This Girl.

Tink.

She’s all girly. As much as I try to make sure she has a bit of tomboy in her. She pushes for her skirts, accessories and more pink then I can handle.

 

I love her for her sassiness, for her quiet serious self. For her love of books, and learning. When she needs to get her Secret Reader and write and draw all about her day. (I’ve got to say thanks to Judy B. Jones books for that one)

She’s silly, goofy, and so many parts me. She’s not shy, she’s brave, she’s willing to take chances and put herself out there.

I’ve got to say she’s got her moments, where she retreats, keeps things to herself, and enjoys her alone time, like her dad, Blue does.

I love to watch her. To see what moment she’s like me, what moment she’s like Blue. And what moments she’s ALL Mia.

At 6 1/2 she’s getting SO big, so independent, and very much her own self. Being on the journey of being a parent is a.maz.ing. Thanks my Meha <3

Love,
Mom.
xoxo…

*Note her SUPER curly hair, after baths we put in the soft rollers overnight. She LOVES her dresses and skirts, and the last picture is her “PINK DAY!” OMG, she picked out ALL the pink she could find, and ROCKED it.

Because I can.

I put on my neon shoes today. Because I can.

I put on Sophie’s leader.
I put on her coat.

I put on my yoga pants. Hoodie. Hat.
I put on my P!nk and Nikki Minaj music.
I went for a walk.
I went for a jog.

I was sick this morning. I felt blah.

I pushed myself.

Because I can.

Because some people I know can’t put on their shoes.

Because some people I know can’t walk. Can’t jog.

Because some people don’t have their dogs anymore.

Because some people can’t hear.

Because some people my age are not here anymore. Gone too soon.

Because they can’t, is why I do.

They’d love to walk their dog one more time.

They’d love to put on their shoes.

They’d love to walk, or jog.

They’d love to hear music.

I can put on my shoes. I can walk. I can jog. I have my dog. I have my health. I have my hearing. I have the strength.

There is no excuse to NOT get outside. Enjoy the last day of warm weather before winter hits. To do what so many others would love to do again, or for the first time.

I can. I will.

JCatMcGack

In My Spare Time

Over the summer I was often caught saying “In my spare time” as if I had TONS of it. People would ask…

“When do you do your scrapbooking? Paint? Draw? Garden? and all the other organizing and fun projects you come up with?!”

I don’t come up with time. I don’t have a magic wand that creates me more then the 24/7 we all have. I just schedule my life differently then the average person does.

Now I’m not so irresponsible that I put off ALL things I need to do. BUT we do the minimal around here. So in the morning, Tink is off to school, and Buzz is fed, pets too. Dishes done, some basic picking up. If bills need to be paid, or the accounts balanced, phone calls made, I do it. Then instead of diving into laundry, cleaning, dusting, mopping, and other things I COULD do. I see what Buzz wants to do. At 4 1/2 I’ve got a very limited number of months before he’s off to school all day, and my play friend is whisked away learning and growing like his sister.

We usually go to the basement, where it’s 1/2 playroom and the other half is my art room. Play-doh, paints, or just drawing. Sometimes we are lazy and watch cartoons for a bit together. As of the last few months he’s TOTALLY into his Monster Fighter LEGO’s. (LEGO’s + Halloween) so we’ll play for a while. Maybe a Nerf gun shoot out, or just read stories. Recently (as of this week) he lets me read Shel Silverstein poems to him! That makes my heart so happy!

And when he’s tired of playing with Mommy, then I go off and I drink coffee, I blog, Pinterst, I microblog (Facebook, Twitter) read, doodle, play games. THEN, after a nice morning, I’ll get into the above adult jobs that need to be done. Now before I go much further, I need to tell you that I am a Stay At Home Mom. I do not have a 9-5 job. My kids and this house are my current job.

BUT. and that is a BIG but.
Understand that my life priorities are still the same, kids or not, 40 work hours a week or not. Fun, playing, and creative time, it’s all been a priority to me. So to say that because you work a job outside of the home, you can’t say you don’t have the time to do fun things, I’ve got to say I’m calling that bullshit right there.

I get that you may not get time for 3 hours of play time, on top of all the other jobs to do around the house, I get that. Working parents get just a few hours a day to fit in playtime, housework, and just a bit of me time. If you say “I just don’t have time because I work” THAT is your own fault.

I used to work 40+ hours a week, and I used to STILL have time to read, draw, paint, scrapbook. YES my time was limited, but I made the best of the time I had. Took a sketchbook, pictures to crop, or my book to work and when I had a 15 or 20 minute break, I’d enjoy a bit of ME time where ever I go.

I know having kids is a time suck, they take up SO much of your energy, you are always waiting on them, cleaning up after them… it’s HOW you choose to live this life with them. So sure, the first few years you are their maid, their chef… but even then I was able to just zone out. Then with my PPD the best I could do was watch the 24/7 Big Brother live feeds while the baby slept, but it was some me time. Not laundry, not dishes, just some zone out doodle on paper, read a blog time.

I’m at a point with my 6 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old that they can pick up after themselves, help with small jobs around the house (they have a chore list) and help me in the kitchen. So it’s ALL of us enjoying every moment instead of grumbling about doing it all myself.

Remember Mary Poppins and how she made cleaning the nursery room fun? It’s like that. Make fun of what you do. I don’t like dishes, so I time myself. Try to beat my old time. And play music. My family knows I get the MP3 player and rock out to some Linkin Park to get the dishes done. I also remind myself how much I don’t want to wake up to a nasty kitchen. (note I have yet to come up with a fun idea for laundry. I just suck at it. Period)

This year, and the whole “Simplify” theme is making house work simple. Do it, get it done, enjoy life. A few years back it was “Balance” and I needed to find the right amount of time to give to the house, and adult jobs and how to give enough time to the ME time that I needed with kids and husband time too.

This life of mine is all about finding out what works, changing things up when it doesn’t, and loving it when it does.

Happy Tuesday!JCat McGack
“Just remember that we are all given the same 24 hours in the same 7 days. What you do with your time is up to you. “

“Don’t take life to serious. No one get’s out alive.”

What Tomorrow Will Simply Bring

Tomorrow is 2013. A shiny brand new year. Something that we all look forward to. If 2012 was good, bad or ugly, moving on is always the best. I have yet to hear someone say “Man I wish it could be 2012 forever”

2012 in a summary? Yikes… it began with vacations, vacations and more vacations. Arizona, Disney World and Michigan (twice) All great trips. Memories for a life time.
It was the summer of unforgettable adventures.
Star Wars Day, Warrior Dash, and Chicago’s Pride Parade and that was just in June!

Attempting to jog in 5K’s was a thing for me this year. Swam in mud, jumped over fire in the Warrior Dash. Then in October I was COVERED in rainbow powder from the Color Run in Iowa with a great friend of mine!

I jumped head first into a local Art Council. The Three Rivers Art Council to be exact. Joining the board and being as hands on as I could with it. Meeting great new people and pushing the arts into the community!

I spent a great amount of time with my best friend. This was one of those years when I found out how much we both need each other. I couldn’t imagine either of us getting through such and emotional summer with out each other.

This fall was busy. Buzz started Preschool, and Tink went into the 1st grade. And I started thinking of the new year (yes in September)

I came up with one great idea for myself in 2013.

“Simplify”

To easy? No way. You’ve got to understand me, our house, and just the way I’m ‘organized’ in every way. I’m over organized, to many bins, binders, baskets, drawers… it’s all too much (Peter Walsh humor, anyone?)
I’ve spent the last few years following Fly Lady, she has inspired me everyday to strive to have a shiny sink, and hit those hot spots. I TRY. HARD. But I’m human, so there are piles of clothes, and my sink did stay shiny for over 2 weeks! (a record for me) but the mess always out weighs the clean.

The thing is I’ve tried to organize TOO much. So “Simplify” will be the theme of the year.
I get it stuck in my head, and I remember this question “Could this be simpler?” For everything. From how I store silverware, to the laundry process.
My biggest tackle this year was the kids toys. OMG. For two kids who have zero cousins… let’s just say the amount of toys they get is OVERWHELMING. I’m no help, I could be called a “Toy enabler” I love toys as much as the next kid. I love my kids to have them. It’s just organizing it. So there is a system to how they are stored, and played with. It’s been a LONG process, and it’s not even close to being done. But it’s a good start rolling into 2013 with a plan in motion.

I’m hoping that with this idea, our life just keeps getting better. Change is great. Simple life. Simple joys. Simple process. It’s what I’ve got for 2013.

Here’s to change, here’s to a new start, here’s to moving forward.
Happy 2013 everyone!

JCat McGack

“Dance, I say! DANCE!”

 

My Tink has been running around all day getting ready for her “Family Party” she said EVERYONE is to attend. And you HAVE to dress up.
Boys wear ties, girls wear dresses.

Blue said “We’re not really doing this are we?” I walked out of our room in an old bridesmaid dress. He said “Looks like we are!”

He sported a tie, suit coat over his white undershirt and sweat pants.
Buzz wore his matching white t-shirt and running pants. Borrowed Dad’s tie. These are our formal men of the house.

I bust out a hand me down bridesmaids dress, and Tink had on what she calls her “Princess Sophia Dress” (aka Garage sale recital dress)

 

We had a blast taking pictures with each other…

My other favorite part was when Tink bust out her pretend CD player that plays Disney songs on speed (not sure what is up with it. It’s the way it came!)

We bust out our best dance moves, even Sophie joined in the party. I’m happy that we take the time to dance, to get creative and to participate in whatever their little minds come up for us to do each day.

We are thankful for their health, for their spirits, for their energy. I love to capture days like this, the memories we make. Thank you for the invite Tink and Buzz.

Love,
Mommy
(JCat McGack)

Life Lesson while getting spoiled.

This little girl of mine had a WONDRFUL Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday her Papa brought over the BIG GIANT two story bed he had been hand crafting for the last two months.

Mia has been smitten with it every since! Loading it full of her stuffie friends, putting her reading nook below, along with her art desk as well.
Then on Tuesday she was taken up to Chicago’s famous Water Tower Place to shop at the American Girl Place store.

Where she was able to pick out accessories for her American Girl doll, Kit. They now both have their ears pierced, matching glasses, Kit has a tote bag, and new shoes. Of coarse they wore matching dresses there. And this picture was taken in their excusive American Girl dining room.

We enjoyed the day, full of family, laughter and memories. While walking outside, freezing in Chicago’s 30 degree weather, on Michigan Ave. Mia saw her Gigi walk over to a man and give him some money.

Mia said “Why did she give that stranger some money?”
I took this as my cue to give Mia, a life lesson.

I said “Mia, do you see where he’s sitting?”
She said “Yes. But it’s cold outside. He should go home.”
I said “That is his home.”
She looked at me… confused. And said “I mean his bed, in HIS home” I then said “No Mi. He doesn’t HAVE a home. He doesn’t HAVE a bed. He doesn’t have ANYTHING. THAT is where he will sleep tonight, he won’t lay down, it’s too cold. He only has that thin blanket to keep him warm.”
She looked at me. Sad face. She said “But I HAVE so many things, and I can sleep anywhere in our big warm house. Where are his toys?” I said “Mia all he really wants is simply things. Food, water and to stay warm.” She bowed her head. As if she felt bad for having all the nice things we did.
I said “We are SO lucky. A home. Heat. Water. Food. Clothes. And our families that love us so much. We need to remember how lucky we are. Toys are just an extra thing, and this man only wants the things that we assume we will always have. And Gigi knows this, so she is giving money to him. Because she can.”

We walked away hand in hand. She smiled and said “I sure am lucky. I’ve got you.”
If only she knows that I am the lucky one, and that I’m thankful there was that moment in her spoiled loved weekend that she was able to see that not everyone has it as wonderful as she does.

I can’t help that Mia and Alex are the only two Grandchildren that the four grandparents will get. That everyone loves to spoil them. That is fine with me. My job is to raise them to appreciate everything. To respect their toys, and the people that give them things. And to know that they are lucky to have this kind of life. And to pay it forward to those who are less fortunate then they are.

JCat McGack

Date Night with some Late Night

Planning dinner Friday night, Blue asks me if we have any gift cards with money left on them. I check and we’ve got a Lettuce Entertain You, gift card. This covers a good amount of restaurants… BUT it’s not a cheap night out, and we’ve only got $50 on it. It needs to be a date night out.

So he asked me to look up the restaurants, and pick one in Chicago… I about fell off my chair. I mean a DATE… AND Chicago?!

We decided to eat breakfast for dinner that night, and set up with his parents to take the kids Saturday night so we could go out.

I DE.STROY.ED our closet and bedroom, trying like hell to find ANYTHING that would look good for a date night in Chicago. I mean it’s Chicago. The last time a “Date night” in Chicago existed, it was July 2008. The restaurant had a dress code. So no jeans. I’ve got only TWO other pants that fit me. Black dress pants (those are good for a family Christmas party, NOT a trendy Chicago night out) or my black leggings… damn why I didn’t diet sooner… so the black leggings won. With a purple top. It was TIGHT and long enough to cover most of my ass, pair it with my Happy Place black heels, and I was good to go. And Blue, by the way, gave me hell about what I did to the closet. HE did the same thing! 

Plans for the night were to go as such…

Reservations for 5:30 at Hub51 restaurant downtown. Then after that possibly some walking on Michigan Avenue.

This is how it went…

Dropped off the kids at his parent, he was visiting with them, I said I don’t mean to be rude but we have 1 hour and 25 minutes to be IN Chicago AT our reservation. LETS. GO.

He gave me a hard time, joking that it’s a 40 minute ride… obviously he forgot it was a 60 degree December night in Chicago on.a.Saturday! It was a ZOO down there!

We made ONE wrong turn, AND if you know anything about Chicago, that damn upper and lower Wacker will get me EVERY time. YES there are TWO street levels to Chicago. YES the are both at ground level. If you are not confused yet, try it yourself and understand I was driving back and forth on Michigan Ave. State Street and just COULDN’T figure out how to get DOWN. I did a HUGE U turn in the middle of Michigan ave I was so frustrated!
(I studied the map, knew the area, and am VERY good at directions… sadly it didn’t work out that way)

Thankfully his good friend, 101 works downtown, so we called him to help us get there, and we were ONLY 45 minutes late. (I did call the restaurant and told them we were coming!)

Parking was a breeze, I prepaid online for a ticket in a garage. $8.50 for the night! That’s about $20 less then you normally pay in Chicago for parking!

We only had a 20 minute wait for a table, the restaurant was crowded! It was everything from dressy to casual. Bouncers at the door. Décor was dark, contemporary and fun.

Food was bar food, some GREAT bar food. Prices were not outrageous, as in we figured $50 could cover most of the meal. I enjoyed my first day of eating healthy by destroying THIS… man sized pulled chicken nachos. OMG it was a never ending bowl.

Ed went with the First-rate Cheese burger and fries. THAT was a good dinner.

 

Sadly I didn’t get a picture of their carrot cake and giant brownie we had for desert. It didn’t last long enough to get a picture of! Note their carrot cake is A.MAZ.ING. and they are known for it.

We both said we’d go there again. Wish we wouldn’t have had a table next to the bar with rude douche bags leaning on our table. I MAY have poked him with a fork on accident a few times. Asshole just WASN’T getting the message.

We did say we’d want to go during the week, where we could enjoy conversation and hoping no bar side view! I came prepared with a list of questions to help date night go smoothly.

YES questions to talk about. I found them in a magazine over a year ago, and have had them in my wallet. It’s questions for parents who’ve been married for a while. Questions that did NOT involve the kids. They were fun, like “What would you do with $10,000,000?” or “What would you do for a whole day by yourself?” we had a good time thinking out and talking out ideas and dreams, and then we ended up coming up with some of our own. Happy that Blue played along, and we had fun with our questions.

Blue’s good friend 101 and his wife JUST so happened to be having a date night in the big city themselves! JUST down the street from us. So they picked us up and we headed to a fun place called Eno, right next to Michael Jordan’s restaurant on Michigan Avenue, It was a wine tasting place.

Now understand this Blue and I are NOT wine people. I drink Boones farm. So this was ALL new to us, but we went with it. It was A TINY little restaurant, full of bamboo looking tables (or IKEA) dim lighting and a menu with things called flights and stuff.

Blue ordered a beer, I had a Sprite (driving!) and we checked out the chocolate list. I had seen when we came in a large display of ALL the chocolates, and saw Espresso. So I chose the trio called “Late Night”

Starting at the top I had…

Chai Ganache. Organic Masala Chai tea and buck wheat honey infused into amber milk chocolate.
That was GOOD.

Cinnamon Cappuccino. Hint of warming spice, with bittersweet chocolate. Again good.

THEN there was Epsresso Fusion. Fresh ground medium roast espresso with vanilla. 70% dark chocolate. LOVED it.

YES we paid $11 for three tiny chocolates, BUT you cut them up with a knife, and enjoy them! Not like the bag of MnM’s where you shovel handfuls into your mouth. These people knew their stuff, telling us about what pairs well with each other, I was just happy eating chocolate and having a good time with friends.

Afterwards we walked to our parking garage, but enjoyed the stroll down Michigan ave one more time, this time on foot and not frustrated in the car. Each couple holding hands, smitten with the idea of freedom from our kids for the night, conversation as adults, dreams of our futures, and life together.

On the road and into bed by midnight. Pretty much a perfect night out in my book. Now THAT’S how you start off December!

JCat McGack

Work it Out

There it is. THE chart.

This is hanging on my wall, in our loft. It’s a LARGE picture frame. I bought one for each of us years ago, flipped the paper inside of it over to show the white side. Now we’ve each got our own dry erase boards.

Blue and I each use our to chart weight loss and working out. Seeing it on a chart is motivational for us. The kids have their list of daily chores on them.

I’ve been eating better since Thanksgiving weekend. Having treats here and there. REALLY trying to get myself set for tomorrow. Yep it’s been 17 days since my 35 by 35 post here. Tomorrow starts the working out, and the no cheating part. So far I’ve been prepping myself, coaching myself, and here and there walking, bike riding and trying to get psyched up for this.

My goal was originally 35 by 35. Sadly after I came up with that brilliant idea, I gained a few more pounds. So it went to 38 by 35. NOW I’m back to 35… so if you were trying to do some math by my board… oh and I ran out of room for the last 4 pounds. It should go to 107 (which is what my drivers license says!) Shit, if I get down to 111 I’ll make a chart JUST for the the last 4 pounds!

A side note. PLEASE don’t freak about the numbers. Note I am ONLY 5 feet tall. My average weight for my height is 105-110 lbs.! I can’t stand it when people freak out about the numbers. I’m LITTLE and SHOULD be a little number.

SO… that being said. Here’s to me. Here’s to getting healthy. Here’s to a start of a new me getting back the old me in a new way…? I like that I’m starting a month before everyone else on this too.

Go here to my Pinterest motivation to work out, be healthy and live better!!

Work it Out Pinterest Link!

Happy Friday!

JCat McGack

Thankful

In just this one picture I can count SO many reasons to be thankful.

First the obvious. My two children.
I’m blessed to have been able to have them both, when I wanted. I wanted two spring babies approx. two years apart. I was rewarded with one June baby, Tink. One April baby, Buzz. And they are 22 months apart. THAT I’m incredibly thankful for.

Seeing my children, makes me thankful for Blue. My husband of over 11 years. My best friend, the one person I love to laugh with, dream with, and spend my life with all while enjoying watching our two beautiful children grow into amazing little people.

I see a fire, in a beautiful fireplace.
That resembles home to me. This is my parents, Queen and Carrots, beautiful home.  A place where we are welcomed, fed and loved. I have both of my parents, alive and well. For that I am thankful.

I am thankful to have my sister and parents living so close to us. It’s not the 45 second drive like it used to be. But I’ll take 20 minutes, and enjoy the ride.

I’m thankful for our families and their selflessness to take care of each other. Ed’s family is just as giving, and welcoming. We were both raised by amazing parents. Loved by them. Taught by them. And no matter how dark and cold the world may be. We both know we have family that reminds us of home and comfort.

We are both grateful for what we have. We live with in our means, and remember to be thankful for what we have, not complain about what we don’t have.

Wishing everyone a wonderful and happy thanksgiving. Full of food, friends, family, loved ones, and something to be thankful for.

Gobble till you Wobble!

JCat McGack

Shopping for food and bigger boobs

Today is the 4th day of our “Eating Healthy and working out” life changing event. I’m way less stabby.

I posted a few days ago about how motivated I was… I still am. I have to be honest the first day was one of my lower moments.
I cried. I sat in front of the open fridge drinking Boones Farm Sangria to numb my pain of not being able to eat pasta for every meal. My food heart was broken. I went to my Pinterest board of “Work It Out” and looked for inspiration.

So instead of caving, I went to bed at 9:30pm. The next day was ok… I ate a lot. But all snacks. So eggs for breakfast, then a few hours later an apple, after that lunch was a measured cup of pasta (I NEED carbs) snack was pretzels, dinner was pork chops, corn and apple sauce.

I was wearing thin again that night. It’s our tv munching that gets us. So the next morning I dropped Buzz off at school and Blue and I went to shop for food. Aldi and Walmart later we came home with food we loved to eat. BUT was healthy. A variety of fruit for snacks, pretzel chips, yogurt, fish and chicken for dinners, and now we’ve added Hummus to our snack foods.

Work out routines for me haven’t started yet. No good reason. Soon… maybe today I’ll do the step routine I found in Shape’s recent magazine.

So yesterday my MIL called to celebrate my Christmas with her. It’s been YEARS since I’ve done this with her. It includes a day of clothes shopping and dinner afterwards.

My MIL was hesitant of buying me clothes, if I was going to loose all this weight. HA. I’ve been saying that for 4 years now. I need new clothes. At least feel good about clothes that I know fit me now.  I’ve got to get to that smaller size, before I start worrying about having to big of clothes. New clothes that fit THIS me, inspires me to loose weight, so I can fit into even smaller and cuter clothes!

Starting in Victoria Secrets Pink store. This is my SECOND time EVER in this store. First time was a few weeks ago, my best friend took me. She had to pay a bill… omg. I FEEL IN LOVE. HARD. Bright colors, comfy clothes, cute clothes, things I WEAR everyday!! I spent a good amount of my Christmas present in that store.

Now we ALL know how mean florescent lighting is. Those evil mirrors and all in a tiny room full of static electricity! Gah! It was an awakening to what size I fit in, and what I look like in it… almost like looking at myself through other peoples eyes. Gross.

I’ve had good self esteem most of my life. (thanks to my parents for ALWAYS boosting me up) I’ve got tough skin, but this was brutal.

I’m SUPER inspired to purge the HELL out of my closet. Donate, donate, donate. Again, the new years resolution of 2013, Simplify.

NOW onto the good news. I had my Pink girl, Cassie, measure me. FIRST time ever to be actually measured for a bra (sad I know) I was always a small B. Had kids, kept the big boobs… figured I was a small C now… Cassie said (and I’ve read this before) that 70% of women are in the wrong size bra. Well I walked in wearing a 36 B bra. She measured me. I had her measure me again. And still I doubted her… a 36D!?! WHAT?

ME?

Yes. She showed me on the measuring tape. She wrote it on the little boob card so I can keep it forever. Ah, if I could time travel and show this card to my 12 year old self, and say “You’ll get there someday”

The girl who for 16 years of her life prayed for nothing but boobs. I’m NOT kidding. Church every Sunday? boobs. Mass every morning before classes? Boobs.

I wanted boobs. Everyone else had them, I was tired of being made fun of for not having them. 16! I was 16 when I finally got them! Now don’t get me wrong, I know they are bigger due to my weight. I’m sure when I loose weight, they will get smaller too. I’ve enjoyed my big boobs, and living in big boob land. But I’d be MORE then happy to be my little self again with little self boobs… well not LITTLE boobs. You get my point.

Cassie might as well have said “You aren’t a large, you are a XS!” it was such a compliment… now if I could be an XS again, AND have boobs… life complete*.

JCat McGack

*Amazing that the world paints a picture for what we should be. Not saying I’m gullible and HAVE to fit a stereotype, if that is what my blog post reads as. I want to be healthy, but still have the curves.

35 by 35

That is my goal.

July 19th, 2013 I will be 35 years old. Age is just a number to me, 30 was just another candle on the cake for me. I said it then, 35 will probably hit me harder then 30 does! And I was right.

30 for me was a starting point. I had JUST had my son 3 month prior to my birthday. My plan in life? Married, a home, two kids. All before 30. Done, done, done and done. I rocked my check list. The new start at 30 was to enjoy our children, and the new life as four of us, instead of two.

All fine and dandy. I had a horrible time with PPD, leading to PTSD. I was good at hiding it. Just like most people with depression. You think you know… you have NO idea, what is going on in their heads. The most painful part for me was the kids. My daughter had said to me once “Will you always be an angry mommy?” I was crushed. I vowed to focus, to blog, to journal. And to give myself time outs when I just couldn’t handle the stress. If it was an over eventful few days, or even just a barking dog. Anything could set me off. I’d be sad, angry and short with everyone I came in contact with. Nothing seemed to calm me down faster then food did.

I have, like most people I know, loved carbs. Love them like I love my own children. I mean what’s more comforting on a shitty day, where NOTHING is going right, then a bowl of mashed potatoes? A big bowl of mush to just comfort your sad self.

Now if you’ve been reading my blogs (I’ve gone through a few) you know this isn’t my first attempt to eat right. Be healthy. Blah, blah blah.

But now… now that I feel that the PPD, the PTSD, is gone. That my husband and I are doing good, no fighting. Not much stress around the house, no drama with friends, I can focus on me.

I’ve got to say I thought about taking an easy way out. A friend of mine is taking special pills to help her loose weight super fast. I’m jealous. She’s beautiful to begin with, inside and out. AND now she’s dropping weight super fast?
I remind myself that has NOT worked for me in the past. I get freakishly jittery, and do not do well with drugs.

I tell myself that THIS time both Blue and I are serious about this. He’s doing this with the guys at work. Their company is hosting a get healthy sort of competition for 6 months. This is perfect, he’s my biggest motivation (He’s done the P90X work out 90 days, twice. And gave up his Coke cold turkey 3 years ago. Not drinking pop since)

NOW my motivation in the past has been doing it for the kids. So I’m healthy for them (good idea) I’ve also had reunions I wanted to look great for, or it’s summer, winter, fall, spring, so many reasons, some good some not so good. But none of them were for that ONE reason.

Me.

I had to get my mental self better before I could work on the physical me. I’m there. I’m not getting any younger. I attempted to jog in The Color Run 5K a month back. It was sad… a sad, sad day for me. I’m not a runner, but that was not my best game. I KNOW I can do better.

Proud that I did it. Proud that I did the Warrior Dash 5 months ago. It’s more then I was doing 6 months ago. But it’s not good enough.

Last night was my last night to pig out. I had gone to the store, made a WHOLE pan of dumplings. I ate the WHOLE damn pan full. WOW.

Needless to say I’m good on that food for a while! Same goes for all the fast food I ate last week. It was a busy week, no excuse but I ate like crap just about every day, all day.

Not sure why, but when I have the thought of working out, and eating healthy, I have to say good bye to all my favorite foods by eating them all. Good bye Taco Bell Volcano Burrito (worst thing on the menu for you) good bye deep dish pizza, culvers, shells and cheese…

No more.

Time for 5 small meals a day. Proportions. Eating for the body I want, not the one I have (found the quote on Pinterest)

Oh, HUGE motivation for me. I’ve GOT to share this. I’m a visual girl. MUST see things to get it, to understand. I made myself a board on Pinterest, “Work It Out” I LOVE to read the quotes, thoughts and see the pictures of in shape people. It’s what works for me.

Picked up the newest copy of Shape magazine. Of coarse it’s perfect because my favorite rock star is on the cover, P!nk. So many great ideas, work outs, and tips are in there.

So… that’s all I’ve got for now. 249 days till July 19th. Fingers crossed, stay tuned. I’ll be posting more ideas, inspirations and pictures to come!

JCat McGack

One Billion.

Today Mark Zuckerberg celebrates on his Facebook page the fact that one billion people are on Facebook daily. Here is what he wrote…

This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month.
If you're reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you.
Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life.
I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too.

If you go on his page, there is also a great video on this. About how things connect us. How we us simple things to remind us that we are not alone out there.

To many of my readers, you know me through facebook. Through some sort of personal life journey we’ve crossed paths. And too many times I hear about how people don’t have time to waste on facebook. They’d rather have a ‘real life’

I get that. It makes sense not to sit in front of your computer all day and read what everyone else is doing and do your own thing.

But understand WHY I do love facebook. And why I’m one of the proud billion that use it daily.

I’ve got friends and family far away. East coast, west coast, down south. I can’t afford air fare, and to have a phone conversation to catch up with a 4 and 6 year old underfoot… well it’s just that much easier to chat, share and connect on facebook.

I love that I can upload pictures of how I move around my furniture… to bad this is backwards…

I can upload what is going on in my garden…

Family get together with cousins can enjoy pictures afterwards. I mean do you remember growing up you’d say “Make me a copy of that, would you?” Not anymore. Now you can tag your friends, family and they can get their own pictures!

And who doesn’t get tired of seeing a bazillion pictures of a mom and her kids?! I don’t care! I’ll just post them anyway!! Bwahahaha!

I can post what I’m up to, how I feel, Facebook wants to know “what’s on your mind” which is a very dangerous thing for them to ask most times.

There is danger with it. Too much sharing, too many pictures, too strong of an opinion on religion and politics. The cyber bullies, the creepy stalkers. I do know the danger it can do to someone.

This coming from the girl who’s on her 4th blog due to over sharing, and too strong of an opinion. I’ve learned to hold back, but not to compromise myself.

Facebook is here. It’s staying around. Sadly MySpace and all it’s blinky lights and backgrounds just didn’t cut it. Sure I get sick of the blue trim on facebook. But for all the other reasons, I just can’t get enough of it.

Thanks to Mark Zukerberg and his team. You’ve changed lives, connected people I never thought I’d hear from again, and made me a fan for life.

JCat McGack

Quality time… at the nudist camp.

This kid. She never ceases to amaze me.

We just had the best conversation. I never take the time to sit and chat with her when it’s time for her to go to bed. I know I should more often, I used to when she was about 3. We’d talk about her day. In details.

Now that she’s 6. I want to get back into the habit of it. Of just letting her empty her brain out, get out all her ideas. And then me fill it full of fun new ideas. Of her sharing her adventures and me going with her.

Tonight we talked about how big she’s getting. How she wants to grow up SUPER fast. I said being a grown up is NO FUN. She said really? You are not having any fun?

I said unless you or Alex are around, I have to do grown up stuff.
“Like WHAT Mommy?”
“Like dishes. And clean up dog poop. Do you know I spent the morning scraping cat barf off the basement floor. ZERO fun”
“Well I just won’t have a cat. Or a dog… or eat food when I grow up”
I said “How about laundry”
She says “OH you HATE that. So we should be naked’s. Yes. No clothes”
I tell her “That would make us a Nudist Colony”
She says “Well if YOU and I were in a nudis colony. I’d want to be blind”
Then we burst into giggles!

She tells me how much she loves me being home every day. How much she thinks I’m her bestest friend in the whole wide world. And how she never likes to be apart from me.

She makes my heart happy. To hear her say all of this. Even though I’m the tougher parent, I’m the disciplinary, and I’m the one who pushes chores. She still adores me.

With each new season I have a motto, or a theme of my life. Getting through PPD was “Baby Steps” every thing I did was a baby step in getting better.

Now I’m mentally at a better place. So I do believe this coming season will be “Quality Time” so instead of rushing everyone to bed. I want to make it a big ordeal. Maybe they’d stay in bed, if it was a place where we had more fun as a family.

Quality time also goes for my home. It’s clean. It’s picked up…on the surface. But open a closet… it’s clean, yet the floor is full of bins full of stuff. Just stuff, random things that pilled up and were tossed in this bin to speed along the cleaning process. I’ve got these bins all over. Then need quality time to go through and sort. Keep, toss and donate.

Quality time with Ed. Now that Wrigley Season is coming to an end, we can watch more movies at home. We can do things together. Every day after 2 he will be ours! Quality time must be had!!

Quality time with myself. Very important. One thing I’ve always enforced in my life. Even if it’s just a few minutes a day. Maybe it’s more, like a bath, or an hour in the art room. Something to just get me to a good place.

Quality time with friends and family. This is my parents and sister. To spend more time enjoying their company.

To spend quality time with my best friend. We have been doing this a TON this summer, and it’s been a great summer at that.

To slow down. And spend time on ME and those I love around me.

So thanks for the reminder Tink. Thanks for the idea to slow down, and enjoy every moment of you, Buzz, Blue, Sophie and the Meows.

 

Everyone and everything else is going on the back burner for a while. I need to focus on what makes me, me.

JCat McGack