So this week I’d like to post my top five favorite Blogging Mommies. These are women I have either known and loved reading from time to time or I have just found and LOVE their sense of humor and outlook on life. I love to find cool mom-blogs that are full of life and humor and find positive aspects of their day to day life as well as being able to express themselves creatively. There are many, MANY talented women/moms out there. Here are just FIVE of my favorites and I have to admit they are in NO particular order. I have come to love these women and I go to their blogs and read them each for different reasons. Makes me feel…not quite so alone.

5. Busy Mom – Wow. I think I have “known” Busy Mom for years now. She was one of the first moms I would read and think, “Man, I want to be like her.” lol

4. The Motherboard – Okay this woman HILARIOUS! She has such a way of finding the funny in the mundane. And I love her icon. NoreallyIdo.

3. The MomBabe – Reading about her children and “dadguy” and all their adventures makes me admire her resourcefulness as a mother.

2. Jen On The Edge – I found Jen about the same time I found The Mombabe. I love Jen’s perspective. She makes me think. She gives me ways to look at things I never even thought of before. I find her inspiring, intelligent and very down-to-earth.

1. For Love or Funny – Okay Lynn is LAUGH OUT LOUD funny!! I’m not kidding! She has an eye for the beautiful, all you have to do is look at her photography. She has a wit that is just very clever!

So GO! Enjoy! Some new, some old(er). I love finding new momblogs to read! If you have any you want to send my way, please!!! Let me know! I’d love to check them out!

Because I am such a frivolous mood…

I’m Grateful for:
1. my new scale that is so kind to me
2. my sweet supportive husband
3. apples…sweet juicy apples.
4. new music that makes me dance around the house.
5. my will power and the joy it brings me. LOL

And here I thought that I had a handle on things…

You see, my oldest was diagnosed with Autism when he was just 2 1/2 years old.  This was 17 years ago.  As a young mother, I felt completely blind-sided.  More like I had the rug pulled out from underneath me.  I also felt like I needed to fight this, fix it, “deal” with it, and get past it.  The thing is, you can’t. You don’t just “get past” a child with a disability.  You live with it, day in and day out.  You accept it, you adjust to it and then you try again to fight it.  You get hopeful and then you get hopeless.  You get happy, you get angry and then you get sad.  You can go through these experiences and feelings multiple times in one day.  Some days you will feel like you are fine, you can deal with this thing that has placed in your life.  You also, from time to time feel like this kind of struggle really isn’t that big of a deal.  You even feel sometimes like you can beat it, in whatever sense that is.  You most definitely do mourn for the experiences that they miss or milestones they don’t get to experience or enjoy.  As much as you see the simple joy in the life that they live and in the happiness that they bring everyone who truly sees them for who they are; you see that there is so much that they don’t get to enjoy, so much that they just miss.  In the end it is something that has happened to you, or your child.  It is out of your hands and therefore it is, like all other challenges that come to us in life through no fault of our own, up to us to decide how we are going to take it.  This is where the saying, “Life is what you make it” really comes into play.  I know of some parents who have gone through life thinking that they have been wronged or thinking “why me”, as if they are the only one that has struggles with the disability.  A struggle such as this can make you either look outward and how you can help your child and those around you, or make you look inward and feel as though the world is against you and that you are a victim of some sort.  It isn’t always easy to rise above the fear, the anger, the sadness.  It very much takes an enormous effort.  But I don’t perceive my struggles any harder than others who have things that come into their life that changes everything around them.

What we need to remember is that the feelings we have and go through are part of this journey of life.  They are part of our experiences, our trials, our ups and our downs.  In order for us to emotionally and mentally process our struggles we have to be able to acknowledge and process those feelings.  We then have to move through them and come out the other side with a better understanding of whom we are and of whom we want to become.  If we do that self-reflection in an honest and open way there are wonderful realizations that help us to grow and gain that wisdom that reaches beyond just knowledge.  And helps us enjoy even through the pain who we are and what we have.

I have to admit, I have been rather conceited.  I thought I could handle anything after the past 18 years.  Not like I am invincible but I really thought I was strong.  I am finding out, I’m not as strong as I thought I was.  Here’s why I am thinking this…My mom has cancer – stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, to be exact. (Hi mom!  I love you!)  She had major surgery in July and just last week she started Chemotherapy.  Her story is really kind of amazing, if you have the chance to hear it.  Maybe someday she will be able to write it down so she can show just how many angels were in her path and helping her along the way.  Here she is, in the middle of a challenge that has come her way that she had no control over.  Here she is dealing with and living with something every day that is a struggle, that is hard, that is not so much fun, and that is truly most inconvenient.    She is living with something that has to be part of how she does things, every day.  Some days will be good and others, not really.  Some days she will feel great. Some days she will not.  Some days she will find the good through it. And some days she will struggle.  But I have found an amazing strength within her.  She looks for the humor.  She talks about feeling better and being able to “deal” with this in a more positive manner and she is sure that she won’t feel nearly the effects that have been explained to her.  She is positive and I greatly admire her strength.  I admire her ability to look through the struggle for something positive to focus on.  She amazes me.  Sure she gets those other feelings.  The doubt, the fear, the sadness, the frustration, the anger among other emotionally strangling feelings.  But, I have to say I have learned a great deal from her already and I realize how much more I have to learn from her.  I am scared.  I am sad.  I feel helpless.  I am hopeful.  I am inspired.  I am assured.  And all these feelings will pass, and then come back.  I know.

After all, that’s life:

I am grateful for…

1.  my amazing mother.

2. good friends

3. beautiful stories

4. my sweet, sensitive, and understanding husband.

5. soft pillows

A little grace and a tub with jets and Frivolous Mom was a happy camper tonight.

Now I can’t vouch for how things were 20 years ago, but I have to say that KC is not so “out in the sticks” as some would have one believe. There is probably some of the best restaurants in the country here. People are friendly and you don’t have to fight for your spot on the freeway. The shopping here is refined. While you don’t have a Nordstrom’s on every corner we do have a good number of shopping areas which have the upscale shops and designer styles. Granted things might not be as liberal or as cutting edge as living on either coast might be but I have truly come to love where I live. We are close enough to either coast it doesn’t cost us an arm and a leg to fly around the country. I love that my children can play outside and I don’t stress about cars, strangers, or any other urban danger on a regular basis. People care and are considerate of each other. There is a sense of community here that we never really felt before.

Now I’m not saying that this is the best place to live or that other places are not good for any other reason. I don’t love the ice storms that can come blowing through or the fact that tornadoes have a tendency to want to come crashing through from time to time in the spring. But as far as a place to live and enjoy a blessed life, we feel like this is a perfect fit for us. Just enough refinement with the symphony and the Broadway shows that tour through but far enough away to not have to deal with too many people or too much interference. It’s a good balance. And honey, this ain’t your mother’s Kansas City anymore! KC, she is moving up!

I mean just look!

Where else can you see a giant badminton birdie?

KC is famous for her BBQ and the steaks we have had here are the best ever!

We have beautiful structures and amazing weather!

The minute you move here, you are a Chiefs fan. (As well as a royals fan) It doesn’t matter where you were before or what sport you watched. It is amazing to see how Chiefs fever catches on and takes a hold of you like nothing you have ever experienced. It’s almost viral! LOL

The sky line is beautiful and no where else in the WORLD can you actually SEE the “Hall of Justice” where the Justice League meets. (You old school cartoon and comic buffs will appreciate that

The Plaza is one of the best places to shop. Now anywhere there is a Tiffany’s just CAN’T be bad, can it? Of course not!

KC can claim the best gourmet chocolate EVER!  Yes, that is what I said….E V E R!  If you haven’t had Elbow Chocolates then you are just missing out.  If you have, well then, you know of what I am speaking. Right?  Right!

Some gratitude:
1. my green trees that line my property.

2. having seasons!…and beautiful weather!

3. The calmness and ease of life here.

4. the delicious food that can be found here!

5. Elbow Chocolate….yeah.

Well, you knew THIS was coming…right?  LOL

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So I TRIED to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I just couldn’t do it.  I’m sorry this book held about as much interest for me as Twilight.  Sorry people, that book put me to sleep.  But, hey, I know there are books that I like that others don’t so don’t see this as anything more then just a difference in preference.

Anyway…I had to just stop reading EPL.  I just couldn’t finish it.  I never got past the fact that this woman had to have been the most selfish being on the planet.  Reading about her just made me get more and more upset.  I just found her to be so wrapped up in herself that even when she was on her “awareness path” she was incredibly selfish.  So, this book was a pure failure.

Maybe I missed the point of the book.  I don’t know.  All I know is I just didn’t have the patience to get to the end.  *MY* time is too important to me to get frustrated over an over-indulgent selfish protagonist who has no clue what it is like to actually live a life where you give more then you expect to get back and see the good come back to you ten-fold.

Ah well. C’est La Vie.  Wait…wrong country…oh nevermind.  LOL

So I was listening to an old playlist and this song came up on it. I, of course, had to look it up on youtube. One of those songs that define a particular time in your life become so nostalgic when heard unexpectedly. You know what I’m talking about right? You all of a sudden find yourself singing at the top of your lungs and dancing around in your seat or your kitchen. A flood of memories come back to you all the fun that surrounded that song and the things you did during that time. You close your eyes and you FEEL like you are that age again…you “see” yourself at that time in your life and all those smells and sounds and feelings come flooding back to you like a broken dam. Then you hit “repeat” and listen to it again because you just *love* how you feel when it came on the first time. I am sure like many of you there is more than one song that does that for you. There are sure quite a few that do that for me.

Well, this happened to me the other day. I have to say that as a ritual when I get in the car I turn on my XM and I hit my preset for “80′s on 8″ and “90′s on 9″ stations. So this song came up…

Oh wow the feelings and thoughts and images that this song brought up for me! I was suddenly transported back to dances, clubs, my job at the time, spending too much money on clothes, preparing for my wedding, I remember my youth with Wham and George Michael. I even remember competing in a dance contest and winning tickets to his concert. This song I think really summed up much of my life just before getting married and even when I was first married and the fun G and I had.  I really enjoy this song and the fun that it brings to my mind and that time of my life.

Enjoy!

I am grateful for:

1.  my satellite radio.

2. Mr. UPS for bringing me a special gift today.

3. aglets

4. online shopping

5. online banking. 

Okay so here I go….another top five. Aren’t I impressive? Yes, I thought so too.

So this week’s top five, I have to explain. I would consider myself a slave to fashion, although I do “love” me some fashion fun. So I thought I would put my personal top five summer shoes that I wore and loved all summer.

Top Five Frivolous Summer Shoes:

5. The Nike Comfort Flip Flop – Okay so they are called “thongs” but that word actually makes me conjure other images in my head that I’d rather not have there, ya know? Anyway, I love these shoes! They were obviously the “easy slip on and run out the door” shoes but they were kinda cute and WAY comfy. And…PURPLE!! Hello! Purple in such a stylish yet athletic way. They made my feet oh-so-happy on those long swim meet evenings when I realized I was standing for 3 hours straight cheering on kids. Go team!

4. My Rialto Sequined Sandals – Yes! I realize it is yet another thong. However, look how pretty! Look how colorful! These went fabulously with my multi-colored tops of the same feel. Plus…BLING!

3. My Teva Sandal – Oh no, I’m not kidding. I can walk ALL day around Disney World and not ache at all. And, my feet don’t hate me at the end of the day! Double plus!

2. My Merrill Sandals – But wait! Picture them RED! Yes a beautiful dark red that just makes your feet look so incredibly smart and joyful! These were a spontaneous buy at a spa weekend with some girl friends and I am SO GLAD I bought them! They are another dream sandal that saved my feet many-a-time when being on my feet longer then planned occurred throughout this summer.

1. My Gladiator Sandal – I apologize for the small picture. It was the best I could do. Anyway, I LOVED these! They were cute and I loved wearing them with anything from a long skirt to a pair of jean capris. These little beauties made me feel as though I was dressing up even when I didn’t want to. The ones I have actually jingle so I couldn’t really sneak up on anyone. But, other then that, these were my favorite to wear.

This was fun. I might actually do more of these kinds of “Top Fives”. The hard part was knowing what to wear all summer. And as things start to cool down I will lament putting my beautiful little sandals away…at least until we leave for Orlando!

You can’t think summer without thinking Bananarama, I mean really!

And my top 5 grateful thoughts…
1. my love of sandals and how they make me happy. HAHA!
2. the fact that neither of my daughters ask to wear said sandals.
3. the fact that the kids are back in school…love them but….love school! LOL
4. my gel pen…it’s SMOOTH!
5. Mondays that are not quite as hectic as they could be.

The Arbringer Institute’s The Anatomy of Peace. Wow! What an amazing book with incredible insight. I think, however, one must be open to self-inspection in order to truly get a soul-changing experience. Which, I fully believe is possible.

The book gives one the idea that people either have a “heart at peace” or a “heart at war” and this is how they approach situations and people around them. Success in life is largely dependent upon where the heart dwells. When one has a heart at peace no matter what kind of chaos surrounds, solutions are plausible.

The book also talks about how viewing others we come in contact with as objects rather than people also shapes our experiences with them and creates chaos within those relationships. Putting ourselves in “boxes” and trying to justify our actions or feelings can actually invite “collusion”, the book’s term, and create an atmosphere of inability to meet and find common ground in any given situation. Whether in the right or in the wrong, when someone is viewed from within that box there is no understanding or solution of respect.

The book then diagrams a pyramid that goes from the very surface to the deeper peace that surrounds our inner-being and how we view our lives and how others view us. The steps are there, and while they seem simple, they are difficult and because we are not perfect we will not always make the right choice. The promise is that correcting ourselves is only a choice away and we can always take steps back toward peace even if we are in the depths of war.

Overall, it is a way for us to look at ourselves in a deep and meaningful way. It gives us the ability to look at our “boxes” and how we surround ourselves with justifications for our treatment of others, especially when those treatments are not, as we know it in our hearts, peaceful.

It gave me a way to look at myself in a different perspective. It gave me insight into my relationships, the good and the bad. It gave me ideas and thought-provoking looks into my own way of being.

When one is willing to look at oneself and ask those hard questions, it drives deep into the soul. Delving deep into the heart and to be willing to admit the short-comings or the excuses for war-like actions, as well as acknowledge where the peace is in our hearts; can be a positive and soul-changing experience. But only if we make those conscious choices and are willing to look at ourselves realistically with the willingness to change and keep the peace within our hearts.

I loved this book. I found it enlightening and encouraging.

Okay so today I have designated as my “todo” day. I have been motivated by my wonderful assistant/nanny/housekeeper/organizer (I really need to find an appropriate job title. LOL) who cleaned out and organized my utility closet. Let me just explain…You know how a lot of people have a “crap drawer” where they just throw things in that they can’t or won’t throw away, or they don’t know what to do with? Yes, well WE had a “crap CLOSET!” No wonder I’ve been obsessed with those cleaning shows lately! Anyway, she came in and just organized my life! Well, she is organizing my life. She doesn’t know it, but she is! It is SO freeing to walk into my laundry room and the utility room that is in it and see CLEAN AND ORGANIZED usable items neatly placed on shelves and labeled. Heaven I tell you! This is exactly the person I need in my life! Or maybe, FOR my life!

Anyway, I have been motivated and now will be getting things done today! Things that need to be done. So here we go:

1. clean up the sock basket – Yes that means we have a basket FULL of socks that we just go through instead of folding them and putting them away. Really pretty sad if you ask me. And, to be honest, I don’t have the right to get frustrated with my daughters for wearing my socks if they are sitting there in the basket and not in my drawer, right? Right!

2. Organize the School Binders – every year we have binders set up for each kid and it has all their school stuff in it. Their newsletters, all information from the teachers, school menu, etc. Now that I have one kid in elementary, one in middle, one home schooled, and one having someone come in and work with him; this is really more important then it has ever been. School started about two weeks ago and I don’t have them set up. Bad mommy.

3. Finish going through two bins of “stuff” that needs to be either goodwilled or thrown out. Now that they are sitting in my dining room I have to get through them and get rid of them! (Thank you wonderful life assistant! – there I just created her job title.)

4. Start on my room/finish my closet – Over a month ago I started cleaning out my closet thinking that it would take just a few hours. Oh no! I am only half way done! All day that day and I am still not done! UGH! So TODAY…yes TODAY I will finish my closet!

5. Work on my room – My room is discombobulated. My dresser is a mile high of books and clothes and oh a whole lotta other stuff. LOL Yeah, that needs to be cleaned up.

So that’s my list. It doesn’t sound like a big list but they are going to take a LONG time. lol

Let’s see….hopefully I’ll get it done! Wish me luck! I’ll check back in later.

To be continued…

Well, here we go!

Jo will have:
Dance on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Act. Girls or (in Feb) YW on Wednesdays.
Karate on Thursdays

This girl is packed. But she is stoked and she has the drive to do things. I told her she is going to have to stay organized. She is starting out good…we will see. LOL

Campbell will have:
Karate on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Scouts on Wednesdays

He really wants to get back into Karate full swing. I am so proud of him for being so dedicated and since golf and swim is over he says he needs something to keep him active. Yes, he actually said that. That kid cracks me up!

Mallea has piano, her aspie support group and her online courses. Along with that she wants to build a website. I’m proud of her to wanting to delve into different projects. She also has been really interested in film so she and I are going to come up with some projects that will challenge her.

Payne has his behavior modification implementor coming 3 times a week.

G and I decided that I need to leave every day at 1pm. We both felt it was important that I was home in enough time to get a few things done with Mallea and be around for Payne. As well as have a bit of time before the onslaught of the afternoon once the kids get home.

I hired someone to help nanny/care for Payne as well as help me with house work and organizing things around here. This last week has been AMAZING! To be able to depend on someone to do things for me that I don’t otherwise have the time to do has been truly a blessing! My house has stayed cleaner all week then it has all summer! I can come home and actually do other things rather then come home and clean. (Cleaning up after an autistic kid can really be time consuming.) G had been asking me all summer to get a house cleaner. Now I am wondering why I didn’t do this a long time ago. LOL

Now something for fun:

I am grateful for…
1. friends who are so helpful and kind.
2. a good hard workout (yes I said that…I LOVE how I feel after a hard exercise session)
3. my sisters
4. pretty toenail polish
5. cute purses. LOL