Signed in Blood....not really!!

I had a revelation yesterday. [Yes--occassionally it happens...]


We have four children at home; three of which have cell phones. "Why?" you ask.... We live in a time where technology is taking over the younger generations. We also live in a time where crazy people surround us. So--why not use today's technology to our advantage? Give a kid a cell phone and you can basically hunt him down any time you need.


When the kids are at school, out and about, or over at the dad's house (ugh), I can reach them anytime. Now---- the problem comes in when there are no boundaries. If you don't set limits (on anything, for that matter) then you're not doing right by your kids if you expect them to handle the cell phone responsibly. I guess there is SOME kid out there SOMEWHERE who can be trusted with raw technology without screwing up. NOT MY KIDS.....lol


Let's just suffice it to say that one of my kids (tyler) messed up bigtime last month. For the month of May (just to be clear,--31 days), my precious child talked 58 hours. To whom? About what? Are you kidding? Not only that--he texted over 10,000 text messages. Yeah--this is an issue.



So....... I came up with a cell phone contract that each of the kids had to sign. I know this is not a new concept, but nonetheless important.



I know it's probably too small to read, so here are the eleven points I made:

1. I understand that the cell phone does NOT belong to me; it belongs to Mom and Robert. Once I start paying the bill, that will change;
   
2. On school nights, the cell phone will be turned OFF at 9:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
3. During the summer, the cell phone will be turned OFF at midnight unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
4. I will not send nor receive any inappropriate pictures or texts, including but not limited to, any nudity or profanity;
   
5. During the school year, my texts will be limited to 1,000 per month;
   
6. I will not go above 50 peak minutes per month as outlined in cell phone bill;
   
7. Any overage of minutes per month will be paid by me as well as any accountability or punishment accompanying the overage;
   
8. I will NOT access the internet;
   
9. I will NOT purchase ringtones, unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
10. Cell phone is subject to review at any time. Mom and Robert will ask before taking cell phone;
    
11. Unless absolutely necessary (as determined by Mom and Robert) phone should not be used for long distance calls. All long distance calls should be made from home telephone (long distance is free).
    
    
    I understand and agree to the above items. Failure to follow the above stated rules will result in cell phone confiscation for one week or over, as determined by Mom and Robert.
    
    I understand these rules to be in my best interest and accept them as a means to learn responsibility.

Hey ~ in this day and age, you have to protect your kids...from themselves. What's sad about this is that most of their friends are allowed to do whatever they please when it comes to cell phones. I don't understand it!! Example: one of Tyler's friends came over several months ago. He is a nice kid, but definitely doesn't have the parental guidance he needs. He left his phone in my car, so when it rang, my husband answered it (he wasn't sure who it belonged to since we had several of tyler's friends over). What was discovered was a very inappropriate text/pic message including nudity from one of his "friends." My husband was livid! He decided to do some more digging and what was on his phone was AWFUL! After he discovered his phone missing, he started calling our house to retrieve it. I called his mom (whom I had not met--that was a fun way to meet her) and made her come over with him and get his phone. I would not give it back to him. I handed it to his mom and told her that we didn't allow that type of behavior in our home. Of course, she was embarrassed; but I really don't care. It's my house and I will control what comes in it! [whew....let me take a breath. I'm getting all worked up!]

Bottom line: A cell phone is just like a car. I wouldn't hand my kids the keys without equipping them with the knowledge and responsibility to drive it. The same rule applies to a cell phone. They are dangerous and should be treated with care.

fondly,
fit
chairperson of MAIM
(Mothers Against Inappropriate Mobile usage)

Camp is Over ~ the kids are home!

I mentioned in my post on Friday that I was to pick up the boys from camp around 1:00 a.m. Well ~ they actually pulled into the parking lot at 3:15 a.m.!!!! They were tired, smelly and, quite frankly, a little grumpy. [how is that different than any other day??]

When Jake was walking towards the car, I noticed he was limping. I asked him why and he said he had scraped the top of his foot playing basketball. I found that puzzling since you normally wear shoes while playing basketball....

Tyler was fine--just a little tired.

Anyway ~ we finally gather all their stuff and headed home. We arrived about 3:45 a.m. Jake stopped me on the stairs and asked me to take a look at his foot. OH MY GOODNESS! Not only was the "small scrape" infected, he had a serious case of sun poisoning in his feet and they were swollen almost twice their normal size! He had put sunscreen on his whole body, but forgot his feet. So, needless to say, his feet got sunburned and he didn't wear shoes all week (which meant he got MORE sun on his sunburn...duh). Actually, the whole barefoot thing was normal. The camp is right on the beach, so everything they did was in the sand. The basketball courts are outside, too, so naturally, he didn't wear shoes to play.

He seemed rather blase about the whole thing so I didn't want to overreact. Needless to say, at 4am I was looking for the hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic ointment and bandaids.

I finally fell asleep about 4:45 a.m. only to be awakened at 5:45 a.m. to leave for our family reunion. [for you non-math geniuses, that's ONE hour later lol] It was very difficult to get up and get going and even more difficult to get the boys out of bed! I had prepped them before they even left for camp on this scenario. They put their big, tired, smelly bodies in the car along with mounds of pillows and blankets. They were back asleep before we even backed out of the driveway.

The family reunion was non-eventful [boring!] It was nice seeing everyone, but honestly, I could have done without it. Due to Jake's swollen feet, he was unable to wear any shoes. I'm sure we were a real sight to see. All of us (except Nick, of course!) were exhausted--and part of us were quite fragrant (not!). I'm surprised my relatives didn't feel compelled to take up a donation for our low class, smelly family! LOL At one point, I looked over at Tyler and he was asleep sitting up. Jake was sprawled out on two chairs asleep. We were quite the entertainment.

Will post more later.
fondly,
fit

TGIF!

Friday has finally made it here! It seems as though it's been a long week---

Here are today's random numbers:

5,280 pounds of material delivered to my house yesterday from Lowes

4 times my sweet hubby had to go to Home Depot while trying to fix the shower faucet. [He persevered and it works!!]

8 times my son, Nick, asked to ride his bike then play baseball in the front yard

8 times I told my son to "Wait!" lol

1.7 miles I ran last night before my foot starting hurting. Ugh.

1 (a.m.) is the time I have to be at the church to pick up the boys from camp

7 hours of driving to go to my family reunion tomorrow. Don't really want to go, but I know how much it means to Dad.

120 dollars to fill up my gas tank [outrageous!]

24 cuss words from my boss' mouth when he called me from the airport in Paris on his way to Athens, Greece....he was just a little upset at American Airlines......

That's all for now!
fondly,
fit

Today's Random Numbers

6 Pumps of Sugar Free Vanilla in my coffee this morning (yum)

18 People in our Bible study at lunch today

22 days my boss will be traveling internationally. Yee-haw!

21 days I will be leaving early....lol

51 is the percentage of space left on our tivo after clearing
several recorded shows last night

6 cell phones in our house

94 days until the Tour de fleurs 10K

2010 is the largest number in Nick's vocabulary. If he says he "loves me 2010 (pronounced 'twenty-ten')"...that's ALOT!

4 months until my son turns 16 and starts driving [*WARNING*]

have a great day!

fondly,

fit

More Pics for my Long-Lost Friends

In an effort to catch you up to the happenings in our family, I thought I'd share a few more pics....

This is Tyler (on the left) with his friends at his 8th grade graduation dance. [YES--we dance...] lol

This is Miranda at her 5th grade graduation.

This was taken on our family cruise last year.

This is Jake's basketball picture last year (9th grade - 6'5")
Nicholas helping Daddy dig a hole....

Day #2--So far so good...

The day started well. I am recovering from a calf injury, so I've been on hiatus from running (which I love). The doctor told me I could start back today. I ran about 1.5 miles since I didn't want to overdo it. Calf feels okay --- but really tight. Ugh. It sucks getting old. I'm convinced that my calf injury is due to my weight gain. Ugh. It REALLY sucks getting old. Unfortunately, I don't have the metabolism of some of my peers (I hate you Kris and Wen *smile*) and have battled weight all my life. I'm extremely fortunate to be tall, which assists in masking some of the pudge. After my second child was born I contracted a virus which, in essence, killed my thyroid. I literally gained 50 pounds in one month....no joke. I've been on thyroid medicine ever since......thanks Tyler. lol


We are in the process of remodeling the house. We are almost finished with the kitchen, but still have a ways to go. Over the weekend we made a trip to Lowes to buy all the materials for the rest of the downstairs floors and we spent almost a small fortune. The materials should be delivered tomorrow and I'm exhausted just thinking about all the work ahead of us. It will look really nice when we're done, but I sure wish I could contract the work out.....


I really miss the boys [they're at camp this week]. It just about killed them to leave their cell phones at home, too. haha I have come to the realization that I sincerely miss texting them. That's kinda our way of communicating, especially on the weekends they are with their dad. It helps me feel connected to them, but doesn't intrude on their time with him.


Here's a picture of my youngest...he's so precious. I'm not a big Dallas Cowboy fan, but his preschool put him in this outfit....




fondly,
fit

I can't believe it's almost been a year!

Life is crazy....seemed like just yesterday I was in the habit of blogging. Guess not, huh? Been wayyyyyy too busy. The older my kids get the busier they become. I've become "mother taxi". I've also gone back to school--which is something I've talked about doing for years.

Well ~ hopefully my hiatus is over!

I thought I'd give an update of my life over the last year and where I am now:
1) supremely happy in my marriage;
2) amazingly proud of my four children;
3) profoundly thrilled to be called a child of God;
4) cautiously aware of my limitations in every aspect of my life;
5) vaguely conscious of storms heading my way (I'll explain later);
6) completely surrendered to what God has in store for me.

To explain further:
1) My husband, Robert, is truly an amazing person. He has weathered some pretty incredible storms throughout his life and he's fought his way through them. It has been a year since he settled his doubt about his salvation. Since that day, he has developed a desire to know God's Will and execute it.
2) My four children are absolutely incredible. My two oldest are at church camp this week having a blast, I'm sure. My daughter just returned from camp yesterday and is still trying to recuperate! My youngest is on a skating field trip today with his pre-school.
3) God is ever-present in my life. I do my best daily to reflect Him in all I do. He is first and foremost and I find myself having to "die to self" constantly. Regardless, He is an awesome God and Friend.
4) My need for more than 24 hours a day has increased. There's just so much to be done! Now that I'm back in school, I have to devote much time to reading and studying (which I don't have).
5) The storms that I am referring to are yet another court battle with my ex-husband. He's a sad, bitter man who, from all I can tell, doesn't know the Lord.
6) I feel that I'm at a crossroad in my life. I am completely unchallenged and BORED at my career and feel I am being called elsewhere......where--I don't know. Either way, I have to surrender to God and ask for His guidance on where I need to be.

The fam:

I must sign off for now-----back to work!
fondly,
fit

Power of the Mind...

Good grief! Where did my willpower go?

I LOVE SWEETS----simply said. Could it be genetic I wonder? Give me a hot chocolate chip cookie with a BIG OLE glass of milk and I'm in heaven........[my mouth is watering]

The latest fetish of mine is dark chocolate covered almonds. Yum. I found some at the store the other day and quickly grabbed them and put in my basket. I figure--almonds are good for you and dark chocolate is good for you.....how can I go wrong?!? Well, I could eat the whole can in one sitting...that's what I could do!

I'm doing well with my exercise. I started doing "2's" on the treadmill...two minutes running following by 2 minutes walking, etc. I'm also focusing on strengthening my quads as that will help with my knee problems.

Well--better get back to work.
fondly,
fit

Determination!!

I've decided it's time to get serious. Serious about my diet, that is.

Initially, I lost about 60 pounds (7 years ago), but it's been slowing making its comeback. In reality, I need to lose about 15 pounds to be where I feel good, look good; optimum performance. I think if I get back to exercising like I was, it should be attainable. But, therein lies the problem. Getting back into the groove of exercising seems to be difficult for me! Either way.....it's gonna happen!

My goal is to lose 15 pounds. How I'm going to do it? Establish accountability and get busy.

Wish me luck!
fondly,
fit

MFFL

Dirk is the MAN!

Long time; no type

Seems like I've been gone forever.....okay, maybe not forever---but definitely a while. I've been a tad busy with my new job (promotion). I really like it, so far....[knock on wood].

I have to say, though, that I REALLY miss the guys I worked with before I moved up the ladder. They (except for one!) made my day fun. Even when things were extremely stressful, I could always laugh it off with them...or better yet--laugh AT one of them. Fortunately, this position is within the same business unit, so I can "watch out" for them (I report to the BIG boss now).

I've decided that I miss blogging.

I'm going to do better.

I'll start Monday.
fondly,
fitafter4

Something's in the air.......

Something that's making me feel awful! I'm not sure if it's Mountain Cedar or some other tree or grass; but it's taking its toll on me.

I wanna go home and get in bed!

Fit

Storms make trees take deeper roots.
- Dolly Parton

I found the above quote and really liked it. Feels like it describes the continuation of my life! Kinda goes along with, "What doesn't kill ya makes you stronger..." which I've heard countless number of times. If that's the case, then I'm the female Hercules! Just kidding...Honestly, I am very blessed. God doesn't promise His children a life void of problems, just the support and love to make it through them. {I like that quote much better, thank you.}

Well, today is our official 5 year anniversary. Whew! There were a few times I didn't think we'd make it to this point, but I'm glad we did. I referred in my post yesterday about how difficult our journey has been up until now, so I don't want to repeat myself other than to say that I give God the credit for bringing us together and keeping us together. I have learned so much in this marriage; much more than I learned in the 1st! Maybe it's maturity; maybe it's personalities; maybe it's timing---I don't know. All I can say is, I have discovered that I am a very difficult person to live with! [just being honest] Fortunately, my husband has learned how to get through all my issues and help me learn how to be realistic with myself.

New subject. . . . . .

*****

I found this picture this morning and thought it was funny.

Have a wonderful day, world!
Be blessed and give blessings.
Fondly,
Fit

Got a major headache today! I attempted to go without my caffeinated coffee this morning and BAM! ...headache central. What was I thinking?!?!? How pathetic am I that I have to have caffeine to jump-start my day?

It probably doesn't help that I've been dealing with condescending jerks today either. I normally have patience for "that type of person" but NOT today.

I can't wait until tomorrow! It's our 5th anniversary and I'm taking a vacation day on Friday so we can go to our special anniversary spot. No kids, No stress, No work....BLISS. I will miss the kids, especially Nicholas, but parents have to take care of their marriage, right?

The last five years have been extremely difficult but extremely fulfilling at the same time. My husband and I have handled unbelieveable stress, including custody battles (FOUR), loss of employment (for 3 years!), foreclosure, health issues, etc. There is NO DOUBT in my mind whatsoever, that most marriages could not endure the trials and hardships we have been through. I can't say I haven't thought about just "walking away" when things seemed unbearable, but I knew that God was ultimately in control of our lives and our situation. I cling to the promise that "all things work together for good..."

Actually I try to remember that every day.......
Fondly,
Fit

Countdown to Lobsterville

Welcome to Lobsterville!

It's our 5th anniversary next Thursday (Feb 1st) and our tradition is to "get away" (NO kids!) and relax. We have found a quaint little cabin in the woods in Oklahoma with absolutely no one around---and it's WONDERFUL! The cabin is fully equipped, including large t.v. and DVD player and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, a hottub on the back porch. We usually sit in the hottub just about the whole weekend and drink wine. The best time is at night with all the stars shining above--that's our favorite. When not in the hottub, we take a bunch of DVD's and chill out on the couch.

However, one of the biggest highlights of the weekend is our traditional lobster dinner we prepare. We bring live lobsters with us (we usually name them--haha) and on Saturday night, we boil them up and enjoy!! I would venture to say this is one of our biggest highlights of the year. All I can say is...bring it on, I'm ready!

"The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else."
-Martina Navratilova

Well....I've got my class tonight at the gym. 60 minutes of intense cardio-fitness. Ugh.

It's hard while I'm going through it, but I feel great afterwards!! This class, called "Team Weight Loss", meets three (3) times a week and includes a Nutritionist (aka Summer) and a Personal Trainer (aka Rob). There are about 6 consistent people in my class, one of which is my "buddy", Gretchen. She's seems to be really nice, but I'm starting to see a chip on her shoulder. The first few classes,I thought her negativity was most likely attributed to the difficult regime we were being put through; however, it has certainly intensified and I don't think it's far from her normal state-of-mind. Here's why I say that: One of our other classmates is "cute", "blond", and "thin" [not to mention airheaded]. Our Trainer, Rob, tends to show her alot of attention, much to my buddy's dismay, who is NOT "cute", "blond", and "thin". This scenario has caused much discussion on her part, and I seem to be the likely listener, since I am her buddy and work along side her. I try to be a good listener and show her I care...but the fact is---I DON'T. Get over it already. I'm so done with the "I'm-not-cute-so-anyone-who-is-stinks" attitude!

Truth is, I'm there to get in shape and feel good (and hopefully lose some pounds along the way!). I'm not there to win a contest or compete with others while I'm gettin' sweaty!! Puleez!

Well, I've gotta run for now......

Fondly,

Fit

"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you

are a good person
is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you

because you are a vegetarian."

-Dennis Wholey

[I've decided to try to have a different quote every day.....we'll see how it goes!]

Today has been a really weird day. After arriving to work and do my normal, every day kinda things, I came back to my desk to see a group of my teammates standing around, arms folded, giving me this "what-do-you-know" look. [You see--I'm the "Administrator"--which means I have the inside scoop to many things...] It turns out, my boss was F-I-R-E-D this morning. Yep. Gone. I was asked to pack up his office and send his things. As you can imagine, it came as a real shock to everyone; not because there wasn't just cause, but rather surprise that management FINALLY did something about it!

It's my belief that said-boss is bi-polar. He had extreme temperments and you never really knew which boss you would see at any given time! He had made MANY enemies and I think it finally caught up with him. It's sad to see anyone get canned; but sometimes you have to come to the conclusion that someone brought it upon themselves.

Either way, it's been a strange day!
Fondly,
Fit

Mom Desiring Normal Routine!

Thank goodness school started back today! My kids were going stir-crazy. Whether or not they will admit it or not, they were glad to be back at school. At least--I was. There's only so much television and PS2 that's good for them, ya know [although they would beg to differ].

I'm not sure our new PUPPY likes that he's back to being all alone again. [pic below]

I was able to download a few pictures from Christmas and New Years. Here are some of them:

I will post some more tomorrow.

Fondly,

Fit

Random numbers for the Day!

Random numbers:

2 - Extra kids at my house right now. My friend's kids, Alex, 16, and Emily, 14, decided to stay with us a couple extra days;

5 - days until my children return to school!

19 - people in my family that gathered on New Year's Eve to play games and bring in the new year;

19 - people who were in a family photo shoot. This is the first time we've all been present for a family picture.

200 - dollars spent on our cat, Simba, who had an abcess in his leg when we returned from vacation! Yuk!

0 - pounds lost over the holidays...even though I'm in a contest to lose weight! Weigh in is next Tuesday--doesn't look too good, huh?

2 - days until my in-laws come to visit.

Happy 2007!

Happy 2007!!!

It seems that every year I say, "I can't believe it's 200_!" Well, in order to fulfill the prophecy, here goes..."I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S 2007!" Seriously, this past year literally FLEW by. It's pretty much a blurr; although that's not necessarily a bad thing. 2006 was a very difficult year. In fact, probably the most difficult I can ever remember. Welcoming in the new year is really a blessing. It signifies a "new beginning". I pray that God will bless us this year.

Not to be "clique-ish" but it IS the time of year for resolutions. I'm not real good about keeping my newfound commitments, but even if I can keep them for a little bit, that's good, right?!?!

1) I resolve to work on reading my Bible every day. I'm not going to commit to a certain time, but rather just the act of reading itself.

2) I resolve to be a "half-glass-full" person and look at the blessings of life rather than the trials.

3) I commit to making sure my children know EVERY DAY that they are loved more than words can show.

4) I commit to being a good friend.

5) I pledge to learn to love myself - good and bad.

6) I pledge to be a faithful person in ALL things.

7) I will strive to read more!

I don't want to overdo it, so I'll leave it at the seven above.

I'll go for now....

fondly,

fit