Vitamins make me tired

About three weeks ago I decided to take it upon myself to do something good for my health. I realized that I will turn 40 this year and my body might need a little extra calcium and iron. I started to take a supplement that contained calcium, magnesium and zinc all in one. I also took a slow-release iron pill.

What I did was take one of each, every other day for a total of 4 times. Why only 4 times? It turns out that the combination of vitamins were exhausting me to the point that I had to take multiple naps each day and didn't want to cook, bake or do anything I enjoy. I was tired beyond tired and that is unlike me. I am a very high-energy person and I knew something was wrong. I decided to stop taking the supplements and drink a ton of water. Wouldn't you know that within 4 days, my energy came back and I felt like myself again! From now on I will use the right food as my supplement. I have never been able to take vitamins in combination because they do wonky things to my body. If I take a multi-vitamin, I will end up with flu-like symptoms. Crazy, huh?

Have you ever experienced anything like this before?

Most husbands have a beer fridge. Look what mine has...

Our family took a trip to Charlotte a couple weekends ago to celebrate William's 5th birthday. Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop. Actually, we went there 3 times that day! It is Dwayne and William's favorite store. I think they could spend hours in there if you let them. They both enjoy father and son fishing time so me and the girls went our way and the boys stayed at Bass Pro Shop.

When we met back up, I see a styrofoam cooler in Dwayne's arms. I just gave him "the look" and he goes straight into "the pitch". He tells me that the fishing season was getting ready to start and how it would be a good idea to grow his own worms. **Insert stinky face here** Well what is a wife to do... you have to let men do man things from time to time. I listened to his very convincing pitch along with dozens of reasons why his idea was so brilliant. I let him purchase his funky little worm growing foolishness. I won't say that there wasn't any eye rolling involved. 

He ended up not being able to use the styrofoam cooler kit because it was too big for our mini-fridge so he use some of my old food storage containers instead. He poked tiny holes in the tops of the containers.  He purchased some sort of packing material that you add distilled water to that has the food the worms need inside the mix. All that was left was to add your own worms.  

It is all very disgusting to me but I am still amazed at how quickly they have multiplied! I won't talk about Dwayne's debacles with some escapees.

I have told him that as long as I don't have to do anything with his worm growing experiment, he can have at it. Of course the business man in him wants to start selling them. I can't deal with this dude sometimes! I suppose there are worse hobbies he could be into.

And yeah, he is that serious that he has dedicated "worm water". I just can't....

SO, what crazy little hobby does your spouse have?

I love to iron and that makes ME crazy?

I have been seeing a lot of talk lately on Facebook and Twitter about ironing your clothes. I find is astonishing that a great majority of people don't even own an iron. Some said that they have one, but would have no idea of where to find it. There were a few, very few that religiously iron. I enjoy ironing. Each and every morning, I iron my husband's work clothes (even on jeans day). I can't wrap my mind around the thought of my husband going into work in a wrinkled shirt or trousers. I feel like it is a reflection on the type of housewife that I am. It's my job. Call me old-fashioned, because I am... and rather proud of it too. It's funny that others think I am the crazy one because I do iron! I am thinking they are the crazy ones for walking around with wrinkled clothing on.

About a month ago, my beloved purple Shark professional iron died on me. I was devastated. I only had it for a little over a year and it quit on me. I really didn't want to get a new iron because the one I had was everything I wanted in an iron. I knew I had to get a new one right away because I could not find my back-up iron. Hey, doesn't everyone have a back-up iron? *winks*

I went to Walmart which is where I got the last one and they were completely sold out of the one I wanted. I had to get an iron right away because... because I just had to! I went with a Hamilton Beach which I grunted and groaned about. I did not want that brand but the alternative was going to several other stores and that was not what I felt like doing. It cost me about $30 and you know what? It actually works quite well. I loved my 1600 watt iron and this one is 1500 watt. I don't really see any major difference except the last iron had a larger soleplate.  It has a super long cord and great steam action. It also has the auto shutoff feature if the unit is left on for 15 minutes unattended. It was a great purchase. I really hope it will last me at least a year. I might consider purchasing a second one as a back-up since it was so inexpensive.

Another item I bought was the Faultless Maxx starch in the spray bottle. I usually get the one in the can and I am now trying to figure out why I have been doing that all these years. The Faultless Maxx is awesome and does not spray unevenly like the aerosol cans do. It also has a nice, light fragrance and leaves a crisp finish. I am so happy with my purchases and always looking for ways to make my homemaking more pleasurable. If you are looking to buy a good iron at a decent price, I recommend the Hamilton Beach Professional Iron with the stainless steel plate as well as the Faultless Maxx starch.

P.S.- YOU better not be laughing at me! :)

This is not a sponsored post and I purchased the above items myself. I just wanted to share my thoughts since I loved the items so much.

I swore I would never do it. I lied...

I have often talked about embracing my gray hair. I said I would never consider coloring my hair. I said I would let nature do what it wanted to. I lied. I am starting to freak out over all the gray hair popping up all through my jet black locks. Most people think I am crazy and don't notice my grays. I notice them. It looks like a silver fountain cascading at the top of my head. I don't like it. I just happened to qualify for a Klout Perk a couple weeks ago and it was for hair color by Revlon. I even got to choose the color. I am way too chicken to change the actual color of my hair so I chose black. I plan to cover my gray when I can get up the nerve to go through with it. I better check the expiration date on the package.

I think the whole turning 40 this year is freaking me out just a little bit.

I remember hating when people would tell me I looked so young

I can remember my teenage years so well. I was always the smallest of my peers weighing no more than 92 pounds in my senior year. It bothered me that no matter how much I would eat, I still looked scrawny. Even worse than being so small was the fact that adults often thought I was 12. That used to make me so angry to the point of tears. I remember when everyone thought my younger sister was older than me. Talk about devastation!

I was 20 when I was pregnant with my first daughter. I remember the stares I received from people and often heard them say "babies having babies". I was married and old enough to have a child, yet people still assumed I was 14. I hated looking so young. When would anyone take me seriously? For years after, folks would ask if my daughters were my younger sisters or if I was the babysitter. I was always the "young mom" at the girls' elementary and middle school. I felt so left out. Years later I come to find out that a lot of those moms were very close to my age and some were even younger!

Fast forward to the present... I am 39 years old and I thoroughly enjoy when nobody believes that I have three kids and the fact that two of them are teens! I have to tell other moms I know that are going through the same thing how much they will appreciate being "too youthful looking" when they get older. So now my 18 year old daughter is going through the same thing I did. Most people think she is 14 and gets mistaken as the younger sister to her little sister. I keep telling her that it is a good thing to look so young. She hates it. In due time she will learn.  

Can you lose weight without trying?

Last year around this time, I was going through something I never imagined I would have to deal with... my weight. For most of my life I have been very underweight. As a child I was so underweight that I was teased and ridiculed about it. It was very hard and I spent many nights crying myself to sleep feeling a lot of shame and pain.  Nobody knows how much I longed to gain weight. Fast forward to after having William... I weighed what would be called a healthy weight. I was the average for my height and weight for the first time in my life (without being pregnant). Then it came to a point that I was at the top of that average weight. It started to freak me out because my wedding rings no longer fit and all of my clothes were too small. I figured that maybe it was my time. I finally gained the weight I desired my entire life.

I think I came to a point when I started to break down after trying on swimwear and finding that I was no longer in Junior's sizes. Last year at this time, I became very interested in reading about health and nutrition. Although I have heard it before, I read an article about drinking diet sodas and my favorite Crystal Light. I found out how they trick your body and make you crave bad foods. I have always been a sweets freak and junk food addict since childhood.  Could this be true? I used to drink about 2-3 packets of Crystal Light everyday especially during the Summer months and exclusively purchased diet soft drinks. I figured zero calories made sense. I couldn't have been more WRONG! I stopped all of the diet beverages and replaced them with water and indulged in the occasional soda. As a matter of fact, I switched from using margarine and butter spreads to real butter. I noticed almost right away that I slowed down tremendously on eating sweets and junk food. I wasn't having as many cravings to eat bad stuff.  It's as if I was changing my naughty ways. I started to find that my pants were fitting less snug. I had to start wearing a belt with my jeans and even had to tighten it on occasion. So one year later I am finally able to put on my wedding rings and I can wear things that were too small very easily. As a matter of fact, I can't wear most of the clothing I have since they are too big. I need to buy all new stuff. I stepped on the scale at the gym last week and could not believe it. I don't weigh much more than my teenagers!  My advice to you if you are trying to lose weight is to kick the diet drinks!

New fish, Happy kid and the Pet Store Mafia

For William's 4th birthday we purchased him an aquarium. He has a slight obsession with fish so we figured it would be a great thing for him to have. We kept it simple and went with a 10 gallon tank but opted to get the better filtration and lighting system. When we purchased everything to set the tank up, the customer service people at the pet store were very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions and give advice. We always had an aquarium for the girls when they were younger and had great success with it. As a matter of fact, the fish would sometimes get so big that we would have to donate them to the classrooms at the school. We went ahead and started off with all of what we needed to set the tank up and get the water ready to add fish. Back in the day we added fish within 24 hours. Nowadays they recommend 3 weeks! 3 weeks?? Try telling that to a 4 year old!

How happy does he look? 

We went yesterday to purchase some fish and boy was William excited. He made up his own song about going to the pet store to buy some fish. Too funny! We decided on a few glofish in cool, neon colors, a couple "Mickey Mouse"platys and a couple fancy tetras. When I asked the person in that area for help in purchasing the fish he immediately had that "look" on his face. This is how the interrogation... um conversation went...

Fish guy: Do you have your tank set up?
Me: Yes.
FG: Are you sure it is done properly?
Me: Yes
FG: How many fish do you want?
Me: 6
FG: What size is your tank? (At this point he is in my face looking at me like he is a prosecutor or something)
Me: 10 gallons
FG: Hmm, okay. But remember the rules... 1 inch of fish per gallon. Then he stares at me all scary.
Me: Uh, okay

If you could have seen his body language and heard his tone you would have been afraid of even breathing the wrong way. Like the husband says, they are like undercover PETA representatives or something! DANG! I mean come on, they are just fish. If I choose to buy 50 of them then I should be allowed to do so.

In the end, our boy is completely happy and enjoying his new pets. He is so curious and asks a lot questions about his fish. We look forward to adding some more fun friends as time goes on. We might have to rethink where to buy them from so we don't feel like we might catch a beat-down from the pet store mafia! :)

Mommy anxiety, do you have it?

For weeks now I have been starting posts and then hitting "backspace" and deleting everything I wrote. Anxiety takes over and I walk away from the computer. Is what I am about to write going to offend anyone? Is it interesting or thought provoking? Countless thoughts go through my head and I have to sit down and take a few deep breaths. I start thinking about everything... Am I doing enough with training William to become more independent? Am I giving the girls enough of myself to help them be better women? Am I a good enough wife? What do I cook today? Why have I stopped using coupons? I don't call people often enough. Why am I avoiding certain things? The grass needs to be cut and the house needs repairs. Why on earth am I feeling like backspacing this whole post? Where is all this stupid anxiety coming from anyway? Please pardon how poorly and very randomly written this post is. Maybe I just think too much! My brain needs a vacation :)

Do you suffer from anxiety? What tips can you share?

Disney has ruined my kid!

You might recall reading a post about our family going to The Magic Kingdom a few months ago. Well apparently little William has not gotten over it. He is obsessed with all things Disney. He is, as I write this post, singing the "Happy Holidays" song that was being performed at one of the parades. He carries around a map of Disney in the house, the car, the store and asks to go to Disney World... several dozen times a day!

Dwayne recorded video of the parades and William watches them repeatedly. It also doesn't help that Disney commercial come on all day long!! When he meets new people he immediately tells them all about the "castle". SMH, I need to hit the lottery quick so we can take this boy back! I really thought he would have been over it by now. I guess the magic is still in him. I won't lie, I want to go back myself! Looks like it will be on the places to visit list in the next couple years.

Go AWAY Spring!

I know everyone will think I am insane but I feel royally ripped off that winter really never happened this year. I really enjoy chilly days, sipping hot beverages,  wearing boots and sweaters and sitting by the fireplace. We burned one fire this year. One. I feel like I have to refrain from turning on the air conditioner because it is getting too warm in the house. If I open the windows we all start sneezing from all the pollen that is blowing in. I can't win.

I won these super cute boots by Crocs (who knew they made boots?) from Army Wife 101 and I don't think I will get to wear them this year. As a matter of fact I actually purchased some gorgeous black boots and have worn them maybe 3 times so far. I am truly a cold weather lover. I love open-toe shoes but it seems wrong to be wearing flip flops in February. I guess I better not complain. It beats being stuck in winter storms, right? I am so not looking forward to what the summer will be like. It scares me to think how hot it will be. Hopefully before the actual winter season is over we will be lucky enough to get a few cold days.

So what's the winter been like in your city?

Undoing the damage I have caused

This post has been sitting tucked away in my brain for some time now. Perhaps you can call it out of sight, out of mind. You might even call it denial. I have been slowly suffering inside from guilt. I do the best job I can at being a great mother. So far, I have succeeded and my kids are happy, well-rounded individuals. I do have one secret though. I have over-mothered little William. What does that mean? Well I have ruined this child by doing WAY too much for him. I do EVERYTHING for him. It's such a shame. He is a very well-mannered and sweet child but there is one problem... He can't do a lot for himself because I have him conditioned to me doing it for him.

I am feeling so much anxiety as I type this post. I am so embarrassed by how much the average 2 year old can do for themselves and how pampered my boy is. I don't even make him pull his own underwear up. It has finally hit me that I need to get William in a more independent mode if he is going to start kindergarten in Fall 2013. I never thought I would spoil a child like I have with this last one. I am too ashamed to tell you the extent of how bad it is.

Thankfully I have been able to recognize what I am doing wrong and have made a vow to make it right.

Have you ever encountered this type of situation raising your children? 

My Pinterest is now linked to my junkie corners

I have a confession. I love to clean. I really do love to clean. Clutter makes me feel nervous. My house is very plainly decorated. Actually, my house is not really decorated.. more like void of a bunch of crap everywhere. Everywhere except... I have this little problem (so my husband thinks). He says I have an obsession with having tiny, junkie corners in several places in our home. I admit, I do. I have a tiny pile next to my bed, at the foot of my bed, in the family room... you get the idea. You are probably wondering what exactly I keep in my little piles... Everything from clothing, coupons, receipts, nail files, pens... nothing is exempt except trash. I have spent the weekend ridding my house of my junkie corners. Yep, everything is in the right place. No junk anywhere in sight. I have declared (no promises) that I will make an effort to cut down on my little bits of junk. Maybe.

Since it was a 3-day weekend I took some time to chill. I did some cleaning and cooking but for the most part I sat my little self down and relaxed (I think). I have recently started getting into Pinterest. I find myself pinning for hours some days. If you are already on Pinterest then you know just what I am talking about. If you are not then what the heck are you waiting for? So this is where my smart talking husband comes in. He says that Pinterest is filling my void for my junkie corners. He says now I can have virtual junkie corners thanks to Pinterest. Sadly, he is not lying! ;-)

Farewell One Life To Live

Well, we said our final goodbyes last night. We watched the last episode of One Life To Live on Soapnet. It did not end as we would have thought but that's the soaps for ya. I admit that I had some tears roll down my face. Not from sad scenes but just the memories. I can't believe how much the show was a part of my life for so many years.

We all wore black for the occasion. Pictured from left to right- Brie, Haley, Shelly and Chardie.

Of course we had to have our snacks that included pizza, chocolate, candies, ice cream, popcorn and soda. I think that it will really hit us next week when we go to tune into Soapnet only to realize our show will no longer be in that time slot. 

I just had to have it

I am not a big television watcher but on occasion I will see something that captures my attention. I confess that some of the "As seen on TV" items suck me in. About 5 or 6 years ago I saw the Pedi Paws pet nail trimmer infomercial and I knew I absolutely had to have it. After all, clipping your doggy's nails is a sometimes difficult task. This product looked like a great solution. Dwayne was against me buying it but knew that there was little he could say to stop me. I did it. I bought it. $19.95.

I tried it and it sounded like a freakin' dental drill!!! Poor Milo was scared to death of the thing and it made the task even harder. Needless to say the doggone (no pun intended) thing has been sitting in the box for years. Lesson learned. I still hear "I told you so" for that one.

Have you ever purchased anything dumb from an infomercial?

Spouse guilt and the stay-at-home mom

I have been a stay-at-home mom for 17 years. I admit that I take my mothering gig overboard at times. I do a lot for my children..after all I am a stay-at-home MOM. Last night Dwayne took me out for dinner and drinks. It had been a few months since we went out on a date night so we were very much overdue for one. It was a great evening except for the couple times that I was looked at with a tad bit disgust because I was having discussions about the kids. I was not trying to talk about them that much...it just sort of happens. I am with 1 or more of my children for almost 24 hours of every day. Isn't it only natural for me to mention them to their dad? Well after last night I realized that I need to watch that when it comes time to having that alone time with the husband. I feel so badly for not making our evening enough about him...about us. I really have to work on that. We do plan on making date night a regular event so we stay connected.

If you are a stay-at-home parent, have you encountered the same issue we have? Do you go out on dates regularly?

When confusion strikes...

Move your furniture around! It is amazing how well changing things up can improve your focus. I have been having a hard time staying asleep in recent weeks. I know that my mind races but normally it shuts off enough for me to get a solid 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. We took time over the weekend to do some small house projects as well as replace air conditioning filters, floor vent filters and light bulbs. I even dusted and vacuumed the nooks and crannies that you don't get to all the time. I think it helped because my sleep was ah-maaaayzing! I feel so rested and refreshed. Let's see if it carries on for the rest of the week!

Hey mom, what's for dinner?

This has become a question that I cringe when I hear it. I am going through a loss of creativity when it comes to cooking dinner in recent weeks. The teenagers go through phases of where they eat like models and then other times that they eat like football players. This can mean that either I cook and the food wastes or they want to eat everything other than what I cooked. I ask my husband every time I go to the store~ "Do you want anything?" The answer is almost always the same... "No".  When I ask the family for suggestions on what I should cook it seems like no one can come up with anything realistic. We all get tired of chicken, fish, shrimp.... One wants pasta and the rest feel ill at the thought of pasta. I myself love vegetables...all kinds. The rest of the family doesn't always care for what I like. What to do?? *DEEP SIGH* I need some new ideas of what to make because I am fresh out. I see why so many people eat out. I know I can't be the only one that feels this way...

Only my husband would do this

Dwayne was drinking his cherry soda the other day aka his "brotha drink". I will never understand why he likes to put his glass in the freezer with soda and ice in it. It stayed in there for days. Brie got tired of looking at it and let it thaw out on the counter and then poured it out. Does anyone in your house do this sort of foolishness?

Doctor's diagnosis "You are not dead"

The other day my 16 year old was complaining that she was having some odd pain in her chest when she left volleyball practice. I asked her a bunch of questions like "Did you spike the ball hard? Do you think you pulled a muscle? Could it be gas?" She said it was not a normal pain. After about 2 hours I felt like we had better get it checked out, just in case. Off to Urgent Care we went. I told Chardie we should go ahead and get her knees checked while we were there since she has been suffering from knee pain for some time now. We were so glad that we were the only ones in there and was able to be seen within 5 minutes. Wouldn't you know that the pain stopped? Yep, no more pain. Classic. Long story short~ the nurse checked her vitals and did an EKG. My daughter has a problem with anyone touching her. She is VERY ticklish. I mean even if I try to give her a simple manicure she will go nuts with laughter.

Flashback- When Chardie was 6 months old she fell off the bed while I had my back turned to grab a diaper and powder. I was frantic and she was on her back laughing heartily. She has never changed. Whenever she falls or runs into something you will see tears streaming down her face. This is not because she is in pain but it is from laughter. Yes folks, my kid laughs when she gets hurt. You can never tell if she is okay or not.

Now back to the doctor... He walks in to let us know of any findings from the EKG. He let us know that her problem had nothing to do with her heart. It was more than likely from her physical activity that she irritated her chest muscle. He said that if a 16 year old was having a heart attack that they would not be able to survive. He then tells us that the good news is that she did not have a heart attack and she did not die. I could not help but giggle. Every time he tried to touch Chardie, she would start laughing. The doctor said maybe it's a good thing she is that way. He said if she is alone with a boy and starts to giggle then we would know that he better back off of our daughter. He then attempts to touch her knees. Of course we all know how that went! He told us that knee pain is the most common problem in teen athletes and recommended she take Ibuprofen. So the end result is that she is fine, just as I suspected. Thank goodness! We keep cracking jokes about her not being dead. That doctor was crazy but we really liked him and will surely go back to him again :)

WTH Wednesday | Walmart edition

Most of you who read Momfiles regularly, are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter or if you know me personally then you know I am a regular Walmart shopper. I go in there about 2-3 times a week. Time after time I am faced with the ugly side of Walmart but I have learned to deal with it. Now today I greeted the cashier in my usual friendly way by saying "Hello, how are you?" She mumbled something and kept sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes. I obviously did not get the picture that she did not want to be bothered so I proceed to ask her how her day was going so far. Her response was "it's a day". What the hell kind of response was that? Meanwhile she goes back to her eye rolling, disgusted "I hate my job" attitude. I had some items that I had a FREE coupon for, meaning the items would not cost me anything. I even left those 3 items last and put the correct coupon on top of each item to make it easier for her (nice huh?) I also did it because Walmart cashiers treat me as if I am robbing the store when I present a coupon for something free. She then goes on to ring up the last items and scans the coupons. The items cost $2.89, $2.50 & $2.98. The coupon amounts she took off were $2, $2 & $1. Hmm, that doesn't make sense if they were for a FREE product right? I asked her about it and she rolls her eyes and tells me that they round coupons down to cover the tax. I was confused. I do know that Walmart has updated their coupon policy and I can understand most of the rules but not honoring a legit free coupon? What the hell! That is ridiculous and the fact that I have to deal with Ms. Attitude doesn't make it any better. She tells me that she does not agree with the policy and that Walmart must have gotten tired of giving things away for free. I just wanted to smack her. Walmart WILL get their money back when customers use coupons. What a freakin' crock! Needless to say I will NOT be buying anything that requires a coupon at Walmart and as a matter of fact I will be taking a break from giving them my money. In the famous words of Dwayne-- "Now that's some BULLS@#T!"