Weekend Wind Down- 13 weeks of summer, week 1

Are you going to, or did you already, take a summer vacation this year... to where?

We are not planning a trip this summer. Our boy is 2 1/2 and we just started potty training. That is one of the reasons why we aren't going anywhere. I think a trip would get in the way on constant monitoring of the potty situation. Plus, it's just not in the budget. I also think he wouldn't get much from going on an actual vacation, may be more work then vacation. Know what I mean?

We did go to the Tulip Festival this year. It's in Orange City, IA. The town is primarly Dutch and every May, they have a three day festival with parades, authentic Dutch clothing, AWESOME food, and of course, tulips!

We also we went to the Sioux Falls Zoo for the day. It was Jack's first time to a zoo and he loved it. We are lucky enough to be within a hours distance to two great zoos. The Sioux Falls is smaller, so it was perfect for his first trip. I'm hoping we can squeeze a trip to the Omaha Zoo when it starts to cool down. It's huge and it would take hours to see every single thing.

Saturday Stumbles

I had some really good luck this week on the web. I found some awesome blogs.

Tightwad I had asked someone on Twitter if they knew of any good lists for daily memes. They suggested this blog. I'm so glad I found it! I love being able to find tons of blogs to post my links to. There is a list for each day and there are tons.

Mama's Losin' It! After searching Tightwad, I came across this blog. She offers soooo many different writing topics. I found her just at the right time. I was sitting here wantint to write, but couldn't think a single thing. I took only look of her weekly topics and I was set. It makes it super easy to write.

Check out more Saturday Stumbles @ It's Come 2 This

I'm a little saddened

Wait, who am I kidding? I'm pissed.
We have a pool at our apartment complex. I was just out with my dog on the patio. In the pool is a boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old. His mom is sitting in a chair on the side.
The little boy is jumping around and doing his tricks. He keeps saying "Mommy! Look at this!" Do you think she looks? Nope! What is keeping her so busy that she can't watch her son? Her cell phone! She is just texting away. After four times of him calling for her, he puts his head down and swims away. My heart was aching for him. I really wanted to say something. But, I thought I'd see how this plays out.
Then he asks his mom if his eyes are red. This little boy is thinking of anything he can to get her attention. Her response? She finishes a text and says, "You're stomach hurts? Let's go." What? Did you even listen to him? He keeps swimming and then starts crying. I bet he cried for a few minutes. She did say a thing to him! He is just sitting on the steps crying and then goes in front of her and cries. She still does not do anything. Doesn't even acknowledge he is there.
He then goes on to tell her about a time when he was swimming with another little boy that lives here. Again, she ignores him. She gets up from her chair and says, "Let's go." He asks her why and all she says is, "Your eye!". I had to come back inside because had she walked by me, I'm sure I would have gone off on her. I really think I would have. I'm sitting here at the table and I see her walk by. She is not even walking with him. He is a few feet behind her.
What is wrong with this lady? Her son is crying because his eyes hurt and she can't even walk with him?
But, what do I expect? This is the same mom who lets him and his 3 yr old brother run around the complex. There are 12 buildings here and each building has 6 apts. So, there is a ton of people who live here. How can she just let her kids run around? Does she not worry that someone may grab them or hurt them? I've seen the 3yr playing by the pond we have at the entrance. I've also witnessed this mom going from different apartments looking for her kids only to have my neighbor tell her she sent them home.

I just don't know how she can treat her kids like that. I'm not a perfect Mom, but I know how to spend time with my son. I treasure all of our moments together. Plus, I love how he tells me stories. I could never ignore him like that. Before she knows it, that little boy will not want to talk to her at all. It really is just sad. I think I'm going to make it a point to talk to that little boy when I see him running around. I seriously want to cry right now......

Friday Follows!

I love that I keep finding awesome new follow memes for the week. The first one I found is: Friendly Friday Follow. The RULES to join in Freindly Friday Follow are very simple!
Grab the button above
Add your link to the list below
Visit as many other blogs as you can
Follow the ones you like (and comment on their blog to say that you are following)


The second is Social Parade Follow on Fridays


So, if ya like what you see, follow me and I will follow you back!

I found a new Thursday Blog Hop. Come check it out at Menopausal New Mom. They have also added a link for giveaways! Be sure to check them out!

A Letter to Myself

Dear Michelle,
Why can't you seem to lose the weight you so badly want to lose? It's really frustrating that you think about how you need to lose weight but at the same time, you do nothing about it. Sure, you buy the healthy frozen dinners to control portions. Do you really think that's going to melt off the 50+ pounds you need to lose? Get real!
There is so much you could be doing. You could be for sure be eating better. Let's not forget about all the work out DVDs you have laying around. Remember that one you bought at Target that yous spent your last dollar on? You thought for sure this was going to be the one that got you going. If I recall, it's sitting in your bedroom closet. Nice.
You have so many dreams about buying new, smaller clothes. You even hope that your ginormous chest will shrink if you lose weight. But yet you do nothing about it. Let's get the ball rolling and work on losing the weight. Your body depends on it!

So, there it is. The letter to myself. One of the writing prompts at Mama's Losin' It!
was to write a letter to whatever is keeping you from losing weight. that thing is me. I've written before about it. Once again, I did nothing. It's just so frustrating. But, I have a possible opportunity on the horizon.
I just got word today that WW at Work will have someone at work on the 29th to speak about bringing Weight Watchers to our building once a week. This is awesome for me! I actually did weight watchers before I got pregnant. Combined with the better eating and a temporary break from my BF, I lost 20lbs. The BF and I get back together and before I know it, I'm pregnant! So, any weight loss went right down the toilet.
I've tried many times since having my son 2 1/2 years ago. But, I don't stick to it. That's why I'm super excited about WW coming to work. I wanted to go to meetings but I couldn't find one that fit our schedule. I tried doing it online and by myself. That didn't last long. I am a person who needs to be accountable to other people. Knowing that I have to go and weigh in in front of someone makes me lose weight.
It is kind of funny to me because I work at Tyson Foods. The mecca of all things meat. I work in the sales department. All day I hear about different beef and pork items. I sit there all day drooling over the possibility of having a steak. Since I can't have a steak randomly at work, I settle for cookies or some other bad food. Combine that with a sit down job and I'm pretty much screwed.
So, I'm going to attend the informational meeting next week. I do know that they have to have a certain amount of people sign up before they will commit to coming. I also have to see what the cost is going to be and if we can pay weekly or if it has to be paid in full. I'm not sure if I can fit it into my budget right now.
Mmmm...I wonder what my chances of WW sponsoring me so I could blog about it are. That might be an interesting question to ask....LOL

Change in Thought

I'm wonder what has become of me. I think becoming a Mom has changed my thoughts on many different levels. Randomly, I will think about something and then realize that 3 yrs ago, I would have thought differently. Maybe it's being a Mom or since I'm getting up their in age (29 LOL). Here is a perfect example.
Friday night, I noticed that my upstairs neighbors were sitting in their car. It wasn't running and it was 90 degrees. My first thought was, that's dumb. They sat in the car for at least two hours. I went outside every couple of hours from 6 pm until 11:30. They were out there the entire time. I swear every time I went, there was one more person added to the group. What's really funny to me is that none of the guys had shirts on and the girls had short shorts and skanky tops. By midnight, they were hanging out on the front steps of our building. What? They were outside doing nothing for at least six hours. I kindof got the feeling that maybe the BF of the girl who lives upstairs wasn't wanted inside her Mom's apt.
Now, a few years ago, I would have been like, OMG! What losers! I would then move on with my life. Not this time.
It is against the rules to work on cars in the parking lot. My first instinct was to call the office and leave a message about the hoodlums that were hanging out in the parking lot. But, I didn't. Then when they moved to the stairs and started getting louder and throwing out TONS of cuss words, I again felt the urge to call. I kept thinking, we pay far too much rent to have our building look trashy with all these half naked people hanging out. A few years ago, that point never would have crossed my mind.
We also have a few little kids who are running around the complex. Our apartment is made up of 12 separate buildings and each building has 6 apts. There is a ton of people and I would not let my 3 yr run around like they own the place. Just the other day, I about saw a little boy who lives 3 buildings down almost get hit by a car. Before having Jack, I would have felt some negative feelings towards the parents. Now, after having my son, I want so badly to go up to these parents and tell them how to handle their kids. Fortunately,I can control myself. I thought about calling the office and then having them put a friendly reminder in the monthly newsletter about the rules for kids. I told my neighbors about it and this was their response: "It's really bad that the office would have to put something in the the newsletter that said, Hey! Remember that you have kids!" I thought it was so funny they way he said it.
So, I can't decide if my new views on things are due to being a mom or just because I'm getting older.
What is one thing that you have changed your mind about since having children or getting older? I'm really interested in seeing in mine are the same as yours.

Holy Blog!

I have been blogging since mid April of this year. When I started, I really didn't think anything would come of it. I would get 0 followers, I would get frustrated, and then I would quit. So not the case.

In the two months that I've been blogging, I have 59 followers! I know that most of them probably follow me themes. But, I don't care. It means alot to me that they would decide to follow me. My thought is that they don't have to follow me. They could check out my page and think it sucks, then move on. But they choose to follow me. I just can't believe it.

I started really using my twitter account after starting this blog. I had one before, but never used it. I currently have 93 followers. Out of those 93, I only know one personally. That is insane to me.
What really floats my boat is that some of the bloggers that I look up to in this crazy world of mom blogs are following me on twitter. I'm actually feeling that I could fit into this world that I so badly want to be a part of. Know what's even better? Some of them even reply to my tweets. That is so awesome to me.
I have yet to "meet" a fellow mom blogger who doesn't support the other moms out there trying to mark their spot. I've seen tips being offered and friendships being made.
So, I have surprised myself as far as my blog goes. I have put much more effort then I thought I would and I love what I'm getting out of it.
Thanks everyone!!