Why does it feel so good to complain?

I was at yet another faculty meeting yesterday after school and I actually enjoyed part of it (this must have been a first). We each were given 5 sticky notes and asked to write what annoys us about meetings. Hmmm…that wasn’t hard and was significantly enjoyable for me. So that brings me to the reason for my blog. Why does it feel so darn good to complain? This makes me think of the saying, “Complaining is like a rocking chair, it feels good, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

I’m a high school teacher. So, technically I have a lot of complain about. Lots of paper work, bratty teenagers, extra work and little pay. Ok, sure we get a couple of months of a year. But, really without those months to “recover” we might end up doing even more damage to today’s youth then we already do. Joke. Kinda.

Over the last few years I’ve made it a point to be a positive person. The reason for this is I started to see how boring and annoying people are who complain a lot. Really, who wants to be around downtrodden people? I’m sure there’s been lots of studies and research done on being postive and how it positivly impacts your health and relationships. But I have a few techniques I have discovered that work for me. One question I ask myself when something starts to get me down is…”will this problem, situation affect me in a year?” If no, it’s not worth worrying or complaining about.

In Like a Lion

March is my favorite month of the year. The first couple of days of the month I became a bit concerned when the weather turned frigid…and yes, to this Florida girl 50 degrees is very frigid. However, March has totally redeemed itself. The last week has been amazing. Jillie and I have hit the beach up 2 Saturdays in a row. Last Saturday we even managed to drag Bear along with us. We had a great time and the weather was just perfect. Now we just need the ocean to warm up. We turned the heater on in the pool and Bear worked hard over the weekend to get it swim ready. Last night after our jog, Jillie fell asleep and hubby and I went for a nice swim. Did I say jog??? Yes, Bear and I have been jogging for about a week now. It’s going pretty well and we can already see a difference in our bodies. Our goal is to feel reasonably good in our bathing suits while laying around in Jamaica next month. Yup, you heard right. We’re heading to Jamaica during my spring break and the lil one is gonna stay with my in-laws. We are going to be gone 5 days. I’m a little nervous leaving her for so long, but I think it’s time apart that we all need. But, it’s time together that my hubby and I need most. <3

Family Xmas pic 2008

Random Update

Over the last few days I’ve been feeling a little under the weather. Not sure if it’s all this nasty cold weather or the nasty cold germs my students seem to drag into my classroom every day. So I’ve been taking as much vitamin C as I can and hoping this goes away soon. This morning when I woke Jillie up she said , “can we go to the library today”? Man I love this kid! The only bad thing is there’s no way I will get a chance to look at anything because all our time will be spent in the children’s section. lol.

Earlier this week someone told me about www.postsecret.com. Omg, if you haven’t been there…you need to check it out. People mail in their secrets on post cards to postsecret and then they get posted either on that site or in actual books. Very cool idea!

Today I’ll be talking to a rep from University of Phoenix. Going back to school isn’t something I’m really interested in do, but with the way the economy is going, I think it’s important for me to finish my masters degree. I’d prefer to obtain my degree from FSU or UCF, but the run around they seem to give in order to enroll there seems like a big PITA.

Daniel Fast & Some Dinner Ideas

Our church started a Daniel Fast this month and my husband and I are participating. We participated in the same fast in 07 and God did some great things in our lives. We are truly excited to be taking part in this again. We were disappointed when the fast ended last time. We spend so much of our busy life jumping from one appointment to another that we fail to take care of our bodies. Eating fast food and pizza is what a typical week looks like for us. I know God wants us to treat our bodies better then we do. We’ve already had some excellent meals and my husband and I feel better already.

Sunday afternoon Bear made a great batch of vegetarian chili. I’m not sure what he put in it, but it was really great. We served that over a hot baked potato. Last night I made roasted zucchini, yellow squash and portabello mushrooms. I served that over some 100% whole grain angel hair pasta and topped it with a jar of organic, no sugar tomato sauce. It was a truly amazing dinner and I plan on adding that to our normal weekly meals. It took me about 20 mins from start to finish. Clean up wasn’t hard either because I lined the roasted veggie pan with foil. (And my loving hubby cleaned up the rest!)

Tonight will be left over night with the chili. And I will add a nice garden salad.

Tomorrow I’m making 15 bean soup in the crockpot and serving it with brown rice.

Thrusday grilled portabellos with oven roasted pototo “fries”.

Friday, grilled veggie wraps…with brown rice and homemade refried beans. I’m going to try and make the whole wheat wraps from scratch. Should be interesting.

I seriously woke up with a smile on my face this morning! What a beautiful time of year and God is so great! Possibly I’m just excited that in two days I get a 2 week vacation. But, mostly I’m looking forward to spending lots of time with my family. I know next week will be crazy busy, but many memories will be made and I just love seeing these happy times in my daughter’s eyes. Everything is so new to her. She keeps asking “is it Christmas yet?” Which is so sweet, but it’s hard to explain time to a toddler. I love talking to her about Jesus’ birthday and all that it means.

It’s all the little things that I remember and seem to make Christmas time so special.

Things I want for Christmas

1. A child that falls asleep at a reasonable hour.

2. A clean house.

3. Someone to fold and put away all my laundry.

4. A hairless cat.

5. A freezer full of home cooked meals that all I have to do is put them in the oven and forget it.

6. Chance to watch at least 1/5 hour of TV a night.

7. 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

8. No more muffin top….does anyone make jeans that do this???

9. Non-frizz hair day.

10. Everyone in my family to be healthy.

Cold Weather…yuck

This Florida girl can’t stand it! It makes me feel like crawling back into bed. The only winter I never got cold was when I was pregnant…but I had hot flashes everyday…so that’s a whole other story. I don’t even have a wardrobe to keep up with these cold snaps. I mean, as soon as I go buy enough clothes to be warm, it will be 80 degrees next week.

Speaking of clothing; I think I’ll buy Jillie a couple of cute holiday dresses after work today. She needs some fancy stuff this year. The past couple of years she would just get stuff all over her, she’s doing better, so hopefully she will look half way decent during the holidays. I should get some stuff too….

Tonight after gymnastics Jillie gets a new hair cut. I can’t wait. I’ll post pics tomorrow.

Taking “Me Time”

Yesterday I did something unusual. I took time for myself. I used part of a spa gift certificate my loving husband gave me a couple of weeks ago. It was nice and I enjoyed myself…except after an hour at the spa I start to get antsy and find myself wishing I was finished. I guess that’s my ADD! As a mom I find it hard to do something that only benefits me. I feel guilty leaving my daughter when I go do something for myself. I feel like she’s my responsibility and I don’t want to “pawn” her off on someone else. Isn’t that strange? I’m sure my friends and family members don’t think of her as a chore. Not only that but besides my husband, she’s the one person I want to spend time with the most. I absolutly love picking her up after work. We always have the nicest afternoons. Lately we have been baking…the other day we made yummy banana bread muffins. **Sigh** I’d make a good stay-at-home mom! LOL

Yes, we went to visit Santa.