It was a full moon Tues. Did you get up early (4:10 AM EST) to see the moon in a blood red color? Neither did I. But I have the answer for why it was Red.... ready? Because the sky is blue. Thats it, that is the answer....

I did however stay up and take in the brilliance of the full moon that night. Full moons have often been suspect in the cause of wild behaviors of the mentally ill, children and well just about anyone else I suppose. I read a little bit about the effects of this moon. There will not be another like this in our lifetime supposedly. This is a very powerful one too. Something about astrology plays into this role and what 'house' the moon is sitting in. It also retains its powerfulness for a week or more. It affects your moods and general being. Now... it could be coincidence, but yesterday was a 'full moon' kind of day. My boss was all over me like white on rice. Unfortunately, I let this encounter with her affect me. I should not have reacted but I did.. and my reaction? anger and tears. By the time I was home, I felt a great weight between my shoulders and the start of a headache. My energy had been zapped. I did go back to the school that night and finished setting up my classroom. I got home and was so physically and emotionally exhausted that I went right to bed. Maybe the moon? or just the day? who will ever know?

What I do know is that this mornings walk centered me once again. I donned my sneaks, put on my baseball cap, (I go walking with bedhead) turned up the volume of my Ipod, breathed deeply and walked away all of yesterday! I'm energized again and ready to enjoy the weekend on the cape with good old college friends M and E. Beach sand here I come!

That old feeling...

Remember when you were a kid? Remember getting ready for that first day of school? I remember the week prior to the first day (which by the way was AFTER labor day unlike some schools around here! ) going school shopping for shoes, clothes and supplies. I loved getting supplies the most. New pens, notebooks, erasers and colored pencils...ahhhhhh ... well maybe you weren't as dorky as I was....

My mom would buy each of us an outfit that was always to hot to be wearing on that first day. That didn't stop me though from being overly excited about wearing the new duds and consequently sweating up a storm throughout that first day! I'm sure the teachers (like my 5Th grade science teacher) kept stock in air fresheners working with the likes of us! I wish I had a photo of myself in that brown pair of gauchos with the striped silk shirt complete with long sleeves and a neck piece you tied into a bow! Now that was stylish!!

The night before that first day, my parents sent us all packing to bed around 7:00. You had to draw the shades in order to even think of sleeping since the sun was still blazing in the sky! I'm sure with all the nervous energy abounding they treated it like Christmas eve..... the school won't open if you don't go right to sleep! Funny thing was I think there was some kind of conspiracy in our neighborhood because by 6:30pm, our street was deserted and we were all in bed. I'm sure our parents all sneaked off to one of the neighbor's yards and toasted in the new school year!

Some kids rode the bus or were driven to school by their moms, I was a walker. I say this loosely. As an elementary school student, I was actually a runner and a faller. Each day, my mother would get me into a dress with pretty white tights and I would set off to school with instructions not to run, fall and rip holes in them. I would walk up the hill, turning to wave at her and when I got to the top I'd then turn and RUN all the way down to the bottom of the hill where I would inevitably fall, ripping a huge hole in the knees of my tights and in my knee! Oh to be a kid again!

Today is the first day for my two middle schoolers. Mind you, they did not go to bed early like I'd hoped. By the time my house was still, it was 11 PM and there were no toasts to a new school year for me! They were a bit difficult to wake this morning but once they were up and in motion, they got themselves ready for school. Unlike my mom, I don't go shopping for new outfits for them to wear on the first day of school. I wait until the weather turns cooler and then hit the sales. My kids wear shorts and a dressier T-shirts for the first few weeks. They go to school with one notebook as the teacher will send home a supply list that rivals my weekly paycheck! And unlike me, they will never experience the thrill of running down a hill and falling on the way to school. My kids get curbside bus service! Oh to be a kid today! One thing I am certain of, they will grow up and have their own memories of first school days and how mom made them pose each year for a picture before they headed out the door for a new year of learning.

A bit of us

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

I found this neat little fun tool on Hallmark and was playing around. I think I now know how to put in a photo.....maybe!

Insert smart card

I have a new alarm clock. Well its not totally new, I've had it since April. What is special about this alarm clock?? It never fails to go off at exactly 5:48 AM! I'm thinking of housing her up in S and Ps room for the school year. This 'alarm clock' is actually a 9 month old Shih Tzu fondly known as Chloe. Chloe never fails to start whining, barking and scratching at her crate door at 5:48AM and once I'm up, she isn't the type to allow me the pleasure of going back to bed after she has done her business...noooooo she wants some petting and loving and some walking down the street. Did I mention she is also a great exercise motivator??
So this morning, I got up and decided to play on my computer and check out other people's blogs. My new favorite is written by a mom who managed to sell a baseball for over $1000.00 on ebay...and it wasn't some famous home run baseball, but just your ordinary ball played with by her kids. She also sold a deck of Pokemon card for over $100.00! Her skill at ebay? Her sense of humor! You can read her advertisement here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:2 .
I linked off her blog to see other blogs and found one with a link to Payperpost. This site claims to pay you for writing about things you love. Hmmm sounds good to me! You can't imagine how much money I spend on groceries alone recently! So I signed up and filled out the profile and was then directed to get a code and insert it on my blog.... hmmmm being new to this blogging site, I have no idea just how to go about doing this. Which kind of bothers me because I consider myself a pretty smart cookie.
Which throws me back to the other day when I had the same misgivings about my intellect....

I think the last time I'd actually been to the laundromat was back in 1995, that was year I got my first washer . After having 3 kids I convinced my husband that we really needed one by sending him, accompanied by 2 toddlers and an infant, off to the do some laundry. He came home that afternoon with a washing machine and set up a line out back... a few months later when his boxers were frozen on the line, we got a dryer. Recently, my washing machine had begun making a terrible racket during the spin cycle. I called in Sears repair and was told the barrel inside was broken. It would cost me $500++ to fix it! That is the cost of a new washer give or take $100! I decide to skip the repair, pay the $69 look at it fee and go out and get a new one. The dryer by the way, is also on its last legs taking 3 cycles and racking up the electricity bill!
So, in I waltz with 2 large overflowing baskets of laundry, having made sure to tuck our undies and such under the towels. Can't be to modest in a laundromat! There is one other patron in the store besides me. I plunk my baskets in front of a machine and search for the coin dispenser.....none..... something called a 'smart card' slot is on each machine. So I start roaming through the store in search of where I can find one.... I find soap, I find soda and junk food.... the woman sees my confusion and asks if I'm looking for a change machine. I tell her what I am looking for and she points me in the right direction. All I have is a $20 on me so thinking I'm getting change back I throw that in and it all is deposited on the 'smart card' . I'll say its smart! All my money is now tied up into that card!
I go to get soap which requires insertion of the 'smart card' into a slot before you press the button to get your .75c worth of laundry soap. Well, this won't work for me... after a dozen futile tries, along comes the woman again and shows me how to get soap from the dispenser. I felt really dumb trying to utilize the 'smart card' !! I loaded up all the laundry into one machine, now certain this is how my washer at home broke, and closed the door, added the soap and inserted the 'smart card' The minutes appeared in the upper left hand corner telling me how long the cycle would last. The barrel begins to spin clockwise then counterclockwise...but I see no water. A minute goes by and I think "Great, a broken machine!" I suddenly see directions on the left hand side and decide to read them...who doesn't know how to operate a washing machine???..... well obviously me! I realize I have to hit the 'type of wash' for it to actually wash!! And I have a college degree no less!
Finally, I sit back with my book and headphones on and wait out the wash cycle all the while counting down the days to the delivery date of my new washer.

In the beginning

I finally have decided that it is about time to keep a blog. Why? Well, one reason would be to journal my feelings, trials and progress during Fat Flush. What is Fat Flush? Fat Flush is a way of eating and I've been doing it since May 28th. I've lost 34 lbs so far and feel and look much better! Today I treated myself to a little Thai food with P and M. S, my middle child is off at a sleep over and is fussy anyway so its nice to take P, 16 and M, 12, out to eat something more than pizza or chicken nuggets!