The Members Project

OK, maybe a cheap plug since I work there, but if you happen to be an American Express Cardmember (or have ever thought of becoming one), check this out... what a great way to do a little bit of good...

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Presenting The Members Project (SM), an exciting initiative that brings American Express® Cardmembers together to do something good for our world. Join Cardmembers across the country to vote for one incredible idea. On August 7, American Express will bring it to life with anywhere from $1 million to $5 million in funding. Which idea will it be? The decision is yours. Cast your vote at www.membersproject.com.

Broken Record

I went back and re-read some of more recent posts. Gosh, do I sound like a broken record or what?!? "Wonderful husband, wonderful kids, wonderful dog, nice house, blah, blah, blah." While it's all true, the intent of this blog was never to brag about my wonderful life. In fact, I started it for reasons very different than that!


Strange, though, how over time, it's sort of turned in to that. At first, I was a bit annoyed. Not annoyed that I have a wonderful family, but that this blog has become, well, sappy! Yeesh! At one point, it even took me nearly a month to blog because I couldn't come up with a "problem" to blog about. Most people might think that's a good thing, and here I was all annoyed about it. What's wrong with me?!? (Wait, don't answer that...)


As I've mentioned before, I have a very long commute, and my commute time is spent thinking and pondering. If I've had a bad day, I try to decompress before getting home to my "real" life. If I haven't, and I'm not obsessing about the office, I make to-do lists or plan DIY projects or come up with blog ideas. I've really be struggling to come up with blog topics lately, though, because, get this... my life is so good. Huh??


Don't get me wrong, I still have my share of stress and frustration and problems. We all do. But somehow, some way, over the past few months, I've noticed a real change in myself. It's a change I've hoped for, prayed about, and desired for as long as I can remember. A change for the better. A change to be a more relaxed person, a happier person. To really exemplify my favorite motto: Live, Laugh, Love


I'm not sure how it happened, what changed. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I've realized all of a sudden that BAM! I've started to become that person. That infamous happy person. Not just content, but actually happy. Don't get me wrong, you'll never see me bubbly, and I'll never be a Type B. But wow, what a change I see in myself. I like it, I really like it!


There's no moral to this particular post, which started out to be an apology for being so sappy lately. Instead, it's just to point out something I've learned about myself recently, something I've been working on for a really long time. It really is possible to live a life where the "stuff" of life doesn't control you. It really is possible to balance a career, a family, and your own sanity level. It really is possible to have everything you need in life, and to appreciate it for what it is. Wow. Just wow!


So, no apologies for sounding like a broken record, just a statement that I realize I might. But, for very good reasons, me thinks!


I guess now that I've got all that out of the way, I should start working on some different blog post ideas... maybe I'll start with Obama. :-)

Proud to be.... Me

What a nice treat to have a day off in the middle of the week, don't you think? The Monday holidays are nice, as long weekends are good for travel and Sunday BBQs (since you don't need to go anywhere on Monday). But for me, the long weekends usually end up being just that... loooooooong weekends. You know, just one more day of doing chores and errands and other "necessary" stuff that makes the weekend less fun that it should be.

Since having a mid-week day off is such a rare treat, I decided to treat the 4th as a Freebie Day, instead of just one more day of chores and errands... everyone would get to do what they wanted to do, and not what was on Mom's to-do list.

For my (almost) 4-year-old, that meant 3 hours of playing dress-up in the morning, followed by a trip to the pool with Daddy. For my 1-year-old, that meant wreaking havoc all over the house, making messes, and eating, with a short break for a morning nap. For Hubby, that meant watching the History Channel and sports, while children crawled on his lap and asked, "Do you love my ballerina outfit, Daddy?" For me, that meant tackling thing #1 on my Next 5 Things list, cleaning out my craft closet.

The day went really well, and was capped off by both kids taking very long naps, which further facilitated the TV watching for hubby and the closet organizing for me. Woo hoo, what a day!!

Both kids fell asleep late in the afternoon, and were still asleep at 8:45pm. We had promised the 4-year-old a 4th of July picnic while watching the fireworks, so Hubby and I woke up both kids for our promised Family Fun Time.

Fireworks are legal in Florida (you can buy them from giant tents on every street corner), so lots of people put on their own shows. We have a really great setup in our house, in that our master bedroom (on the 2nd floor) has a 9-foot picture window from which we can see fireworks shows for 3 neighboring towns, plus all the fireworks the neighbors are doing. We've decided that, at least until the kids are older, our master bedroom is the best vantage point for the displays.

Our "picnic" was set up on our bed, a king size, so plenty of room for 2 parents, 2 kids and a dog. We spread out a blanket and feasted on chicken nuggets, Cheerios and popcorn. This was an especially good treat for the kids on two counts... eating on the bed and also, no vegetables!

My 4-year-old oohed and aahed at the fireworks, and proudly announced the color of each. "Did you see that big purple one, Mom? Hey Dad, there was a giant green one!" The baby, well, she did what she does best... ate and smiled and ate and smiled and ate some more. I popped in a Lee Greenwood CD, belted out "Proud to be an American" (one of my favorites) and taught my 4-year-old about the meaning of July 4th, how it's America's birthday.

I'm about as patriotic as they come. I donate to military organizations, proudly display the flag and look for ways to better my country. I won't get in to all of it here, but I really, truly am proud to be an American, and I don't take the freedoms I enjoy for granted.

At one point, I went downstairs to get a drink and when I came back up and walked into the bedroom, I found my husband and my 2 girls dancing in front of the window to the music of the Lee Greenwood CD. The big one was laughing at Daddy trying to remember all the words, the little one was laughing because the big one was laughing, and Hubby was laughing because the girls both were. I don't think they knew I was there, but I stood in the doorway and watched them dance and smile and laugh until the song was over. This, folks, is what I'm most proud of... this display of love and happiness, right in my very own home. The 4th of July is great, the fireworks are spectacular, and it's a good time to stop and celebrate all that we, as Americans, have been blessed with. But as I watched my family watching those fireworks, I was reminded of all that I have to be proud of not only on the 4th of July, but every single day of the year. I'm married to a wonderful man, we have 2 wonderful children (and a wonderful dog, too!). We've got food to eat and a house to live in, and enough money in the bank to pay all the bills. I credit a lot of this to the fact that we are Americans, that we have the freedom to make our own choices, and that we have chosen wisely... in our educations, our careers and in each other. But there's a part of me that's going to be even more selfish than that, and say that I had a lot to do with this, too. I'm so proud to be who I am... a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend. And watching the three people I love most dance and try to sing along reminded me to stop and remember that, not just on the 4th of July, but every single day. I hope you stop to think about all you have, not only because you're an American, but because you worked for it and you deserve it. I encourage you to be a Proud American, but also to be a Proud You.

My Next Five Things

In a rare moment of quiet this Sunday afternoon, I decided to do a little blog-surfing and ran into a blog called My Next Five Things. Smitten with the idea behind this blog, I decided to join the 5things Network and start another blog of my own, called Kat's Next Five Things. Check it out, and perhaps you'll also be inspired to start on your own Next Five Things!

PS - I'll still be posting on this blog, too, so don't delete your bookmark!