had visible ones.  I was suddenly mad at men!   How dare they get to go completely exposed  out in public each day without a worry about the coloring of their face.  It's cruel.  So the good thing about the evening was that nobody said anything to me at the game, ooh, now that I think about it, maybe they didn't recognize me.  Anyway, this blog is supposed to be about getting it together.  I did learn a very important lesson from this........................always, always, always carry a tube of mascara in your purse and an extra outfit in your dreams.

The Green Monster Drink

I'm a huge fan of Pinterest.  Once I was introduced to it I couldn't stop looking at it.  So many different quotes, recipes, home ideas, etc.  Rather than re-pin things I usually save the images in my photos and then obnoxiously send them to people who might enjoy it.  My kids are probably very tired of receiving the funny or sentimental pictures I send them.  One of the pinterest pictures I keep seeing over and over again was the "green monster drink".  It's a smoothie that is pea green!  It's made up of frozen banana slices, greek yogurt, almond milk, peanut butter and spinach leaves.  Everyone swears it fills you up and doesn't taste at all like spinach, in fact, people say its very yummy.  Well I broke down and tried it!  It was a little weird but it was definitely filling and pretty good.  So then I did one of my weird, spontaneous committments like I always do - kind of like decide one day to write a blog or buy a dog - and I decided I would drink one of these every night in place of dinner.  Why not? It's low in calories, high in fiber and protein and vitamins and it's filling.  Wow!  I'm going to lose the weight I keep threatening to lose!  I made a decision to try blueberries and strawberries in lieu of the peanut butter.  Wow again!  This is gonna be great.  Two hours after I digested my drink I was starving and my daughter and I drove through Taco Bell and I ate two soft tacos.  Maybe I'll try adding a taco to the shake!



1 frozen sliced banana
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)
4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Nutritional stats:
350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein

Source:  A pin on Pinterest

Never say never

I would never write a blog! How self indulgent! It's like a facebook post with no word limit. It's like thinking people would want to read your journal. Well I'm one of those people who uses the "n" word ( the word is Never) only to jinx myself and have karma bite me in the ass and make me end up doing the exact thing I said I would never do. I used to be more judgmental and critique peoples parenting skills. Then I had four kids of my own and did all the same things I swear I'd never do. I let the kids have pacifiers, sleep in our bed, get cell phones and laptops and have even paid them to score soccer goals. My life long goal has always been to get my act together and it's never seemed to work out as I had planned. Be a better mother, a better wife, a better housekeeper, a better Christan, a better friend, be thinner, be more fit, be better at correspondence, volunteer more, start a business, be a better saver! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete loser. I just always want to be better. I realize Nike says to "just do it" and I may write down that motto and intend to just do it, but then I think, maybe tomorrow, maybe after a nap, or after my DVR'd episode of Grey's Anatomy. I am a firm believer that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phillipians 4:13) but I guess I don't prioritize my deadlines for my expectations to be met and sometimes I convince myself that God wants me to sit on the couch and watch tv. Through this blog I am going to record my journey of taking baby steps (most likely forward and backward) to actually accomplishing the tasks I set out to achieve. I'm also going to work on not being so disappointed in myself for not being the person I long to be but instead I want to be positive about my efforts and grow from the journey of self discovery. I'd love to have fellow troops along the way if you'd like to join me in my journey. As I attempt to get it together I hope you will be getting it together too. And if you already have it together feel free to give me any tips or the link to your blog! Fondly, Shelly Costello