Thinking Spring

Sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to get her mind ready for spring. So today i did my nails like I would've had I been going on s sweet springtime date in a beer garden with Mr.Gp.

Oh. . . and brace yourselves. . . I am going to apply self tanner.

And that my friends is what i call making a vodka spritzer out of lemons. ♥♥

dough, toppings, veggies... oh my

In the last month we've had a leaky bathroom that has fallen into a remodel, a dryer that quit working, and now this morning, the transmission dropped out of the family truckster.

its easy for me to say, oh I'm not complaining. I have my health, my soulmate, and my boys. . .

BUT DDAAAGGGGUUUUUMMMMIIIIIITTTTTT


Seriously, I do believe that sometimes in a positive persons mind, even those little negative bugs can jump on and become a flesh eating disease that festers. And its all because of pizza.

P.I.Z.Z.A.

Its my favorite food. I love dough. I love cheese. and throw in some veggie toppings and its like Disneyworld in my mouth.


But the former binge eater/ almost 300 pound girl that lives inside my head still is really pissed about the pizza.  You shouldn't eat that. It makes us fat. It makes us sad. It makes us have acne. So then my mind cycles around all of these negative barbs around the damn pizza when in reality.... i ate 3 small slices. The girls I work with and ate lunch with yesterday downed more than I, without an ounce of guilt.

Pizza makes me sick. Mentally sick. I need to remove that from my mind.

I really shouldn't obsess over pizza. My life is full with sooo many other things to obsess over.

This is why Milly shouldn't eat pizza. (lol)

Crazy Hair Day/Help from Mom

Today was a glorious day with the littlest gigglepits family member. It was crazy hair day. He wanted to wear his hat with pink hair/braids. He wanted me to wear bunny ears. I forgot them of course because that is the type of imperfect mother i am when it comes to #GigglepitesChildRearing 

Last night as he was very tired, he mentioned he had no friends and he began to cry about it. He loves playing with girls. He identifies with them more than boys. He enjoys many of the same things. He will run and play with the boys too, but he'd rather hang with girls. This is the age where sexes seem to separate more. I decided to go to school to visualize what was happening. 

It WAS happening. The girls weren't into hearing him or talking because he is a boy. ITs not their fault. Its not their parents fault. It just is what it is.  SO, i began to work my magic. I began talking to the other girls and including Theo in the conversation. Trying to teach my son communication and how to make friends. Now, i will never do this again, but I think he needed a visual. 

I know its tough being a kid and feeling different. I always did. Maybe all kids feel different or out of place at one point or another. Maybe that is a part of life. This is ALL part of Mr Gp and I creating our own norm... our own social norm. We've known from when we met that our lives and our relationship was different than our coupled friends. Teaching our children that our norm is different than others and that we should also be accepting of others norms. I just have to keep reminding him to put himself out there. Keep talking. Keep knocking on the door and eventually friendships click. Normal friendships for us.  Normal soul nourishing friendships that help us feel better about who we are as people. Our norm is no better or worse, it just is. We aren't ashamed of who we are and I am trying to teach our boys that in the midst of a time when everyone is encouraged to conform. 

It's tough, but frankly I don't give a damn how tough it is. I will succeed. 

Snow Days. . .Communication Days

Day 11 of snow days.  My children will never get this year of education back. Mother nature is having a hay day with sleetapocolyptisnow.

I have had just about enough of this midwestern crazyballs weather. I am usually pretty positive about our seasonal changes. For instance, I like all of the seasons. winter makes me want to snuggle, fall makes me want to kiss by the fire, spring makes me want to plant flowers and watch pollination, and summer makes me want to dance and swim.

All of this family time has made us talk a ton more, but also, the kids have been watching way to much TV. We've watched some questionable material. Language has been an issue. We were watching some show with videos and it showed a man dry humping and dogs humping. Although it was literally 7 seconds, the kids were dying laughing. We were on vacation and I was dressing in front of Mr Gigglepits. Mr Gigglepits wiggled his eyebrows at me and 10 says, "EWW GROSS."   We laughed and said, "Whats gross?" He then looked at Mr. G and said, "You want to have sex with Mom." I thought I was going to die. I started laughing. I said, "hey, your father loves me and I love him."

CUE >>>>> THE TALK

We were down at a hotel swimming pool and I asked 10, "Son, what did you mean when you said Dad wanted to have sex with me?"  He got really red in the face. "Mom, I don't know. I just know he wants to kiss you."  I then smiled. "Yes he does son. Do you want to know what sex is?"  He looked at me with so much fear and said, "NO I AM TOO YOUNG MOM!! NOOOOOOO WAAAYYY"and he swam away as fast as he could.

I am thinking that this was a good way to bring it up. He may not want to know now, but I really want my kids to know the importance of a healthy relationship that includes sex. Its important. Healthy marriages have sex. Period. More than 12 times a year. Our children grow up and leave and in the end its just you and your spouse. We must gross out our children. We should be loving parents, but we should also hold hands and cuddle. . . and laugh. . .  and sing like I do everyday with Mr. G. :)

Vacation

Family vacations are absolutely a necessity of life. Free from electronics and the burdens of daily life, we really learned a lot about one another. We had so many seemingly meaningless conversations but they mean the entire world to those two little spawn brains. We went to DisneyWorld by way of Atlanta. Yes we drove. The kids were excited by each state border we found. The littlest kept saying how beautiful the mountains were while our eldest was more excited about cityscapes.  Really, the highlights of our trip didnt even take place in the Disney Parks but in the car and hotel rooms.

Seven learned that he could call ten a doodyhead while he was in ear buds and he would not receive any backlash. .

Ten loved Atlanta. Big buildings. The Georgia dome. The traffic. He enjoyed jumping  from bed to bed in the hotel room. He also learned that in Georgia the last word of each sentence is not completely pronounced.  It tends to drop off.

Kids still getting along. It was crazy. I cant believe after that long of a time period with in your face stimulation, these boys never fought.

So many other things, but two of my fave kidisms:

Seven: Dad when you snore in the hotel you wake everyone up. So tonight try to snore in your head, okay?

Ten: Mom, if you work more you will get paid more, right? *yes honey*
Well we should move here. There is a ton of work here in Tennessee. :) Dentistry he noticed way to many mouths in Tennessee.

I loved this trip and I can't wait for the next.

Social Climber

You see them rollin' . . they hatin'. . .

or really. . . they are everyone's bff.

The Social Climber.

Now I live in a small town that is growing. There are old town people and new townies. I personally like the blend and the growth. I love culture. I love small town feel. I love big city feel. Fortunately I live about 20 minutes outside of a large city. I can be out in cow pasture quicker than Yadier Molina can run the bases as Busch Stadium during a grand slam. yes. . friends... St. Louis, MO by way of Illinois.

I am finding this weird thing happening right now. My friend, Dana, established the term "Cul de Sac Cougar."  We've all seen them. Some of us may even be guilty of it. The woman that sits in her driveway sipping wine and gossiping and bitching about her husband, another neighbor, or even her best girlfriend to anyone who will listen. The one you see everywhere with different people every night. She is the one who will smile in your face then turn around and say something about you to someone else if it means gaining a friend.

The truth is, I was one of these people. Why? Because I hated me. It wasn't that there was something wrong with others, but I felt others were to good to truly accept me and be my friend. It took me some self healing and a smack in the face when I was gossiping to really pull my shit together.  I spoke of a woman that really pissed me off. I spoke freely to some mutual friends who had admitted from time to time that this woman pissed them off too. . . so I joined in the girls gross gossip club. . . but then guess what happened?

wait for it. . .

ALL of these women went back and told the woman everything I had said and seemed to have omitted their own verbal vomit.  I've apologized to the woman. I'm a grownup like that. I'm glad my conscious is clear and from that point on I vowed never to speak ill of someone rather to actually voice the problem specifically to the person.  I know, big girl panties, right?

SO. . now that my eyes are open, the social climbing that is happening is ridiculous! I don't know EVERYONE in my town, but when I have to introduce myself to someone 5 times and each time the person acts as if its the first time I've met them? What gives?  I never forget a face. I sometimes forget names but never a face.  Is it because you don't find me interesting? Is it because you don't find that knowing me will be helpful to you at some point?  I am intentional when engaging in conversations with people. Touch, eye contact, tone of voice, all of which used to make a connection. I walk away with something with every new meeting. I view meeting new people as a GODSEND.  It was intentional. It was a gift. Its either me showing them something or them showing me something. Never listening to the big superficial gripes about spouses and others, but true communication about themselves . I believe its the universes way of showing me how small I am in a big world and really. . . I'm okay with small. Small groups. Small family. Small town. No ladders to climb but rather step stools.

Strength

The strongest have seen a personal hell. They are survivors. They walk through the decay and crumbled ruins only to show their beautiful smiles as they carry loved ones with them. They see not the wreckage around them, but the beauty in what will be. So if a woman gives you attitude, suspect that its where she came from. Help change her vision of where she is going. Give her a map that shows a different path of greatness.