How am I going to survive???

Screw daylight savings time. Screw George Vernon Hudson. Do I look like a damned farmer or a resident of the 1800's? What is the point anymore? We have long ago lost our need to be governed by the damned sun. I lost an hour today.... I can't express to you how much it SUCKS to lose an hour of sleep. I already have sleep issues. More than that, I have severe I.K.Y.I.T.M.B.C.I.Y.T.T.M. (I'll kill you in the morning before coffee if you talk to me.) Ok, I made that up, but I swear it feels real. If you can't tell by my sunny disposition today.. I'm cranky as hell about being tired. Hopefully my run this afternoon cranks out endorphins and I can refrain from physical violence.

 On the bright side, it's the hubby's day off and he is pretty much wrangling the little beast for me while I relax a bit. On the other hand, this dog is staring at me so hard as I type this, that it's making me uncomfortable. LOL.

Other than today, I had a pretty nice weekend. I took some of my own advice from my last blog. *wink* Woooweeeeee.

The second best part was that I made some pretty awesome healthy (er) versions of some bar foods that I love. 

Let me just tell you before I go forward. If you haven't had fried dill pickle chips, you my friend are missing out on a beautiful southern gastronomical miracle! Fried pickle chips are soooooooo good; but... they're FRIED! No bueno! So we can't have it right? WRONG! You can bake up some low calorie pickles into a delicious crisp. As a matter of fact, you can oven fry just about any damned thing!. (NEXT BLOG IDEA!) I don't care who you are, fried foods are DELICIOUS! If they weren't so damned good we wouldn't have a obesity problem. My inner fatty really needs some fried foods every once in a while so I trick her with oven fried swaps instead. So back to the (oven) fried pickles!

So simple. 1 jar of sliced hamburger dill pickles, some egg whites, and bread crumbs. Place on parchment paper and place in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Flip them over and finish off the other side for another 5 minutes or so. The dip is a low fat spicy aioli (use fat free mayo or vegenaise as the base) add garlic powder, salt black pepper, cayenne pepper, and a nice squirt of sriracha sauce. DONE! 

This was the appetizer to my pulled pork sandwiches that I made with a VERY lean pork loin. 

For dessert, 1 ingredient banana ice cream. Yup. ONE ingredient. BANANAS!! Peel and freeze a few bananas and stick them in a food processor. I shit you not, it comes out the consistency of ice cream. 

nom nom nom nom
Don't believe me? Ask this chick!

Long story short, my inner fatty was happy, my outer almost not a fatty was happy, That chick^^ was happy.... What's not to love?? 

Here's to me acclimating to this time change quickly. Have a great Monday!

-Sonya

Cover your eyes, hide your kids, its S E X

At the bottom of my blog, right next to the comments section, I ask people to leave me comments or suggestions. Weirdly enough hardly anybody does, but then my inbox is flooded with private messages. The reoccurring theme seems to be sex! I'm not talking perverted or kinky stuff, just general questions and concerns about sexually related subjects. This got me thinking... First of all, most of the messages are from older (not teenagers) married WOMEN.  They will not publicly comment on the blog requesting that I write about it, but yet they message me these questions. That, right there, seems to be the problem in a nutshell.

SEX. say it out loud. SEX SEX SEX SEX! Did you say it? How did it make you feel? It's something that we all enjoy, yet the word itself makes some people cringe like if it was a dirty back alley deed. If this is you, then step one is to get over that shit. Sex is a beautiful thing given to us for pleasure and procreation. There is nothing dirty about it (unless you want it to be) Rawr! 

Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS! But what I DO have, is a platform that can open discussion and dialogue. Lets talk SEX!

To ask advice about specifics in YOUR sex life is difficult. Everybody is different. Some people have certain things that they like and don't like, some people have fetishes and fantasies. The only sound advice that goes across the board is to talk about it. (Is it getting hot in here?) 

So here was one of the questions that I got from anonymousHL:

-You seem so confident in everything that you do so I figured that you would be a good person to ask this question to. I am 36 and married for 10 years. I have 4 kids. I love my husband but I don't really enjoy sex with him. It seems like it's something I do out of obligation rather than pleasure. I feel like if I tell him this I will hurt his feelings but I really wish there could be something that drives me wild again. I'm not very confident in the way I look anymore after the kids and some of the things that I fantasize about are a little racy. I feel too embarrassed to mention them. Is this something that you can relate to? If yes, I would love for you to write about it. Thanks,

H.L.

First of all, welcome to being married with kids. The place where sex goes to die if it isn't regularly kindled. Heck, just being in a long term relationship that is stuck in a rut feels just the same. The common thread is sexual boredom. I have had so many questions along this theme that I figured I'd just open this can of worms first.

Think back to when you first met. The butterflies in your stomach and the unknown of what was to come. The whole world was yours to discover. Now that land has been long ago settled and weeds are starting to grow. Time for some yard work! (literally, trim that shit people!) LOL, I joke... a little. 

If you are married or in a long standing relationship, the investment has already been made. Not saying what you want because of feeling embarrassed is like putting your money in an account with no interest! Nothing will grow. I tell you this because I have done it. Going from always being a skinny teenager/young adult that got a lot of attention from boys, to being married and overweight with kids was NOT an easy pill to swallow. My ego took a hard blow. Confident my ass! (You see what my husband has to put up with? LOL) The other thing that happens is that women are hormonal and moody creatures that have sexual on/off switches that are hardwired directly to their emotions. (I feel you guys *fist bump*) If we don't feel loved, appreciated, noticed, sexy, and a myriad of other wacko things.... YOU AINT GETTING NONE! But ladies, let me burst your bubble...waiting for a guy to magically have the thought process of a woman is stupid and fruitless. How long are you planning to wait for fulfillment? 

Hard fact: Men are men and will always be men. Emotionally stunted compared to the fairer sex and totally clueless to some of the things we are always harping about. Yet, we love them. *sigh* Refer to step one: Get over that shit. If you want him to be more attentive, tie him to a chair or something and demand that he pays attention. Shock his brain into the now. (a strip tease while you are laying the ground rules wont hurt) You want him to take you to dinner. Don't cook, hand him a phonebook and say: We're going out, make a reservation and put on a damned tie. Oh, and BTW this is happening once a month. If you need a hug, step into his arms. If you need some sex, TELL HIM. I have found that eventually, men can be taught (sorry honey bear) They will fall into step with the things that you need once you make it CLEAR. You will also find out that there are a HUGE amount of things that HE needs. Once that dialogue is open, you will be shocked to find out that he is not the only clueless twit in the house! Trust me. Be prepared to find out some shit about yourself. But its great. It's growth! Hopefully after the long and drawn out conversation, you can have some mind blowing sex and get over it. Don't think that this is a one time fix either. It never ends there. Life is hard and busy and every once in a while you will both have to do it all over again. 

Now go shave those prickly legs, slap on some makeup, and tell that man of yours a thing or two tonight. Have a fabulous weekend!

What did she say???

I know I haven't updated my blog in a while, but I'll give it a shot today. It's not that I didn't have anything to write about, on the contrary, I have so much stuff in my head that I had a hard time translating it into something legible.
I tend to write exactly what I'm thinking and exactly how I'm thinking it with no filter or editing. Last week I tried writing and it came out like insane psycho babble. My thoughts were just all over the place.  People already question my sanity, I didn't think I needed to add fuel the fire. (ha ha) I really didn't think anyone wanted to read that stuff anyway, but then I started getting message after message of people asking when I was going to update my blog again, and the story was the same in each message that I opened. They love that I write about things that they are thinking or have experienced but would never say out loud. Isn't that something? Who would have thought.... huh! You see, my whole life I have been told that my mouth will get me in trouble, and it has. Many many times. But I have finally found a way to use my powers for good! Hooray for that! LOL.
So long story short, I'm back here again. I will use this (again) to get out of my current funk and get going.
Recently I've been having to work way too hard to find motivation and my "happy place." I have to drag myself to workout and drag myself away from a cheeseburger way too often these days. I swear I have some kind of hormonal imbalance or something. One minute I'm feeling fierce and sexy, and the next I want to drink wine straight from the bottle and eat pizza till I pass out. (and this can be all in the same day!) So today I try to turn over yet another new leaf... I really hope I don't run out of leaves to turn. Do all people do this, or is it just me being insane as usual? I really think I do more restarting than moving forward sometimes.
In celebration of mentally starting over I bring you a scrumptious dessert that will not break the rules. Somedays we just need dessert. Better to make this on a bad day than eat the ice cream with a serving spoon. (I have never done that!) LOL.

                      

This little gem tastes like a sinful apple pie. Put a dollop of low fat whipped cream on the top and you'l be in heaven. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. 2 apples gave my family of 4 1/2 an appropriate portion each. So it's cheap too!
Start by slicing 2 tart apples (like granny smith)

In a saucepan add 1 tbs butter or substitute, 1 tbs. brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp, cinnimon. add the apples and then and simmer for a few minutes to coat the apples in the sauce. 

In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 tbs of butter or substitute, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of brown sugar, and a few drizzles of water to make a moist crumble. Place the apples in a baking dish and cover with the crubmble. Bake until golden. You're welcome.


As long as you don't eat the whole thing like a piggy this has waaaaaaayyyyy less calories that a traditional dessert.

I swear I will be back tomorrow with new things and we'll be talking about the taboo. S    E     X.   0_O!!! Can she do that? yup, she can. Hasta mañana!!
Sonya

OOOOH LA LA!

Some days I swear I feel like a busted can of biscuits that not even the dog would sniff at, and other days I wake up and feel like the sexy fairy must have had their way with me while I slept. Today is the latter. I feel FIERCE! 

With that in mind I'm going to share a recipe for a super sexy feeling sugar scrub that I tried today that made my skin feel amaaaaazing! I seriously can't stop rubbing my own legs. (that sounded wrong) Oh well. I used to buy a container of sugar scrub from places like bath and body works for $15.00, or when I was on my organic products kick I actually paid $38.00 for a container. What was I thinking??? 

Since I was feeling so good, I decided to make myself look the part. Yes, I actually shaved my legs (You're welcome honey!) Before I did that though, I scrubbed from head to toe with this lovely concoction.

Here's how I made it:

1/2 cup of plain white sugar

1/2cup of turbinado (coarse brown) natural sugar

Enough extra virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil to moisten the sugars.

Get in the shower and moisten skin with warm water. Scrub from head to toe taking extra time on rough spots like the knees, elbows, ankles and feet. Rinse off. You will be so moisturized that shaving your legs will be awesome. Trust me. Shower as normal and blot dry your skin. I used a very light moisturizer while I was still damp and it's been 4 hours and my skin still feels super sexy! This sugar scrub kicked the store bought stuff so hard it's not even funny. I'm guessing it cost me about $0.50 to make enough for 2 full body uses? I'm in love! 

So people, it's friday. Go home, get in the shower, scrub up, and get your sexy on!

-Sonya

Men vs Women and a Dirty......

Has anyone had the misfortune of having a guy workout/diet with you? It has to be one of the most deflating experiences I have ever come across in my life... EVERY TIME! Here's why in a nutshell. My husband was overweight = I was overweight
My husband starts a new job = I start a workout
My husband starts eating like me regularly = I cut back even further than usual
My husband loses 40 POUNDS! = I lose 10
What is that?!?!?! He says that he gains it faster than I do. Excuse me.... (Sorry honey if you're reading this) I DON'T CARE!! If I could take it off that fast I wouldn't mind being a fatty over Christmas!!! Don't give me that crap. My fat has taken up residence like a bunch a hillbilly squatters. SMH

Now I bet some of you started reading this because you saw men vs women and the word dirty mixed in there. For those of you that did....HA HA! Gotcha you filthy bastards! LOL The "dirty" thing we are going to be tackling is my oven!
Oven cleaners are one of the most toxic horrible cleaning products that you can purchase. I have been wondering for quite a while what I could possibly use to clean my oven that works without using the traditional cleaners. You will not believe it, but the best oven cleaner is already in your house. Baking soda and peroxide. I forgot to take pictures of the process so I recreated it with an awful 6 year old baking sheet that I have. Note that the baking sheet is one of the "dark" ones to begin with, but I used dishwashing liquid and I SCRUBBED this pan before I started so it could be as clean as I could possibly  get it to demonstrate my point.

I started by spraying the pan with the peroxide. Shake on a layer of baking soda and one more spritz on top for good measure

I went about my business and came back in about an hour and wiped it with a sponge. LOOK AT THAT! This was AFTER I scrubbed it! It worked just like this in the oven. You're still going to need some elbow grease for tough spots but it definitely works well. I would recommend doing it right before you go to bed and tackle it in the morning. Just make sure you use enough peroxide. Goodbye harmful chemicals and turning on the self cleaner (which by the way releases toxic chemicals into the air because of high temps and the oven coating) YUCK!
Just when you thought my blog had taken a turn for the soap opera lane, I'm back with something useful! Now go clean your nasty ovens this weekend!

Stay healthy my friends!
-Sonya

Mom, PLEASE!

It has come to that point in my life where I FINALLY have to come to grips that I am no longer "young". Don't laugh! This is really hard for me! LOL I was always the youngest of all of my friends, and I had my first kid at 21, so I was always referred to as a young mom. I always felt like one of the young people.... because I WAS! Lately there have been some incidents (the last one was this morning) that have firmly slapped the reality of my age square across my face. You see, in my head I was about 23. I never really moved on from there. Why did I need to? 23 was fine. But here is what finally dawned on me:

1:  My baby sister is of legal drinking age in the continental United States. WTF? REALLY?
2:  I recently looked at a picture of myself at 21. UGGGHH. Who was that hungry chick?
3:  99% of my friends have spouses and kids. When did that happen? Weren't we just partying?
4:  I started training for a marathon and my body reminded me that i am no longer 21 (OOOOWWW)
5:  Stupid little girl in TJ Maxx called me an "older woman" Little shit
6:  I don't (or at least rarely) get carded at the grocery store when buying wine. (Shut up Cindy)
7:  My daughters are starting to get embarrassed by me. Me!! I used to be cute! It's all their fault!!

On that note, this morning, I went through the normal routine of getting the kids fed and and ready for school. When it was time to go, I threw on a sweater/coverup over my tank top and my ugly but warm and fuzzy boot slippers and headed to the car. Let me explain. I had NO INTENTION of getting out of the car.
I let the girls off and the curb and waved goodbye. I realized as soon as I was about to pull off that one of them had left their lunch bag in the backseat. I pulled to the side, grabbed the baby and ran after them. I was calling after them so I could catch them before they got in the doors. My oldest daughter turns around... and I saw it... EMBARRASSMENT! I got up to where they were and she whispered: Moooooommm, PLEASE! I was like WHAT?!?! She said you're in your slippers and you were yelling our names, and those shorts are really short!! (Did I mention that I had on my Duffy's love Shack short shorts circa 2002?) LMAO! I'm not even going to mention the pile of hair that was haphazardly knotted on the top of my head. *_*

Never to be done again!

What a blow. My daughter will be 7 in March. She's too young to be embarrassed by her mom!! I felt so bad, but it's all kind of hilarious at the same time. What a way to come to grips with reality. I'm going to go comb my hair and try out a new chemical free oven cleaning method. I'll let you know about it tomorrow!
-Older and wiser Sonya

Messages

Hello everybody! I know it's been a little while but, I'M BACK!

I have some tips and recipes stored up that I'd like to share but I'll start on that tomorrow.
Today, I need to get something off my chest and I hope you don't mind that I share it with you.

As you know, I've recently started running with the intention of doing a half marathon next year. Up till now I haven't been completely honest with everyone concerning the REAL reason I am so determined to get this done.
It has been 12 years since my mother died of a massive heart attack at the age of 52. I never had a chance to really grieve in the way I should have. That's not true, I had the chance, but I never let myself. I was 17. I chose to deal with her death by drinking myself into numbness and partying until I couldn't remember what I was so sad about. When that stage ended, (thank God) I made myself BUSY. I got married, had 2 kids back to back and was working full time. Then after that, it was the accident with the concrete truck and the lawsuit and therapy that ensued that took over my mind. AFTER THAT, it was the move to Florida and a new baby.
 It seemed that I always had something that I could channel my energy into that allowed me to not deal with that locked door that held all the feelings of my mother's passing inside.
In the past 6 months I haven't been able to keep that door as closed as I once did. It started with thinking of her more, then the fact that she never saw my kids, and eventually to drawing parallels in our lives. I was overweight and unhappy about it, and starting to get panicky about leaving my kids the way she left us. Yet, I did nothing about it. Yes, I eat pretty healthy, especially in comparison to the way my family ate back in the days, but I was NOT HEALTHY.
On January 28th of this year, I posted a picture of my mom and I in 1989  on my facebook page. In this picture, I was the same age my oldest daughter is now; 6, and it gnawed at me. It really and truly bothered me. I became irate at the fact that she was gone, I was mad that she didn't do anything to avoid it, and then I took a long look in the mirror and broke down. I was doing the very same thing she was.... nothing. I didn't know what I was going to do about it yet, but God has a way of sending messages loud and clear.
Just 2 little days later, my friend Brandy (out of the blue) asked me if I would consider training for a half marathon with some of our friends next year. There it was, my message. At first I really didn't want to hear it because the first thing that came to mind was how hard it would be for ME to do something like that. I was so terrified. I literally was physically shaking for 2 days after I agreed to do it. I know I said I was scared before, but nobody knew the real reason I was THAT scared. This was what I was supposed to do. I have been told what to do, and it was my decision to go down that path or stay where I was.
I know some people don't believe in "fate" and "messages" and that's fine; but for me it felt real as anything ever has.
This is finally my time of grieving. 12 years late, but it's here. I will shed tears and sweat while I run my grief down. I am no longer locking it up or hiding it away. I am going to cross that finish line so I can do everything in my power to be here when my kids need me the most, I will not abandon them because I refused to try hard enough.
I have started things before, but I always found a reason.. no, an EXCUSE to quit or take it easy. Facing my grief means facing my fears, facing my fears means facing myself. I am the only thing in my way and it's time for me to move.
-Sonya

Griselle Morales-Rivera

Hitting a wall and the freaky eggplant

I'm home and congested! NOOOOO. You have no idea how hard I've been trying to not get sick. I have 2 kids in school bringing home all kinds of germs everyday. Now I have one home with a croup cough and a leaky nosed baby. GREAT. They got me. I have had the sniffles and a cough for 3 days now. Of course this comes just as I've been starting to train for this marathon. So stupid me strikes again. I was so determined to get out there that I tried to go out and train Sunday morning (in the cold) with this cough. I felt great at first; pumping my music and feeling like rocky as he was climbing the steps of the Philly museum. Oh how quickly that changed. I went out ran the first mile, and then hit a big awful wheezing wall of pain. I gingerly hobbled back home and sat in front the TV and waited to drown my pain in Superbowl sangria. I will definitely start listening to my body more. That sucked.

Tonight, I want to share with you another ingredient that used to scare me because quite frankly I didn't grow up with it. I had tried it a few times in the past and was NOT a fan to say the least. I can say now that I am NOT afraid of an eggplant anymore. Here is one of the tastiest healthy baked pastas that I have ever made.

So to make this you have to start with the raw ingredient. The eggplant. This strange purple thick skinned (does not resemble an egg in ANY way) vegetable

*First I peel and slice the eggplant and lay it out on a cookie sheet. 

*Sprinkle the eggplant liberally with salt and let sit for a 1/2 hour to leech out the bitterness. It will actually start to sweat. (The strangest thing ever)

*Rinse and lightly coat in some seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs. (garlic powder black pepper)

*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and let the eggplant crisp on the edges.

*Remove the eggplants and let cool. Slice into strips

*In a skillet, toss a half of diced onion, a whole head of minced garlic and saute in extra virgin olive oil Add 2 cans of tomato sauce, a dash of red pepper flakes, black pepper, and italian seasoning. 

* Toss the sauce over prepared vegetable enriched pasta of any kind then mix in the eggplant.

*Place in a casserole dish and top with low fat mozzarella cheese. (If you have low fat ricotta to add it's delish!) 

Serve with a tossed salad and watch it disappear! 

The buns and the beans

Those who I told I will have a recipe today, bare with me. I'll get to that in a minute. 

If you read my post yesterday, you read that I was going to start training to participate in a half marathon in 12 months. Today was day one. I had scheduled to get out at 6:00pm when the hubby came home and see just where my fitness level REALLY was. I can't honestly say I've pushed myself for quite a long time.
So I went into that pile of workout clothes in the back of my closet (the last time they saw the light of day was before I got pregnant with the last one.)
Now don't get me wrong, I go out walking for miles everyday, but I'm talking the serious sh!* ... My old running gear. You know what I mean. The "I paid too much for this" moisture wicking shirt and my tried and true sweat pants that I loved to run in. The ones that say I mean business. LOL

This is where it gets hilarious. Ok, I said I would be totally honest when I started this thing, so here goes. My brain did NOT put the little facts together, that I've come a LOOOOOONG way from my running days. I put on my old faithful sweat pants and I SWEAR I could here my ass screaming for help. I mean they were really really tight. Even though I'm MORTIFIED to show this picture, I'm OWNING it. It's a new day people. I'm going to kick this ass in gear. 

No comments about my panty lines!

I laced up, I went out and I pushed. I did 2 miles today. I had to walk a few times, but I jogged most of it. It was a stark reminder of how far back I've slid. The weird thing is, instead of being discouraged by it, it motivated me.  Something is different this time. 

Moving on! As promised to a few of my friends, I will share a recipe a day for some of my vegetarian dishes. Today is Black bean soup from dried beans.

Dried beans should be a staple in everyones pantry. They are super cheap, super filling, and super good for you. One bag of black beans cost me $1.25 at Walmart, and that fed my family of 5 with leftovers. Yeah, beat that! 
The first time I tried to make black bean soup from dried beans years ago, I ended up with a pot of stones that never softened. Apparently beans are a finicky thing. (Black beans especially I think) So here is how you make my black bean soup. I'm sorry I can't be more specific with portions, but I just don't cook like that!

*First you start by spreading the beans out and making sure there aren't any foreign objects in there like stones or twigs. (beans are a natural product so it happens from time to time) 
*Next, put them in a bowl and cover with a generous amount of water, at least 2 to 1 ratio water to beans. They will soak up the water and expand quite a bit. (see picture of beans after 1 hour) You can let this soak overnight if you want to but I always forget to do it the night before so I just let it soak for about an hour. 
*Drain and rinse the beans and put them in a pot with water (same ratio) and bring to a boil. The trick to making beans soft is alkalinity. Acid will prevent the beans from softening. 
Remember when I said i had a pot of stones the first time? Yeah that's because I added diced tomatoes to my crock pot at the beginning. There is no amount of boiling that can fix that. The easiest and fastest way to get beans soft is BAKING SODA! Add on teaspoon to the boiling water and reduce cooking time by HALF if not more. The only problem with this method, is that you have to rinse the beans afterwards or they will taste mildly of soap. YUCK. Boil until tender (about one hour) and rinse. 
*In a stock pot or crock pot add the softened beans and your seasonings. I use water with some ham bullion (just enough to cover the beans) since I'm omitting the actual pork. But you can use vegetable stock, chicken stock, water, whatever you prefer. To that I add 4-5 cloves of finely minced garlic, a 1/2 of a medium onion, finely minced, about 1 cup of finely minced green, red, and yellow bell peppers, black , cayenne pepper, 2 bay leaves, then salt and pepper to taste. I let that simmer until all of the peppers and onions are soft, and finally add a can of diced tomatoes at the end.
Let that simmer for another 1/2 hour and DONE!

Serve with whatever toppings you like. This one had non fat sour cream and jalapenos, I also sprinkle low fat cheddar sometimes, or eat it plain. Whatever floats your boat. This is a great dish to personalize. Add your own herbs and spices, make it spicy or mild, and get creative with your toppings. Serve with a nice tossed salad and you have a very yummy vegetarian meal. Hope you try it!

Sonya

What are you afraid of?

Before I get into the "meat" (pun SO intended) of this, let me start with one of the foods that most people truly fear. Tofu. This bland gelatinous block of yuck scared the crap out of me when I saw it for the first time too. Tofu is one of those things that if eaten in moderation can really help fill the protein gap when you're trying to eat more of a vegetarian based diet. The problem is, every recipe I tried SUCKED! It tasted like a sponge. At the time that I was doing this, I was desperate. I had gotten on the whole fasting bandwagon and I was on day 5 of the super vegan vast. I was dying. I needed more protein options that didn't come in the form of a bean. In those moments of desperation I started researching ways to cook this stuff that would yield a less awful result. Here was the problem, I apparently am not the only one that can't stand the stuff, because 90% of the recipes called for frying the tofu. Now I know you want it to taste better, but frying it? Really? No thanks, I'd rather just have a piece of lean chicken.  After a few less than desirable results, I found a few gospel truths about preparing firm tofu:

Tofu gospel 1: You MUST get as much of the water that its packaged with out of the tofu. 

See the water??

I start with a pack of EXTRA FIRM tofu, drain the water cut it into four equal parts to get the most water out of the middle as possible, then put it on a cookie sheet and put a heavy plate on top. After about 10 minutes, I add another plate, 10 minutes after that, I put a heavy can or other object on top. You'll see the water pooling like crazy in the cookie sheet.

Tofu gospel 2: You MUST season/marinate for a extended amount of time

This is a marinade of 2 tbs olive oil, water, chicken bullion, salt, garlic, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne pepper

 Slice the tofu into small strips (like 7 pieces per quarter block) Then place in a marinade or season to taste. You can get creative and make ANY type of marinade you want. I do lots of different ones like orange juice, ginger, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper to make a chinese orange ginger stir fry. I also pre season with curry seasonings for when I'm making curried tofu.(yum) I let this one sit for about an hour, but usually I prep this the day before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Tofu Gospel 3: You must harden the texture

 Now this is where the deep frying and pan frying come in. Nope, Since there was 2 tbs of olive oil in that marinade, we will oven fry! Place the marinated tofu on a sheet of parchment paper (you can also add some panko bread crumbs if you're not watching carbs) and preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Yes, 500 degrees! cook until golden and crispy on the edges. You are now ready to enjoy this just like this, or with dipping sauce, or add it to a stir fry or any dish that you need to substitute meat.

Tofu is something that should be consumed in moderation. While it is a way to reduce animal fat from your diet, it shouldn't be consumed in large quantities. Soy contains natural plant estrogen. While this same plant estrogen is safe and beneficial for some things like lowering cholesterol and shrinking tumors, just like anything else, too much of anything is a bad thing. Tofu products (especially soy milk) contains phytic acid, which can inhibit the absorption of some nutrients. 


 So back to fears.
Today I felt true fear. I was seriously scared shitless today when (I still don't know how) I was convinced to start training for a half marathon with some of my friends in 12 months. I know you're thinking 12 months! That's forever away!   Let me just ask you. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY FLIPPIN' MILES ARE IN A HALF MARATHON?!?!?! 13.1!!! Yes, THIRTEEN POINT UNO miles. I currently can kinda-sorta run one... count em'... ONE mile. I'm going to need every moment of these 12 months to get this done.
I literally started trembling after I started to grasp what I had just said yes to. My heart was and still is pounding. This is no exaggeration people, I really am scared.  I'm scared because I know it will be hard. I'm scared because I know I'll have to push so far outside my comfort zone, I'm scared of failure. But truly what I'm scared of most of all is never trying. So with that, I WILL be lacing up tomorrow and starting slow, but I'm starting.  I have a group of awesome friends and we will do this together. I hope some of you read this and decide to get on board and try something that you know in your heart needs to be done.
This one is for me.

Sonya

I lost it

This morning I jumped out of bed at 5:00 am, made the husband and kids breakfast to have waiting for them when they woke up, got my sneakers on, and headed out the door. While I was cranking out my 3 miles, I had a head full of ideas and plans for today. This is how it was supposed to go down:
After my 9:30 conference with my daughter's teacher, I'll head straight to the grocery store and get the stuff I need EARLY. Come back, put the baby down for a nap, put away the groceries, clean up, pick up the girls, do homework time, cook dinner early and possibly (please please please) have some down time. I even had ideas for this blog! I was going to write all kinds of helpful and money saving things that I've been testing out!.... Anybody feeling the impending doom? I didn't. I should have, but I didn't.

I came back from my workout, got the girls ready, fed the baby breakfast, walked them to school and rushed home to get ready for the conference. The minute I walked into the school, my son starts throwing a fit. I've not even gotten into the room and he's kicking and screaming. I drive him around in the stroller while singing twinkle twinkle little star over and over like a moron. We get into the room and I try to give him a pacifier. He throws it. I try to give it back to him, he screams and throws it. I give him a toy, he screams and throws it ( All of this while listening to the teacher tell me about my daughter being distracted at school) I give him his sippy cup, he screams and throws it. And then it happens.... My brilliant idea of the day. In my desperation, I quickly google the wiggles version of twinkle twinkle little star that he loves so much, and I HAND HIM THE PHONE!!! What does he do? He screams and THROWS MY F%^$#% 64G iPHONE 4S ACROSS THE ROOM!!!! I see it happening in slow motion and brace myself for the inevitable. I hear the sickening sound of my beloved screen shattering as it hit the floor. This is not happening. I'm such an IDIOT!! What did I think he was going to do with it? While I stare at the phone in horror, unable to form a thought, he is now at a full blown tantrum, beet red with boogers mixing with tears streaming down his face. My daughter's teacher is looking at me like you would look at a three-legged mangy dog; with distanced pity.
I could tell she wanted me and my demon child out of there. Who could blame her? She makes a quiet comment about "now understanding" my daughters distractions and need for attention, and starts gathering her papers. Now, I am beyond embarrassed and upset. I smiled politely, thanked her, apologized for my son, and exited the school as quickly as I could.  I could feel the heat coming up behind my eyes and my brain shutting down on me as I rushed to the car. It was 10:15 and I was already losing it. What happened?
I get in the car and sit down, only to realize that in my rush to leave and get the baby in the car, I wasn't paying attention that I had the broken phone in my hand. My hand was now full of tiny pieces of broken glass shards imbedded into my skin. I turn on the DVD player for the baby and sit in the parking lot of East Lake Elementary School and had me a good cry. I guess today was the day for temper tantrums.. for both of us.
I know this may sound silly to some people. It IS silly as a matter of fact. This incident shouldn't have upset me the way it did, but it was the metaphoric straw that broke the camel's back.
I really can't afford to fix the phone right now, I really am struggling with my son's temper and the restrictions it puts on me because I can't take the little sucker anywhere without some kind of drama, and I, of course, put pressure on myself to meet my deadlines and timeframes. (I'm working on that part)
So now I'm home, the baby is taking a forced nap, and I'm quickly coming to the realization that I handled that pretty badly. Damned blog. I was perfectly fine thinking I did ok. Like I've stated before, writing this damn thing is therapeutic.
I swear, I will be back tomorrow with something less pathetic. LOL.... I hope.

Sonya

The good the bad and the ugly truth

Today, I need to take a step back and just reflect. (I too have my moments)
When I started this blog I had no idea how beneficial it would be to write the things that were on my mind. I really don't have the time to do it, and I hammer it out during my son's one and only 30 minute nap. It has also become painfully obvious that I REALLY need to proofread these suckers for spelling and grammatical errors. (I read them for the first time yesterday. YIKES!) But you know what? I really don't care; it's not the point.
The real point is that even though I have no idea who (if any) really reads this stuff and if anybody even cares or benefits from it (other than a handful of my close friends), It feels like I have someone to talk to. Ok, I can see how this is starting to sound a little psycho. Let me clarify. I'm not insane or at least not VERY insane that I'm literally talking to my laptop or anything! Ok?
You see, most of you will never understand the mental warp that you go through when you have been home with your children for a few years. The only adult conversations I really have are few and far between. I cherish these like you wouldn't believe! I talk to a baby all morning, then I talk to a 5 and 6 year old all afternoon, then I talk to my husband about the baby and the kids. Then after that, we talk about his day, because quite frankly mine is pretty dull. What is there to tell? After I tell him about the new word the baby said or what the girls did at school, what's left? The chicken I got on sale? ooooohhh riveting stuff! As a SAHM you get caught in this cycle that seems impossible to break. I think people that are at work all day take it a little for granted how lonely it can be at times. You get up in the morning and get dressed in real clothes leave the kids for the day. You go out to interact with different (adult) people good and bad. You see new things and face different scenarios until you get to clock out and leave it all behind until tomorrow.
I'm not saying that going to work is easy. I'm not saying that AT ALL. I remember how stressful it was to go to work for people that didn't appreciate you, or have to deal with the A-holes you work with. What I am saying, is this particular dilemma has nothing to do with work load it has all to do with psychological/emotional load.
The person who stays at home, rolls out of bed to immediately start their job. There is no morning prep or buffer and no dressing nicely to feel good about yourself. (Why dress up to just get chocolate milk stains on your good clothes?) They don't get to have a lunch break, or ever clock out. You are chained to your job 24/7.
No matter how much you love it, after a while, you WILL burn out. But that's ok too. I have burnt out many times. I have cried and lashed out, I have been in funks, and I have even at times (momentarily) resented my kids for the loss of my identity as a person/woman. We all go through these things whether you are a SAHM or a working mom. If you say that you haven't,  either you're lying outta your ass or you have some really good meds. (If it's the latter please share)
Having a purpose in life is probably one of the most important things in the world. I know my main purpose is to be a wife and mother; that is the life that I chose. But it's not my only purpose. I am starting to come to that realization. A friend told me recently "You always have to be super mom, let those friggers eat some tuna and rice one night and put your feet up." To that friend, I say thank you. I know you were trying to make me feel better while I was having a full blown pity party, but you are right. I will never do EVERYTHING right. My kids will never be perfect and always appreciative, and my husband will never do EVERYTHING I expect him to do. I can't control ANY of that. What I can control is me.
So this is the real reason i write the things that I write. I feel like I have a contribution. It may not be great, or the most interesting. But it's mine. My stories, my experiences, my voice. If I can help someone along the way or just make them laugh, then I have found yet another purpose in this life. For that I am grateful.

Sonya

The post you've been asking me about!

I know I said a few weeks back that I would do a blog about homemade laundry detergent. WELL TODAY IS THE DAY!
But first let me tell you that operation "up on stilts" is quickly starting to look.. no feel like the worst idea I've ever had to date. And if you know me at all, that's saying A LOT! lol I am the queen of bad ideas. Yesterday, it started with me going to the grocery store with my calf high 3 inch heeled boots. If that wasn't enough pain, when I got home; I changed into some 3 1/2 inch orange heels and put away all the groceries, vacuumed the floors and cooked dinner. OMG, I am in so much pain today. I'm wearing the very lowest heel I have in my closet. BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP! Lord have mercy this was such a stupid idea. But, it does solidify my theory of my legs being weak from not wearing heels for years.

I can't believe people read this blog. LOL

ON TO THE HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT!

This is so simple that I can't believe I didn't do it sooner!

To begin you start with the 3 ingredients
1 bar Fels-Naptha, Zote, or some people even use the original Ivory soap.
1 1/2 cup of Borax powder
1 1/2 cup Washing soda (NOT BAKING SODA!)
 You can find all these things in the laundry isle usually hidden on the tippy top, or way bottom shelves.

 I was originally going to make the liquid because it's what I already use, but this amount of concentrate make 5 GALLONS! I didn't want to try to move around a 5 gallon bucket, so I made a concentrated powder instead. You can of course dissolve this in hot water and put it in a bucket.

So to start, the instructions say to grate the Fells-Naptha bar, but

I just hoped and prayed for the best and threw it in the food processor. It ground it up to lumpy beads, then I started adding the other powders and it started getting finer and finer.

When it was done, I put it in an old Gain laundry soap box that I've been saving and couldn't wait to give it a try!

 Now the one thing that I had to wrap my head around is that BUBBLES DON'T MEAN CLEAN! This detergent lacks the chemicals that makes suds. This it how it looks.

The best part of this stuff is that you only have to use 1 rounded tablespoon for a normal wash, 2 tablespoons for a extra-large load or really soiled load.
Today, I have washed and dried 4 loads of laundry and they came out GREAT! Very light fresh scent, soft feeling (with my vinegar softener) and I dare say even brighter whites than with the store bought stuff! I still use 1 dryer sheet per load, but that's a BIG cutback from the liquid fabric softener and the 4-5 dryer sheets I was using to get that "soft" feeling. I am ecstatic that I have cut back that many chemicals from my family's daily exposure. I am so freakin' pleased with myself today.
Now that I got so over zealous with the amount of laundry I washed today, I have to go fold all this crap...... In heels. I hope some of you try this and leave me some comments on any improvements or scents that you've added. Until next time!
Sonya

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the ingredients cost me a little less than $9.00 and I only used 1 1/2 cups of the powdered ingredients. This means the next batch I only have to buy the Fells-Naptha bar for $1.00. If you use 1 tbs. per load it is about 0.40/load!

REALLY not a glamorous rant

Well aint' this some sh*&%!  Just when you thought kids couldn't mess your poor body up anymore. Excuse me while I rant.
For any of you beautiful young women who don't have kids yet.. consider adoption! LOL. Just kidding.....a little. I found out this weekend why my belly flattening exercises weren't working. I have something called diastasis recti. No it has nothing to do with my butt. (I heard recti and thought rectum) So pretty much it's the separation of the abdominal wall muscles caused by the tearing of the thin membrane that holds them together. Nice huh? Still want kids?

This was is caused my my 3 fat babies and 3 c sections. Here's the kicker, the more crunches, bicycles, and scissor sit ups I did, the worst I was making my stomach look! GREEEEAAAAAT! So now it's back to square one. I now have to buy a abdominal splint and learn the recommended abdominal exercises. I did however lose........ DRUM ROLL PLEASE............. 9 POUNDS!!! YAAAAAAY.  21 more and I'll be at the goal weight to be considered for a tummy tuck. Yes a tummy tuck, NO I don't care if it sounds vain. Pssshht. Live with my stomach for a week and you'll be knocking the doctors door down. The only problem with that is it costs $7,500.00 smackers. So as of now I'm taking pity donations. ha ha!
So all weekend every time my kids talked back or were out of line I would just glower at them and say. "You little bastards did this to me!" No, not really. (I thought it though) ssssshhhhh. Don't tell anyone.

Besides all my hopes of having a sexy stomach dashed, I was pondering this little nugget: Why is it that I have gained weight EVERYWHERE except for my skinny-ass knobby-kneed CHICKEN LEGS?? I'll even dare to say that they've become skinnier along the years. So when I gain weight I look like a ball with legs! I figured it's because I used to wear heels all the time when I was younger and now the sight of anything higher than ballet flats make me wince. NO MORE! I have started operation "UP ON STILTS" I will be wearing heels everyday for the next 30 days as long as I'm not working out or sleeping. Housework in heels. All I need to do now is buy an old fashion corset instead of the abdominal splint and I can turn my husbands whole world upside down!        
                                                      Wooooooweeeeeeeee! So if anyone is planning to drop by to say hi, I would suggest to call first so there are no misunderstandings. ;-)
Well, I gotta go, my girls are home from school today and I have to go to the grocery store unless they want to starve for the rest of the day. Until next time!
Sonya

P.S. Money saving tip of the week:
 Cut your dryer sheets in half. When loading; throw the 2 halves on opposite sides of the dryer. You get better coverage than just using one, it still works to freshen and soften and you are cutting down on the amount of harmful chemicals on your clothing. Stay healthy!

The table debacle

I can't be the only person with Christmas lights still up on their house right? Well on my street I am! Shit, I'm THAT house. We're not totally useless! We did take down the Christmas tree and all of the major decorations inside. Doesn't that count? Now ask me if they've been put back up in the attic.... HELL NO. I can't even open my garage in fear that Christmas might escape and start all over again. Baby steps my friends....baby steps.
 I MAY have some holiday themed kitchen towels hanging on the oven door still and quite possibly snowman spoon rests on the stove, oh and a pine tree scented candle or 2. But aren't we still in the acceptable time range for removing Christmas decorations? NO? Oh well. I did my very best.
This is no easy task you know! Putting up the Christmas tree meant moving a couch and a wine rack, and moving a table into the garage. So all of that had to be PUT BACK. Not to mention the front living room was now home to a gigantic cardboard space shuttle and a wall of cardboard "fort building" bricks that the kids got for Christmas.
So all this leads me to yesterday. Yes, yesterday I decided to finally tackle moving all the furniture back into place and putting up some new wall art that I got over the holiday season. Everything started out fine. I dragged the wine rack over... heavy but I survived. The couch came next. I felt like I was trying to move a house because my living room is carpeted.. but that too I survived. Brought the drill and level out, hung my new wall art in the foyer and guest bath. Still going strong...... Then came the antique table from the garage. This frigging table is over a hundred and twenty years old, built of solid tiger oak, and if that's not bad enough it has a huge slab of 1/4 inch thick glass on the top. OH, let me add a disclaimer before I move on. I DID NOT MOVE THE TABLE TO THE GARAGE IN THE FIRST PLACE! (You'll get why I'm saying this in a minute)
Ok, so I go out there and I try to drag it. No good. I can see that I would mess up the legs. Genius idea alert! I saw the kids scooter. I put one side of the table bottom on the scooter and pushed... ITS WORKIIIIING!!! At this point, my heart is pumping I already have a healthy sweat going, but I was ELATED. The frigging scooter idea was GENIUS!! Or so I thought.
I get to the kitchen door, get in front and PULL as hard as I could to clear the little step up to the house...... And then it happens.....It doesn't fit in the door. IT DOESN'T FIT THROUGH THE (bleep) (bleep) (bleeeeeeeeeping) DOOR!! NO!!!! NO! No! NO! nOOOOO NOO! I wiggled it, I pulled, I pushed. Now the F%^&* thing is STUCK! OMG. Did I mention this thing weighs a ton? At THIS point, I'm dripping sweat and my heartbeat is audible to a deaf person. After many many cuss words I manage to get it loose.
I realize that most people at this point would leave the damned table alone and wait for another time (like hubby's day off) but no. Not me. I have issues. Me and this table were at WAR.
I now realize I have 2 options. 1.) Take it out the garage door and around to the front door. 2.) Bring it in the kitchen door standing up.  Option one was immediately discarded. Not only was the table too heavy for me to take it the extra distance, I would have to open the garage door! CHRISTMAS MIGHT ESCAPE! Or even worse, the neighbors will see me make a complete fool out of myself wrestling this table on a pink scooter.  Nope, not happening. Somehow I was going to stand this sucker up. How was I going to do that with the glass on top? AHA! I must remove it! Not so easy to remove a slab of heavy ass glass that's flush with the wood. 3 pinched fingers, one serious scratch, a busted shin, a pulled muscle in my lower back, and about 20 pounds of sweat later, I stood that old bastard up and got it through the door. SUCCESS!
Because of this experience, I now realize that I may have some seriously deep rooted issues that need to be worked out. LOL. I don't even like the damn table! My competitive nature has spilled over to inanimate objects. Shit just got real.
Well, I'm off to ponder my new insight and prepare my self for my 5:30am jog with wind chills in the 30's (uuggghh) I'll let you know how that goes.
Sonya

The awesomest weekend

I have so much to write about I don't even know where to start! If you were waiting to hear that I lost another 5 pounds.. let me help you out. STOP READING NOW! LOL I was bad and it was worth every minute. I'll start at the beginning of the weekend.
Bright and early Saturday morning I hopped in my happy bus (Honda odyssey mini van) with 2 great friends and drove the 3 hours it takes to get to West Palm beach, and get this... NO KIDS!!!!! Not even 1!!! In the front seat was one of my craziest girl friends making me laugh so hard that I swear I was going to swerve off of I95 and die, and in the back seat next to the dried up apple sauce on the leather seats was my bestie guy friend who was probably seriously questioning his decision to come with us. He must really love us. I swear it felt like it took 20 minutes to get there. We had such a good time. So good in fact that I forgot to tell you why the hell we were driving in the first place.  This was for a baby shower. Now, when I say "baby shower" I use that term loosely. The amount of rum punch and food being served is like no baby shower you've ever seen. I love my island people! If the drive wasn't great enough, the baby shower was for the sister of one of my bestest baddest friends that I hardly EVER get to see because she lives in New Jersey (I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS>> PLEASE MOVE TO FLORIDA!!) So that was super awesome. My other girlfriend that I talk seriously hilarious crap on the phone to all the time (but I haven't seen since high school) was there, so that was awesome too! There were so many people that I haven't seen in years and OF COURSE we were celebrating a baby on the way. All was incredible.... until it was time to drive back. You remember the 20 minutes it SEEMED like it took on the way down? Yeah. on the way back up we were skimming through my i tunes library desperately trying to find music to keep our butts from just passing out. We were so tired. We still had some incredible laughs but OMG it felt like it took 5 hours.
I got home and my husband reminded me that I agreed to a garage sale with 2 of my neighbors at 7:00 am the next morning. UUUGGGHHH REALLY? I wanted to shoot myself. I hadn't even taken stuff out that I wanted to sell or anything. The next morning I got up bleary eyed and put the tables out and put out whatever I could easily grab on them. I learned that day that I have awesome neighbors. After the first $20 bucks were made, someone (I think it was me) said barbecue and then someone else said dominoes, the next thing you know the garage sale was abandoned and we were into our second pitcher of sangria getting rowdy. HA! I didn't make any money becuause we spent it on the cookout food and booze, but I got a sunburn and a pretty good buzz. I think that's better than a few extra bucks anyway! Between the baby shower and the "garage sale" I was soooooo over my calorie budget. BUT ALL WAS NOT LOST!
In a sangria soaked blur the three women made a pact to get up and start speed walking at 5:45 every morning. Early Monday morning we were up (15 minutes late) wondering why the hell we agreed to do this. The walk started and it got hilarious. My one neighbor is deathly afraid of dogs and OF COURSE 2 german shepards came bounding out. My girl was GONE! She didn't say a word, she was almost a 1/2 mile down the street starting to climb on a random car before I even noticed the damn dogs!! My second neighbor froze like a statue paralyzed in fear. I took my pepper spray out in case they were aggressive and I shouted at them GO HOME!!! They looked so disappointed that I didn't want to play and went back sulking to their back yard. Those 2 dogs wouldn't hurt a fly. When my one neighbor shimmied off the car and the other one could move her limbs again, we were laughing so hard that we had to sit in the street and catch ourselves. I think we found our group. We were back out this morning with 3 loaded pepper sprays canisters and one retractable night stick and this time we were on time.
So all in all this was a pretty epic weekend and I look forward to more just like it.
Sonya

My brain is too tired to think of a title. So sue me.

Exercising sucks. Period. I woke up this morning and my arms hurt, my legs are made of wood, and my ass is KILLING me. Did I really have that much unused ass muscle? What do your ass muscles do anyway? I can now say I was a lazy ass and mean it literally! (insert bad-joke drum sound here) lol. Needless to say, I skipped the morning workout and substituted it with some yoga and stretches with the plan to go for a jog when the hubby comes home....... I'm regretting the decision already. Why didn't I just get it out of the way? It's now 4:00pm and I'm exhausted already. This is going to suck...hard. Oh well we live and learn.

On another note, well really the same note because he is the reason that I'm always so exhausted! My third child. My (why the hell did I have another kid when I was just getting back down to a desirable weight) third child. I have had 3 C-sections now, I can kiss ever having a stomach that resembles the old one ADIOS! I've gone off topic again. FOCUS!
For those of you who read my blog and know my little Tasmanian devil of a baby, the first thing all of you say is: HE CAN'T BE THAT BAD! HE'S SOOOO ADORABLE! I say mmmm hmmm. That's exactly what he wants you to think right before he reels you in and sucks the life blood right outta you! Ok, maybe not that dramatic. But compared to my first two, he is a temperamental, non stop, stubborn, attitude filled, havoc causing BOY. There isn't a moment's rest with this one. As we speak, he is taking his first nap of the day, (Did I mention he hates naps?) I am typing this blog on my laptop in my walk-in closet; striking the keys as lightly as humanly possible out of fear that I may wake the beast before his time. I officially take back any negative thoughts or words I said about my 2 angelic daughters when they were his age. God, but I love the little bugger.

On to some of my SAHM tips!

Kissimmee Farmer's Market

Organic Lettuce, Cabbage, Brocolli, and Kumquats.

So, yesterday I went out for my first full blown super-uber-dee-duper healthy shopping trip and I was supposed to get the stuff for the homemade laundry detergent.       Well, after the trip for all the veggies, I went way over my budget and decided to leave that mess for next week. Eating healthy is so expensive! As soon as it's spring, I'm expanding my resume to include part-time farmer.

Even though I didn't to the detergent, I did try another laundry tip that I'll share with you. But first, a question: Do you know how fabric softeners work? No? Well neither did I. It works by coating your fabrics in a (known to be toxic) chemical that makes the fibers soft! After repeated use, this chemical builds up in the fabrics and inhibits the fabrics natural ability to absorb water. (And your skin absorbs it instead! yuck!) That's why towels don't dry you off as well after a while, and that's why towels that get that funky musty smell never seem to go back to their prior glory. Here's the trick. Replace your fabric softener with 1 cup of plain old white vinegar! I know what you're thinking.. It's going to make my clothes smell like vinegar.. If you thought this, you'd be WRONG! I tried it and it works! The clothes came out nice and soft and non vinegary smelling. I was told that you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oils if you MUST have the flowery smells. Just be sure to add it into the water and not directly on the clothes. If static is a problem, roll up a ball of aluminum foil and toss it into the dryer with your clothes. Voila.
Gotta go get dinner ready for the clan. BYe!
Sonya

Kicking A$$ and taking names

I tried. I really really tried to go to sleep on time last night. It just didn't happen. My brain refuses to just TURN OFF! I was thinking about what I was going to make the kids for breakfast, how I was going to feel waking up for my workout....OH GOD NOW I'M DOWN TO 7 HOURS OF SLEEP! OK, OK, relax, think about a color.. blue.. good..blue is nice...blue is calming......blue is the color of the dot on the Wii fit when you're about to start a workout......God, I hate to workout...... but I need to not be so freaking fat... SHIT! DOWN TO 6 HOURS! This went on and on and on. I have issues. Oh, and then the one year old woke up at 4:30a.m. Yep....  I know this sounds like I'm gearing up to tell you that I flaked, but GUESS AGAIN!! I did 30 minutes of Wii fitness workouts, 15 minutes of yoga, 15 minutes of cardio. So there! I also plan on taking a very long walk again with the dog this afternoon... How you like them apples?? OH!! I almost forgot! I guess I was drinking like zero water because just drinking all that green tea yesterday and pissing every five frigging minutes.. I am 5 pounds lighter in one day. I know it's just water weight but WHATEVER! I'll take it. 

Anyway, enough about me. As I promised, I am giving you the first 2 of my "save money on cleaning supplies" tricks! This first one actually had me jumping up and down clapping like a retard when it actually worked. (yeah, picture that. lol) 

For those of you who own a Swiffer Wet Jet, you know that the refills on the damn thing really adds up. Not only do you have to buy the mopping pads, you also have to toss away a perfectly good bottle of solution and go buy another one. NO MORE I SAY! I bet you tried unscrewing the top like I did at first to no avail.. Well, here's how you get it off!

 Here is the little bastard.

 Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove, then turn it off. Soak the top of the Swiffer solution bottle in the water for about 2 minutes.

TAKE THAT SWIFFER PEOPLE!!!! 

Now just make your own mopping solution with mostly water and whatever else you like. I put some bleach and good ol' fabuloso. You can do a vinegar and baking soda solution, or whatever floats your boat.

OK, the next one is pretty awesome too. Let me start of by saying that I LOVE fabric sprays like febreeze. After I'm done my daily cleaning I go around and spray all the furniture and closets. If you love it as much as I do you will find yourself buying the damned stuff ALL THE TIME. Here's how to make a pretty awesome if not better version from stuff you have home right now.

 Get your empty febreeze bottle or just pick up a cheap sprayer bottle from the dollar store. Fill the bottle 3/4 of the way up with HOT tap water. Add about 3 tablespoons of your favorite fabric softener. (Make sure its kinda strong because you're diluting it) Next, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of good ol' odor neutralizing baking soda. Shake shake shake. Spray to your hearts content because you can now make febreeze in WHATEVER scent you like for pennies a bottle!

So there you have it. Some savings for your pockets. Now I'm off to do my weekly shopping ( I have to get the ingredients for homemade laundry detergent!) Let you all know how that turns out tomorrow. Damn I have to pee again. 

Bye for today!

Sonya

SH*** Happens

SADIE

So today was supposed to be the grand kick-off to the new routine/get healthy thing. For those of you who have kids; you know that they ALWAYS seem to throw a monkey wrench in whatever you have planned. I was SUPPOSED to get up early this morning. Like an hour before I normally have to wake up the girls for school. I was SUPPOSED to have some me time and take a nice long walk/jog around my community to get my ass into gear. HA!
The first thing that went wrong is that my one year old refused to go down last night until well after 10. That means of course, I didn't get to bed until after midnight. If that wasn't bad enough, my brain wouldn't turn off. So I stayed there, tossing and turning until god-knows-what-time. TO TOP THAT (yeah it gets better).... My five year old comes in at 4a.m and says she had a bad dream and she NEEDED me. Really? Can someone explain this phenomenon to me? How do they know? It's like they have little detectors that go off when you have plans, or when you want to do something for yourself, or when God forbid you and your husband want to have....... ummmm. tea? yeah, tea. That's what we'll call it. ;-) Long story short, my alarm went off                                                            at 5:30, I said some 4 letter words that I can't type here, and went back to bed until it was time to get the girls ready for school. I did however take the dog for an extra                                                        long walk with the hubby since he was off today! Not the workout I was hoping for, but WHATEVER! It is what it is.









It is safe to say that I lack the motivation these chicks that go to the gym everyday or "run for fun" seem to have. I hate to workout. Mostly because I'm butt-tired, and the other part is BECAUSE IT SUCKS. Part 2 of my problem is that I HATE water. I hate boring plain awful water. There, I said it. I'm told that in order to lose this extra 10 pounds I have on me... ok it's 20.. FINE IT'S 30!! 30 frigging pounds! Happy now? Sheesh. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. To lose this extra WEIGHT, I have to drink more water. Screw that. I brewed a gallon of green tea and I'm drinking that instead.  There's no sugar and I squeezed tons of lemon in it for taste. It's gotta be good for me right? It better be, cause I can't do the water thing. So here's my cup. I've had 3 of them so far.....I cant stop peeing. TMI? Oh well.

So the moral of the story is: Shit happens but we must all get over the setbacks. It was easy to say "I'll do it tomorrow" instead of pushing through today. Hopefully with the responsibility I've given myself of updating this blog, I can hold myself accountable for the bad days.
Tomorrow is a new day filled with new possibilities. Not only will I stick to my workout plan, I'll share one way I have saved tons of money on my weekly cleaning supply shopping! (Swiffer mop fans, prepare to have your minds BLOWN!) lol. Hasta manana!
Sonya

The nitty gritty

So........ here it is. My first blog about being a SAHM (stay at home mom) and all the wonderful (cough cough) things that go with it. I am led, no COMPELLED to write this blog because of all the the "perfect mommy" blogs that I keep running into on pinterest and other social media sites. Bunch of lying asses. It's not that it's all terrible or anything, but come on! No, it is not such a joy to tell your kids the same frigging thing 20 times only to have them completely ignore you anyway. No, it is not wonderful to deal with little stinky human bodily functions and a myriad of bodily fluids on a daily basis over a period of YEARS! No, it is not magical to basically lose your identity as a person/woman at times because you are seen as "mommy" or "wife". You are now the person who your family relies on to get it all done, plan everything, fix all the problems, and clean everything. All this and they still demand dinner EVERY NIGHT!!! WTF? Do they really have to eat every night? UUGH! But, and this is a very BIG BIG JENIFFER LOPEZ ON TOP OF BEYONCE'S BUTT!....but it is totally worth it. Granted it doesn't feel like it all of the time, but for some strange and inexplicable reason; those moments that don't suck, manage to wash all that crap down the drain. When your normally clueless children tell you "thank you mommy" or "I love you" out of the blue without being prompted, or when they use their pleases and thank you's without being reminded to....... AAAHHHHH. Reassurance that I'm not a total waste of a parent. Some of the things that I say are sinking in!! *sniff, wipes tear*
Before I go any further, let me say this: I really don't care what your opinion is on why and what I write in this blog. I don't care if people pass judgment about my life and how I do things. I am doing this for ME and other mothers and or wives out there who need to vent, need ideas to make life manageable and are SICK AS SHIT of having things sugar coated.
 In the coming weeks I will let you in on a journey that i am embarking on to cut costs in the home by making everyday products from scratch, eat healthier,lose some weight, do more things with my kids, get organized, and not kill anyone in the process. Hope I haven't scared anyone off. 
Gotta go feed these people... AGAIN!
Sonya