Don't you just hate it when you get into your car after volunteering for 4 hours at your son's school and you glance into the rear view mirror and notice something clinging to the tiny hairs in your right nostril?
And then upon further investigation realize that it's just a flake of dry skin but most likely looked like a giant booger to all the the other women you just spent 4 hours with?
I do.
I live in the South so it should be no surprise when I tell you that my kids have a drawl.
Only it's not the kind you might typically think of.
They don't drag their words out by adding lots of extra vowels like many of us in the South do.
Nope. My kids are way more sophisticated than that. They like to add the letter "L" to words that end in "AW".
For example:
"Get the crayons so we can drawl a picture."
"I just sawl a big spider!"
"I need a strawl for my Coke."
And the odd thing is - they both do it! But I don't do it. My husband doesn't do it. Where does this drawl come from ?
I'm no Gil Grissom but I think I've figured it out.
My friend Christie and my friend Jennifer have never met but they both have a lot in common. They are both cute, petite and blond and they both add an "l" to the end of "aw" words!
And they are both from MARYLAND!
We drive through Maryland twice a year on our way to Massachusetts.
Is it possible my kids picked up their Southern drawl in Maryland?
It's Miracle Monday and I'm at the beach where I've been for the last 4 days.My laptop is with me but it has been sittin in a corner largely ignored while I have been playing in the waves, building sand castles and eating Blizzards from DQ.
I have not written a MM post, but I will leave Mr. Linky open in case anyone has a miracle they want to share. I sure hope so because Mr. Linky has been very lonely the past few months.
If you want to share a miracle or an answered prayer it's easy. Write a post on your blog and leave the link to the post (not the link to your main page) here with Mr. Linky. And be sure to mention my blog and URL in your post.
As of yesterday, I did the 30 Day Shred 7 days in a row! And by day 5 I was feeling pretty cocky about the ease with which I was completing Shred 1. (I even upgraded from Campbell's Soup to 3 pound hand weights!)
So on day 6 I decided to move up to Shred 2. Proverbs 11:2 that says "When pride comes,then comes disgrace..."
And let me tell you, there was a whole lot of disgrace going on in Shred 2.
I figured I could easily handle it. And boy was I wrong. I had trouble keeping up with half of the exercises. I was sweating like a pig. (Do pigs really sweat? I'm not sure but if they do, I was sweating like one.)
I was fumbling and bumbling and muttering unpleasantries under my breath through the whole workout. And thank goodness it's only 20 minutes because I don't think I could have taken any more.
But for me the worst part of the whole workout had nothing to do with actually doing it. It was what I saw while I was doing it that has plagued me ever since.
There is an exercise on Shred 2 called a plank jack. And the plank jack is evil.
E.V.I.L.
Evil.
A plank jack is completed by doing a jumping jack with your legs while your hands are stretched out in front of you on the ground. This exercise works out your whole body at once.
But the worst part of the plank jack wasn't the sweating and groaning and aching, it was what I saw during the plank jack.
The whole time I was doing (or trying to do) the plank jack, I was looking down at the floor and my legs because basically I was too weak to hold my head up.
And it's during this time that I saw it. Not my flabby thighs. They don't bother me so much because I see those on a regular basis.
It was the wrinkly skin covering my flabby thighs that shocked me. I have spent so much time analyzing the wrinkles on my face that I didn't even think that there might be wrinkly skin on the rest of my body!
Have you ever seen the occasional segments on the nightly news where they are heralding a man or woman in their 80's that just completed a marathon or a triathlon? And they show a picture of this person in their bathing suit or in their running shorts and you think to yourself, "Good for them! They are so healthy!" and then the very next thought running through your head is "Oh dear Lord! Look at all that wrinkly skin! It's everywhere!"
That's the way my thigh skin looked as I was heaving and hoeing during my plank jacks.
Old wrinkly leg skin.
And on Day 7 I went back to Shred 1. I tried to tell myself my muscles were too sore and they needed to rest. But I really just think it was so I wouldn't have to stare at that skin again.
The second part of Proverbs 11:2 says "...and with humility comes wisdom." I guess I've wised up a little because today is Day 8 and I'm going to give Shred 2 another chance. I'm just going to keep my eyes closed during the plank jacks!
The name Peter is Greek in origin and means Rock. The name Sarah is Hebrew in origin and means Princess.
I only know this because these are the names of my children. And I have told them these meanings many times.
Today on our way home from the library Sarah asked me what Laurel meant. I told her it was the name of one of the bushes in front of our house.
In an exasperated tone she said, "No. The name. The girl's name. What does it mean?"
To which I replied, "I don't know honey. I don't know what all the names in the world mean."
Sarah let out a long low sigh and said, "You have a lot to learn Mommy."
Today's Works For Me Wednesday is the Frugal Tip Edition.About a month ago I was looking forlornly into my hall closet lamenting the fact that I have 5 bottles of conditioner and none of them was the type I prefer for my hair.
I had 5 bottles of conditioner because I got them all free using coupons and Extra Care Bucks from CVS. Seems like every time I went to CVS to get my free Sunsilk Conditioner, they had every other type of Sunsilk on the shelf except the volumizing kind that I love. So I ended up getting the kinds that I don't like figuring I could give them away or just use them and walk around with unvolumized hair.
Two weeks ago I was at my MOPS meeting when Heather (hi, Heather!) was giving a talk on Frugal Living. One of her tips was to use conditioner instead of shaving cream.
As soon as she mentioned conditioner I thought about all that free unused conditioner I had sitting in my hall closet.
So for the past two weeks I have been using conditioner instead of shaving cream and it works great! Just rub a small amount on your leg (or whatever body part you happen to be shaving) and shave as normal. There won't be any sudsy lather but that's not necessary. Just make sure there is a little bit of conditioner on the area you are shaving. I use about a dime size for each leg (from the knee to the ankle).
My legs are soft and smooth and I don't know if it's my imagination but the hair on my legs seems to be growing slower. Most likely it's that the conditioner is making the hair softer but it seems to me that my legs aren't as scratchy and stubbly at the end of the day as they are when I use shaving cream.
I finally found a use for all that free conditioner, I won't have to buy shaving cream for months AND my legs are softer and smoother than ever. Combine that with my previous tip on making your razors last longer and I feel like a shaving guru.
Visit Kristin at We are THAT Family for more Frugal Works For Me Wednesday tips.
It's Miracle Monday again.As each week progresses, I try to keep my eye out for different miracles that I can write about for Miracle Monday. I look at what other people are writing during the week. I look at what other people have written for past Miracle Mondays but usually I just pray that God will lead me to what he wants me to write about.
This week, I think God has lead me to an old friend.
Her name was Tammy. We met freshman year in college. And later she was one of 4 girls who lived with me in an off-campus condo.
It was during Sophomore year in college that Tammy discovered she had Lupus. She showed great strength during her many bouts of sickness and weakness but she never once thought of quitting school and she never wallowed in pity about her disease.
It was somewhere around my last year in college that Tammy's Lupus raged through her body and caused her to become so sick that whatever the doctors gave her to keep her alive caused them to also have to amputate her legs below the knees.
Tammy never gave up. She never stopped believing that she was going to continue school, continue living. Unfortunately she died later that year.
I have thought of Tammy often through the years. And usually it's when I'm fixing my hair. Tammy used to help us do our hair before we went out on the weekends. That girl had a way with hair spray, a hair dryer and big 80's bangs.
Last night, I discovered a posting on her cousin's Facebook page. Tammy's brother, Eddie, just died unexpectedly from cancer.
And according to an email I got from Tammy's cousin, Angel, the last thing Eddie said before he passed away was that he could see Tammy. And the family is taking great comfort in this.
They are taking comfort in the knowledge that after the troubles of this life are over, God is waiting for us in heaven.
We can all take comfort in that.
Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:8
If you have something you want to share, it's easy to participate in Miracle Monday. Just post a miracle or an answered prayer on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below.Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL (www.beth-amomslife.blogspot.com) in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.
I have done the Shred now for 4 days (in a row, I might add!)
And 3 of those times have been with kids in the room. For an effective workout, I do not endorse Shredding with kids. Kids in the room mean too much talk and not enough action.
But my kids were excited to "take exercise" with me so I let them stay.
When Sarah saw I had soup cans, she ran to get some canned goods of her own. However, when she realized that I had the Campbell's Princess Chicken Noodle soup and she had a can of lima beans, she quickly begged for an exchange.
And after a few minutes of the Shred, Sarah declared, "I like my cousin Jillian, but I don't like this Jillian. This Jillian is mean!"
Mean? I don't think so Sarah. Anyone that can help me tighten my rear end in 4 days is not mean.
Peter was helping me this morning and was full of questions. "Why are those girls always in that same room wearing those same clothes?" "Why is that Jillian person the only one who ever talks?" "This isn't exercise Mom. Playing ball is exercise. This is easy!"
Easy? I don't think so Peter. Anything that can help me tighten my rear end in only 4 days is not easy.
After four days of The 30 Day Shred, I'm still excited. Level one is starting to get a little easier and I actually do look a little firmer in certain places.
But I do think I am going to upgrade from canned goods to actual hand weights. That way Sarah and I won't have to duke it out for the Disney Princesses. Because nobody should have to work out with lima beans!
Yesterday as Sarah and I were driving down the road I started waving and said, "Oh! I think we just passed Grandma but I'm not sure if it was her or not!"
Sarah asked, "Did she have puffy hair?"
"Yes," I replied.
Sarah continued, "Did she have wrinkly skin?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Then it was Grandma," she bluntly concluded.
Sorry Mom!