Confessions of a Derelict Mom...

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I will not give away any spoilers here for those of you who have not yet finished. Just so's you know!

The girls have been fed and dressed (but perhaps not bathed...I'm pleading the fifth on that one) since I got the book in my hot little hands. They seem to have kept themselves entertained for the most part - only the occasional screech or fuss has been heard and I've happily ignored it unless it seemed like it was heading for a bloodbath. But, I have not really paid much attention to them since I picked up the mail at 5:00PM on Saturday.

Yes, I have been a Harry Potter-obsessed and neglectful mother to my three young'uns these last couple of days.

But, hey, now I know the ending! And I managed not to stumble upon any spoilers online! Yay me - and to heck with responsibilities! Right?

It appears my children survived this weekend of neglect without scars (I hope). I mean, really, Rick was around to tend to any serious needs, right? And kids need time to play on their own without adult supervision interruption, right?

Sirius-ly Seriously.

Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled life and hope my girls will remember who the heck I am.

And pretty soon they will be begging for me to read them the next book in the Harry Potter series (cuz, you see, I think the main reason they let me get away with having my "nose in that book" - yes, that came direct from R's lips - all weekend was because they desperately want to know if they are old enough to hear beyond our current bedtime story, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)! I think I've successfully created a new generation of Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling fans in our household...

Long live J.K. Rowling!!!!!!!!!

(See? No spoilers. Now - if you haven't already - GO FINISH THE BOOK!)

CNN is falling down on the job

Hell must have frozen over but the story did not make the front page on the CNN website. In fact, I can't find reference to it anywhere on CNN or elsewhere.

But, it must be true.

Why, you ask?

Because ALL three girls slept in past 8:00 this morning!

I got back from my walk this morning and all was quiet. Rick headed off to work and I sat at the computer with my breakfast (farm fresh strawberries and whole wheat English muffin with Laughing Cow cheese spread...yum) and ate a peaceful meal while surfing my favorite news sites and blogs. Then, to add to the tranquility of the morning, I showered without interruption or the background cacophony of screeching, screaming, fussing and crying.

It was a little slice of heaven this morning.

The girls are now awake and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee...dare I hope to actually finish it before it is stone cold? Now that would just be the cherry on top!

A quiet moment...

The older girls are watching an "Arthur" dvd and the youngest was acting psychotic so I plunked her in her crib with her paci and she is happy to play in there....go figure. Guess we all need a few moments of solitude now and again. I know I do.

Rick is being the good husband and is off doing the grocery shopping. (Thanks, hon!) My hip is still being irksome and so he's trying to help me rest it for now. I did well all morning at church but by lunchtime it had started to twinge and then it was aching up a storm by early afternoon. I took some ibuprofen and stuck a heat pack on it to warm up the muscle and one or both took the edge off for now. Here's hoping I don't need to go for another adjustment before this bout of sciatica clears up. I'm so sick of dealing with the damn hip at random intervals!! It is so frustrating, particularly when I tried something new like the workout video I did before this recent flare up and then I get sidelined because my hip can't handle it. It really makes a body feel old, ya know?

Speaking of feeling old, I have been doing some internet searches to try to find other "old folks" like myself who apparently have an evil milestone fast approaching. I managed to find a couple of fellow grads and passed along whatever information I could glean from websites and online articles to the appropriate coordinators. I think I've tracked down about three people and we now have about 50 graduates that have been "found"....out of over 400. There's lots more work to do, obviously. One of the coordinators emailed me her current list of "finds" and I saw a name I recognized on the list and asked her to forward that person my email. A short while later I got an email from "Sue" and got caught up on the basics of her life over the last 15 or so years since we last spoke. It was great to hear from her and I hope we can reconnect and perhaps get together when I am visiting my hometown again. (I could even invite her to join Karyn and me when we have breakfast at our usual hangout!)

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. We won't be watching the "big game" tonight - heck, the only reason that I even know it's Superbowl weekend is because the Youth Group held their annual "Soup-er Bowl Sunday" fundraiser. The youth collect money in big soup pots as people are leaving church and they decide where to send the money. They collected over $300 this morning ($100 more than they collected last year!) and will be sending it to a local shelter.

Rick just got home from the grocery store and the girls movie just ended so my quiet time has come to an end. Time to go figure out what's for dinner and get the girls started on their evening clean-up routine. Have a good one!

At long last...

My body has finally gotten the hint. I guess it's a bit slow on the uptake. My brain has been trying to tell it for the last few weeks that it's on a diet and exercise program to lose weight but it was staunchly refusing to get the hint until recently.

I think that's what makes dieting so hard for me. My body's ability to lose weight is about two weeks behind my brain. The will-power and determination kicks in right away but the progress is so slow going at first that I get easily frustrated. Around two weeks into it is when i start to say "hey, this isn't working...why bother?" as I did in a recent post. But, then I have to tell myself to stay the course and see if another week or so will make a difference. And it did. Over the course of the last few days I've steadily seen the scale drop in tiny increments and today I was a full two pounds lighter than I have been for the last few weeks. When the first drop in the scale appeared a few days ago I was hesitant to believe it would 'stick' - it was a small enough amount that it could have been chalked up to a normal weight fluctuation. I figured I was going to see it inch back up the next morning. However, much to my delight there was another small drop the next morning and yet another this morning when I stepped on the scale. It was a relief to finally see a change in the right direction and it gave me the motivation to just keep doing what I'm doing.

I walked in the freezing cold yesterday with Lauri. I think it was below 10 degrees - brrrrr.... I know Lauri is generally willing to brave the cold weather (especially when she has company to help pass the time) so I threw on the front light and went to get dressed. When I came back I saw that she had turned her light on and knew that we both crazy enough to face the cold for a bit of exercise. And man, did my legs get cold. They were as red as lobsters when I got home, but it was good to get the exercise over and done with for the day. The ways things went for the remainder of the day it was not possible for me to fit it in at any other time. I had hoped to maybe do a quick upper body workout in the afternoon but it never did happen so that's on tap for today at some point...I hope. It depends on how nap time/bedtime works out today...

Today I get a little reprieve from the "Mom Job". My MIL is due over at any minute to hold down the fort while E naps so I can run out for a quick lunch with one of my friends. It has to be quick because I need to be back to preschool to pick up A at 12:45. So, it will be brief, but I will enjoy every second of it. And I will do my best to pick something sensible from the menu so I don't end up losing ground on my recent success!

OK, my MIL just walked in the door. So, I'm off!

Be well!