Thursday, June 23, 2011

38 Toe nails

Ha! I beat Emily to the computer! Most mornings when I wake up, she's already on Webkinz, doing her daily KinzCare. I realize my last several posts have been really dreary, but this morning, I thought of a few upbeat things to write about!

I've been thinking of a few new names for my blog. While I still love peanut M&M's, I think my ultimate favorite now is dark chocolate Kit Kats, followed closely by dark chocolate Reese's cups. My chocolate obsession (along with the pounds) has grown steadily over the past few years.

The other name I've been considering for the blog is "38 Toe nails"! There's a blog I really like called 71 Toes, about a family whose little girl was born with an extra toe. Well, I've recently had my 2 big toe nails permanently removed, so our family now officially has 38 Toe nails!

I love seeing how confident Jared is! The other night, he strode over to the dog's water bowl, picked it up and took a big sip, then set it down and walked away, like it was the most natural thing in the world!

I thought it was interesting that the 2 "kid's cereals" that we bought last night were Bran Flakes and Rice Krispies. We've been having a lot of cereal & toast for breakfast, and I asked Em if there was a cereal she'd like me to get for her. She chose Rice Krispies! And Jared has really been enjoying Raisin Bran lately, but I have to pick out every single raisin before he'll eat it. I'll carefully sift the bran flakes through my fingers, and he'll freak out if a raisin falls in the bowl! I just figured Bran Flakes might make things a little easier.

I just set a new goal: (following the missionary commitment pattern) "Will you learn to post pictures on your blog this summer...without any help from Matthew?" Yes, I will! I'd like to post some Before & After shots of the house. Last week, with lots of help (and butting heads) from Emily, we got the whole house semi-clean & semi-organized (with the exception of my room)! Kimberly (and her daughter Leslie) came over to watch the kids so Matthew & I could go to the temple (1st time in forever!) So, knowing they were coming gave us a big push to clean up!!

Our dining room table is currently covered with brown lunch bags. Each one contains 2 crayons, 4 coloring pages, and 2 mini fruit roll-ups. I'm planning to tie them with a cute ribbon, and glue a piece of cardstock on the front with the words "I Will Share." I have the Nursery lesson this Sunday, and many times, I'll tweak the hand-out to make it a little more cute & fun.

One last note... I'm really looking forward to our trip to Brenham tomorrow! We are going to tour the Blue Bell ice cream factory! But the best part is, we're going to meet Jen, her daughter Kadessa, mom Judy, and maybe Victoria? (good friends from Ohio...haven't seen Jen since my wedding reception!!) Judy & Herb live in Round Rock now, so we're going to meet in the middle (sort of...it's a bit longer drive for them...)

I'll write (and hopefully add pictures) soon!

Love,
Megan

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

not OATy enough

I thought of an acronym for what went wrong when I was teaching (among many other issues):
I wasn't OATy enough!

I wasn't O-organized (couldn't keep up with all of the lesson planning, grading, etc.).
(I still have a really hard time keeping up with paperwork at home!!!)

I didn't
spend
lots of
time
on my A-appearance (you have to look a certain way to be accepted at the school).
(This hasn't changed...I'm still a fun bun gal with no makeup!)
And I
didn't
have
a T-thick skin (wanted everyone to like me, tried too hard to please the wrong people,
couldn't handle mean, scary people, etc.)
( still don't enjoy criticism or dirty looks...)

I did put everything I had into that job, and did everything that was expected, tried to follow all the rules...On top of everything else, I was completely exhausted...and then there were mean people that were impossible to please, & no matter what happened, their kids were perfect & it was "my fault"...Ridiculous!!! I was not mean to those kids, and did not pick on anyone. I was being picked on by the parents, and could not give their kids any consequences-it was a no win situation... (most of the parents were really good, just a couple of raunchy ones...)

Besides all of that, I still feel that I am a good teacher, and still love to teach! I would love to one day teach a few art classes, but first, would like to take some classes & develop my skills (writing & illustrating books would be AMAZING!!!)

maybe one day... :)

to-do list

To Do:
add pictures of Jared's choo choo train cake & Em's Oprah costume,
add "Before" (and "after") pics of the messy house

wonder if I may have a case of adult-onset ADD...you may understand when you see the "before" pics!! need to look into that...

things to work on:
Money (paying off debt, controlling spending)
House (cleaning & organizing)
Jared's sleep
My weight

(this weight loss effort is going to be a long, s l o w process! I hope to lose 30 pounds by Feb. 2012 (about 1 pound a week)
actually, I have lost a total of 3 pounds, and have 31 to go!
trying to be realistic, cuz I'd really like to keep it off once I lose it :)

Swim Meet & lots of random thoughts

Well, tonight was Emily's 1st swim meet of the season. Technically, the 1st one was last Monday, but it got rained out. It's been rescheduled for this Saturday, so...not sure if we will go to the temple in the morning or attend a swim meet...Kimberly was soooooo gracious to offer to do a make-up babysitting day on Sat. since Jared got sick last time we were supposed to go.

I loved seeing what a good friend Emily was to Zoe tonight. Em and Jared probably ate about 1/4 of the huge watermelon that Zoe's dad brought to share with everyone. Jared kept giving the cutest smiles with watermelon juice dripping down his chin. Too bad I didn't get a pic! It's kind of fun not being super competitive about the swim team... Em's 1st ribbon of the night was purple (my favorite color), for participation, meaning someone"DQ'd" (disqualified). Then she got a yellow, and we were thinking of what color would look nice with those, and I suggested green. Before the night was over, Em had a green ribbon, as well as a red (second place)!

Is it possible to feel completely alone in a crowd of hundreds of noisy people? That's kind of how I felt tonight. I arrived at the meet 3 hours after Em, who rode with Zoe. I was there for 4 hours, which was plenty for me. Makes for a long Monday night if you don't have a BFF to talk & laugh with for hours. (Matthew had to work late, and Lisa had to study. I know I have Jared, but it would be nice to talk with someone my own age!) Maybe next time I will be on the look-out for another mom who looks as alone as I feel!

Lately, I've been thinking that I try too hard to impress the wrong people. I care so much about what certain people think of me... I tend to overlook a lot of other people who would probably be happy to talk with me or be a friend. I will try to work on this!!

So happy to get a call from one of my BFFs, Dabber Doo, at the end of the swim meet. I didn't get to find out if she's coming to visit next month, because my phone kept dropping the calls. I didn't get a chance to wish Krissy a happy bday, but she was in my thoughts!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Cleaning & Organizing Tip #1 from the Old Gray Mare

Quick & Easy (& Fun!) Mopping

With bare feet, stand on wet Swiffer pads (one under each foot) and slide around the floor until it is cleaned to your liking! It's amazing how much dirt you can pick up without having to use your hands or any upper body strength at all! :)

Coming Soon... Tip #2: Organizing Piles of Paperwork by Categories! (especially useful for compulsive list-makers and/or hoarders of paper)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

On Time for Church & scattered thoughts from this week

I haven't posted anything for a really long time, mainly because I don't know how to add pictures without Matthew's help! I've also been a bit down lately, for various reasons...my life feels out of control in a lot of ways (messy house, being overweight, the list could go on!!). I have also felt a huge lack of confidence in social situations. Saw a lady at the pool the other night who I'd like to be friends with, but she was chatting with a good friend of hers, and I could not bring myself to go over & talk to them. In addition to my family, I have had a few friends in my lifetime who have been able to see & bring out the good qualities I possess. I guess the trick is to gain some confidence in myself (without getting too prideful), so I'm not so dependent on others' opinions of me.

So for now, I will just write, but would like to add pics of Emily dressed as Oprah, and maybe Jared's "train" BDay... Emily wants to write an email to Oprah. She can be reached personally at oprah@oprah.com. I gained a lot of respect for Oprah as we researched her life for Emily's school project.

Em completed 4th grade on Thursday! She was so good about getting up & ready every morning, and riding to school on her bike! She was only tardy one day the whole school year, and it really was my fault! She missed out on the Perfectly Punctual award, so we are going to reward her somehow, because she really did earn it!

Just having Emily home for 1 day on Friday helped me so much. She's getting really good at helping with Jared. He loves for her to read him his favorite book, Roadwork. She loves to play with his toy cars on his new rug!!! I'm looking forward to this summer...hope it will be fun, relaxing, and productive! Swim team promises to be a big part of Emily's summer, especially the meets on Mondays (approx. 3:45-10 p.m. -- ugh!)

Today, we hit a major milestone for our family! We pulled into the Church parking lot at 12:58, and Church didn't start til 1:00!! It was the best feeling! We really try to get there on time every Sunday, but never quite make it. This morning, instead of everyone going out to the backyard like usual and hanging out til 10 or so, I hid the key to the backyard! I decided to try to do everything we needed to do to get ready for Church FIRST, and then leave by noon if we were all ready. I started getting ready at 8:30, and we all got baths/showers, found/washed the clothes that everyone needed for Church, got breakfast, listened to some Primary songs, got Jared down for a nap, we all got dressed & ready, and then did the last-minute stuff like preparing tithing, Emily's allowance & tooth fairy money; finishing the paper bag puppets for Nursery; wiping out the shoes that the dog slobbered on; getting a small birthday gift together for a lady I visit teach; packing up diapers, snacks, etc. for Church... After all that, we were actually pulling out of our driveway by about 5 til 1. Usually, I would have allowed myself just a few minutes to do all those last-minute things, but they took a full hour! I really tend to under-estimate how long things will take to accomplish.

So...my long-term goals include time management, money management, cleaning & organizing our home, eating healthier, etc... but this was one step in the right direction!!!

Got pretty emotional (lots of tears) at the Weight Watchers meeting Sat. morning. Tried to wipe them away before I made too much of a scene. Losing weight is going to be such a long road... I really hope I can do it! I know it won't solve all of my problems, but it will help me to become a healthier Megan & mom!!

Also, we went on a date last night, which is kind of rare these days! We went to Lomonte's-they have the best lasagna! I brought along 2 pair of scissors and a bunch of papers to cut out for my Nursery lesson. While we were waiting for our meal, Matthew & I were cutting out these figures for puppets, and our waiter asked us what we were working on, and what Church we went to. He was excited to find out that we go to the same Church as the hostess at the restaurant (she goes to a Single's Ward). That was really fun!

Another bonus of being on time for Church: we got to sit by Lisa & her daughter Zoe, some of our friends who recently got baptized! Lisa's husband John has to work on Sundays, but he goes to a ward by U of H during his lunch break! We have loved getting to know their family as we've participated in some of the lessons with the missionaries--2 wonderful Elders.

I love my calling in Nursery, but sometimes, I feel pretty isolated from the other ladies in Relief Society. It was nice to talk with Cecelia for a few minutes today.

I really need to start brushing my teeth at night...I had 3 cavities filled this week (1 was a doozy!) (and it cost us over $200-yikes!)

Doreen made the yummiest homemade french fries and hamburgers for dinner tonight.
Hope I can make it to Zumba tomorrow night!

Sorry my thoughts are so scattered!

So long for now,
Megs

Wednesday, January 26, 2011


Christmas 2010 in UTAH




































Jared experienced Houston snow (very light sprinkle) But this was the first Time to Explore Heavy duty Snow!




Emily Loves spending time with her Incredible cousin Nyah










































































































































Enjoying blizzard conditions