i want to work out. i really do.
i have never felt so weak and out of shape in all my life.
i know what you're going to say. "you're so skinny, mindy...you don't need to lose weight...if anything, you could stand to gain a few pounds." i have heard this time and time again. but the point is that i feel like i couldn't run down the street if someone was chasing me with a knife. my legs start burning when i carry annslee up stairs to her bed. (yes. you heard me right. puddie girl is sleeping in her bed. no applause necessary. well....if you want to clap for her, or ME...you can.) so, i just think that it's time to do something to take back my body. i have not worked out since before i was pregnant with colton. this was going on 10 years ago. i have been through 4 pregnancies, and a total of 17 weeks of bedrest (combining aiden and annslee.) so needless to say, i'm not the picture of physically fit. i think my stomach muscles left during the last pregnancy and decided to stay gone out of fear of me doing it to them a 5th time.
the other night, over a plate of fried pickles and fries, i told my family that it was time for me to start working out. my parents started with the "you-are-too-skinny-you-need-to-eat-better-and-gain-some-weight"...but when i explained myself, my dad said 6 works that have stuck with me ever since.
"you used to be so strong."
ok. i did used to be strong. i remember playing soccer, swimming competitively, and doing hours of gymnastics every week. and i remember hearing my dad tell my mom...almost in disbelief, "she's solid as a rock."
i want that again. i want to be tough. solid. strong physically. i want to think...yeah...i could pretty much pound you to the ground if you mess with me or my kid.
chad ordered P90X the other day for him. he's gonna get strong too. i decided that i would do it with him. i watched the first dvd the other night and there were all kinds of push ups and pull ups involved. the guy (who is totally hyper and annoying and hulk like) was saying "keep good form and don't worry if you can't do 30. just do what you can." i'm thinking...yeah...so what if you can only do 1/2 of 1? then what, mr. crazy man???
i answered myself. "then do 1/2."
look out people. once i can do a whole chin-up, you're not gonna want to mess with me.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
you are not going to believe this...
this is one of those stories that you would only believe if you were actually there. and lucky me. i was.
lauren, one of chase's classmates, lives a couple of houses down from us. she has an older sister, alli. they come over to play in the backyard nearly every day after school. the other day, lauren and aiden found an orange, stray cat wandering around out front. aiden especially loves kitties, and it turned out that lauren was pretty enamoured by them as well. so, these two somehow coaxed it into our front yard and "mothered" it for a while. i would not let aiden do anything besides pet it's back. lauren, on the other hand was picking it up and trying to carry it everywhere with here. this is where i will tell you that i knew that this was not a good idea, but my gentle warnings were not really making any difference. the cat finally got tired of it and ran off. i had not thought about that cat again. until today.
all the kids were playing in out backyard this afternoon when lauren spotted the cat again. she came to me and asked if we could feed it. i told her that i didn't have any cat food and she said that she didn't either and that she only had dog food. i told her that maybe the cat would like her dog food. she ran home to get some and came back empty handed. "my mom said that i couldn't waste our dog food on a cat." i said, "ah...good point. maybe you could just give it some water." she said, "your water is closer than my water." aiden was begging me to come see the cat with her, so we all went to find him/her. colton and chad were at colt's baseball practice, so it was just me with the rest of the kids. chase, being allergic to cats and dogs sensed danger and immediately went inside. so, there we are...me holding annslee, lauren and aiden petting the cat, and alli and her friend watching, and chase standing in the dining room window peering at us over a small notebook with a pen in hand. the little girls really wanted to give the cat something to eat and kept asking what we could feed it. i asked our neighbor if the cat was theirs. he told me that it was not, but that it had come to their backdoor last night and they had given it some cat food. he said that his wife had checked it over and that it was declawed. that made me worry a little, because i knew that it could not protect itself without its claws and i started imagining it being lost and hungry. i turned around and looked at the dining room window and saw chase still standing there, shaking his head no...as if he already knew what i was thinking. alli's friend said that maybe her mom would let her keep it. so, i went and opened a can of tuna. the cat ate, and alli's friend called her mom. she told her she could keep it, but that she had to find a way to get it home. now, i am no cat expert, but i do know well enough to know not to put it in my car with my baby, my 5 yr old, my son...who is allergic, and the girl who's parents don't even know me. so, the girl asked alli if they had a leash. now, at this point, i did question the decision to put a cat on a leash, but this was her cat now and annslee was getting fussy and i needed to start dinner. alli came out with a huge dog leash and i watched as they tried to get it on the cat. i said, "so wait? are you gonna walk this cat home on a leash???" she said that she would try and if not, her mom would come get her. so i helped them get the leash on. this is where the story begins to take a nose dive. i say, "ok. this is your cat. congratulations. you are now in charge of it. i'm going in to start dinner." about 3 minutes later, the doorbell rings. aiden says it's lauren and i tell her to let her in. lauren is crying hysterically saying that the cat got away. i told her it was ok and that i was coming. i grabbed annslee and was followed outside by chase, aiden, lauren, alli, and alli's friend...the owner. that's when i am told that the cat started jumping all around and the new owner had let go of the leash. i said, "let me get this straight. there is a stray cat running around the neighborhood with a dog leash attached to it?" they said, "yes." i looked at the kids and thought, "ok...this is where i need to go get alli and lauren's mom. because, let's face it...clearly you need another adult to help in the decision making in this situation because the whole 'leash-on-a-cat' one was clearly a bad call." i recounted the story to their mom, and said that i thought a 'lost cat' sign would look pretty funny with a drawing of a cat with a leash hanging off of it and while doing so, it hit me. OH MY GOSH. IF THAT CAT TRIES TO JUMP A FENCE WITH THAT LEASH ON, IT COULD HANG ITSELF. we were standing there, trying to figure out what to do...annslee in my arms, aiden standing next to me, clearly worried and chase with his little notebook and pen while lauren, alli and the new owner were running through backyards trying to find it. that's when they ran to the front yard of the house where they last saw it and yelled, "IT'S STUCK ON A FENCE! IT'S STUCK ON A FENCE! IT'S HANGING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE AND WE CAN'T GET TO IT!" we needed to act fast...i knew that much. we got there and the girls started to run around the block to get to the other side of the fence. i said, "someone needs to climb the fence." at that point, the lady who lived there came out and went back there to help them. i kept the little ones in the front and waited. she finally came out and handed us the leash. i said, "what happened." she said, "that cat was almost dead. i had to pull it up by the leash so i could reach it and i got the leash off it's neck. it took off. i don't know what those girls were trying to do to that cat, but they had a leash around it's neck." i had the quick thought, "this could go one of two ways. i could admit my involvement in the ridiculous leash debacle, or i could just nod in agreement." i mumbled something about being glad the cat was ok and thanked her for her help and decided that she was really only on a need to know basis.
as i told this story to chad tonight after he got home from colt's practice, he laughed and asked, "what was chase writing in the notebook?" i realized i had never looked but imagined it went something like this........
lauren, one of chase's classmates, lives a couple of houses down from us. she has an older sister, alli. they come over to play in the backyard nearly every day after school. the other day, lauren and aiden found an orange, stray cat wandering around out front. aiden especially loves kitties, and it turned out that lauren was pretty enamoured by them as well. so, these two somehow coaxed it into our front yard and "mothered" it for a while. i would not let aiden do anything besides pet it's back. lauren, on the other hand was picking it up and trying to carry it everywhere with here. this is where i will tell you that i knew that this was not a good idea, but my gentle warnings were not really making any difference. the cat finally got tired of it and ran off. i had not thought about that cat again. until today.
all the kids were playing in out backyard this afternoon when lauren spotted the cat again. she came to me and asked if we could feed it. i told her that i didn't have any cat food and she said that she didn't either and that she only had dog food. i told her that maybe the cat would like her dog food. she ran home to get some and came back empty handed. "my mom said that i couldn't waste our dog food on a cat." i said, "ah...good point. maybe you could just give it some water." she said, "your water is closer than my water." aiden was begging me to come see the cat with her, so we all went to find him/her. colton and chad were at colt's baseball practice, so it was just me with the rest of the kids. chase, being allergic to cats and dogs sensed danger and immediately went inside. so, there we are...me holding annslee, lauren and aiden petting the cat, and alli and her friend watching, and chase standing in the dining room window peering at us over a small notebook with a pen in hand. the little girls really wanted to give the cat something to eat and kept asking what we could feed it. i asked our neighbor if the cat was theirs. he told me that it was not, but that it had come to their backdoor last night and they had given it some cat food. he said that his wife had checked it over and that it was declawed. that made me worry a little, because i knew that it could not protect itself without its claws and i started imagining it being lost and hungry. i turned around and looked at the dining room window and saw chase still standing there, shaking his head no...as if he already knew what i was thinking. alli's friend said that maybe her mom would let her keep it. so, i went and opened a can of tuna. the cat ate, and alli's friend called her mom. she told her she could keep it, but that she had to find a way to get it home. now, i am no cat expert, but i do know well enough to know not to put it in my car with my baby, my 5 yr old, my son...who is allergic, and the girl who's parents don't even know me. so, the girl asked alli if they had a leash. now, at this point, i did question the decision to put a cat on a leash, but this was her cat now and annslee was getting fussy and i needed to start dinner. alli came out with a huge dog leash and i watched as they tried to get it on the cat. i said, "so wait? are you gonna walk this cat home on a leash???" she said that she would try and if not, her mom would come get her. so i helped them get the leash on. this is where the story begins to take a nose dive. i say, "ok. this is your cat. congratulations. you are now in charge of it. i'm going in to start dinner." about 3 minutes later, the doorbell rings. aiden says it's lauren and i tell her to let her in. lauren is crying hysterically saying that the cat got away. i told her it was ok and that i was coming. i grabbed annslee and was followed outside by chase, aiden, lauren, alli, and alli's friend...the owner. that's when i am told that the cat started jumping all around and the new owner had let go of the leash. i said, "let me get this straight. there is a stray cat running around the neighborhood with a dog leash attached to it?" they said, "yes." i looked at the kids and thought, "ok...this is where i need to go get alli and lauren's mom. because, let's face it...clearly you need another adult to help in the decision making in this situation because the whole 'leash-on-a-cat' one was clearly a bad call." i recounted the story to their mom, and said that i thought a 'lost cat' sign would look pretty funny with a drawing of a cat with a leash hanging off of it and while doing so, it hit me. OH MY GOSH. IF THAT CAT TRIES TO JUMP A FENCE WITH THAT LEASH ON, IT COULD HANG ITSELF. we were standing there, trying to figure out what to do...annslee in my arms, aiden standing next to me, clearly worried and chase with his little notebook and pen while lauren, alli and the new owner were running through backyards trying to find it. that's when they ran to the front yard of the house where they last saw it and yelled, "IT'S STUCK ON A FENCE! IT'S STUCK ON A FENCE! IT'S HANGING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE AND WE CAN'T GET TO IT!" we needed to act fast...i knew that much. we got there and the girls started to run around the block to get to the other side of the fence. i said, "someone needs to climb the fence." at that point, the lady who lived there came out and went back there to help them. i kept the little ones in the front and waited. she finally came out and handed us the leash. i said, "what happened." she said, "that cat was almost dead. i had to pull it up by the leash so i could reach it and i got the leash off it's neck. it took off. i don't know what those girls were trying to do to that cat, but they had a leash around it's neck." i had the quick thought, "this could go one of two ways. i could admit my involvement in the ridiculous leash debacle, or i could just nod in agreement." i mumbled something about being glad the cat was ok and thanked her for her help and decided that she was really only on a need to know basis.
as i told this story to chad tonight after he got home from colt's practice, he laughed and asked, "what was chase writing in the notebook?" i realized i had never looked but imagined it went something like this........
A RECORD OF POOR DECISIONS BY MOM
by: chase clarkson
1. she let aiden pet a stray cat.
2. she fed the cat.
3. she put a leash on the cat.
4. to be continued......
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND '10
a.j. "watching" her biggest brother's baseball game
colt...watching his double come at him
colt...on the mound
mommy and her loves* after church on mother's day, we had my parents, honey, and uk over for a cookout. the boy's planned the meal, went to the grocery store, did the cooking, and the serving, and the clean-up. dad was in charge of the meat and the homemade ice cream. he brought turkey burgers and chicken to grill. kevin was in charge of the buns and the grilling. chad was in charge of the sides and he waaay out did himself. he spent the entire week researching and looking up recipes. he decided on a spinach salad with roasted walnuts and goat cheese with a homemade honey mustard dressing that was a-mazing. he also made a fruit salad with poppy seed dressing with pistachios. yum. then...his crowd pleasing mvp's were the grilled sweet potato fries with a maple syrup glaze. i gotta say...i love a man at the grill. especially when it's my man! then, the kids gave me the gift card to james avery so that i could get the 4 engravable disk charms with their names on them. per-fect. after all...i love them...i love james avery jewelry...and i love their names. it's a win-win.
* "i love my mom" an appropriate shirt for the occasion* ok. so i have to say that i usually stay away from the "mom needs a pat on the back so she puts me in these outfits that give her crazy props when i'm too young to do anything about it" clothes, however i sort of viewed this one as a holiday outfit...which is totally acceptable when used appropriately.
one of my favorite memories as a child was the homemade ice cream that my mom and dad made on our back patio in the summers. i couldn't wait for them to bust out the one we gave them for christmas this year. aiden was excited to "crank".
this is going to get blown up and framed for her room. who doesn't love a girl with a hula hoop?
4 generations of ladies...3 of them moms, 2 of them babies.
after the ice cream, and the golf tournament that was so rudely interrupting our mother's day festivities, we played a mean game of backyard wiffleball. it was colt, me, grandaddy, and aiden against chase, u.k., and chad. i'm somewhat ashamed to say the we got schooled. i do have an excuse though. i was so tired from all the eating and sitting around that i wasn't quite myself. chase and aiden, on the other hand, were surprising us all by whacking the ball every time. chad was struck out by colton and obviously blamed the "ball" that he swung at, but eventually hit a home run redeeming himself. dad had a great hit, but somehow managed to trip on his way to home...kind of falling into home plate. i asked him what he tripped over, and he pointed and laughed, "that blade of grass," and then mumbled something about being sore in the morning. (i had "master's pine straw" flashbacks where he and i both face planted trying to get up the hill after the par 3 tournament.) u.k. out shined us all, but did get out at 1st after a diving "peg" from dad that he unsuccessfully tried to hurdle. eventually, colton had enough of us losing, and thus declared that it was my fault because i wasn't playing well today and that i stunk. that was super thrilling and pretty much ended the game. he did apologize later and kiss my forehead like the oldest son that he is...turning my frown upside down. i did stink at wiffle ball today...and didn't get the hits that colton was used to me getting. but give a girl a break. i didn't have to cook or serve........i was all out of wack!
Friday, May 07, 2010
ONE FIELD DAY DOWN..........
we came out to watch chase...the man of the hour.
my littlest boy
all my boys
a.j.*aiden was at granna's making chocolate covered strawberries for all of us. don't worry...she didn't feel left out. she's been through this drill before. she decided it was annslee's turn to represent the sisters!
..........AND ONE TO GO.
Monday, May 03, 2010
chase strikes again
i don't think i can adequately explain to you how sweet chase really is. i mean, he is not unlike most kids and does have his moments...but they are few and far between. tonight, i went from room to room, kissing foreheads and snuggling faces and whispering secrets. when i got to chase's doorway, i didn't see him in his bed. the reason for that??? he was hiding behind his door, waiting to scare me. it was me who ended up scaring him when i poked my head around the door. he jumped and then giggled...showing me those famous dimples. he ran and got in bed and then i had the bright idea to run and jump on top of him. only, this did not go as planned...due to him putting his knees up. my throat landed on his knees and i landed in a heap on top of him, grabbing my throat, saying "owww...owww...owww"...through laughter. (you know...when you still laugh, even though something hurts really bad?) he giggled too, but was so naturally sweet. he said calmly and almost like a parent, "are you alright?" i said, "that hurt." he said, "i know it did." then he said, "i'm sorry." and kissed my forehead and said, "i know that hurt."
his sweetness overwhelmed me. and my throat.
after a little while of giggling and talking, we had this conversation:
me: do you want to go swimming this weekend?
chase (very excited): in the big pool?!?!
me (eyes wide and smiling): YES!!!!
chase: no. never.
me (confused look and exaggerated): whhhhyyyy?
*when i said why, a little spit flew in his eye.
chase (grabbing his eye and laughing): you just said why in my eye!
both of us collapsed into a heap of hugs and laughed. and then we said goodnight.
**reminder and note to myself...don't rush bedtime. it's going to be some of your favorite memories.**
his sweetness overwhelmed me. and my throat.
after a little while of giggling and talking, we had this conversation:
me: do you want to go swimming this weekend?
chase (very excited): in the big pool?!?!
me (eyes wide and smiling): YES!!!!
chase: no. never.
me (confused look and exaggerated): whhhhyyyy?
*when i said why, a little spit flew in his eye.
chase (grabbing his eye and laughing): you just said why in my eye!
both of us collapsed into a heap of hugs and laughed. and then we said goodnight.
**reminder and note to myself...don't rush bedtime. it's going to be some of your favorite memories.**
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