So, July is here already. The girls turn FIVE in 6 days… *sniffle* I can’t believe it! I really have no idea where the last 6 years have gone.. yes 6… I was pregnant for a bit of that time

Well, the month of July started as well as it could. We’re getting ready for a visit with Meemaw & Peepaw (my parents) and the girls are super excited. I’m stressing a little. The house is a little bit of a mess.. We’ve been clearing clutter and just getting rid of junk that we’ve collected over the years… and boy do we need to do a Yard Sale!!! Anyway.. I’m getting the rooms together upstairs, hoping to get vacuumed, dusted, etc all out of the way before they get here on Wednesday.

The 4th of July weekend, we went up to Raleigh for a quick visit with friends. We lit up some fireworks, and smoked some awesome beef, pork, and veggies. It was an awesome weekend. Well.. mostly. I woke up Sunday morning with major back pain. I was hurting a little bit when I went to bed Saturday, but it was crazy when I woke up… I had a hard time standing up, bending down, lifting anything. I have NO idea what I did to hurt so badly! The crappy part… it’s been hurting ever since. I’ve sat in a hot tub, I’ve iced, heated, massaged, you name it… I’ve taken acetaminophen, naproxen, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and pain killers. Not all at once mind you.. but nothing is seeming to help! I’ve missed one day of TaeKwonDo, and I’m more than likely going to miss Friday as well.

Top all of this off with two sick little girls. Both of them have had a fever of over 100F. I don’t know where this came from either, but I’m hoping it’s gone before their birthday! I can’t imagine being sick, in the middle of summer, on your birthday That would kinda bite… ok, it would REALLY bite.. Anyway… If you haven’t seen me online much lately.. this is why. I’m sorry! I’m just exhausted from the week.

I promise, once my back heals and I’m able to sit at the computer for longer, I’ll be online a little more. Yes, I have a laptop, but it still hurts… I’ve spent a lot of time with the girls watching movies on the couch, or setting them up to color or write, and laying down behind them until they need help witch something.

I’m just hoping that everything calms down soon, my girls feel better fast, and my back quits hurting like NOW!

Ok.. I’m just going to copy my post from Mommy Brain Reports;

If you’ve been watching the news at all, you’ve probably seen the crazy flooding in Oklahoma City & Edmond, OK… Well, a very dear friend of mine lives there… and if she knew I was doing this, she’d probably kick me… but… She lost everything in this storm.

You may know her as Consumer Queen.. I also know her as Melissa Garcia… a fellow Walmart Mom … and a truly hard-working, selfless, giving mom, wife and daughter. She has a pretty nifty blog, and uses her coupon and money saving powers to stock up on some awesome products that she donates to people in need. Well this time, she’s the one in need. She is a working mom, her husband works from home due to his disability. She recently sold her home in order to buy a new home with more room so she could take in her mom who has been very ill… They moved in about two months ago, and were finally settling in…

Well, today, while she was at work, her children called her screaming and crying. Water had come in and flooded her house….. Her boss took her home in her vehicle since it would get through the flooded streets. Melissa came home to Firefighters rescuing her pets and family.

I just got off the phone with her, and her family is safe at another family member’s house, but she’s lost everything in her home. Over 2 feet of water came in (red mud and all) and covered all of her new furniture, and electronics. Her appliances are yet to be determined. They are waiting for the water to recede so they can go back and pick through what’s left. They didn’t have flood insurance… They don’t live on a flood plain. Their only hope now, for relief is if they get government aid from disaster relief.

If you can, please help. She gives so much and asks for so little… Please use the chipin widget in my sidebar to donate directly to her…

Thanks so much!

Tiger Cub Yellow Belts, that is.. This week was a big week for them.
I was away on my trip to Bentonville over the weekend, came home late Saturday and spent Sunday through Tuesday pop quizzing them on various things that they needed to know for their first ever test at Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo. They had to do a late test since I really, really wanted to be there for it. It all worked out pretty well.
Tuesday night came and off we were to Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo Academy… The girls got a little nervous because they were so small in a group of big kids and grown ups. Daddy and I actually walked out of the room because they kept looking back at us instead of paying attention to their instructors. We ended up watching from the window in the lobby… which probably worked out better anyway. They did really great… I was super happy to know that they had passed, and they were super excited to be given their new Tiger Cub Yellow Belts. I think that helped give them a little more confidence than they had before. They’ve really seemed to get even more into class now… which I really love! I would venture a guess to say that putting them in TaeKwonDo was an excellent choice for them!

Yes… that’s a long title… but there’s a reason for it…watch this…

Yeah.. I can’t eat Chicken Nuggets anymore… This show has ruined it for me forever. I know, I know.. he says that chicken nuggets aren’t really made that way here in the U.S., but every time I see those darn things, I get flashbacks to this video.

Now, can my children eat them? Yes.. and sure, I’ll get them chicken strips or whatever is 100% breast meat from Tyson or whoever is on sale at Walmart/Sam’s Club… They still refuse to eat at fast food places, and I’m fine with that. I think it’s what’s helped me stay away from fast food for nearly an entire year now. Which also.. along with my TaeKwonDo has helped me lose weight… how much weight? Stay tuned

Did I say “Broken”? Yes.. Yes I did…

Today was a long day for me… We got up early, took the girls to Tiger Cub Class, went shopping for all of our Memorial Day BBQ needs, and made it home with enough time to quickly invite our neighbors over and run inside to change, fill up a water bottle, and attempt to put my hair up, then get back on the road… this time to Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo Academy….

Today was a board breaking clinic… I really hadn’t prepared for this… but I was told that I should go… and so I did. LOL. I started TaeKwonDo just a couple of months ago, and have been steadily getting my confidence back, and my techniques in check… I have a lot of work to go, and of course, my loss of being able to remember anything just about makes memorizing all of the forms a super long process, but I’m getting it… slowly. I knew that it was going to take time… I’m ready for that…

Now, back to the board breaking… The last time I broke boards was back in 1996… Senior year in High School.. .Yes… I’m admitting my age here. I remember breaking for my testing to 2nd degree black belt. I had to break 2 boards.. one with a hand technique and one with my foot. Don’t ask which techniques I broke with.. because I’m not sure I can remember that far back…  The other day, I was online, and I saw a facebook post from my Instructor come across my tweetdeck, mentioning this board breaking clinic. I had planned on doing a yard sale this weekend, so I replied with ‘Oh sure, do a clinic on my yard sale day!’ After a little conversation, I found out that the clinic went at 3pm, so I’d be able to attend anyway. At first, I was super excited, and then he told me that I had to break 2 boards… at one time… Yeah.. I never had to do that when I was younger… All I could think was that I’m not as in shape, I’m not as in practice, and I’m so going to break or really hurt something… I was psyching myself out… Go figure…

Well, the week went by, and here came Saturday. We got the girls to class, did some shopping and I made it back for the clinic. I got there, and alllllll these kids were there. I felt old… really out of place… Then I thought.. I was in their place before. It was kinda neat… and a little scary. We got in there, started warming up, and then practiced our techniques on some focus pads. After a few minutes, we were able to decide which techniques we wanted to use for our breaks and we were given our boards…  I got to help out holding boards for some of the younger students. It was really neat to see the smiles on their faces when they broke their boards. One of the students really reminded me of me when I was younger. She had a hard time with one of the board breaks. It really got to her too. I felt horrible for her when she started crying because she hadn’t broken the board… I just wanted to give her a huge hug….. Heck I got teary eyed right along with her… I don’t know if it was because I’m a mom, and now I hate seeing kids crying, or if it’s because I remembered how much it hurt me when I didn’t break my boards for my first black belt testing years ago… I’m sure it had to be a combination of the two… along with the fact that I was scared to even try today. She did finally break her front kick board… which was great, but I know that it was already in her mind that she was really discouraged. Naturally… it was my turn next…

I decided I was going to do an elbow strike and a side kick… I figured they were my strongest techniques at this point, and I really did not want to not break the boards. I set up my boards, and away I went. I started with my elbow… Amazingly… I smashed right through it. I went for the side kick. I smashed that one too. I could not believe I did it…. I grabbed my boards and could not stop smiling.. Actually… I couldn’t stop shaking either. I was so ramped up on adrenaline it was kinda crazy.  But I did it… I did something that I didn’t think I could. It was just one more step in my TaeKwonDo .. ummm.. career.. I guess I could say. Sure.. I just started, but I guess it’s kinda a career. Anyhow… It was fun, I made it… I showed that wood who is boss… Oh.. and that photo over there… those are the boards I broke…. Two boards at once.. equaling 2″… Left boards were my side kick and Right boards were my elbow… Yaay!

Oh! I was just sent a video from another student that was there with her son… who was in the clinic with me… She  got my board break on her iPhone… Now you can see me smashing the boards LOL… Click the link below and it should open up for you! if not, let me know and I’ll try a different way…

Moni’s Board Breaking Clinic

So a few months ago… I think it was August to be exact… we had a major pest control issue on our hands. We live on a golf course (though neither of us golfs) and we get a lot of bugs and other icky things around here…  We were pretty tired of it, and of course, I had forgotten to call around. Well, one weekend, we decided to go with a big name company…. We saw the commercials, showing the guy in the white outfit with the red diamond on his hardhat inspecting houses… We thought.. “Wow.. they really take a look around!” and with our house having a crawlspace underneath, we figured there had to be some spooky things under there.  Who knows right???

Anyway… We set up an appointment, and our local Orkin guy came out to our house a couple of days later. He walked around the house, took his flashlight to the pantry, and said… well… Here’s what we can do… We can spray, I can give you traps, and we can do it every couple of months… and it’s going to be $71 each time I come out here… He didn’t exactly do the thorough inspection that they advertise on the commercials, but since when did a Burger actually LOOK like it does on the TV? We kinda thought about it a sec, and thinking this was a good deal, and we needed something fast, we signed on… We told him that we needed to know before hand when he was coming, so I could take care of the dog, unlock the gates, and most of all, make sure someone would be home… Well…. he walked away with our contract in hand… and we were left hoping the following services were going to be better than this first one. Yeah.. Not so much..

The next services were less than desirable. I never got a call to let me know when our service was happening, resulting in me being gone from the house. Which in turn, meant that the dog was still out back, the back yard couldn’t get serviced, and neither could the inside. The last time they called me to tell me my credit card wasn’t being charged any more… I had canceled that card because it was stolen… He told me I could just pay by check when he came… I asked when he was coming… he literally said “I don’t know. They just give me a list to call.” Are you serious??? I was not going to just stick a check out there every day hoping that would be the correct day…

I finally had enough… I called customer service to cancel our service. I didn’t want to deal with them any more… I just had it… After talking to oohhh.. 4 different people… I finally got the confirmation that they were closing the account. I was offered A free service… I was given an apology… Thanks.. but I’m good… I just wanted to cancel. We had ended up taking care of most of our own issues since then anyway… It’ll save us money in the long run right?

Well fast forward 2 weeks later… to today.. I’ve got the girls in the tub, and I’m getting ready for my dental appointment… The door rings.. Well, I can’t exactly answer the door… It rings again.. I finally peek through the blinds in my room, and see an Orkin truck in my driveway, and the dog is going nuts! I got the dog upstairs, but could smell the bug spray… I called Orkin, and asked them why there was an Orkin guy here spraying… after I already canceled the service… and WHY was he in my backyard… All the lady says to me is.. “Oh.. it looks like you get a free service today”… Really??? The guy just jumped my back fence.. It’s Locked FOR A REASON…. Don’t'cha think??? Maybe if I still had an active contract, and the dog was inside… but no.. I canceled it… They have no business on my property…

Needless to say… I’m less than impressed with this company… and the only reason I’m writing this now, is because I’m super angry that they didn’t even seem to care when I called today… I didn’t complain until today… at least not in public…

I called around, and other companies in my area cost waaaay less.. and they seem very genuine when I talk to them. I’m going to end up going with them …

..and now if you’ll excuse me… I have a root canal that needs to be done… you know.. because that’s something fun that everyone should do… NOT…

One of my favorite pies ever is the Fresh Strawberry Pie… Why? It requires no baking, and it allows the true flavor of the strawberries to shine through. It’s perfect for taking as a dessert to a potluck, family BBQ, and whenever you want to show off your skills I love Summer…

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked.. I like graham cracker crust
• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar (substitute with Truvia for a no calorie sweetener)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Wash our strawberries thoroughly. I pick off the stems and cut them in 1/2. Arrange half to 3/4 of them in the pie crust. Mash the remaining strawberries and combine with sugar (truvia) in a medium saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often.

In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water together. Slowly stir in the mixture into the saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Spoon the glaze over the strawberries in the pie crust making sure to fill in all the crevices. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

When ready to serve, whip the cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Serve each slice of pie with a healthy dollop of whipped cream.

ENJOY!

Soooo.. I have sorta been keeping track of my sizes… Not religiously, but doing well enough to notice when I’m losing weight. Guess what… ??? ….
My brand new (last year) shorts that I bought to fit my fat butt… size 20… Yeah.. they’re falling off my hips. Someone could walk up behind me and pants me if they wanted to, and I would barely feel it… I have to wear a belt… although I’m still debating selling them and buying a new pair. I really didn’t want to buy any new clothes until I’m in regular sizes… but c’mon.. from a 22 pants size to an 18??? I think that deserves a minor celebration… Raise a glass (of water) with me!!! Cheers!!!!

I have a long way to go… hopefully between Taekwondo and exercise here at home, I’ll get there faster… Time… It takes time… All I have is time…

I screwed up… I posted my last post last night about my ankle getting hurt, and I didn’t even think about the post title, and everyone who has me on their twitter feed. I used a naughty word… which I have said I’d be free to use on this site… but I used it in my title, and that was the first thing a lot of people saw… for that I’m sorry…

Please understand, this is my personal blog, and I need a place to write what’s on my mind… and last nite.. that was exactly what was on my mind as I sat in bed, leg propped up on pillows with ice on my foot….

I’ll try to keep that out of the title from now on, for anyone who is keeping this site on their twitter feed… If you removed Mommy Brain Life from yours… I understand…

I feel bad if my post got anyone in trouble with their followers… Please direct them to this post if you’d like

Today has been a rough day. I totally forgot about a conference call I had.. Luckily I was reminded by someone else who was attending it.
I’m having issues with a shopping cart I’m building. I can’t, for the life of me, figure out the issue. I’m totally contacting the software peeps tomorrow.
Then, to top it all off… I rolled my ankle at Taekwondo class to tonight. We were practicing some jump kicks and I landed wrong on my left foot. I set down on the outer edge of my foot and it just rolled under. Luckily I recovered pretty fast, but not before doing a little damage. The inside of my ankle/foot is bruised somewhere in there.
Of course… it happened at the beginning of class. I didn’t give in though… I’m a Marine’s wife… Adapt and overcome… pain is weakness leaving the body… Awwww who am I kidding? That shit hurt!
I did stay for the remainder of class. I didn’t do any more jumps, but I made it through otherwise. Heck, I just started going.. I can’t wuss out now!!!
I got home and hubby set me up with pillows, ice, the TV remote and ibuprofen… yeah… that’s love
I’m praying it’s all better by Friday. That’s my next class. I need to keep going… hmmmm maybe if I just wrap it… LOL.