October « 2009 « Elle Dubya

Archive for October, 2009

Happy Halloween

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

We’ve just returned from trick-or-treating with friends. The kids are tucked in their beds, passed out from combination of exhaustion and the down side of a sugar high from eating too much candy out of their treat bags. We spent the first part of the day with friends out in Newberry where we were treated to a Halloween feast. This evening we came home to venture back out with all the other little ghosts and goblins wandering the neighborhood looking to play a few tricks and earn more than their fair share of treats.

On this warm, Floridian Halloween it was reaffirmed to me that the best days are those spent surrounded by friends who love and support you and your family. Sure, it’s a lesson I already knew. But today was just one of those days when I sit back at the end of it and think to myself how lucky I am and how wonderful I think my friends are. I am blessed.

Posted in Daily Life, Uncategorized |

What’s In My Pantry?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

I’m trying to make a shift in the eating habits of my family (self included). We’ve given up on the sugary juice packs, that have no juice in them, and switched to bottled water and sugar free alternatives. I’ve replaced the fruit cups they enjoy in their lunches with fresh bananas and grapes. I’m sneaking whole grains in where I can with the waffles they enjoy from the toaster at breakfast and the bread that I make The Boy’s prerequisite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with.

What I’ve learned from this shift, other than it’s about as easy as turning the Titanic around, is that it’s 1) more expensive to eat healthily and 2) there aren’t as many healthier choices out there as you’d imagine. With my own changes in diet, I’m eating less processed foods and frozen entrees and more lean proteins and fresh vegetables. Chicken isn’t cheap. Neither is enough broccoli & string beans for a week. Since I’ve cut back on the garbage and increased the good stuff, my grocery bill has nearly doubled. This seems wrong in so many ways. It’s like I’m being punished for trying to feed my family healthy meals.

It is mildly encouraging that I’m beginning to see more and more healthy alternatives available to those looking to cut back on sugar and looking to add more whole grains. But I wish someone could tell me why the food producers don’t just leave the crappy stuff off the cart and only provide what’s best for us. It drives me nuts that they get away with pumping us full of preservatives & additives that we don’t need and aren’t doing any of us any good. It drives me even more insane to admit that those same additives make that Pop Tart taste soooo much better than it’s healthier alternative. It’s almost like a scavenger hunt each week in the grocery store trying to seek out the best choices without sacrificing too much in flavor.

But I’m not giving up. I’ll continue to hunt and seek out the best deals on the best foods for my family. I want them to learn that they can make better choices and still enjoy all that is out there available to them. My boy asks me things like, “Is macaroni & cheese bad for you?” I tell him it’s bad if that’s all you eat for dinner every single day but that it’s ok to have every now and then. Ditto for ice cream (the no sugar added variety!) and the occasional piece of candy. Everything in moderation.

Posted in Daily Life, Parenting, Writing Prompts |

Fill In The Blanks

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Writing Prompts will continue….meh, whenever I feel like it. My blog buddy Restaurant Refugee posted another meme so of course I had to do it. Plus, you really don’t want to know what all is in my pantry right now. If you are so inclined – include your own answers in the comments. Comments? What comments? Click the blue circle below the post and find out. Comments are always welcomed on any post.

If I could get all men & women on the planet to take responsibility for their actions no matter the outcome for just one day, I would be a happy blogtart.
If I could make anyone who’s interested in dating me read one blog post, it would be Far From Perfect because it really made me define who I am and who I can be in a relationship.
It may no longer be age appropriate, but I wish I could occasionally sleep till noon like I did when I was a kid.
I know it has some redemptive qualities; but if I could remove the i-dog from history, I would do it in a second.
According to Verve.com, the five best date movies of all time (from 5 to 1) are Barberella, To Have and to Have Not, Say Anything, Casablanca, and Some Like It Hot. I really think that When Harry Met Sally should have made the list.
Speaking of Movies… if a potential suitor didn’t laugh during the movie Anchorman – The Legend of Ron Burgandy, it would be a large red flag.
If you want to ask me to do something difficult, asking with a cup of hot, black coffee for me in your hand would be a very good start.
I don’t know him in real life, but I have a purely platonic & intellectual crush on him that just won’t quit.
Paraphrasing and with apologies to James Lipton, if I wasn’t an investment professional the occupation I would most like to try is bakery owner/operator.
If I could direct every new reader of my blog to this post, it would (quickly) go a long way towards explaining my sense of humor.
If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would be a twice divorced single mom today, I would have laughed in your face; but I surely am.
I love the space after the touch of his hand on my cheek but before he kisses me (and it’s been way too long since I’ve felt this).
We all have better angels and lesser demons whispering in our ears. At the moment, the angels on my left shoulder are saying it may be a hard decision, but you know in the end you must make it, while the lesser demons on my right shoulder are saying it’s not hurting anything so why bother?

Posted in MeMe |

Writing From Prompts

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

There was a time when I would write daily about nearly anything that crossed my mind. It could have been something as silly as shopping for shoes or as serious as a trip to the emergency room with my son. I wrote because it was simply what I did, and I enjoyed it even when it was mundane.

Lately though it seems I’ve started to self-censor what I write. I’m shying away from the heavy stuff yet also holding back on the trivial daily life entries as well. The middle ground I find myself in has started to feel watered down and absent of oompfh (for lack of a better word).

Some nights I sit in bed with the laptop perched on my legs and just stare at the blank screen, willing some inspired thought to leak out through my finger tips. I may tap out a few sentences then decide I’m too tired or it would take to long to fully flesh out the thought so I give up and shut the computer off.

A while back I participated in NaBloPoMo where you’re encouraged to write something every day for an entire month. They give optional themes for each month but by no means are you required to follow them. Just write something. Every day. For a whole month. Yeah, that got old after about the 14th day. Overall the exercise was good because it really made me more aware of the thoughts that float around in my head all day long, which ones could be forgotten in an instant, and those that were jotted down on paper for a blog post later on.

While writing something every day would be a bit ambitious for me at this time, I do want to get back in the habit of writing more frequently that I currently am. I don’t remember how I stumbled up on Plinky, but I am excited that I did. Plinky gives a different prompt every day. Some will end up as a silly, short, mundane post, but after checking out their archive, I’m sure others will stump me and have me scratching my head, dazed at how I plan to answer it coherently.

My first prompt will go up tomorrow or the next day (again – not forcing myself every day, just more often) and hopefully will continue every other day or so. How long will it last? Who knows. Maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe until I am feeling a bit more inspired and can come up with more interesting topics on my own. And as those topics come up – then Plinky will go away as needed. To help me sort the entries, I’ll tag them as “writing prompts.”

Now then…my first prompt: What’s In Your Pantry?

Posted in Daily Life, Writing Prompts |

Dear Future Me

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

What were you doing one year ago today? What will you be doing one year from today? I know exactly what was happening in my life one year ago and how far things have come since that time. But a year from now? That’s the best part – I have no idea.

Sure I can safely assume I’ll still be doing the regular things like shuttling kids around, making those weekly trips to the grocery store and putting my 40 hours in at work. But what about all the little things that fill in the blanks? What about the parts that make life…life?

I don’t want to waste a moment of breath that’s given to me. I want to grow and learn and be a part of things that I only dream about now. I want to be able to look back to this day, today, and see how far yet again I have come. Only this time it’s not about ripping myself out of a hole and finding that elusive “new normal.” This time I want to look back on the year that has gone by and think, “wow, started out good, but finished phenomenally.”

I’m ready for phenomenal.

Posted in Daily Life, Hopes Dreams And Unicorns, Parenting, Single Life |