A Three-Legged Stool

I’ve mentioned my unusual family make-up once or twice. Last year my step-sister Stella hosted Christmas at her house, and the year before my step-mother’s ex-husband and his wife hosted it. At all these events my mother, my step-mother, her ex-husband, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren attend. It’s odd, but it’s what we do.

This year it seemed to fall to me to host, but I was not taking the bait. Not that anyone was dangling any bait, mind you. I just felt the eyes looking at me as it being “my turn”. But I often feel like I am hanging on by a thread. I do the very best I can just to get through most days, and adding hosting dinner for 20 people just does not compute for me.

And so 2009 has got to be better for me. I think first I need to take care of myself better. Since we got Tessie, our sweet and adorable dog, I have not exercised due to juggling my work schedule to be home at least half of each day. She’s getting older now. I must return to a regular exercise schedule. I just feel better. If I don’t take care of my body, where will I live?

Next, I need to find more time for myself. During my brief foray into the dating world, I discovered a young teen in the neighborhood who my girls both love, and who is not outrageously expensive as a sitter. I need to make better, more regular use of her in order to give myself a break to look forward to. Even just a few hours once a week where I can shop, or read, or run would go so far into making me feel refreshed for the marathon I run everyday in my life that is parenting.

My act is a three-legged stool: myself, my children, my job. If any of those don’t get the attention they deserve, the other two suffer. In 2009 I am going to find a way to give all three the attention they need, and I must start with myself.

This post was inspired by Parent Bloggers Network, in conjunction with a promotion by BigTent. For any group leaders who start a group on or move to BigTent by December 31, Compass will provide a free one month membership ($19 value) to Compass Coaching Network, and all new group leaders will be entered in a grand prize drawing for a “Life Makeover” private coaching series ($1500 value). Groups must be of at least ten members.

Making Whoopee

• Summer mornings
• Days home sick
• After School

What do these three things have in common? They represent huge chunks of time I spent watching game shows as a child. We’re talking The Price is Right, $100,000 Pyramid, Match Game, Wheel of Fortune, The Newlywed Game, Jeopardy and even a brief foray into prime time with Who Wants to be a Millionaire only a few short years ago.

I swear I grew up on game shows between doses of I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore and The Flintstones.

I could price out cans of soup and cleansers with every housewife and military man on leave wearing those big ole price tag name tags. Every car prize price always started with a 3 (with 3 digits after). They might still start with a 3, but there are going to be 4 digits after! My how times have changed.

The innuendos in so many of the shows were not lost on me – I knew just what Bob Eubanks was referring to when he would ask some sweet young bride the most unusual place she made whoopee. And Paul Lynde on The Match Game (Hollywood Squares) – the very mention of his name makes me think double entendre.

Got Game Show memories? Share ’em here and take a walk down memory lane. Since I don’t watch a whole lot of game shows anymore.

This post inspired by Parent Bloggers Network and Oliebollen.com, which is sponsoring an Armchair Sweep of their site. Pretty cool!

If Loving You is Wrong, I Don’t Want to be Right

All moms need something to help them keep their sanity. For some it might be a great purse, a cool kitchen gadget or their daily cup of coffee. Hmm, let’s see, I don’t own a purse, barely cook (although I do swear by good knives), and can’t stand the taste of coffee (the smell? that’s another story! yum!).

As for me, I couldn’t live without my DVR. I could be a walking commercial for Tivo, or any cable service offering. I love it so much I want to sing from the rooftops! How do I love my DVR? Let me count the ways:

1. I can record pre-approved shows for the kids to watch when we’re actually home (since I have not found any appropriate shows for them that air between 5-8 pm)
2. I can record MY shows, and watch them on MY schedule. This relieves all the pressure of getting the kids down before that 8:00 show starts. If something happens and it’s 8:07 before I come downstairs, no problem! That recording is already started and waiting on me! Try doing THAT with a VCR, when you’d have to wait for the whole show to finish recording, then rewind, to watch. (and hope you didn’t have another show scheduled to be recorded after that!)
3. And I might even wait till 8:20 or so, so I can zip through the commercials, and still end the show on time!
4. With my dual tuner, I can even record two shows at once! Or record one show, but watch something else live on another channel. Priceless, I tell you!
5. I find I’m rarely watching anything live these days, except for sporting events. But if I miss a play, or need to answer the phone, or use the facilities, or get a snack, I can pause. Pause live TV! So awesome!

I could go on, but I don’t want to make all my other appliances jealous. Sure, I could use my scant evening alone time to do something more productive like clean my house, plan meals for the week or read. And some evenings I even do some of those things, for a little while. But I would not want to live without that DVR, which has been life changing for me.

What about you? What can’t you live without?

This post was inspired by Parent Bloggers Network and Yoplait Kids, the makers of that yummy yogurt that kids just love (Belle in particular is a big yogurt fan!) and it has 25% less sugar than other kid yogurts. Less sugar in my kids? I can live with that!