Musings from a Busy Mom

As some of you may remember, I have tried Weight Watchers several times.  I had success after my first two children on Weight Watchers, except I always got pregnant while doing the program and had to stop the program.  But when I joined again a few years ago after moving to Tennessee, I ran into some problems.  First, I was still new to town, and the group did not quite have that welcoming feel to it.  Second, we had already made the switch to more natural/organic foods.  So I included eating 'real foods' or 'whole foods' within my POINTS and I was ostracized at the meetings because I would not drink the diet drinks or eat the 'low-fat' and 'fat-free' versions of food.  And finally, when Weight Watchers switched to the POINTSPlus program, I began gaining weight. I want to lose weight, but I don't want to do it by eating chemicals, processed foods, or genetically modified foods.  So this month when a group of my friends decided to join Weight Wa...

Wow... can it really have been 3 months since my last post?!?!  Well, I guess that is what happens when you become ill.  Since if you are reading this I assume you probably have read my previous posts on health issues and weight loss failures, so I thought I should update you on what has been happening.   Since I last posted I ended up with some severe health issues.  To truly understand this post, it may be helpful to read previous posts - "We have answers!!," "What a Whirlwind!" and "The Long Road to Recovery." So, like I said, I ended up with sever health issues - worse than in "The Long Road to Recovery."  Severe as in bedridden since late October until the beginning of January.  Obviously my gall bladder surgery did not help.   In fact, it made me worse.  To try to figure things out, the doctor decided to send me to a gastroenterologist, who decided to do a colonoscopy.  My abdominal pains became even worse.  So now I...

Where are you in your life? Not whether you are in the diapering stage, the school-age stage, or teen stage… but where are you in your heart? Are you content with where you are, or are you seeking more? Mothering can be a tough job. We face many challenges unique to mothering as we also battle through everyday life. How can we be happy or content with so much expected of us? What can we find to make us happy and able to enjoy every stage of mothering? I have been looking for a lot of things lately to satisfy my desires. The biggest thing I have been looking for, though, is a close friend. You know, the friend you can call at a moment's notice to come over and spend time with you - to laugh, to cry, to talk, or to just sit in comfortable silence. The friend who is beside you through all your triumphs and your trials. The one who accepts you for who you are. In all my searches for happiness, recently I had my hair cut shorter and styled with a little flip in all the lay...

I always said I would not get upset about my children's grades - that I would not discipline over my children's school performance.  Well, today I blew it. First, let me explain.  I homeschool three children ages 6, 7, and 9 - second, third, and fourth grades.  I just got back from MOPS Convention on Sunday afternoon, with the plans to start school on Monday.  I thought I had it all figured out. The children were going to do their 'computer work.'  All three children have laptops that we found on clearance so they don't have to take turns using the computer, and they all have some subjects on the computer.  The youngest has Science, Language Arts, and Spelling.  The middle has Bible, Math, Science, History & Geography, Language Arts, and Spelling.  The oldest has Bible, Spanish, Math, Science, History & Geography, Language Arts, and Spelling. We normally use a classical model of education, with the exception of math, and use the...

While up in the middle of the night because the dogs were playing too loudly and the house was too hot, I decided to get caught up on emails and Facebook.  I am amazed at all the comments about what occurred yesterday (Chick-Fil-A appreciation day). I am amazed at the overwhelming response and for some reason I was actually a little amazed at how misinformed some people are and at how people were able to twist what is happening.  I really shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. Many people went out to support a company that has always been known as a Christian company.  Other protested - either at one of the franchises, by boycotting the restaurant chain, and/or through social media.  Everyone had one thing in common: we all had the right to voice our opinions and beliefs on the subject.   Watching and listening, I discovered a few things.   First, why were people dining at Chick-Fil-A yesterday?  I saw three - no, make that four - ...

Okay, I just have to say this, and some of you will be offended (sorry)!  Many people, including myself, are making more and more things at home - from sauces, ketchup, bread, and jams - to quilts and crochet washcloths - to household cleaners and dish and laundry detergent.  Some of us are doing this because of allergies, some for better quality, others to save a buck, and some of us just for the challenge.   Nothing wrong with any of these reasons.  I do it for three of those reasons: allergies, quality, and challenge.  Yes, I do sometimes to save a buck on some items, but there are just as many times when I am paying just as much if not more to make it myself, which is frustrating, actually.  I know I spend more on my good olive or canola oil I use in making mayo than I would on a jar of Duke's, but my son is allergic to soy, so I make our own.  Yes, I spend more on the local honey to make my ketchup than I would on a bottle of Heinz, but I'm goi...

We've all been told to 'feel the burn' and that exercise is supposed to hurt.  So, what is supposed to be our motivation that makes us do something we know will hurt?  It would be so much easier just to sit on the couch and watch another movie.  After all, our grandparents and their parents, and so on throughout the ages, did not get caught up in the latest exercise fads.  Why should we exercise now? Well, frankly, our grandparents did not have to make a point of exercising.  It was a part of their daily lives: walking through their gardens weeding and hoeing and harvesting; washing laundry by hand and going out to the line to hang it up and back later to bring it in; washing down their walls and sweeping their floors, taking their rugs outside to beat them; and the generation before that would either walk or ride horses into town rather than sit in a car.  They would walk to their neighbors for a visit, which often included helping them with their chore...