mom

Guest post from: Constance Rodgers.

My mom is a very independent woman. She has always done whatever she wanted to do whenever she wanted to do it. She is in her early eighties and still has more energy than I do. Mom has a different activity for just about every day of the week. Ever since my dad passed away I have been concerned about my mom living alone. I convinced her to have an alarm system installed at her house through total alarm systems. This way I will have peace of mind when she is coming and going to everything that she is involved with. Recently she joined an exercise group called Silver Sneakers. She goes and works out with all these older people at a gym near her home two nights a week. I would love to be a fly on the wall and watch that class. Mom says that part of the class involves learning dance steps to some pretty lively music. I can only imagine what that looks like. All I can say is that my mom is my inspiration to become more active and involved in as many activities as I can. We only have one life to live.

a day of shopping

I hit the mall the day after my birthday. It was the husband's present to me since we did not do anything special on my day and it made him feel bad according to him. So I went shopping. I enjoyed roaming around the stores trying on clothes, salivating over shoes, and getting a headache over the prices on kids' clothes. I had a good time. I bought clothes for me and for the kids. I wanted to look at purses but I stopped myself because I still have a couple purses I have not used and there is really no point in buying a new one, it will be impractical. I looked at shoes but did not see anything that I am willing to pay full price on (the sale items were not my type) so I did not linger in that section. I did good on my trip without even a list to buy. I just browsed around, found something I liked then grabbed the items. The cashier was good enough to help me save money on my purchases by doing several transactions so I could get good discount. Hurray! for good customer service. I thanked the husband for his generosity and promised him I will be good for a while, lol. I am like a kid, give me a little treat and I will be quiet as a mouse with no demands whatsoever. A family member once commented that the husband is a very lucky person to have me as his wife to which he said if the other person only know, lol. He does admit he is lucky because aside from the occasional shopping trip I don't demand much. As long as I have plenty of food I am happy as a pig :)

home gym

Somebody I know is building her own gym at home. She said she wants to get fit, and hopefully get slim while at it. Her husband bought her an elliptical which she gushes over, among other things they have planned to buy to set up their gym. She bought yoga mat last I heard and she said she is ready to start getting fit. I don't know if she did buy yoga apparel or if she will use sweats to work out but I know that once she has made up her mind she will not get swayed. Which is good in a way. I do hope she will get fit, she has done it before and she did good at it. I am waiting to hear a report from her a couple weeks from now to see how she is doing with her quest to get fit.

we met online

When people ask me how my husband and I met (believe me when I say we get asked a lot, lol) I tell them we met online on one of those free online dating websites that are readily available to people who hope that they will eventually meet the right person for them. We met eight years ago and will be married six years come January. It is not always fun but I don't think marriage ever is what with all kinds of responsibilities and, with us, culture differences. But we are taking it slow, we talk, we argue, we make up, we love. It is what life is all about anyway, to be lived. I am glad he found me on that website and thought he needed to say hi because I looked lonely on the picture I posted, lol. I am glad I took the chance of communicating with a virtual stranger, and found my better half.

almost like a fairy tale

Am I the only person who likes to watch wedding videos or is there somebody else out there who does too? It feels like looking at a fairy tale movie especially when the videos are edited by a professional. The gowns, the setting, even the people all look beautiful and magical. It gives me goosebumps when I watch a wedding video. And a nice feeling too.

When my aunt got married, she hired a videographer to cover her wedding. She hired somebody who came highly recommended. Somebody who probably would like to be working for wedding videography raleigh nc if they were here. Anyway, she specified what she wanted, the videographer told her what he will do and they came up with a really nice wedding video. The good part, I was on that video as one of the bridesmaids. So, not only did I enjoy watching a fairy-tale-like video, I was also a part of it. I must admit it was awkward to watch myself all dressed and made-up but it was an experience I will never forget. Plus I did get used to it especially when they kept on playing the wedding video for days.

rewards card

When I checked on my Facebook page last night, I read one of my friends' post about getting $50 from a Victoria's Secret rewards card. I remembered I had one here so I checked if I was as lucky as her. I should have known that with my luck it was very unlikely. I had the smallest denomination which was ten dollars. Not enough to buy anything because when I figure in shipping (I did not have any plans to go to the store) I knew it was going to be more. But then I also remembered that VS sent me a birthday rewards card worth $10. That was $20 which was good considering I only wanted to buy their 5 for $26 undies anyway. With free shipping on orders $25 I went ahead and ordered the panties and only had to pay roughly $8 for 5 VS cotton panties. It is a steal! I told the husband about my purchase and he said it was a good deal. I know I promised him I will stop shopping online but I just could not pass up that deal since I don't know when it is going to happen again. He was fine with it. I know he will understand though. It is December and he always lets me do what I want on my birthday month. I do know my limits so I am not going to overdo it. If I have the notion to shop online then I will try to use coupons to save. And I will only buy stuff that I will use. Now, let me get off here because I do have coupons from JC Penney for $15 and free shipping on any order :)

a new mailbox

A few days ago, I got a call from the husband who was at the store, asking me what color mailbox I want for our new (but old, lol) house. I asked him if there was an orange or yellow colored plastic mailboxes available but he said no. I can tell he was happy with his answer, lol. As much as he gives in to my whims, he has limits as to what he can stomach. A bright colored mailbox apparently is an issue. The available colors (according to him) were black, brown, and gray. I opted for a black mailbox because I know that our neighbor's mailbox is brown and I do not want ours to be identical to hers since the mailboxes are sitting side by side. He bought the black and was happy with his purchase. I told him though that should I find a bright colored mailbox in the future we might replace the mailbox we have. He did not say yes nor did he say no which gives me hope I will still get what I want. Next, we have to decide what to use for the number plate to put in the front door. There is just so much to choose from :)

pool safety

When I was little, I thought having a swimming pool is cool. I was fascinated at movies or pictures that feature huge swimming pools in them. It did not even bother me that I don't know how to swim. Talk about irony, lol. As I get older that fascination is still present although not as strong as it was. Now that I am a mother of two, I have second thoughts about having swimming pool what with active kids who have not been taught how to swim. When the husband and I bought a property he told me we can have a pool if I want to but I told him only if we get houston fences around it. I am paranoid when it comes to my kids' safety. Kids get into accidents every day but some (if not all) are preventable so it is up to the parents to keep an eye on their kids. The husband told me I cannot protect our kids from everything which is right but I will if I can. A fence around a pool is one secure way of keeping kids away from it if no adult is present. After all, I cannot watch them every minute of every day.

career plan?

Last week, I did my research on what I want to do should the kids be old enough to go to school. I know I want to work to help out with the bills. I have a couple of career choices but the husband does not approve of one so I am down to one. He does not approve because he has his own reasons and mostly for my benefits anyway so I am fine with it. Besides, I like the remaining option better. So I spent the whole day reading about it, what I need to do, what requirements I need to have, and so on. I got more confused at the end of the day what with all the information my old mind has to absorb but it was worth it. I am not looking for Athletic Trainer Jobs, because I know I do not qualify. I am not looking for a glamorous job either, I will be happy with any job but I have to start somewhere. Find a niche for myself. As long as it will generate income. I still have a lot of reading to do, decisions and plans to make. Thank goodness my kids are still young because it means I still have plenty of time to decide and make sure that what I pursue will be something I will be happy with. If only I can get my mind to focus, that is.