A Bit o' This & That

I do believe this has been my longest blog hiatus since the beginning of July or so.  Is it embarrassing that I know that? (The answer is yes.)  Is it embarrassing that my longest blog hiatus was a mere three days?  (Again...yes.)

I might have skipped Flashback Friday because I was dragging by the end of last week due to my week o' water only, or because I was actually pretty busy at work, or because I didn't have a suitable picture to post with the flashback that I still have typed up and ready to publish.  Or it might have been for all of those reasons.

I might have stayed away from the computer all weekend because Sam and I cleaned our house from top-to-bottom, or because I was busy enjoying my first kid-free, at-home weekend in as long as I can remember, or because I was celebrating my birthday.  Or it was totally because of all of those things.

At any rate, I'm going to be even more random than ever in today's post because I want to talk a little bit about each of those things.

Business first.  That list thing?  I knocked another one off last week.  In an effort to make some headway I decided to just bite the bullet and go for one of the items I was dreading the most.

# 25 ~ Drink nothing but water for a week.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it.  It was brutal.  I'm a caffeine fiend.  I crave it like nothing else.  While I'm nothing like I used to be, I just simply don't start my days off without at least one cup of coffee.  Well, last week I did it.  Water only.  Iced water.  Not even bottled Propel water.  Truthfully, I didn't have withdrawal headaches (which surprised me).  Interestingly enough, I actually felt like I had more energy because there were no post-caffeine crashes.  The problem was I switched to eating my morning caffeine which I am certain is less healthy than drinking it, calorie-wise anyway.  I'm pretty sure that I actually gained weight on my water only week, despite the absence of caloric beverages and  my return to running.  Go figure.

In the interest of brevity, I will say that now I know I can do it if I have to.  I found it curiously empowering.  I guess that's how most anything is when we convince ourselves that we are able.  I wonder how many other things I've talked myself out of because of my lack of self-confidence.  Tons, I'm sure.  

But, I'm totally going back to my coffee.

(#25 - You've been checked.)

My 27th birthday weekend rocked my socks off.  It started with one of the best presents I can ever receive - the gift of time with my husband - made possible by my in-laws who so graciously took all three of my children to their home for the weekend.  I know it wasn't easy (especially after confessing that by 9am Saturday morning they were ready for a nap), but I appreciated it so much.  It afforded me the simple pleasures of ending my Friday evening in the comfort of a clean home, with a finished book under my belt, and a few moments to vainly and unsuccessfully attempt to capture a photo of lightning.  (But I had the time to try!)

(There's Sam after mopping my briefly clean kitchen floor.)

On Saturday, I was treated to a shopping spree where Sam insisted that I buy "5 nice, complete outfits" for my birthday present.  Naturally, I started sweating at the prospect of spending that kind of money.  The best part is that we ended up at Belk (where I traditionally don't shop - I'm a Kohls/Marshalls/Ross kind of gal) where they had an unbelievable sale going on.  Our total savings was 79% on our entire bill.  And I got way more than 5 complete outfits.  New clothes at a bargain without having to rush through the racks or search for scrambling kids.  It was like the Twilight Zone.

We enjoyed a mindless movie at the theater for an afternoon treat.  That evening, we partook of a fabulous meal at a fancy restaurant, a very rare treat. 

After a morning of church and before we met the in-laws to retrieve the kiddos, I got a new pair of kicks for my running endeavors.  I felt like a queen.  Thank you to everyone who made that possible.

Then there was Sunday afternoon, where we fell back into our groove of life as a family of five.  Sarah gave me the gift of wanting to hold my hand, which is something I'm not sure I've experienced from a 15 month old before.  She ran around me and extended her right arm, grabbing my left hand as we made our way across the parking lot to pick Ben up from choir.  It melted my heart and reaffirmed that while it was awesome having one-on-one time with my husband, I missed these little people.  

We finished the evening off with baths and some help folding a load of towels...

And an oil and water experiment by my budding scientist...

And a very vain attempt at capturing "Blue Hour" with my camera...which only took me 27 years to discover thanks to one of my favorite blogs ever.

This concludes my ramblings on about this and that.  I wish you all the happiest of Mondays.  (And yes, that is an oxymoron.)  If not a happy Monday, how about a wonderful rest-of-the-week?