Friday, July 07, 2006

Ever have one of those nights,

where you toss and turn and just can't get comfortable???
That was me last night trying to fall asleep, no matter which way I turned I was extremely uncomfortable, my shoulder hurt, my leg hurt. See, ever since I was pregnant with Jasmine, I have to sleep with a pillow between my legs, but only when I'm laying on my left side. Go figure!!!

It's actually annoying, I mean really, how did my body sleep BEFORE I had kids? I don't recall only sleeping on my right side. Is this a thing that happens with age? Before you answer that question, just remember that I'm turning 32 in August and already have tons of grey hairs, yes you heard me, GREY HAIRS!!! I just blame it on my hubby and kids. I choose to believe that I'm really not getting them this early, I mean, 32 is kind young to have grey hairs isn't it?

I did finally manage to fall asleep and then was awakened by the sound of the phone ringing at 12:30am. I'm one of those people that believe if the phone rings in the middle of the night, it's bad news. BUT the machine picked up and no one left a message, which leads me to my other theory. It must have been someone from back home probably just wanting to say hi and then realizing "OH, it's 12:30am they must be sleeping". LOL
EARTH TO SOUTH AFRICA, you guys are 8 hours ahead of us here, when you wake up, we're going to sleep, and when you go to sleep we're pretty much in the middle of our day here.

Yesterday morning, my friend Veronica called to say that the BX was having this huge sale on clothes and some other stuff. 75% off!!! That's enough to have me ushering kids out the door and driving like a maniac good driver to the store. I got Nicholas these really cute Spiderman Tennis Shoes with lights (which he loves) for only $8. Then I got him two outfits, shirt and shorts together for only $7 each. I got Jasmine this really cute white long skirt with beads on it, yes it sounds kinda weird but I'll have to take a picture for you LOL It was only $3 too.
I also got her a cute tank top for another $3. That's all I got because the kids were not cooperating.

Yes, my kids not cooperating, what a surprise there. Are you shocked??? I should know better than to attempt any shopping with both of them. They fight about everything and anything, who pushes the cart, who walks on the left or right side, who gets what candy........and then they do the "Jasmine told me to be quiet"......"Nicholas is looking at me".......ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?!?!
What is it with kids and stores?!?!?! The minute you walk through the doors they get possessed and turn into little monsters.

Before having kids I remember walking in a store and looking over at a mother struggling to control her kids, and I admit my thought was "Good grief, she's bigger than them, it's not that hard to control a kid". YES SANDRA, it is!!!!

I've tried everything from scolding, to bribing, to threatening to take away stuff, to pleading, to distracting them (or trying to at least), all I get is them looking at me with defiance in their eyes and giving me that "SUCKER" look.

Know what I do now??? I pray, really hard, before I leave the house. See, I have to run to the bank and the post office this morning and I've already started praying, mostly because there's a gumball machine at the post office and I have to dodge and duck to try and rush them past it, while pointing to something in the opposite direction. If they SEE the machine, that's it, my battle is lost because God Forbid I don't have quarters on me. If dirty looks could kill!!!

I'm SO excited. You all know how I told you that I get ARC's (Advanced Reader's Copy) of Lori Foster's books. So yesterday I go and check my mail and I have an envelope from her with my ARC for A Very Merry Christmas which is an Anthology coming out in a few months. She had left me a note in there telling me to make sure I see the dedication. This is what I find:



How exciting is that?!?!?!?! I mean, seriously to get a dedication on a book from my FAVORITE book author???? I'm thrilled beyond words and even hubby is excited, he said to me "It would be like having Terry Pratchett make a dedication to me in his books". LOL

So today I'm counting my blessings yet again. The Lord really has been wonderful to me and yes there's times that things look bleak and seems that I'm loosing my grip on everything around me, but those are so few between all the wonderful blessings that I have in my life. If only we could just stop everyday and think about what we DO have and not what we WISH we had. Chances are, the minute you start counting your blessings today, you will realize you're a lot better off than you thought.

I think we're all guilty of letting our minds take over at times, and letting the bad stuff overshadow the good. That's when I find that things get worse for me, negativity just brings more negativity doesn't it??? So if anything, today, just look around you and say a thank you to the Lord for the things you already have, don't dwell on what you still want, chances are you will get it anyway somewhere down the line, but you won't enjoy your present blessings if you are too busy looking into the future and what may be.

So here's what I'm blessed with just looking around:

  • My wonderful husband
  • My wonderful kids
  • My wonderful family
  • My great friends
  • A roof over my head
  • My pets
  • The chance to know such an amazing book author
  • The ability to be able to cook amazing meals for my family
  • The ability to deal with my kids being terrors in the store (at least I HAVE my kids right?)
  • The fact that I got pulled over by a cop (It means I am able to drive and have a car)
  • The fact that I have to pull weeds from the yard (It means I have an actual yard where some don't)

I could go on and on but you get the idea. Everything is a blessing in our lives. No matter how big or small it looks. Once you realize that, your outlook on life becomes totally different.

With that said, I'm heading out for errands. Have a BLESSED friday!!!!

8 comments:

Michelle said...

Oh yes I have nights like that where I can't sleep and can't get comfortable! Not fun!

Sounds like you got some great deals at the BX...whoo hoo!

How neat about getting the dedication in your book! That would have made my day too :)

Michelle said...

PS - I forgot to mention about the gray hairs! I'll be 33 next month and I already have been getting gray/white hairs for a couple years now - yikes! I thought it was too early to get them too, but apparently not!

rena said...

Great post. I had grey hairs in my 20's, so yeah, it happens. That's what colours were invented for!
That no sleeping, can't get comfortable thing...UUgghh...all the time! I've often wondered why God didn't make us so that we could take our arms off at the shoulders and hang them up for the night, so we could roll and side sleep more comfortably.
Hope your sleep tonight is much better and you have blessed weekend

Christina said...

I absolutely adore your blog. I especially like this one where you are counting your blessings. I can relate to a lot of the things you say since we are also a military family, with kids, and I am a stay at home mom. The book dedication must have been a nice treat. Thanks for such a great blog.

Looney Mom™ said...

That's so weird that I can only sleep on my right side now with a huge body pillow between my knees. Pregnancy does a LOT of weird things!

I'm 34 and have been getting a lot of white hairs over the last couple of years. I used to pluck them, but I figured I would wind up bald if I didn't stop. So anyway, I just got a haircut and I will be going "auburn" here pretty soon so I'll have a new profile pic up after that.

And you know the trips to anywhere with your two kids? Try doubling that!!! Holy moly!

Donnetta said...

Thanks for that "blessing perspective". We really do need to take time now and then to put it all into perspective, don't we... at least I do!

Stacy said...

wow that's awesome about the dedication! and about the sleep thing, i wish i could take a vacation to the land of nod but something always ruins it.

B.R.L said...

I am finding it hard to sleep now. We got a Sleep Comfort bed that has helped but motels are difficult.
Counting the blessings there is a bed and a pillow.