The first official day of summer vacation hasn't gone so well ... and it's not even late enough to start drinking {socially acceptably, anyway}.

I don't even want to go into it. It's just been a day. So what I would like to do is make myself a list.

Lists make me feel better :) And I can add to this list as things pop into my head.

Things we can do during the summer OUTSIDE of the house:

• Storytime at the library
• swimming at the pool
• blow bubbles/play with chalk
  
• walk to the park
• walk to Starbucks
• hang out at the other Starbucks with the big table
• go to the big park up the hill
• Sonic for lunch
• Subway for lunch
• Del Taco play area
• McDonalds play area
• use the gift certificates for Funworks miniature golf
• hide out and scrap at Rachelle's
• meet up with high school friends in my old home town
• the lake's nature area
• sell them to kindly looking gypsies
• fruit standing
• picnic at the park/lake/river
• impose on my ma again, sleep over and sneak out after they're asleep :)
  
• farmer's market on Saturday mornings
• free movie's at the Regency
• cheap movies here in town
• go to JoAnns with coupons for fabric for sewing projects
• meet friends at Chuckie Cheese
  
• take the 2 smaller to the gym kid's club if I haven't already gone or even if I HAVE

• bubbles or chalk
• household daily chore - more on that later, I hope
• computer time
  
• movie from Netflix with popcorn
• make candles
• make jewelry
• drink
  
• scrap
• craftsy stuff from the dollar store

This is my first Thankful Thursday post. I found this weekly meme through Veggiemomof2 and she talked about keeping a gratitude journal to remind us of all we have to be grateful for when we need it most.

I've heard it said that people who keep a gratitude journal, or something similar, tend to be happier people. I think it's a great idea so I'd like to start doing it!

1. This week I've been thinking a lot about my family and the things that are going on in my life. I'm thankful that I've started taking pictures again. When I'm depressed or shutting down from life, I stop taking pictures. I don't do it consciously, it just seems to be a symptom of a deeper issue going on. I noticed that I had gone weeks without taking pictures. And it wasn't because we hadn't left the house, I just didn't care to remember the camera or even get it out when I DID remember it. For me ... THAT indicates there's something going on. In the last few weeks I've made some changes as far as my perspective on life and how I'm living it and I think I'm coming out of the depressing I was slipping into. I'm back to capturing every minute detail of our lives on camera again ... and I'm LOVING it :)

2. This week has been my girls' last week of school and I'm thankful that they are extremely bright children who LOVE to learn. Tween went into middle school this year and has been THRIVING! She is still getting straight A's even thought she has really had to work hard for them this year! Flower Child is getting straight E's {which is a little harder to get than an A actually because it's 95-100%} and she LOVES school! She seems to breeze through subjects and LOVES to read whenever she gets the chance. I'm so fortunate that my daughters are both such good hard working students, it makes my job THAT much easier!

3. We have recently been going through some financial/housing issues and a lot of it was due to SERIOUS procrastination on my husband & I's part. It started almost a year ago and is getting closer to being over {one way or the other} but because we started going through this situation we were forced to confront some financial things we were hiding from. Well, THOSE things have finally been dealt with and are WAY less horrific than we feared they would be! So I am thankful for this horrible situation we've been dealing with. If it weren't for the situation we might still be hiding from these financial problems and stressing out about how bad we thought they would be! Gotta make lemonade from lemons ... amIright?

4. Exactly 76 days from today it will THE.BEST.DAY.EVER. LOL 76 days from today Lil Miss will be starting Kindergarden :) And so will begin the BEST.YEAR.EVER. It will be the year that Tween is not YET in High School, but Lil Miss is taken off my hands by the good people at her school. It actually took a lot of work to gather all of the things needed to get her registered {I didn't even have her birth certificate!} but I got it done! And I am SOOO thankful that she is FINALLY registered and everything is ready to go! She is officially a kindergardener :D And yes ... *I* am officially counting down the days until school starts WOOOOHOOOO!

5. Last summer I developed a health condition that really forced me to take a long hard look at myself. My eating habits were terrible, I never exercised, and I didn't really take very good care of myself. I have changed a LOT about my life in the past year and I've lost 35 pounds :) the LOOONG HAAAARD WAY lol So much of that weight loss {and the fact that I've KEPT weight off during plateus} is due in no small part to the gym that opened here in town. I am SO VERY THANKFUL for our gym :) I've had memberships before but never used them to their full potential for various reasons. This one ... I go {almost} every.single.day. LOL It's more than just a place I work out. When I walk through those doors, not only do I get to drop Lil Miss off for a mere $15 a MONTH but I also get to drop "Mommy" off too. For up to 2 hours EVERY DAY I get to be Christine. I get to think about MY needs. Whether it be a super hard class that makes me sweat like crazy, riding the eliptical watching E! for an hour, sitting on a bike watching a movie, talking with 1-10 friends who all go there, sitting in a steam room, or even just taking a SHOWER ... uninterrupted! This place means so much to me and I am eternally grateful for it :)

So that's my gratitude journal for this week! I feel happier and more aware of all the good things in my life already! For more Women Taking a Stand and being THANKFUL check out Thankful Thursdays!

Seriously ... the weather has been CRAZY around here!

The usual temp for these parts is 83* ... yesterday it was 65*. And it rained. It's BEEN raining at least once a week for MONTHS now.

Yesterday was super pretty in the early part of the day and the girl and I did our normal routine of dropping the girls off at school and then heading to the gym/kids club. I'd hoped to walk to the park after ward but the clouds quickly rolled in.

Later that afternoon, after the big girls went to their dad's house, DH & I took Lil Miss out into the depressing rain to run some errands. While DH did some things, I planned on wandering around Target with Lil Miss but I just didn't have the energy for it. I think all this crappy gray weather is sapping my energy levels.

So instead, she fell asleep in the back seat and I sat and enjoyed the QUIET :) I just listened to the rain and enjoyed every second of it.

After the errands were run we thought maybe a stop at Buffalo Wings N Rings might cheer us up :) And I had my camera this time! lol

Ahhhhh ... that's better ;-)

Lil Miss insisted I take a picture of her Kitty ... Roxy lol

But THIS was the star of the show ... it was 49 cent wing night! WOOOHOOO!

This morning I woke up early to go get the girls from their dad's house (45 minutes away from me, if you don't know) and I got to drive in THIS. Seriously? Did I wake up in February?! The fog followed me for the majority of the drive but it was nice{ish} once we got back home.

After the gym/kids club we went to the library for some books and storytime :) She LOVES her some puzzles! The Storytime has been SO good for her! She sings all the songs and does all the movements. She is learning to sit and be quiet and listen, and I think it will really help get her prepped for Kindergarden.

It's also a half hour of time that *I* don't have to entertain her ;-) Thank God for the public library! lol

After the girls got home from school it was time to work on their Teacher Gifts! Tomorrow is the last day of school {AAAHHH!!!} and I wanted to make something cute, inexpensive and clever for the 2 older girls to take to their teachers.

I totally copied THIS POST about St. Patrick's Day Teacher Gifts and just adjusted it to my needs. I got the little containers and the candies at Dollar Tree. I already had the ribbon and hot glue gun so I basically only spent $10 for 8 teacher gifts! {Tween is in Middle School so she has 6 - Flower Child has 2}

Next I had to come up with a cute little saying for the tags and start assembling! It took a little bit of time and effort, but Tween helped me and that was fun, so the time flew by.

The little ones ditched me though, they wanted to play outside before it started to rain and when they were SUPER quiet I went out to see why ...

They started giggling and squirming and I found out why ...

They'd found a new friend :) His name is Brayden LOL

I let the girls choose which ribbon they wanted to use on their different teachers and I'm SUPER pleased with how they came out :)

See, the candy is Sour Patch Kids ... so I said "Thank you for helping grow this PATCH of KIDS" ... get it?! ... cause they're sour PATCH KIDs ... yeah ... you get it ;-)

We ended up needing more candy so we ran out to Dollar Tree on the way out to celebrate Flower Child's perfect report card. I just HAD to take a picture of their "Sale of the Week" ...
LOL!

We ended up having dinner at Applebees since they have 'Kids Eat {Almost} Free Night' and ...

Mango Martini's :) My heart belongs to Applebees :D

It's been a LOOOONG day and tomorrow promises to be even LOOOOONGER lol ... and that is just the beginning of the LOOOOONGEST SUMMER ... EVER. LOL

But I WILL survive because in 76 more days begins ... the BEST YEAR EVER {aka - Lil Miss goes to Kindergarden LOL} ... pray I ... and they ... make it that long ;-)

This was a SUPER busy weekend ... and those are turning out to be my FAVORITE kind :)

Saturday was my friend Rachelle's daughter Amelia's birthday party. DH & The Boy went fishing so it was just us girlies :)

The party was in a town about 2 hours away so I decided to hit the mall on my way out there since malls can be hard to come by in my {red}neck of the woods ;-). I was unaware that there was a carousel ... LOL ... But Lil Miss did so well in the stores that I rewarded her with a ride :) She chose "the Tiger cause it's saying ROAAAAAR!" lol

After we finished up there it was on to the party! It was a Dora party and Lil Miss was so excited!

Rachelle MADE the cake! Didn't it come out cute?! Amelia kept greeting her guests at the door and RUNNING to the table saying "DORA CAKE! DORA CAKE!" it was the CUTEST thing :)

We were having a great time :) I tried {a few} times to get a cute picture of us and I think I now now Lil Miss's diversionary tactic ... whenever I get a few pictures in she says "OK! MY TURN! I wanna take a picture of YOU, Mommy ... you're so preeeeetty :D"

And I fall for it ... everytime ;-)

In between bouts of HAIL and RAIN {it is MAY, mind you, IN CALIFORNIA) the kids played in the back yard.

Lil Miss & the birthday girly :)

Lil Miss and her friend at the party, the birthday girls cousin.

And here we have the rule of 3's rearing it head ... whenever you have 3 subjects in a photo ...

It will take you INFINITE amount of photos to get one with all 3 of them looking at the camera ;-) And usually you will either run out of patience, or your subjects will flee the scene before you get that shot ;-)

Me and the birthday girlys Mama, Rachelle :)

Rachelle & Baby Della (10ish weeks to go!)

And Lil Miss informed me that the Dora cake was "VERY good"

And that I could stop taking pictures NOW ... LOL

After Amelia opened her presents she wanted to play with the baby at the party :) She brought the baby food lol ... and what you don't see pictured here (because she is faster than my crappy Nikon) is her pretending to "water" the baby with her new watering can LOL it was so funny!

Then the grown ups played with THEIR toys LOL Don't you DARE take that last piece of cake from a preggy ... see that look in her eye?! LOL

Even with her Father-in-law ;-) You can just see the "Don't MAKE me" look on her face LOL

Once the dolly house was assembled ... nice construction job Shell ;-) ... the girls really got "into" it LOL ... get it? Cause she's ... IN ... the house ... hahaha ... *crickets*

The little girls really had a good time playing while us Mama's chatted for awhile :)

Awwwww, such a sweet birthday girl :)

Mama & Amelia

Me and Lil Miss ... I think this is my favorite picture of the two of us ... ever :) Thanks Shell!

Well the good times had to end sooner or later, so I got my drive home supplies ready and hit the road :)

Aaaaand then while I was stuck in traffic I got bored ... and what else was I to do? ... LOL

Yes I COULD have just focused on driving but then I wouldn't have gotten this super cute picture of me! :D See my dilema?! ;-)

I made it home JUST before this HUGE scary cloud. I had to deal with the hail and rain when I first left but I raced ahead and made it home just ahead of it :)

And dinner and THIS was waiting for me ...Ahhhh ... I LOVE my man :)

So recently I've had some drama going on.

In fact ... a LOT of drama.

So much drama that if I sat down and thought about things for a few minutes I would have an anxiety attack ... no joke.

The thing is, there is almost NOTHING I can do about the situation. It's at a wait and see point right now and we're doing what we can, but stressing out about it isn't going to accomplish anything except give me more wrinkles.

So in an attempt to look beyond the drama I can do NOTHING about, and focus on the things I DO have, I'm adopting a 'living in the moment' kind of attitude.

I've been trying to be more conscious of the things going on around me lately. Not letting life pass by without stopping to look around a bit ... cause I might miss it. I've been trying not to just "get through the day" but actually DO THINGS and be 'in the moment' while I'm doing them.

I'm trying to actually BE where I am and enjoy whatever it is I'm doing.

I've been taking more photos, daily photos, to keep me more grounded in those moments and try to see the beauty and the good in the things I'm doing.

Does that make ANY sense? LOL

It all sounds like a bunch of malarky but it's been keeping me busy, out of the house, and giving me things to do and think about ... other than the drama. So that's good enough for me!

So what I'm going to go do right now is write up a bunch of posts, back date them, and post them as if I were writing the story just after it happened LOL. I don;t know if I'll be able to keep up the posts, but I'd like to think I will. Even if it's not daily, hopefully it will be a few times a week. I like the idea of talking about and focusing on the good times and good things that happen every day. And laughing at the crazy crap that happens multiple times a day it seems ;-)

So now I'm off to write up eleventy hundred posts dating back to whenthehellever and pretending it hasn't been a coon's age since I posted :) Thanks for playin along! lol

Well after all the FUN of yesterday, it only fits that I should pay for it today.

Ah, hangover, how loath you. And yet, at least it usually means I had a HELL of a good time lol.

My usual cure for a hangover is greasy food. I don't know WHAT the science is behind it, but it totally works. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jack in the Box Chicken Sandwiches should be packed and sold under the label "I drank too much last night and I'm paying for it now, cure".

Well, I broke with tradition and headed to Subway. Not because I had faith in their healing properties, but because I had a gift card. Their new breakfasts are actually REALLY good. I had the sausage and cheese egg white omelet (read: greasiest thing I could think of) and a coffee. In hind sight, the coffee was NOT a great idea but was a necessary evil for the next leg of our journey. OH, and their coffee is HELLA good.

Yeah that's right. I'm over the age of 12 and I say Hella. I even joined a Facebook group about it ... wanna fight about it?! lol

So after taming my tummy ... a bit ... we were off to Walmart :-/

I have mixed emotions about this place. The prices are SOOOO cheap and now that they carry groceries for MUCH cheaper than the standard grocery store, I have almost no reason NOT to shop there.

Except that it's still Walmart ... ya'll know what I mean.

But I braved it, even in my weakened condition, because I needed chicken, gardening tools, and a birthday gift for a 2 year old ... if anyone else knows of where I can find those three things in the same place I'll eat my hat.

So Lil Miss picked out a lovely gifty for the little sweety and spent the rest of the journey through Walmart telling me about each.and.every.one of those Littlest Pet Shop animals. Apparently she knows their names and life stories ... and now so do I. lol

The rest of the day went pretty much according to schedule. Then after the big ones left (Tween & Flower Child) we decided to try out a new place for dinner.

And I forgot my camera! Yes ... I did toy with the idea of going home for it. But calmer heads did prevail (read: DH said "um ... no.")

He had heard of a place that was comparable to Wing Stop, which has been our favorite wing place. So we went to Buffalo Wing & Rings with high hopes and were NOT disappointed!

Their menu FAAAAR exceeds the limited one at Wing Stop. There were salads! and burgers! and gyros! and so many combos for wings that we were in awe. The wings were HUGE compared to Wing Stop and the place was more like a restaurant than a hole in the wall. But they had us at 'Sierra Nevada on TAP' :)

And the ONION RINGS! My God, the onion rings! Well they were just beer battered heaven on a plate.

Needless to say, THIS will now and forever be OUR wing place :) If you have one in YOUR neck of the woods, I HIGHLY recommend!

So yesterday started of pretty much the same as most days lately. I ran to get the kids from their dad's house, drop them off at school, hit the gym, then home.

But then, I just didn't FEEL like being at home.

I felt like taking Lil Miss to a nature trail and just letting her run herself ragged. At first I thought it would be EASY since there's so much nature around here ... there had to be a trail showcasing it SOMEWHERE near by.

Well I was mistaken. lol

But I decided I wanted to get out of the house anyway so I grabbed a Rockstar and we jumped in the car. We drove all the way to the far side of the next town over to where I THOUGHT I remembered a trail of some kind, only to find an over grown path surrounded by dead grass. Not exactly what I had in mind.

So we drove to the near by Fruit Barn. They have all manner of dried fruits & nuts, plain or covered in chocolate, fresh fruit, fruit baskets ...

Oh ... and pies ...

very exciting pies! lol Now this place is adorable and they do have ALL MANNER of chocolate covered yummies ... however ...

this was the cheapest thing they had ... Lil Miss asked me to take a picture of it. lol

That could be because she was tired of me taking pictures of HER but I guess she doesn't know me very well :)

LOL

Because I will keep snapping, my dear, until I get an acceptable shot. Really, she should know this ... HOW LONG HAS SHE BEEN HERE?! LOL

And OH.MY.WORD. I couldn't believe they had these! A little bit of 80s right here at the register.

Well, you can find an abundance of 80s in any Target these days ::rollseyes::

After we made our selection of chocolate covered raisins we went outside to their picnic area. Which is really the whole reason I thought to drive there. It's kinda like a nature trail, just minus the trail.

So we sat and enjoyed our chocolate covered raisins for a bit until we had an uninvited guest at our table ...

At first he just sorta gave us the puppy dog look. Like this duck thought he was going to get some of our $4 chocolate covered raisins ... he was sooooorely mistaken.


Well since we weren't sharing, he decided to stalk us. And it was merely annoying until he started to bit the chair I was sitting on ... then it was just plain rude.

So we got up and went for a walk around the area and my Lil Diva started to pose ...

I see a bright future ahead of her in constipation commercials.

After that we headed out in search of lunch. Lil Miss informed me that she did not want to eat lunch at home so I thought it would be fun to find this place that I keep hearing is God's Gift to fast food, Sonic.

I have never experienced Sonic but I have heard nothing but good things. So we tracked one down on the OTHER side of the next city over and went over. When I got there I discovered that it was a Car-Hop type establishment. I have never been to, or ordered from, a Car-Hop type establishment and I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. Yes ... I was intimidated. I would also be lying if I said I stayed and over came my fears.

Yes I know. My husband gave me that same look you have right now. lol

By then it was time to head home to pick up the girls anyway, so I just decided that over coming my fear of the Sonic menu/ordering process would have to wait.

The rest of the day went pretty well. Since we adopted a new way of dealing with our dinner time ISSUES, dinners with the kids have been fun and a pretty enjoyable event. Getting ready for bed ... that's another issue for another day.

But then once they were in their beds talking to themselves fast asleep, my friend Charlie came over for Vodka Night :) This has become a 'thing' with a few of my friends and I. We get together once every two weeks or so, once a week if it's been a tough week ;-) and we just dish. We laugh, we vent, we get it aaaaaall out and move on. It has done WONDERS for my nerves I kid you not. Course, that could be the vodka too lol

So she came over, we made up some drinks and headed for the spa. It was LOVELY :) I enjoy hanging out with the girls SO MUCH, I'm lucky to have a great circle of friends that have helped me IMMENSELY lately. We talked for hours, which is usually the way it goes ;-) It was a great way to end the day.