It has been a long month but, a good month - overall

It has been about a month since I last posted and it seems like 6 months have past. I am super busy with general springtime activities with the girls as well as a huge project with the League.

My sister had her beautiful baby boy, Tate Austin. The girls and I get to care for him every once in a while. It is so nice to love on a baby for a little while and then pass him back to his mom.

I had a wreck 2 months ago as I was pulling out of a parallel parking space while volunteering for Mobile Loaves and Fishes. My mistake. I was looking to make sure the delivery truck was out of the way on my right and did not see the honda coming up on my left.

Sarah and I have really enjoyed volunteering for Mobile Loaves and Fishes. It makes you so thankful for every little thing you have and the ability and freedom to go get what you need when you need it. There are times that we do not have cash on hand but, being poor is another thing altogether.

The League will be starting a new project in the Fall for our incoming provisionals. We will be providing Baty Elementary (which has 94% of its children on free or reduced lunch approx. 740 children) with backpacks of food for the weekends. Studies show that test scores and attendance are low on Mondays since children have not had proper nutrition over the weekend. My job for the year is to help schedule the girls working on the project but, I cannot wait to take my girls to help pack the food and deliver it to the children. Hunger is a huge issue in the world but, it also affects people close to us - people in our city, maybe even our neighborhood. I look forward to being part of this amazing new project.

I had a lovely mother's day. I threw a brunch honoring my sister on her first mother's day and invited both mo mom and her mom-in-law. It was nice to celebrate with all of the immediate mother's in my life. Chris and the girls bought me flowers and chocolates and he wrote me his annual mother's day letter which is better than any gift. All of it made me feel very special.

A mom kicking her kids out of the car

I was just watching the Today Show and saw a story on a mom that was arrested after she told her girls to get out of her car because they would not stop fighting. They were 3 miles from home and the oldest girl was 12 and ran after the car and was allowed back in. The 10 year old was left at a busy intersection. A good samaritan took her to get ice cream and then too her to the police station. In the meantime, the mother had called and reported the girl missing to police. At that time, they reoprted that the girl was in police custody. When she arrived at the station the arrested her.

There were 2 moms on along with Meredith Viera on the show. One was a psychologist and the other was the owner of momlogic.com. They all said that they saw that the rage and mistake she made by putting the kids in harms way. I can't help but, understand where the mom was coming from and say that I may have done the exact same thing. Interesting how it is easy to judge someone else in this situation but, it is easy for me to see myself in her and realize that it could have been me.

Sometimes, as parents, we need to put ourselves in time out. I will have to remember her and remind myself to act in the best interest of my girls even if I do want to kill them sometimes.

BFF

I had the greatest time this weekend with my best friend forever, Daylon. I got the chance to go to his beautiful house in Houston and spend the weekend doing absolutely nothing. It was great to kick back, talk, go for a walk, and eat at some great places.

We have been friends for 20 years (more than 1/2 of our lives). Alot has changed in that time but, our friendship has stayed the same. I do not get to see him often but, when I do our conversations carry on like the last time we saw each other.

He is a treasured friend and I am so glad to have him in my life.

Yippee for me - I can run a mile

I hate running and all forms of exercise unless it includes playing soccer with hot guys or running next to hot guys on the track around Lady Bird Lake. In spite of my opinion of exercise, I started running and doing an exercise class this year. I have to do it with the girls in tow so, I am always pushing them in my jogging stroller. I had not attempted to run without them in many years and for the first time in many, many years was able to complete an entire mile without stopping and feeling like I was going to die.

I think back to all of the soccer I used to play and think that 1 measly mile is really lame but, it is a start. It takes me 14 minutes to do it but, I have to start somewhere. I have now done the mile lap in my neighborhood twice and will be back to doing it with the kids this week. My next goal is to do the lap in my neighborhood with the kids in tow without stopping. The added 75 lbs. will be a challenge but, I will try to do it in the next couple of weeks.

How I conquered daylight savings time

I have always hated springing forward for daylight savings time because my sleep and my kids sleep gets all messed up. Up until this year, my children have wanted to go to sleep later and get up earlier. Less sleep is not good for me or my kids.

This year I stuck to my guns and for the 4 days before the time change moved back their bedtime 15 per night. By Saturday night they were going to bed an hour earlier and the time change was a snap.

I had heard of other moms doing this in the past but, I had not attempted it myself. This week has been very smooth as far as the sleep transition goes. I will have to remember to do it next year.

Capital V Connection is Great for Volvo Maintenance

Robert Mendoza at Capital V Connection in South Austin has made the maintenance on my Volvo so easy. He drives me back to my house while he is working on the car and then picks me up when it is done. No swapping carseats - Yippee! He has 20 years experience working on Volvos and charges way less than the dealership. 441-1334 http://www.capitalvconnection.com/

HEB Rocks!

I went grocery shopping this morning and saved a bundle at HEB with their in store coupons combined with coupons from the paper. I saved $25. Other grocery stores try to beat HEB's prices on advertised items but, HEB has great deals on most items on my list. I love the Hill Country Fare brand or HEB's brand if I can get it. In this economy it is easier to feed my family with their help.