Night Out with the Bookies

So anytime we Bookies get together fun will ensue. The purpose of this get together was Tasha's birthday. We met up at Surin and just had a jolly good time. We actually closed down the restaurant... but I would like to point out that they closed early that night so it was like 9:30 pm. If you have never been to Surin either in Southside or 280 you are missing out of some great Thai food and yummy sushi. Love it! That is actually Matt and my favorite place to eat when we get to leave the boys behind. Times are changing for all these great gals.

In the top picture Adrienne is on the right and Missy is on the left. Adrienne just got engaged and will be moving to Nashville once she is married this October. Missy is moving with her husband and daughter to Lubbock, Texas for a fellowship for her husband. In the bottom picture is Tasha to the left and me on the right. Tasha and her husband are moving to San Antonio, Texas for her husband's job. They are all part of our book club and many other of the members are moving too. Let me see, Aimee, Ann, Elliot, Missy, Tasha, and Adrienne are ALL leaving Birmingham. Most are going to places in Texas which given the size of the state doesn't mean they will be close to each other too.  

So now that I have found a great group of girls to be friends with they are all leaving this area and I shall be alone again. I think I am going to take up traveling and taking vacations that lead me to cities where these gals reside. I take friendship seriously and don't want to lose any. Oh well. That is one reason I am going to stay on top of writing in my blog. If people who care want to know they can read my ramblings and get a moment of what it is like to be talking with me. We all know I like to talk and am pretty loud about it. But is that not part of what makes me me? Yup.

Drama

I am not sure what I think about this... When I got the mail after work there was a handwritten note inside my mailbox. My next door neighbor apparently is terrified of our little shih tzus both of which are puppies. We normally would take them out front to run around our yard with the boys. Jude is a whopping 6 pounds soaking wet and Daisy is maybe 3 pounds right now. The note was not nice and quite threatening. She state that if she saw the dogs without leashes she would call the police on us. (what?!!!) She then went to say that she had her old neighbor arrested for having his dog chase her daughter and that she still knew where the police station was. Call me crazy but I think this is extreme. She is scared of them barking too but they don't really bark all that often either. I am a bit puzzled by this. First the petty part of me wants to march over there and explain to her that it is a Federal offense to meddle with someone's mail. I have no way of knowing if she took a bill or something out of my box and that is why it is a crime to get into someone else's mail box. She could have come over to talk with us or left the note on the outside of the mailbox or taped to our front door. She did not even sign her name to the letter but left her address. Dur! So I being slightly ticked and feeling petty still looked up her name by doing a reverse search on whitepages.com and found her name and number. If I was a little less grown up I would have called her. I think I will just do nothing... well we are now trying to train our pups to go on a leash which is a good thing anyway. Just tiny little dogs don't really need walking and we do have the puppy door to the fenced side yard... Anyway silly neighbors thinking we have vicious attack shih tzus.

April Update

Cullen said the cutest or sweetest thing to me last Friday. We were talking about a new teacher at his school and I asked him if he thought she was pretty. He said "A little pretty." That puzzled me so I asked, "Why a little?" His response, "She is not pretty like you are." Okay the moment of truth and I had to ask, "What does that mean Cullen?" He said," You are all pretty Mommy." Well there is my Mother's Day present early. He thinks I am all pretty and the cute girl in college that was subbing that day was a little pretty. Yay for little boys who think their Mommy's are pretty!
My playroom is now organized and the boys are enjoying using their toy bins. The room looks so nice and tidy everyday. Love it! Now if I could find a way to keep the laundry under control. I hate hate hate putting away the clothes and yet if I don't they just sit there. My beloved says he doesn't know where to put the clothes. Ignorance is the excuse for a million men across the world for helping out with household chores. Matt cooks so I will give him credit for that.
Ha! This is cool to me. I actually cut my own hair. It looks cute! I did not butcher myself and that is an accomplishment being that most hair dressers do screw up on my head... don't know why but they do. Anyway yay for taking my hair cutting skills to myself. I do cut the boys and Matt's hair but was always afraid to do my own. Well budgeting took the fear away and there you have it.
Let's see. I am back on Weight Watchers for the last week and a half and am doing a fair job on it. Takes a bit to get used to the journaling and counting and planning but now I feel good about it. Next step is to figure out when to work out and start sweating some weight off! Funny how I just ignored the slow creeping of weight until my clothes started to really hurt they were getting so tight. I think I just refused to really look at myself. Oh well this is life for me.
The boys keep getting bigger and I am so proud of them. Cullen and Bennett are both so smart and playful. Cullen gets shy at school sometimes but warms up pretty quickly. Bennett is ready to go back to school now too but we are waiting for the big job offer to finally hit before we do that. Just can't break the bank while living with one income. Anyway that is all for now. I will try to remember to blog at home so I can post some pictures here and there and look for a new blog do... get tired of the basic stuff that comes with the site.

April Fools Day

I was halfway to work this morning when I noticed I was wearing my shirt inside out. I had to "adjust" in the parking lot of Cullen's school. Bending down in between the car seats so I could not be seen I thought this is funny. Cullen paid no attention to his mommy disrobing either. Like this is normal. Ha!
I was running late this morning and opted to treat us to McDonald's. Coffee for me, chocolate milk for Cullen, a win-win situation. I decided to go with a nice chicken biscuit and got a plain one for Cullen. Off to work we went. I get here and think that maybe it is time to go back to WW land and start counting my points before I gain all the weight back that I worked so hard to lose. (sigh)
My breakfast knocked out 11 points. Well Hell. Fine time to start counting again right? So my glass of wine (or two) after dinner tonight will no longer be on the menu. I don't have the points left. What puzzles me the most about me is that I know if I count the dang points I will lose weight. If I don't, I won't. If I let loose but continue working out I can maintain but if I stop working out I gain. These all make perfect sense... so why do I give up on me or better yet self sabotage?
I know I am under a good deal of stress what with the single income family of four with the mortgage payment meant for a 2 person income... or one really nice income which I do not have. I also know that eating is a way to physically alter how I am feeling. Weird sounding but hear me out. When I eat the feeling of eating and becoming full replaces the feelings of stress and whatever else I am feeling. So apparently I am not in touch with my feelings but am totally in touch with my gut. Bleck.
I refuse to go to the book stores and start strolling down the self help aisle to pick up the latest version of, "Compulsive Eating No More!" I won't be ordering that off of Amazon.com either. I have no urge for my recommendations on the website to be all about over eating and self help dieting...
So without using any self help books or Oprah reruns I have decided to get my life in gear this Spring. I started with getting my home cleaned out and organized. I started with the playroom because well that is where the boys spend most of their time and it also is where the puppies area is as well. All sorts of ways to make a house yucky all in one place. First I ripped out the old carpet and that was quite enjoyable all in itself. I think it was therapy. I was thinking of doing a stain on the concrete but there were too many cracks and bright green paint in spots (don't ask). So I went with vinyl flooring. Those squares you peel the back off and put down. Really love the look of it to be honest especially for the cost. I will post a pick of it soon. We got some shelves and bins and voila! Our kids are actually picking up their toys. They like having a special bin just for the cars, another for the trains, tracks, etc...
So our home is clean, our laundry is under control. Hurrah! I really think how you keep your home is a direct expression of who you are. I want to be organized and warm. That is what I want to be. Now that my home is coming together and I am going to start tackling my yard I think I can start handling my eating once more... It is like I allowed the entire world to overwhelm me in all areas of my life and I am slowly taking it all back. I really do want to live a happy well balanced life and that means I have to make it happen. God gave me everything I need to make it happen and now I just have to do it. So if you are in my neighborhood feel free to drop by anytime, I am totally comfortable with you in my house. No shame! ha ha ha!!!
So to recap: Hello my name is Taylor and I am a crazed eating machine - BUT am in recovery - AND am learning to be organized and not overwhelmed but my household responsibilities. Can I hear a "Tawanda!"