Spring Fever

Spring fever has officially hit. I was sitting in my room this morning as the sunshine was glowing through my curtains and it actually felt warm. I love how beautiful it is out today. Almost makes you forget it's only the end of January. This little teaser of warm weather is probably a good thing. I am already in the spring cleaning mood so maybe it will prompt me to get things done. Then again with how nice it is, I'd rather be outside enjoying the day. Either way I am so happy it is nice out and not freezing cold with a foot of snow. Next year won't be quite as bad because we'll be more prepared for it. Problem is that when the township doesn't take care of the main road below us, it makes it very difficult for us to get up our driveway. We are going to invest in a riding lawn mower this spring and get a snow plow for it next fall so that we can do the driveway. Our poor neighbor has been taking his snow blower up and down our lane which is kind of silly to watch but I feel badly for him. It's a pretty long distance to use something like that and I don't really think it's meant for such a large job.

So I have been considering what God has in store for me this year. I will admit that I haven't been patient or proactive in the process of losing weight but this year something is different. I really feel in my heart that God has a special assignment or plan for me. I have waited for a long time to focus on myself and my health. I know that neglecting my health has not been beneficial. It is going to take a long, slow process to reverse the damage at this point but well worth the effort. I think about last year and how horrible I felt that I couldn't do the things that I enjoy with the boys. Taking them to the amusement park, swimming to the playground.... all of those thinks become a struggle when you're my size. It's not easy being at this weight. Not for them and certainly not for me. 2 active little boys for this mama, let's just say God had a big plan in that for sure! He knew I needed a reason to get healthy so that I could just keep up with them. Life is just not as enjoyable when you feel miserable. I am only going on 38 years old. I have a lot of years ahead of me and would love to enjoy the 2nd 1/2 of my life without pain in my joints, numbness and the fear of stroke, heart disease or diabetes. God knows I do not want to follow in my precious mama's footsteps. As much as I love and have fond memories of my mom, the health complications she faced due to obesity could have been controlled, if not cured had she just lost the weight. Sounds so simple, doesn't it?

Dieting really isn't the answer. I have had friends lose a tremendous amount of weight on diets. Problem, they all tend to gain it back and then some. It's such a huge process and really does take a lifetime commitment to keep it from creeping back up. I have learned through the years that if you don't change your eating habits, you can diet all day, every day and still gain weight. Well at least that's my case. My problem is exercise. I need to focus more on activity. Now that we have a dog, I do plan on walking everyday that I can when it's nice enough to do so. There, I just said it.... "If" that's another problem. I should just bundle up and get my warm coat on. As much as I hate winter I could still be walking. I have the Leslie Sansone walking dvd. So excuses, no more. I am ready to get this party started! You could always join me in the getting healthy challenge. :) It's more fun when you have a partner!

Happy Sunday morning everyone! I am up and having a pretty good day so far. I have had a lot to accomplish already and managed to get John to work and boys fed. They are sitting here playing their games now and soon I will dress them and leave. I had a pretty busy weekend and spent a good portion of yesterday morning sitting at the bottom of my driveway. I couldn't make it up the hill because the township apparently doesn't use many guys on the weekends. It was 8:30 before one finally came along and plowed the main rd. That's all I needed really, so that I could punch it at the bottom of the hill to make it up. I was tired, irritable and really didn't feel like dealing with anything else after that mess so I came home and fell back to sleep. Luckily for me the boys were fast asleep when I walked in the house and Kristen was still asleep on the couch. I knew it would be a mess so I had her spend the night so that I could take John to work without having to wake up the boys. It was a good thing I did.

So last night I was talking to my friends and something came up in conversation. I was telling her how I had pulled Ian from preschool because it was really difficult getting him there with only 1 vehicle and John working early mornings. I have been feeling guilty about it because I know he really enjoyed it. I had a couple experiences that I was upset about during our time there but for the most part it was a good experience. I know that in the past I have talked about this and I have found that a lot of people feel very strongly about it. Some feel that homeschooling is bad because they think that kids don't get the socialization or interaction that they need. I have talked to people who have the common misconception that kids who are home schooled are socially awkward or strange. Well let me tell you from my perspective what I have found. I have friends who home-school and their kids are awesome. They are polite, have tons of friends, attend youth group and other activities and enjoy spending time with their family. They aren't missing out on anything from what I can see. In fact, they get to do more activities than most kids their age I think because of the fact that they are home schooled. They will be the first to tell you that they are not missing out because they have friends who attend school who share with them details about what they are going through. Some might think that kids who are home schooled are sheltered but how many kids who attend school get to experience real life events like the march for life and other relevant activities. I have been feeling like God is impressing it on me more so recently to consider this option for my own children. Though I know you may or not agree with me on the issue, I have to do what I feel is best for my children and family. I don't know for certain what I'm going to do and I have some time to consider it more but I will only make the decision after much prayer and conviction. I think a lot more parents would consider this option if they were better educated about it. Don't judge before you talk to kids or parents who do home school. You may be shocked to learn that they are normal, just like you and me.

This has been another insanely crazy day in the McCurry household. I think things are looking up slightly from the previous week but still I'm hesitant to say so. I got a call from the Doctors office saying they would like to send me for more testing, great I say. Apparently my liver enzymes are high again. Well that's assuming that they ever went down. Last year when they took blood work they told me the same thing and I never followed up, my own stupid fault. Well this Doctor isn't overly worried but wants me to have an ultrasound of the abdomen and a few other tests. She also wants me to follow up with endocrinology about my prolactinoma. I am pretty sure that's under control because I haven't had any issues related to it. I have an MRI scheduled for that and all these other tests. I also have a consult with a nutritionist Wednesday. I will have no more excuses to do things my own way. I would like to be pregnant by this time next year hopefully so all of these things need to happen in order for us to have another baby. I don't want to wait any longer. I will be 38 in March and that is plenty old enough. I believe it's time to settle the boys in bed. I'm worn out. I really do need to get a good night of sleep.

Seedlings

Apples don't fall far from the tree, right? Well let this be fruit for thought... an apple tree is grown from a tiny little apple seed which can take up to 10 years to mature. Through out the life of a tree it's faced with numerous pests such as ants, worms, bee's etc. Frankly I never really thought about it but it's quite amazing that we get to enjoy such a large variety of sweet and delicate flavors, my personal favorite "the Pink Lady". Now back to my point before I get too far off track; An apple tree grows slow. So slow in fact that you hardly get any fruit the first few years. Often the few apples that you get tend to be bitter in taste and not very pretty. As the tree grows and matures the apples get larger and produce better bushels. This got my thought process flowing.

We tend to be a little slow in our Christian walk. We start out not bearing much fruit, if any at all. Through time we mature but come across many challenges, sometimes life's ups and downs become unbearable. The more you trust the Lord the more you bare good fruit. You may get bruised, you may find the enemy trying to destroy you but if you stay strong in the Lord I promise he will overcome any challenge you face in life. I have seen great friends become awesome examples of Christians woman in my life. I know that God has placed them in my own to encourage, support and love me through the rough patches. One day I will produce amazing fruit. Just like that shiny green apple in all it's sweetness. I know you can too!

Silly randomness

I have been experiencing writers block now for the past 2 evenings. This is so unlike me and for anyone who knows me well at all, it's almost frightening. Words generally come so easily to me, like butter rolling off a spoon. Okay well that analogy is probably a little overzealous but not far from the truth. I have been journaling practically my whole life. It got me in to some trouble when I was a young girl, especially when my diaries became public or were invaded by silly boys or a mama hen who thought her daughter was acting out and that there had to be good reason. It calms my nerves, helps me to vent and in the most simplest of terms is therapeutic. Life gets so crazy, I rarely have time to breath during the day, by the time I get the boys to bed I'm so exhausted all I want to do is relax. I often will pick up a good book and read through 1/2 of it in one night. If I feel the creative juices flowing I will pick up a pen, well more often than not the laptop these days and begin to write.

At the beginning of this new year of 2012 I made several promises to myself. Not goals because I often believe if you call them that, you're automatically setting yourself up for failure. One of the many promises I made was to spend more time doing things that I enjoy. I plan to stick with that one, hence why I'm sitting here writing this evening. I will be appreciative of my family, friends and even more importantly of God and the blessings he has graced me with. I love my life, even the wacky and silly moments that pop up in the spirit of raising 2 crazy little boys. I cannot imagine being anyone else but who God made me to be. That also bringing me to the next promise to love myself, be myself and embrace the woman that I am yet to become. I know that God is still working on me and just knowing that makes me feel pretty darn special. The pressure is off, I will only write when I feel the desire, not the need to please.... I will write about silly and sometimes bizarre topics like John whistling in his sleep and saying out loud *lay down here* by the way~ that was seriously random but honestly just happened. Life is full of many complexities but do we really need to pick them apart? Enjoy each moment. Laugh till your belly hurts or bum toots... I don't mind. As long as you're not sitting beside me when it does, it's all good.