Countdown to my rebirth: Day 22

Wow wee!! I am so behind with this blog. But those of you reading that have kids know that finding time to do anything "not kid related" is very difficult. But here I sit at 12:30am writing my blog because I promised myself that I would see this to the end.

So let me catch you up a bit on my birthday celebrations. My last entry was Day 30 where I spent a relaxing evening with "The Man". Well, I think that peaceful evening near the fire sparked something in "The Man" because this is no longer my personal countdown, it has become his countdown. Since my last blog, I have woken up to cards, flowers and wonderful surprises.

Day 24 he gave me a word puzzle that was my clue to the days event. Soooo cute. We went downtown to the fashion district which is a spend thrifty womans paradise.

Day 23 I went to I Fly which is an indoor sky diving place. I am soooo glad I tried the indoor skydiving before I did the real thing. I was not feeling it. I'm a cheesy, smily, laughy type of person and none of that could be done in the air chamber without losing all the breath in my dag gone body. I felt like my cheeks were gonna fly off because the air pressure was so intense. But woo hoo for trying something new before I turn 40.

And here we are at Day22....an amazing day. I went to hang out with some girlfriends and when I returned home, there was jazz music playing and candles lit throughout the house. In the dining room there was an arrangement of cheese, crackers and an awesome array of exotic teas. Does this man know me or what?! I am a tea drinking fool. So we sipped tea, relaxed and then he enjoyed the sound of my snoring once I fell asleep half way thru our mini date. Ah, the simple things in life make me so happy.

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 30

There must have been something in the air because my toddlers were on level 10 tonight. Screaming, crying and temper tantrums were in effect the moment they walked in the door.

My son is like TV Mike from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (no young'uns, not the one with Johnny Depp). If you let him, he will watch tv until his eyes roll out of his head. So tonight, we said homework, then a few "minutes" of tv, then bed. My child got possessed by the Tasmanian Devil and started spinning around the room because we had the nerve to not allow him to watch a full movie at 8'o clock at night. Well, he spun himself to sleep once he didn't get his way and Day 30 pampering began...

DAY 30: ENJOY AN EVENING BY AN OPEN FIRE

I have been in my place for over 3 years and I have never used my fire pit. I think the main reason is that the yard is the home to every creature this side of the 405 freeway. Take your pick, I got 'em. You want ducks...I got 'em. You want raccoons.....I got 'em. You want skunks...well, I know you don't want skunks, but I got'em. But I "man'd up" and took my backyard back from the wild kingdom....and brought the dog and the man with me for back up.

It was sooooo peaceful. We don't get much quiet time together, so it was long overdue. An evening of conversation under the stars is something that I wish I could do every night.

Well, the Tasmanian woke up so I gotta run...

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 31

Again I say, whose bright idea was it to do this countdown! I am exhausted! Day 32's closet task has spilled into Day 31 and it is 1 in the morning so we are technically in Day 30. What the heck. See, this is why people become hoarders. This purging thing is for the birds. My stuff isn't bothering anybody so why should I bother my stuff.

So, ONCE AGAIN there was no major pamper today. Just a continuation of the closet fiasco. But tomorrow, lookie here...I'm getting pampered one way or another. My better half has something planned for Day 30, so watch out now!!

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 32

This dag gone ear infection is messing up my countdown. I've been stuck in the house doing house-like pamper things cause when I go outside I feel like the girl in the plastic bubble. I'm walking on a lean because my balance is off and I am loud as heck because I CAN"T HEAR. But the countdown continues come rain or shine..right?
DAY 32: GET RID OF EVERY ITEM OF YOUR CLOTHING THAT DOESN'T LOOK GREAT ON YOU
Now this was a tuffy. This was one of those pampers that didn't feel pamper-like when I was doing it. You see, I love stuff(that's how my better half describes it). And I have a lot of "stuff"; especially in my closet. I believe that almost everything will come back in style, or it can be worn for a costume party or my kids might want it when they grow up, etc. etc. I HATE PARTING WITH MY CLOTHES!! And I take pride in knowing that I purchase things for a great price. In my closet right now I have about 20-30 vintage shirts that I bought from a costume warehouse for about 7 bucks for a bundle of about 100 pieces. Who the heck can pass up that deal!! I gave away tons and sold some at the flea market, so I basically got the stuff for free (one of my favorite words by the way).
Well that purchase was almost 10 years ago and I've accumulated 10 more years of "great deals". My closet is packed!!! So until I get my dream guest house that doubles as my walk in closet, it is time for some stuff to go.

Don't get scared by the picture...I didn't throw it all out. I'm turning 40 not turning crazy! I just took everything out so I could take inventory and organize. This is a big job. I have clothes every where. I didn't realize I had so much....okay, I'll say it....so much crap!! Am I really going to wear those leisure pants I bought from Lerners in 1993?! I can almost guarantee that I won't be wearing that midriff to any parent-teacher conferences. Why do I have my moms sequenced tops from the 80's...wait...I'm keeping those. They're cute!
So after a few hours of trying on over sized, undersized, out of fashion clothes...I finally tackled part of my closet.
Organized by style, on matching hangers and finger spaced. Boo-yah!!! So just 3 more sections to go in this closet.....then I move to my shoe closet . Help me Jesus!!

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 33

DAY 33: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY...DON'T DO ANYTHING!

How the heck did I get this ear infection! I woke up this morning and felt like I was under water. Everybody sounds like they are the teacher from Charlie Brown: waam wamm, wamm wamm. So needless to say, i TRIED to do absolutely nothing today. I say tried because with the little ones, they refuse to see you lounging around the house. "Where's my food" , "She hit me", I need go potty". But outside of the few times helping the kids out, I laid down most of the day and I even took a nap. A nap is a rarity for me so that was a treat.

So back to "lounging" I go, so I can nurse myself back to health because in mommyland we are only allowed one sick day at a time.

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 34

It has been a loooooong day! It is already 3'oclock in the morning and I am exhausted. But I have committed myself to following through with this daily blog. I no longer want to be the person that starts something she can't finish. So even though I am tired and starting to feel a little under the weather, I am here!

Today was a different type of pamper day. Instead of using the book to find a "pamper" item, I went with what I know usually pampers my soul.

DAY 34: DECORATE FOR A SMALL GATHERING

I had a small group of my "mom" friends come by for food and fellowship and it was great. People always tease me when I have get togethers because I start the prep work days in advance and they say I do too much. But I get so much joy out of making my guests feel like I did something special for them. Why don't my guests deserve me putting out a glass pitcher instead of a plastic bottle...what's wrong with serving tea out of a nice tea pot instead of telling my guests to get hot water from the pot on the stove. If I invite you into my house, I'm inviting you into my soul. I want each and every person that comes through my door to feel like I made a special effort just for them. It warms my heart to see people smile just because I added flowers to the table. It makes my spirit dance when laughter fills my lavender scented rooms. I may not have a lot of money or a lot of time to do everything I would like to do when it comes to decor, but believe you me, I sure work what I got.

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 35

$1.99! $1.99! That is all it took to make todays pamper day a success.

Day 35: Buy a dozen doughnut holes and don't share.

My daughter is an eater. She has a passionate love for food...at 2 years old. Not sharing my food with her is usually IMPOSSIBLE. So once the midday sleepiness fell over the house and all eyes were closed, I went on my mission for doughnut holes....ALONE. The reason why alone is in caps is because mama doesn't get too many ALONE moments. I had been running around with them all morning an they were on fire. They ran laps inside the bank and I had to apologize to a million people in Trader Joes because my kids kept running over everybody's feet with those silly little shopping carts. Who's dumb idea was that? To look at, they're cute. But function wise, a 2 year old turns into a bull in china shop with this thing. Once we got in the wine section, it was time to go because two buck chuck was about to be all over the floor. (And yes, I hear some of you saying, "well why did you give it to her?" Because I wanted a screamfree shopping experience. And, what?)

Unfortunately, out here in Southern California, there aren't any Dunkin Donut shops. (No freaking white castles either. They're killing me!) So I went to my local Yum Yum Donuts for their great variety of doughnut holes. Glazed and....and...and that was it. Really?! And I know the girl behind the counter thought I was a snob because I had the nerve to ask if they were fresh. I'm just saying. They were prepackaged in a plastic bag that was tied in a knot sitting on top of the counter. So I grabbed my pre-packaged doughnut holes, headed home and hid them on the highest shelf in the kitchen. And now that the children are asleep for the night, here I sit munching on my holes and sipping on some milk.....all by myself :-)