Overwhelmed?!?!

I'm feeling overwhelmed. I can tell I'm feeling overwhelmed from the dreams I've been having.
The other night I dreamed I had an extra finger tied to the back of my hand and I thought everybody had that extra finger until upon closer inspection of the kids on my soccer team I realized no one had that extra finger. I proceeded to find a doctor and he removed it, but after he removed it I felt lost, like I was missing something very important. Last night I had a dream I acquired a brand new red Jeep Wrangler with a soft top. I was trying to get to the top of a mountain, but Emma kept wanting to sit on my lap, so I eventually moved to the back of the Jeep, held Emma and waited for the Jeep to take me to the top by itself (it was voice controlled of course). The mountain was very steep and as we neared the top, Emma and I had to lay flat in the back because the G-forces were just to great to sit up straight. We never made it to the top...I woke up :( ANYWAY I can usually tell I'm overwhelmed or stressed out by my dreams...somehow in real life I never realize it, I have to dream it first.
So why am I overwhelmed? I'm not real sure, I can't pinpoint the reason. I know I say yes too much, but I enjoy all the things I do, so I really don't want to say no, but sometimes I probably need too.
So how do you figure out how much is too much?
Being a mom/dad can be a very overwhelming, yet very rewarding job.
Somedays when I walk into my home and it's a messy house, and there's laundry to do, and there are groceries to buy, rooms to clean, dishes in the sink, dog to be fed, stuffed animals to find, and the to-do list is longer then one side of a piece of 11x14 paper, I must say I feel overwhelmed. I don't know where to start. All I want to do is sit in the corner, put my head under a pillow and have a good old-fashioned cry.
BUT then, there's my three year old yelling "MOMMIE!!!" and my six year old trying to get his own glass of milk, but in the process spills half the container on the kitchen floor, and then the eight year old that wants me to build a LEGO house with him and somewhere in that time I'm supposed to make dinner, but unfortunately I can't find the counter...
It's at this moment that I have to remember
I AM NOT ALONE.
Everyone has stress and feelings of being overwhelmed...and luckily this moment of being overwhelmed doesn't define me. I always move out of this feeling.

Other days I go home and I still can't find the counter, there are still dishes in the sink, the house is still a mess and of course laundry still needs done, but for some reason it doesn't bother me...


Hug the kids, have a belly laugh, that's what they will remember.... (hopefully they won't remember the milk on the floor or the dog hair on their clothes)

I'm on my way to find an AWESOME day!

I'm going faster than you....

Going to the gym some mornings is a struggle. I try everything to get motivated to get there.
I get my earphones, Muppet water bottle, comfy sneakers, drop off the kids at school and I'm on my way. I coach myself silently in the car on my way there. You can do this, I know you're tired, but YOU CAN DO this!!
I pull in the parking lot and take my time getting my stuff out of the car...then I see someone I know, darn it, they saw me too, now I have to go in. I can't just come to the gym and park in the parking lot....

I drag myself inside, fill my water bottle, drop off my extra belongings in the ladies changing room and head out into the gym...ahhhh which machine should I torture myself with today? The "Helliptical?, perhaps the "Deer in Headlights" Arc machine... I head for the Helliptical, maybe if I get it over with the rest of the workout won't be so bad. I'm sweating buckets after just 10 minutes, I'm ready to throw in the towel and head to work so I can sit down. Oh darn, there's someone else I know...I better stay a little longer, 10 minutes at the gym is not going to do anything...I head to the bike...pedal, pedal, pedal...that's when it happens, I look to my right, just a quick glance at the girl next to me...she's going 13.1 mph....I look at my speed... 16.8...oh yeah, the competition mode begins. I glance to my left, another girl (she's at least 15 years younger then me) her speed is 14.7, I'm beating her too!!! Before I know it, 10 minutes has blown by and I blew by all my competition... (or at least the 2 main competitors beside me...I head to the "Deer in Headlights"Arc machine, my least favorite. I get my 10 minutes in on that horrible machine and look for my next competition. There on the treadmill is a pretty buff guy, looks like he has the incline on about 50 gazillion....THAT is my next competition. I step on the treadmill 2 down from him, don't want him to think I'm stalking him or anything...I put my incline on 10, speed up as far as I can go before I'm in an all out run....I keep up for a few minutes...in fact I'm feeling pretty good about beating this guy....
I compete with him for about 7 minutes and before I die, I wipe the sweat from my forehead, catch my breath and head out of the gym.

That was a good gym trip...
Thank you complete strangers for letting me compete against you and thank you for motivating me.

My day has just become AWESOME!!

Margaritaville

It's tough to wake up when it's 10* outside. You want to stay under the 5 blankets you have yourself wrapped in. The 5 blankets you have managed to wrap yourself so tightly in like a mummy (a crowbar couldn't get you out), but alas, you have to get out and get ready for the day. It's tough, you keep hitting the snooze button, but it just won't go away. OK, OK you unwrap yourself one blanket at a time and it gets colder and colder until your feet are totally uncovered and now you have to make a run for the bathroom as quickly as you can manage. Ahhhhh....the hot shower feels so good. You make your way downstairs and take a glance out the window....WHAT?!?!?! Where did that snow come from....you grumble your way through the morning dreading going out to get in the car...it just looks sooooooo cold out there!
As you wrap yourself in 60 layers so you won't suffer from hypothermia you slowly open the door to head outside...the cold air hits you like a slap in the face. You put your head down into your coat as far as it will go and head outside. At least the car will provide some kind of protection from the frigid air, RIGHT?!?! Think again, the car grumbles and moans as you turn the key...it doesn't want to wake up either. Come on, come on, you can do it...I did it, now you need to do it. The car shakes and shivers and finally wakes up. You turn the heat on full blast, it feels like air conditioning....BUT it's warmer then outside so you deal with it. Halfway to your destination you suddenly feel warmer...WHY? Because to your enjoyment "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffett comes on the radio...Ahhhh, you are instantly transported to your last beach vacation. You know the one...where you are sitting on an oceanfront patio at a restaurant sipping your favorite drink as the warm ocean air blows over you.


Suddenly the day becomes AWESOME!

Beautiful Smile

I woke up this morning (a little late, of course) and continued on with my morning routine. Groggily find my way to the bathroom, look in the mirror, made a weird face to show my disgust at what my hair seemed to do overnight. Somehow I go to bed with a pony tail and wake up with a dead squirrel on my head...it's a conundrum. After I make my weird face, I proceed to brush my teeth. I then make my way to the boys' room to initiate wake-up call #1. I turn on the shower and daydream for a few minutes till the water gets hot enough for me to get in. After the shower comes wake-up call #2. Still no response. I make my way downstairs to where the clothes are piled next to the dryer...(because I haven't had the energy to put them away). I find some clothes for the boys... I head back upstairs, wake-up call #3...I'm starting to get snippy at this point, no more mrs. nice girl..."WAKE UP!!!" Kemp stirs, but rolls back over...Joey mumbles something inaudible and covers his head with his blanket. I make my way to the bathroom to comb my hair. OK, I'm ready...Back to the boys' room, wake-up call #4... "WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN!!! GET UP NOW! You don't want to fail 1st and 2nd grade, do you??" Finally there is some movement. Joey jumps up and runs to the bathroom, slams the door. Commence the complaining from Kemp... "I have to pee, I'm cold, I need to get a shower, etc."
I give Joey 2 minutes and knock on the door..."Joey all you had to do was brush your teeth...Kemp needs to go to the bathroom." Joey: "I haven't brushed my teeth YET!!"
OK, so anyway you get the point...after all of this, and about 10 minutes we are ready to head out the door. So it's a normal morning, nothing AWESOME yet...
I drop the boys off at school and head to the gym....still a normal day.
I get to the gym and hold the door open for a man coming in after me...he smiles at me and says, "Thanks!" He then continues on and opens the next door for me and says, "You have a beautiful smile." When a complete stranger stops and takes the time to say something so nice to you, how could that not make your day AWESOME?


My day has just become AWESOME!

$20 Bill

I got the coolest book over the weekend, it's called, "The Book of Awesome" by Neil Pasricha.
It is filled with everyday things that are just....AWESOME! Things that make you realize how great life is and just how awesome small things can be. With the help of my hubster, we have decided to make our own list of AWESOME things! I'm so excited to get this started.

First on the list: When you think you are totally out of money for the week and you find a $20 in the dryer. AWESOME!!

It happens to everyone at some point in their life...there comes a day when you get up in the morning and all you want to do is go out for lunch that day, but unfortunately pay day isn't until tomorrow...that means ANOTHER peanut butter and jelly sandwich in an old brown bag that you will sit in the conference room at work to eat all by yourself. You make your way down to the laundry room to throw in one more load before you head off to work with your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You aren't paying attention, just the old hum drum of throwing clothes here, throwing clothes there and THEN, just as you grab that last electrically charged blanket out of the dryer, there in the back of the dryer is a freshly washed dollar bill....BUT WAIT!!! You grab it and unfold it and (glorious trumpets sounding in the background) it's a $20 BILL!!! Put that peanut butter and jelly sandwich back in the fridge and save it for another day! Your day just became AWESOME!!