I'm Prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse

This weekend I participated in the Run For Your Lives Zombie Infested 5k Obstacle Course Race.

It was a coed Bachelorette weekend for my sister-in-law.  We ran the race and then camped there for the night.  It was a fun time...after I got the layers of mud washed off and got the debris out of my contacts.  Seriously.  I almost considered going to one of the dozens of ambulances present to have my eye washed out.  And is that a bad sign when you get to a race and there are emergency response vehicles everywhere?

I learned a few things about what a zombie apocalypse would be like and how I would react.  I can't say that I am proud of myself.  But I think I could survive.  Because I survived yesterday...with one flag left on my belt.  If that isn't an indication that I am ready to face zombies, I don't know what is.

Here are a few things I learned.

1.  I would scream.  I mean, really scream.
So, they load all the runners into a covered gated area.  You run in waves that start every half an hour.  So we all got corralled into the starting game like animals.  And we were like animals...getting ready to be fed to the zombies.  Smoke filled the area and the gate was lifted.  As we ran out of the gate, there were zombies everywhere when the smoke cleared.  I ran as fast as my legs could possibly take me.  And I screamed my head off.  I was so scared during that first "zombie zone".  I think there were 12 zones.  But Zone 7, I was cool with it.  I was beginning to embrace the zombies and even talk to them.  I'm not sure if I was really cool with them...or if my will to live had simply faded.

2.  I would drop the f-bomb excessively.
By the fifth obstacle...I was getting pretty liberal dropping f's everywhere.
Are you f-ing kidding me?
What the f?
I have to really f-ing do that?
F*CK!
We are only at the f-ing one mile mark.  How is that f-ing possible?

3.  I would basically do anything necessary to "survive".
I will tell you this...there were some obstacles in this course that I had NO desire to do.  But I wanted to get it done.  At one point, we ran out of a clearing in the woods, through another zombie zone and reached a lake.  People were jumping in and swimming across.  The only other way was to run ALL THE WAY around it.  No one was doing that.  And when it's a f-ing zombie apocalypse...you don't want to go it alone.  I looked at my sister-in-law who was already in the water and just yelled, "Am I really supposed to swim across?!!!"  Then...I just got in and swam.  In the middle, I couldn't touch at all.  It was freezing.  The water was NASTY.  From that point on, it was anything goes...

And anything goes means...
climbing under barbed wire through inches of muddy water.
going through a smoke house with electrically charged wires hanging everywhere.
sliding down a muddy water slide and getting completely submerged in a muddy pool of water of the bottom.
climbing under the electrically charged fence at the finish line.


*A "zombie zone"


*The muddy waterslide...


*electrically charged fence at the finish line...

When it was all said and done, I had several scrapes and a bruised right knee, a probable scratch on my cornea, I was electrocuted 3 times, and I had goose bumps for hours.

It was a blast!

I am most definitely prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse after this weekend.



*All photos courtesy of the Run for Your Lives facebook page.

Give Me 5 for Friday: 5 Great Blog Posts This Week

TGIF, everyone!!! I know "TGIF" is a cheesy saying...but really, I am thanking the heavenly Father above that it's Friday!  That's the truth.

Whew, what a week it has been.

So for Give Me 5 for Friday, I am going to share with you 5 blog posts that I read this week that I just LOVED!   Of course, there are more than 5 that I read and enjoyed, but it's called Give Me 5...not 6...or 7. 

I am also going to a add tab at the top of my blog for "Blogs I LOVE".  These will be all of the blogs that I read when I get a minute...or second...to do so.  The list will always be growing, so check it out:)

Now, here's Give Me 5 for Friday!!!

1. Trying to Go with My Flow by Bethany at My Four Boys.  I LOVE this blog!  It is one that I read as soon as she posts something.  Everything that Bethany writes is just amazing!

2.  Scarred for Life is a guest post over on the crumb diaries.  I adore Allyson and I read her blog regularly.  But this week she had a guest post by her sister and it had me on the edge of my seat.  Go check it out.  Part 1 and 2 are posted already!

3.  A Letter to My 51 Year Old Self from Baby Rabies .  This post had me in tears.  Honestly.  This was the best post I have read in weeks.  I needed this!!!

4.  How Lovely to be a Woman by Katy from I Want A Dumpster Baby.  Wow!  I just love this gal!  She is so positive and wonderful.  And I am so happy for her and her husband, who are expecting TWINS. 

5.  I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now... from Jenn at My Daily Jenn-ism.  This is another one of my favorite blogs!  And I really loved this post.  It gave me something to think about ;)

I hope you all enjoy these posts as much as I did!

I won't be around much this weekend, but be sure to check out my Blogs I LOVE list for some weekend reading!

What are parents to do?

In light of the recent tragic death of Autumn Pasquale, I am left wondering...what are parents to do?

This post doesn't contain advice.  At all.  It is full of worry and disbelief and questions.

Truly, what are we supposed to do as parents to keep our children safe?  Because I really don't know.  Do we hover over them and never let them out of our sight until adulthood?  And even at that point, are they safe?  Do we give them freedom and independence and hope for the best?  Do we trust that they make the right choices and do we have faith that they choose to trust the right people?

The cold hard truth is that this is a dangerous world in which we live.  Every single day I read or hear about some kind of senseless tragedy.  A shooting at a mall or place of business, an abduction, and even worse, a murder.  You just never know.

I can't begin to fathom what Autumn's parents are going through.  I have three daughters.  Three daughters that will grow up and want to ride their bikes around the neighborhood.  Three daughters that will want to go hang out with friends, without me being there to watch over them.  Three daughters that will want to go to the mall or to the movies one day, completely unsupervised.  This scares the crap out of me. 

What will I do?  Will I let them go?  Will I say no? 

When I was 12 years old, I can say with 100% certainty that I rode my bike all the time without parental supervision.  Not only did my friends and I ride our bikes in the neighborhood, we rode them across a highway to the 5&10 to get candy.  And we rode them to other friends' houses.  We took the bus to the mall.  We had bake sales on the street corner and talked to many random strangers.  We were not afraid. 

And I am not saying that these tragedies didn't occur back then because they did.  But times were different.

Now?  Well, now I am just scared and worried.  It's hard being a parent these days.  How do we keep our children safe?

Again, I honestly don't know the answer.  I wish I did.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Autumn Pasquale.

Dear Companies with Telemarketing (and you bill collectors too)

Dear Companies with telemarketing,

Oh and you bill collectors too,  I am most definitely talking to you.

Stop that shit.

Just STOP calling me every day starting at 8 am, including weekends. 

No, I do NOT want more newspaper or magazine subscriptions.  They already pile up as it is. 

I do NOT want to donate more money to some specific cause.  If I do want to donate, I will contact you.  You calling me several times a day is not going to urge me to get my check book out. 

Also, you should know a couple of things...

1.  I will NOT answer if the number comes up on my caller ID as "Unavailable".  It is not happening.  Period.
2.  If by some crazy chance I do answer, I will hang up if you do not respond to my "Hello" in t-minus 3 seconds.  No one I know takes that long to respond when I answer the phone. 
3.  If you are a bill collector, please understand that I want to pay my bill, whatever it may be.  I really do.  I don't get my kicks out of going around charging things then not paying for it.  I will pay.  You will get your money.  Stop harassing me, even if I am 18 hours late at paying my Sears card.  I hate to say it, but sometimes you are put on the very very VERY bottom of my "things I need to pay list".  I'll get to you.  Someday.  Alrighty?
4.  I am seriously thinking of filing a no contact order.  Is that even possible?

Please take time to seriously consider what I have said. 

And the next time you call, I will pick up the phone and let you listen to my kids cry and fight.  That might do that trick. 

Regards,
Katie

Seriously, people!  Please say that I am not the only one getting bombarded with these calls on a daily basis.  Maybe it is because I am home and when the phone rings, 4 out of 5 times it is one of these clowns.  I will tell you this, when they call after I get 6 kids down for a nap at the same time...let's just say that it's not pretty. 

Give Me 5 for Friday: Things to be grateful for TODAY

It's that time of the week again...Give me 5 for Friday.

I wanted to go with something positive.  So here are 5 things that I am grateful for TODAY:

1.  My kids, my husband and I, and our family are all healthy.

2.  There are still great people in the world!  Most of my readers know that I LOVE Mary Tyler Mom and her blog.  And most of you know that I shared Donna's Cancer Story every day in the month of September.  Well, today is Donna's Remembery (the 3 year anniversary of her death).  Over at Donna's Good Things, you can donate today and my friend Tripping While Standing Still has promised to run a mile for each dollar donated between 7 am today and 7 pm tomorrow.  They have already raised over $2000.00!
You can donate here:
http://www.donnasgoodthings.org/content/donate.php?s=22
Any amount helps!

3.  I am going to help my friend with those miles...and run my fat ass off as well!

4.  I did great on Weight Watchers this week and lost an even 5 pounds as of yesterday morning ;)

5.  I just had an awesome salad for lunch, it's FRIDAY, and payday!!! (okay, I put three things in #5...)

So what are you grateful for today?

Picture Keeper Review and Giveaway!!!

Do you take tons of pictures?  Are you always worried about losing those precious memories if something happened to your computer?

I know I am.

About 5 years ago, our computer crashed.  It completely died and we couldn't recover almost 2 years worth of digital images.  Thankfully I had printed many of them out.  But that was 5 years ago.  Now I am lucky if I print out 25% of the pictures that I take each year.

A few months ago, I began to back up my pictures on discs.  It took forever!  I gave up.

Then last month, I received an email from Picture Keeper.  I read all about their product and was so excited to try it out!  I agreed to do a product review...PLUS a giveaway for my readers and a special discount for anyone who wants to purchase one. 

My Picture Keeper PK-4, which holds up to 4000 pictures, came in the mail in only 2 days! 

It is awesome!  All you do is plug in your picture keeper, open the program, Click Start Backup, and voila...your pictures are safely saved!!!! It is that simple.

The Picture Keeper does not require any additional software to load on your computer.  AND it's PC and Mac compatible. 

It's so easy!!!  It will never save the same picture twice.  It only saves new or modified pictures every time you back up your images.   

I know I will actually be ordering an additional picture keeper, since my computer had over 13,000 images.  I can't believe how simple it was to back up my pictures!  And now I have the peace of mind knowing that if something happens to my computer, at least my pictures are safe and sound!

This image is very close to the actual size of the Picture Keeper!

There are several options when ordering the Picture Keeper.  You can get:
PK-4:  Stores up to 4000 images*
PK-8:  Stores up to 8000 images
PK-16:  Stores up to 16,000 images
PK PRO:  Stores up to 250,000 image
*Based on average jpg size of 1MB per picture

Go check out www.picturekeeper.com for more details and to order your Picture Keeper.  BUT WAIT!  That's not it!  If you order, enter the code "keeper15" for 15% off your order and FREE shipping!

You can enter below for your chance to win a free PK-4 from Picture Keeper.  The contest ends this Friday, October 19th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received no compensation for this product review.  I did receive the PK-4 free of charge in order to try the product. 

Thankful Giving Blogger Roundup GIVEAWAY

'Tis the season for giving.

I have teamed up with some FABULOUS Bloggers for an awesome Giveaway!  We wanted to give back to all of our amazing readers and let you know how much we appreciate you taking the time to read what we write!  Without you, we wouldn't have an audience.  AND with no audience, we wouldn't have a blog.

So what are we giving away?

Wait for it...wait for it....

The top prize is CASH!!!!  Yes, cash!  $200 paid right to you, via PayPal.  Who doesn't need some extra cash around the holidays?!

Another awesome prize is a signed copy of a brand new cookbook that isn't even available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble until December!  The cookbook is Carrie's Experimental Kitchen: A Collection of Mediterranean-Inspired Family Meals.

The winner will also receive an embroidered apron for all of the holiday cooking you will be doing!!!

Finally, there is a SURPRISE gift!!!  So exciting:)

All you have to do is enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter link below and wait anxiously patiently to see if you are the winner!  Good luck to all!!!  And THANK YOU!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Give Me 5 for Friday: I am the face.

I was going to do a funny Give Me 5 for Friday.  I really was.  Then I read this from one of my favorite girls, Mommy to 3 Monsters. 

Did you know that October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month?  Well, it is.  And October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.  You can read about it at www.october15th.com

Many, many people have suffered from a pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or infant loss.  If not, they know someone who has.  Many times, people don't share their experience with others.  They remain silent and keep it to themselves.  Other times, people don't acknowledge it when they know this has happened to someone because they don't want to feel uncomfortable or make the other person uncomfortable.

Here are 5 things that you should know about what to say/do when someone suffers a pregnancy loss:

1.  You SHOULD acknowledge the person's loss.  Address it.  Tell them that you are sorry for their loss. 

2.  You SHOULD let them talk about it.  This will help them in their grieving process.

3.  Their is no right or wrong way to grieve.  There is no timeline for when they should be "over it".  Everyone is different.  Everyone's grief is different.

4.  You should NOT ignore it or act like it never happened.  Man (or woman) up and reread #1.

5.  You should NOT use cliches when talking to the person who suffered a pregnancy loss.

Everything happens for a reason.

It was for the best.

It's was God's will.

It will all work out in the end.

Yada, yada, yada.  It's all bullcrap.  Keep the cliches to yourself.

How do I know this?

Because I am the face.  I am 1 in 4.  I have suffered two pregnancy losses. 

I am the face.

Visit www.iamtheface.org to learn more.

My Girls, they are growin' up...

Each year seems to go by faster than the last.  The girls are getting older by the second (but I am as young as ever).

The signs are all around me...the signs of things to come.  Oh, I can only imagine what the future holds for us when our 3 girls enter those magical teenage years.   But I have been getting a little taste of it.

Some examples:

4 year old now wants input in daily wardrobe options.  7 year old has been bitching giving her input for a few years.

This is what the 4 year old would wear to school if I gave her complete control.

7 year old admitted to "liking" her first boy at school (although she seems over it already).  By the way, we have forbidden boyfriends until their late 20s at the earliest.

Both oldest and middle argue with me over almost everything, but give my husband very minimal grief.  Isn't that par for the course?

They both think they know everything...and that I know nothing.  Apparently I never completed 2nd grade math (or taught 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade math) because my 7 year old tells me almost every night that I don't know what I am doing when I try to help with her homework.

And then, I overheard the other night when I hung the Justin Bieber poster in their room after I put it off for 3 weeks because I really didn't want a Justin Bieber poster in their room in the first place...

(Sound of poster rustling..which I would later discover was caused by the 7 year old kissing the poster.)
7 yr old: No, stop!
4 yr old: I want to kiss "Justin Beaver" too.
7 yr old: No, you are going to get slobber on him.
4 yr old: NO I WON'T.
7 yr old:  It's my poster!
4 yr old: It's BOTH of our poster... MOMMY, she won't let me kiss "Justin Beaver"!

At least I still have a few years of unconditional love and innocence from the almost 2 year old.

Do any of you have teenage girls?  It's not that bad, right?  Right?  Or should I just start stockpiling wine and comfort food now to drown my sorrows?

By the way...if you enjoy my blog, could you please head on over to the right and click on the Top Mommy Blogs link?  One click=one vote.  Thanks!!!

Day 1: Back on Weight Watchers

I have to decided get back on WW.  Even though I have had success on this before, I also feel like it takes away some of my happiness.  Is that a problem that I equate food with happiness?  Probably.

Today is Day 1.

Here is how it is going...

6:40 am:  Wake up after hitting snooze 3 times.  Stumble to bathroom and weight myself.  Wow, do I really weight that much?  Weigh myself again.  Yes, I guess I do.

8:00 am:  Make oatmeal.  I love oatmeal so making this my morning thing is not a problem.  I can SO make this a lifestyle change. 

8:04 am:  Finished oatmeal. Still hungry.  Eat half a banana.  Record points used.  Easy.

8:10 am:  Make coffee.  Measure out 2 tbsp. of pumpkin spice creamer.  That is good stuff.  Crap, I must normally use more like 4 tbsp.  But I have to make this work...

8:11 am:  Add one more tablespoon of creamer. I'm already cutting down from 4 to 3...this is a step in the right direction.  Record points used.

9:00 am:  Damn, I am starving.  This is crazy.  I should go weight myself to see if I lost anything yet. Of course I didn't.  I just feel like I haven't eaten in days.

9:13 am:  Oh Lord, the hunger is taking over.  Why am I so hungry?  I don't usually even eat that much in the morning.  Or do I?  I need to do this to get myself in check.  The snacking has GOT TO STOP.

9:15 am:  Do I really need to do this diet?  I could just "cut back".  I know how that works though...

9:30 am:  I'll have some ice water with lemon.  I can't believe that I drank my coffee so fast.  Maybe it was because I was so hungry.  For the LOVE OF GOD, when can I eat again?  I need to keep busy.  I'll go play with the kids...

9:34 am:  Still hungry.

10:00 am:  I made it until mid morning.  I can do this.

10:03 am:  People who are naturally thin can kiss my fat ass.  This is ridiculous.

10:05 am:  I'll have some yogurt.

10:08 am:  That was good.  But I'm still hungry.

10:10 am:  Why am I still hungry?  This is a problem.  Maybe I could grab a handful of Doritos.  Just a few...that can't be too many points.  No, put the damn Doritos back in the cabinet.  Mental note: Don't buy Doritos anymore. 

Spend rest of morning playing with kids, cleaning up, cursing people who "don't have to diet", and sipping water.

12:04 pm:  This Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese looks good.  I could have a few bites.  How many points is that really going to be?  And I don't really have to write it down.  I ran yesterday...that would make up for it.  And I will run tomorrow.  I hope it doesn't rain though.  If it rains tomorrow, I'll definitely run on Thursday...

12:05 pm:  One little taste of the mac and cheese...that's it. 

Feed kids lunch, clean up, get everyone down for a nap.

1:16 pm:  Fill up a bowl with romaine lettuce.  Add low fat Italian dressing and salt and pepper.  YUM.  This is good eatin' right here. 

1:19 pm:  Done.  So not satisfied.  If I save up some points, maybe I'll treat myself to some popcorn tonight.  Woo freakin' hoo!

1:20 pm:  I'm surely going to waste away to nothing on this diet.  Maybe I'll sit down and blog about it.  Blogging will keep me busy and take my mind off the Doritos. 

Halfway through Day 1.

To be continued...

Give Me 5 for Friday: 5 Responses to Trolls

What are "trolls"?

Oh, they are those lovely people that like to make negative comments behind the protection of their computer keyboard.  They willingly like other pages, then put in their 2 cents whenever they have negative crap to spew.

I had my first experience yesterday with trolls. 

I posted this "self-shaming" pic on my facebook page in response to other bloggers doing the same.

It was supposed to be funny.  It is fu*&ing funny.  End of story.

99% of people viewed it as it was intended to be seen...as a joke.  But a few people didn't agree.  Whether they posted their opinion on my page, on another person's page, or they shared it because they thought that I sucked so much...the bottom line is that they didn't like my picture.

For my Give Me 5 for Friday, here are 5 comments and my response:

1.  This mom is a bitch.
WOW!  I will tell you right now that I am most certainly NOT a bitch.  But if you question the type of mother I am, well yes, bitch might be a good word to describe me.  I am a freakin' awesome mom.  I usually don't toot my own horn.  But there you have it.  I am doing my best...and it seems to be working.

2.  Sad, sad, sad.
What is sad is that some parents do not have a sense of humor to deal with parenting issues.  I feel bad for them...and their children. 

3.  This mom is lying to their child.
For crying out loud, REALLY?  It was a f*^$ing GRANOLA BAR!  The box was on the counter.  I thought it was empty so I said they were all gone.  Then about 10 minutes later I went to put the box in the recycling bin (See I recycle.  Doesn't that score me any points?) and there was one left.  Did I tell my daughter?  NO.  Because I wanted it and I know she would waste the high fiber, chocolate chip Trader Joe's granola bar.  So I ate it very quietly.  Plus she had already had a whole wheat blueberry waffle and a pear.  She will survive.

4.  This mother should stop taking pictures and go to the grocery store.
Well...this mother has PLENTY of food for her children.  Plus, this mother has a home daycare and provides 2 square meals and 2 snacks a day for SIX children...free of charge (besides the fee that they pay for child care).  So F&*K off!  Thanks.

5.  I feel bad for the child of this mother.
Don't feel bad for her.  She is wonderful.  She is smart and funny and happy.  And I can assure you she will have a freakin' awesome sense of humor when she is older:)

So that's that.  I will give trolls NO MORE attention on my blog or facebook page.  Zip.  Zero.  Not a one.  From now on, I will ban. 

But I have to admit that I did get a kick out of the drama.

Now, TGIF!  I need a beer.

A Tale of Two Fishes

Once upon a time, on a beautiful fall weekend, a young and vibrant and slim (hey, it's my damn story) mother took her 3 very well behaved young daughters to the fall festival at the eldest daughter's school.  The equally young and vibrant father was working at the fall festival on that crisp morning.

The young girls had one goal in mind.  That goal was to get to the goldfish game and win new goldfish to take home and love.  On the previous year, this was the same goal but the mother of the girls stalled for as long as possible and when they arrived at the goldfish game, all the fish were gone.  The girls sulked.  The mother said, "Oh, that's too bad.  Maybe next year."

Well, next year had arrived.  After stalling for as long as possible, the girls finally got to the goldfish game.  They were elated to find MANY goldfish still available.  Luckily, the 2 oldest girls BOTH won a fish.  The mother silently cursed out the school for giving goldfish as a prize cheered.  Needless to say, the father was dismayed equally as excited when the girls ran to show him their prize.

What a horrible wonderful prize!

After stopping at a few stores on the way rushing home, the girls prepared the tank and added their new pets.  After 4 days of excitement and interest in these fish, BOTH FISH DIED.

The eldest daughter was devastated.  She screamed and cried for over an hour.  She begged for her fish to come back.  She sobbed.  She asked to go get a new fish immediately. 

The middle daughter shrugged and said she didn't even like orange fish.  She would really prefer a kitten.  She would settle for a purple fish, however.

The youngest daughter continued to eat her fourth Popsicle of the day and was completely oblivious.

The mother promised that they would go the next day to get a better fish...a heartier fish that would stand the test of time. 

Again, the father was dismayed in total agreement.

The next day, after school, the family took the long journey to Pet Smart.  There the young girls chose a fish, not purple as expected, but a bright reddish pink color.  The fish was a male.  The girls would not accept that.  The fish would now be a female.  The girls chose a new tank with filter, a purple plant, and a pink castle for their transgender fish. 

The mother begrudgingly happily paid $44 and set off for home.

The girls were so excited. 

They named their fish "Princess Sparkles".

The tank was set up, the water was treated and added, and the girls begged to add the fish. 
"Not yet, we must get the fish used to the water temperature of his her new home."  The fish was transferred to a plastic bag with the water from the store and placed gingerly inside of the new tank.  Every 30 minutes the mother poured out some pet store water and added a little more water from the new tank.

The girls went to bed and dreamed of beautiful fish and underwater castles. 

The mother stayed up past freakin' midnight to acclimate the damn fish to the new water.  After 4 hours, the fish was added to the tank.  The mother could not explain why she watched Princess Sparkles with such interest for 20 minutes swimming in the new tank.  Finally, she pulled herself away from the fish and got ready for bed...after checking on the fish 3 more times.

Introducing... Princess Sparkles

Everyone is now so happy to have Princess Sparkles as a member of our family, except including the father. 

Let's hope that this fish lasts longer than 4 days...because the mother's young girls' hearts could not take it if Princess Sparkles has to join the others in the land of raw sewage.

Moral of the story: The mother is a dumbass for going to get another fish.  This will not end well.

I am...

Most of you know that I love Tara from You Know It Happens At Your House Too.  Well, today she did this post and issued the following challenge:
"Set a timer for five minutes and write.  Write using the prompt I AM ______________________. Don't edit, don't proofread, don't change it.  You are not required to share it with anyone, even though I hope you do, but keep it close by so that on those days when you are feeling really horrible about yourself (we all know that we have those days), you can look back and remember all the things that make you wonderful."

Here goes...

I am Katie. 
I am a mom to 3 wonderful girls.  They drive me nuts and make me so happy all at the same time.  They are amazing.
I am trying to do my best to raise them to be fabulous young ladies.
I am a wife...also trying my best there and I think I'm doing alright:)
I am a daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, and niece.
I am a friend to some great girls that I have know for a veeerrrrryyyy long time.
I am sometimes loud and obnoxious.
I am funny and love to make people laugh (and have been told that I like to be the center of attention...)
I am a complainer.  Sorry, but I do complain and I hate that I do.  I get sick of hearing my own voice.  I am trying to do better with that.
I am an eternal procrastinator.  I work very well under pressure.
I am an awesome karaoke singer.  WHAT?  I am.  And I kick ass at the American Idol Playstation game.
I am trying to be a runner.  I enjoy running and it definitely relieves stress. 
I am bored easily.  I always like to be doing something or going somewhere.  Sitting around is not my thing.
I am a blogger.  This blog is a labor of love. 
I am a work in progress.
I am doing my best.

AND...time's up!!

So there's my list.

Now, your turn.  Who are you?  Like Tara said, take the time to sit and make the list.  Share it or don't share it.  (But if you want to share with me...I would LOVE that!!!)

Also, take the time to visit these other blogs.  First, According to Mags...where Tara got the prompt originally.  I am so happy that she completed the exercise and shared it with us!
Then go check out Craughing's Self Worth Action Project (SWAP).  It is a great way to remind us that we must value ourselves and know we are worth it.

So get started NOW!

I am....

Set timer to 5 minutes fill in the blanks. 

Do you want to have more fun at home with your kids?

Well, do you?  I am sure your answer is "YES"!!!

You know how it goes.  You are home with your kids.  They are bored.  They are whiny.  You are ready to scream (and speaking of wine...oh wait, not that kind of wine).  You want to keep the kids entertained without dragging them out of the house or spending a fortune.

Well, look no further than the new eBook by Anna Luther from My Life and Kids.

The eBook is called, very appropriately, 75 Ways to Have More Fun at Home. 

I love Anna's blog.  I read it regularly and link up every Wednesday for Finding the Funny.  So it comes as no surprise to me that she has written this eBook with so many GREAT ideas!  I had the privilege of previewing it last week and I absolutely loved it.  It's honestly a go-to resource for parents to use when they are home with their children.  Whether you are a stay at home mom or a parent working out of the home looking to have some fun with the kids on the weekends, this eBook has ideas for you!

To name a few of my favorites...

• Play dress up.  And not just the kids...You too:)
• Have a snow day...in the summer.  Anna says, "crank the A/C, put on your hats, scarves and mittens and serve hot chocolate and cookies."  What a cute idea!
• Make your kids your "little laundry helpers".  Ummm, who doesn't want to have their kids help them with chores?!  Start 'em early!
• Have a picnic.
• Go camping...inside.  Anna says they "roll out the sleeping bags, bring our flashlights, turn on a sound machine for nature music and bring our Twilight Turtle with us to provide the stars".  Super cute idea!  And it so happens that we have the little Twilight ladybug:)
• Have a scavenger hunt.  There are some suggestions for different types of scavenger hunts you can have.
• Build a ball pit.  You have to check out the eBook for the super easy way you can do this at home!!!

There are so many other fabulous ideas!

And the best part is that you can purchase the eBook as a PDF document from Anna's website (just click the link in the beginning of this post or click on the image of the eBook) or on Amazon as a download for Kindle for only $3.99!  And you can do it TODAY...it is being officially released today, October 1st.  At $3.99, it is a great deal!  Trust me:)

Now go check out 75 Ways To Have More Fun at Home...and let the fun begin!