Confessions of a chocolate lover

Okay, so I have a serious confession to make. I love chocolate. That's not really any big secret, but when a person (ie, ME) is trying (sus-posedly) to lose weight, chocolate is NOT my best friend.

Take today, for example. A good friend was super kind and brought over two plates of treats for us - she wanted to make our family's FHE easier on me - wasn't that nice??? Well, of course it was, but since I am a sucker for chocolate, especially, the gooey kind, it became kind of a bad thing.

There were three brownie-type things on the plate (not really brownies, but can't explain what they were other than they were chocolate) - key word in that last phrase "were". So, I ate one. Yes, bad Brenda, bad! What was even worse was that I noticed after I ate it that there was chocolate residue on the plate where that piece had been. I tried to clean it off with my finger, but it just smudged it more. So, I (brace yourself) got out a Chlorox wipe and cleaned off that portion of the plate so that no one would be any wiser about my eating one of the pieces. For all my family knows (until someone in the family reads this or a friend tells) there were only two pieces to begin with.

I am shameless, I know. But, at least I admit my errors quickly (as I just ate the piece about twenty minutes and the guilt is setting in).

Rootin' Scootin' Cowgirl

I just found a long lost video of Annie when she was a baby. It proves that she was a "rootin' scootin' cowgirl".




I remember being told by some lady at the library as she was watching Annie get around, "That's innovative!" Yup, my children are brilliant!

Smiling is free

I just read an article about minding your manners and thought it was good enough to share.

After reading the article, I was reading some of the comments it received. One of the readers said, "I've been teaching my kids for years to hold doors open, say the magic words [please, thank you, you're welcome] and that smiling is free."

I love that little thought. Really, how hard is it to be sincerely kind? We can all make a difference in someone's life if we just smile.

Okay, so now I'm going to get a little personal. When my son Ammon was born, I had severe post partum depression. Why am I telling you this? Just hold on a second, I'm getting to that, I promise, but have got to spell out the history first...

Anyway, I was very depressed and felt like I didn't have any friend in the world - except for Mike and really, come on girls, we need girlfriends, too. Our husbands can and should be our best friends, but we need the girl power, right? So, I really was down on myself, but whenever I had a day at church when someone gave me a friendly smile, it was a real pick-me-up. It didn't cost that person a thing, but it was priceless to me.

So, remember the next time you're out somewhere, put on that smile 'cause "you're never fully dressed without a smile....SMILE DARN YA SMILE" - (from the musical ANNIE.)

*S*M*I*L*E*

Old redefined...

Last night we were playing games together as a family. One of the games, Apples to Apples (jr.), is all about finding the best, or funniest, fit for a definition. Each player takes turns being the judge who reads the definition and the other players submit their choices from the word cards they have.

The best match of the night was from Ammon who, when trying to find a great word choice for the definition, "old", submitted "dead fish." We asked him, "How is that a match?" With his infinite six-year-old wisdom, he said, "You can't get older than dead." So, there you have it, dead is the new definition of old.

From here on out, I won't be old until I'm dead. Pretty good for someone who wants to be 29 for the next 60 years.

Laundry Day

I love laundry day. Maybe you're thinking, "She's crazy." Maybe you're right, but before you pass judgment, let me explain why I love laundry day.

When the washing machine is churning and the dryer is spinning, it's soothing rhythmic music to my ears. Perhaps I've never gotten over the being removed from the womb thing. I don't know. I just love the sound. Plus, laundry is something that you can be done with - maybe just for a day, but you can get to the point of having no dirty laundry in the house. I like that feeling.

I wonder why the same feeling doesn't convert to dishes - I hate doing dishes. Maybe my dishwasher isn't producing the same womb-like music I love so much. Maybe it's because my children are wasteful - they can come in from playing and get a drink of water and not five minutes later get a drink of water in a different cup. That's probably why I hate doing dishes - It doesn't take long to have enough for a load of dishes.

Maybe someday I'll get a maid - when I'm rich and famous. Maybe...(but we all know that it's never gonna happen). I'll just have to do what my mom did to us kids, taught us well so we could be her slave and do the dishes for her. I'll only be doing what's good for them and teaching them life skills, right? I'm not doing it for my own personal gain, not at all. My motives are always pure.

Yeah, I know, sarcasm is the basest of all forms of humor.