Weekend recap

So rather than completely retire Motivation Monday, I decided I'm not going to do it every week necessarily, but maybe every now and then as I need the motivation.  Of course, I always need it, but coming up with clever ways to write about it isn't always so easy.  So no post today.  Rather, I'll tell you a little bit about our full weekend.  So it started off with my Open House on Friday:

 

 

 

Or actually lack thereof.  No one came on Friday, which left me majorly bummed and questioning myself.  And only one customer on Sunday.  Yeah....kind of left Nain feeling a little sad.  And maybe just a wee bit on the discouraged side.   

 

 

T set up our new patio set, which we must use as soon as the weather warms up.  We have this awesome new patio just teasing us saying "hey, use me!  Oh wait, it's too cold?  Sorry!"  I'm dying to have a cookout and use the new fire pit.  Someday soon....

Over the course of the weekend, I developed an healthy obsession to something I swore I would never do.  Pinterest.  I caved and joined.  And wow.  I have never wanted to try more crafty ideas in my life.  I think I need a 12 step group, but it has done some good in the Sullivan household.  We are slowly becoming more organized.  Well, T was already there, but I've made it no secret that I'm somewhat less than organized.  So I tried a few ideas I learned from the amazingly "with it" people on Pinterest.  Organizing Tupperware lids with a CD rack? Genius!

And as a way to clear off our counters and kitchen table:  using a dish rack and file folders to keep things separated and organized.  I think this is T's favorite so far, because it drives him crazy when I just leave stacks of papers randomly at places to take care of later.  So we'll see how this system goes:

And last, a Pinterest recipe, that was actually really pretty easy and very good:

Yep, I have a new way to waste my time.  I'm obsessed.  For the remainder of my weekend, or rather most of my weekend, I had this attached to me:

   

A 30 pound baby.  She's walking just a little bit but she gets around more by holding onto this as she makes her way around the house.  And always to Mommy.  I swear, you should see my arms.  I have some guns, baby.  Lifting this solid mass of baby really is a workout.  And as much as this little girl is the cutest attachment you could have, it does wear on you after awhile.  We took her to mass Saturday night, and as soon as we got in the church she was fussing.  Not a good sign.  One hour later, I was about ready to pull my hair out.  Get home, feed her, and then she decides to reenact a scene from the Exorcist as we hit bath time and bed.  As I pinned her down in the tub, trying my best to clean her, she desperately worked her way out of the tub.  The award for the best dramatic performance while taking a bath went to Miss Aubrey as she rivaled actresses in Hitchcock movies.  Or rather, as it was in the bath, you'd think we'd live in the Bates Motel.  T was beyond flustered by the time it was over and she was asleep, and I sat there in her room, feeding her her bottle before bed in tears.  I swore this would be the one and only child we would have, though the next morning the feeling wore off.  A few glasses of Merlot later and checking in on her as she peacefully slept, it started to change.  But seriously.  That was tough.  Is it bad when you're ready to take your kid to daycare by the time Sunday arrives?  This is Aubrey after stealing one of the cookies from my open house.  I let her have the rest...red velvet (yum!):

 

 

 

She is a funny kid, though.  Hurricane Aubrey hits our living room on a daily basis, leaving toys strewn about across the floor.  And as she crawls from here to there, she does not crawl around toys or objects to get from Point A to Point B.  No, she crawls straight through them.  The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right?  If I'm sitting on the floor, she will struggle to crawl over both of my legs to get to a toy.  Crawling across the kitchen floor, she scales both bars of the highchair, crawling underneath it straight to the window so that she can promptly pull on the blinds.  This can only mean one thing.  My child is training to be America's Ninja Warrior. 

 

 

So that's our weekend in a nutshell.  How was yours?  And hey, anyone want to come watch my baby?

         

I've got a new way to walk

So guess what? 

 

 

A certain little girl has walked!  Yes, she's walked.  And I couldn't be any prouder.  Little Miss Aubrey took maybe two steps last weekend at church, but yesterday she took seven on her own.  Seven.  It's so cute.  She gets so proud of herself with this huge smile on her face, and Mommy and Daddy couldn't be any prouder.  But if we thought baby-proofing was something before, I have a feeling we are going to find even more things that we haven't quite "proofed."  I'm not sure we will ever get enough away from her, even if we were in some sort of padded room.  I think she would find a piece of the padding that is tearing and would rip it off the wall.

 

 

But....she WALKED!!! 

 

 

So you bet your sweet buns we will be practicing our walking this weekend among many things.  I think those Striderite shoes have done the trick!

 

 

Other than the walking (and I'm sure Sesame Street watching), I'm hosting two open houses for Mary Kay and helping T get our patio finished.  I promise there are pictures to follow, but we have gotten our patio furniture, which T will be putting together this weekend.  And if it starts to get just a little bit warmer, we will get to use the patio, so yay! 

 

 

And...

 

 

Aubrey walked!  So now let's sing a little bit of this, and everyone have a great weekend!

 

 

 

     

Curious little monkey

I got this idea from Christine at Inspired Life, so I do want to give credit where credit is due, but Christine posted about the things she is constantly saying "don't" for in her house.  In her comments she asked what do you find yourself saying "don't" about that you never though you would say?  I had a ton.  So I thought...you know, this would make a good post in and of itself.  I have a rather mobile one year old.  She's not walking yet, but she crawls like a fiend and cruises along furniture really well.  So she gets around.  And gets into everything.  Everything. 


Don't pull on the XM radio cord, Aubrey!
Stop taking your Sesame characters and hitting them on our metal fireplace door!
Stop hitting the fireplace!
Stop trying to overturn the end table!
Stop pulling on the computer cord!
Don't put it in your mouth!
Stop pushing on the screen door!
Don't pull on the blinds!
Stay away from the bathtub faucet!
No, don't chew on Daddy's phone. 
Where did you get that?
Don't throw your food on the floor.
Don't chew on stove door handle! (Yep, teeth marks now on my brand new stainless stove)
Don't lick the stainless.
Don't play with the recycling.
Don't pull Mommy's hair, sweetie. 
Don't pull on that necklace.
Don't tear up that book.
Don't chew on your bed, Aubrey!
Dear God, how did you chew on your bed so much?  What are you?  Part beaver?


I'm not always yelling at my daughter, don't get me wrong.  But seriously...sometimes I wonder where she finds things to do, what goes through her mind to come up with these things and for God's sake...why? 


She's my curious little monkey, what can I say?


 

     

Wordless Wednesday

I am writing this as I sit on the couch watching Modern Family DVR with aches and a fever.  So I'm going wordless.  This is where I wish I was right now....

 

 

Oh Dublin, how I miss you....

 

 

 

     

Quotes to live by

  

This week's Spin Cycle, brought to you by Gretchen at Second Blooming is on quotes.  So I've chosen some quotes that are significant to me and inspire me or capture my feelings at a given moment in time.  I'm a quotes person, and these are just three that I often use: 

  "Don't let someone dim your light simply  because it's shining in their eyes."

I am often surrounded by negative people.  Not naming names or anything, but not everyone is my cheerleader.  I enjoy a joke now and then, but I often find myself the butt of people's jokes.  So sometimes when I get really excited about something I'm doing or really am working hard at something, and I share it with certain people in my life, it is followed with sarcasm, a joke or a negative jab.  And I'm the kind of person who takes these jabs to heart.  I let them soak into my heart and my mind, and there they fester until I feel pretty much awful about myself.  So I believe it was Real Simple magazine's Daily Quote where I got this particular one.  I have written down and taped to my computer screen, as well as on our refrigerator and I read it when I'm in those moments.  Does it change my mode of thinking?  Not always.  But it's a reminder that sometimes those negative comments are because the person is jealous and feeling insecure that they aren't shining that light. 

    "Cast your fears upon God, for he cares for you."   

I repeat this Bible verse over and over in my head in times when I'm particularly scared or anxious about something.  As I walked into the OR for Aubrey's arrival, I said this verse in my prayer as a silent prayer that God would watch over the two of us during surgery.  When I worry about my health, T's job, my job, my family, I'll repeat this over and over again.  It's like my mantra. It may not be a long prayer, but it's one that truly encompasses my thoughts at that given moment.

 

And I know that my previous quotes were serious ones, so I'll end with perhaps an inappropriate quote, but one that keeps me laughing nonetheless....

  "I'm surrounded by assholes!"  

And this, my friends is what I think over and over in my  head I deal with some attorneys or well...other people in the world around me, specifically in the grocery store :-).

 

 

 So those are my quotes.  What quotes mean a lot to you?  Stop by Gretchen's and see what other spinners have to share! 

   

Motivation Monday!

So I'm not going to lie...I've been debating in my head whether I want to continue doing Motivation Monday posts.  Back in the day when I started, people would participate with me, and that was no problem when that backed off.  But then I've started to notice the posts I get few to no comments are the Motivation Monday posts, so....I don't know.  I might have to retire those for a bit. 


I am coming upon a few weeks until the mini-marathon.  I'm pretty nervous about it, but I think I've trained enough to at least survive.  I hope to get a few short runs in this week to keep up with the training (and well, yeah, for stress management, too).  It's tough getting up at 5:30 a.m., especially with the teething Aubster waking up at 3:00 a.m. crying makes it tough.  So at least three days a week would make me happy. 


Aside from that I find myself searching for inspiration...or at least positive energy for the week.  While this week will not in any way be as tough as last week with work, I do have quite a few deadlines looming by the month's end.  I've planned an open house for this weekend on Friday and Sunday for my Mary Kay business, so I am motivated to work hard at promoting this event and just get everything ready. 


So you know, as I find myself writing this post, I am at a bit of a loss on what to write so yeah, maybe I might retire the Motivation Monday posts.  Or maybe put them on sabbatical.  Because maybe they'll return.  Who knows?  Stranger things have happened! 


But I do need motivation - so let's get running and let's get working!  And let's get one step closer to Friday!



     

I think I need to relisten to that Chicago song from yesterday because I could use some inspiration.  It's Friday, and I know I should be all "heck yeah, it's Friday!"  And don't get me wrong...I am glad it's Friday, but I find myself feeling a little down and a little frustrated this morning. 



I'm beyond impatient for the news we are waiting for on T's whole situation.  I'm such an immediate person and expect things to just happen as soon as possible, and it kills me when things are drawn out...especially when the possibility for disappointment is out there.  I'm trying to have faith that it'll all be okay, but I'm not an optimistic person to begin with so being optimistic and patient, while at the same time being strong for T.  I struggle with this:  

 

Images courtesy of versesinspireme.com  

My own job has its special area of struggles.  Working for a non-profit can be both rewarding and frustrating at the same time.  The financial aspect is always so uncertain.  We rely on funding, private but mostly government, and with the economic climate and cuts in federal funding, we are losing money every year.  Every year, I try like hell to find more, and this year I have a rather large amount to compensate for, and being the boss, my whole agency depends on me and is looking to me for guidelines.  I'm always a challenge person and like to try to solve problems, but sometimes it is just so overwhelming.  Yesterday was one of those days, and I find it carrying over to today.

 

 

So I kind of find myself down in the dumps this morning, quickly falling more into the dumps.  I suck at pulling myself up and out of the dumps, but I'm trying this morning.  I am looking forward to spending the weekend with T and Aubrey.  So I will focus on that and not the weight of the world I feel on my shoulders instead.  Andy maybe listen to that Chicago song just one more time.