Daily Inspirations for Laughs

Have you ever caught yourself thinking this exact same thought while you were taking a prescription for some sort of illness? Then you talk yourself into just one, just one drink won't hurt. I love finding these pictures that just make you giggle to yourself. They always help on a Monday.

Happy Monday to all.

Cursed

I'm completely and utterly cursed when it comes to worrying. Currently, I have hundreds of worries in my mind. If I started listing them you would laugh. When I found this quote I had to just giggle because it fits me so perfectly. A friend of mine at work also pinned it and I know she is an equal worrier.

HAPPY FRIDAY.

Daily Inspirations

How much fun would this be?

Thinking about it makes me giggle.

I'd especially like secret tunnels when Kris and Lisa move away. I don't think they would reach to Europe or Hawaii though.

Daily Inspirations

Let's change this to growing young, but it is true enough. We are so busy with our day to day lives that we really need to stop and make sure to spend lots of time with our parents and grandparents. We are still growing and helping our children to grow, but our parents are also getting older. Family is precious. Enjoy every minute with them. Each day is a gift.

Happy 60 years young Mom!

Happy 60th Barbie

Happy 60th Birthday Barbie, Mom and Grandma Puccia!
We can't wait to celebrate with you on Friday.

Tee Hee

I've been a bit doom and gloom for the past few weeks so it is definitely time to lighten the mood of this blog and have some fun. If you know me well you know that I'm a Jim Beam and Pepsi kind of girl so when I found this picture I cracked right up. I definitely feel like I could especially use this machine for the remainder of my week as I proctor the NYS Math assessments. 2.5 hours a day watching students suffer through these uber long tests. I'd rather NOT lose my job so I'll settle for laughing at this picture and having a cocktail at home possibly tonight. Why wait until Friday, it's Hump Day, let's celebrate.

Daily Inspirations

I absolutely love this quote and it fits me like a glove. Letting go is hard, but I think that since I have let go of some hard feelings, regret and hurt that I feel like a brand new girl. I feel better physically and my face has even cleared up. Coincidence, possibly, who knows. I don't need to have this huge group of friends who don't truly care about me. I need a couple of friends who understand me and want to spend time with me. I don't need friends who are mean or who make me sad. It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, but now that it's finally here and it just feels plain and simple...good. Letting go is the key to happiness.

Feel Good

We are a very musical loving family. We have some sort of musical device going literally all the time in our house, on our phone or in our vehicles. I have been hooked on the Pandora channel that streams songs from different musicals lately and every so often a great song would come on from Pitch Perfect, but I had no idea if it was a musical on Broadway or what it exactly was. Thank goodness our babysitter is equally a music enthusiastic and much hipper than myself so she not only knew what it was, BUT she had the DVD. Roland and I watched it last weekend and loved every single minute of it. We secretly dream of joining an acapela group and travelling the world. Ha, laugh if you must. We truly had a wonderful time watching Pitch Perfect and singing along with them. If you love music this is a must see.

Daily Inspirations

Do you know how often this happens to me? Just this past Sunday evening I had to ask for assistance from my SIL to put something back in a very high (not to the normal person) cupboard. Up and down it totally becomes a workout. Too funny. I just wish it burned more calories.

Happiness is...

Happiness is what you make of it and this weekend was a wonderful, old friend filled, end of the ELA dance party filled, planting new life filled, healthy food filled, smiley pigtail filled,  Sunday fat family dinner filled kind of weekend that I really needed.

 The NYS ELA was beyond rigorous this year and by the end of the week I'm not sure who was more of a zombie, the teachers or the students. At any event, Friday was a day to celebrate of end of a long week. What better way to celebrate then a good old dance party in my classroom. The kids truly crack me up with their moves and I love the fact that they aren't too "cool" to dance together. Our song selections included , The Harlem Shake, The Cupid Shuffle, Gangnam Style and The Cotton Eyed Joe. Fun was had by all and it was just what the doctor ordered.

 Saturday, Roland had to work so the kids and I ran some errands and planted some mini tomato and strawberry plants. They are very excited to see them start to grow.

 Staying in tune with my (semi) health kick we had some healthy snacks before our delish dinner on Saturday night. I'm borderline addicted to this entire display of food and if you look in my lunch bag right now you would see this exact picture in a smaller version. How long until lunch?

 We are growing Leah's hair out and it is almost long enough to completely fit into pig tails so we did a trial run yesterday and this picture melts my heart. She is so stinking cute I can't stand it.

I unfortunately didn't take any pictures from our Charlton family dinner last night, but the kids had an utter blast with their cousins and have already planned their next get together.

Here is to another long NYS assessment kind of week. Let's keep the happy thoughts coming.

Daily Inspirations

Truth.

Thank you for loving all versions of me RJCIII.

Daily Inspirations

That's my newest (two weeks worth) motto. I'm walking, being overall active and being somewhat careful of what I eat. I'm planning healthy meals, packing healthy lunches and working on toning. Wish me luck.

Daily Inspirations

Where do they get it? Even on my best days, the days where I've gotten a full nights rest and I'm ready to conquer the world they still run circles around me. Seth is at the very severely want to be go go go all the time phase. He wakes up and heads outside to play basketball followed by baseball, goes for a bike ride and then runs a mile kind of phase.Where does this crazy energy come from and can I have some? Roland makes fun of me because I go to bed at 9:30 on a school night. I'm beat and can't even physically keep my eyes open and longer. Meanwhile he is at gym from 8-10pm working out and getting all fit. I'm sleeping like a baby. Makes you just laugh.

Daily Inspirations

I've made plenty and trust me I'm a quick learner. I'm growing and changing and finally becoming the person I want to be. I'm not perfect, I get nervous and I break out in a rash, but I'm a good person with a huge heart. Take me or leave me.

Encouragement

 It has been a very rough work week so as soon as I can I am in my truck and headed towards my smiling and happy kids. They make all the heartache and heaviness of the world disappear. The smiles, the excitement and the love notes make the world a better place. Thank you Seth and Leah for being the best kiddos in the world.

Positive thoughts for a better week coming up...

Daily Inspirations

It's a running joke in our house that the kids always go to Roland's side of the bed when they need something in the middle of the night. The only time that they come to me is if he is out of town or if he hasn't come to bed yet and they have no choice. It's comical really. I don't mind getting up with Leah to go to the bathroom because I just end up going myself. She is saving me a trip later on in the night. I remember those lack of sleep nights when Seth was a baby thinking "Will this ever end?" and then when Leah was a baby I didn't mind it so much. It was special time to spend together. Now they are all grown up and they just snore all night long. The time is just going by way too fast.

Daily Inspirations

I sing very loud when I'm alone too...FYI.

What's in the CD player right now...The Wicked soundtrack.

Feel free to come sing with me, it's great for the spirit.

Daily Inspirations

Friendships are hard at any age. I listen to my 5th graders as they stress about who is mad at who and who won't talk to them. It's funny to realize that friendships are tough at all ages. Life is constantly changing on a daily basis and as I get older I truly realize that it doesn't matter how often you speak to your friends, it's the friends that you can go months without speaking to and then pick right up where you last left off like no time has passed at all. Those are the true friends. We go through so many stages in our lives and at this point with our kids growing, making new friends, playing new sports, etc you have to roll with the fact that you might not speak to those you used to on a daily basis. It doesn't mean you are mad or that you don't want to be friends any longer, but that at this stage things have changed a bit. You will definitely know which of those friendships are lasting if you can just pick up at anytime and they will be there to chat, text or get together. I also deal with the dilemma of one sided friendships. Those relationships where you feel like one side is always making the effort. How do you know when to cut your loss and realize that is just wasn't meant to be? In either event, I am truly lucky to have some wonderful lasting friendships, near and far. I cherish those that I speaking to daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

Amazing Beyond Words

I haven't seen a "real" show in a couple of years so when I was asked to go see Wicked it took me about two seconds to say YES. It was a truly amazing show and I was at the edge of my seat the entire time. Thankfully a mutal music enthusiastic burned me the soundtrack last week so I could be prepared. Now, I want to listen to it every chance I get and even found the Wicked station on Pandora. If you ever get the chance to see it GO. It was wonderful.

Show Stoppers

 Friday nights show was better than I ever dreamed and I cried through most of it. It was extra special not only because Seth was in it, but our two favorite babysitters and all around amazing young women in our kids lives were also in the show. Johanna Capone and Sara Glover have been the most amazing role models for our kids over the past year and years and it meant the world to me that Seth was in the show with them. The Stage Notes students put on the most amazing performance that I didn't want it to end. We got there really early and got front row seats. No sitting on my knees this time.

 Stage Notes Jr. students were so GREAT. They had the songs down pat and their moves were so stinking cute. I can't wait to get the DVD and watch it again as a family.

 Towards the end when the younger kids came back out Seth sat right next to Johanna for Circle of Life and I totally lost it. It was truly special.

 Thank you Sara for transforming these kids into music loving little guys. They had a blast doing the show and will miss you awful next year.

We love you Stage Notes.

Daily Inspirations

Recently they had a Glee episode where they acted out this very scene from the movie Say Anything and I instantly broke out in tears. I'm a total sap when it comes to music and romance and all that junk. You are never too old or too married for a little romance. As I look at this picture I can sing the song that goes with it. I'm totally cheesy.

"In your eyes..."

Daily Inspirations

Since I have very little time in my day to actually get to a gym I recently purchased a workout video to target some of my trouble areas. It is set up in segments so they are about ten minutes each and have various exercises and cardio to do. I should seriously shut the blinds because I have no coordination and I must look utterly ridiculous while I do it. When I came across the above poster on Pinterest I just about died laughing because Napoleon Dynamite is one of my favorite movies AND I hope I don't look that awful as I workout, but I just might. It was great for a laugh though. GOSH...

Daily Inspirations

When will this disease end, when will they raise enough money to find a cure, when will the madness stop. You often hear more people than less that have been taken from us and it isn't fair. If you need me to throw a good old fashioned temper tantrum I will because I have had enough. There are far too many people suffering from this god awful disease and or who have passed on then there should be. A wonderful, gentle and amazing person I work with lost his wife this week. She had been battling this disease for 6.5 years. She spoke to a friend of mine recently and said something that sticks out in my brain. She said that when she was diagnosed she was given 1000s of options for treatment. That lead to 100s which lead to 10 and finally she was taken too soon. She left behind an amazing husband and a beautiful 6 year old daughter. My heart has been breaking this week as I think about that family and what they are going through. It makes me also hug my kids and Ro a bit tighter and make sure they know how much I love them. Each day is a gift, keep saying it and living it. You just never know. RIP Colleen Bashaw. You will be greatly missed. For those of you battling this disease, fight your heart out and don't give up hope.

Stage Notes Jr. 2013

We are very proud of the hard work and dedication that Seth and all of the other wonderful Stage Notes Jr. kids have put forth this season. We are over the top excited to see the show tomorrow night as well. Way to go you talented kids.

Daily Inspirations

It's easy to complain about others or say unkind words, but they have lasting effects so I'm definitely thinking much more before I speak these days. I would hate to think that something I said would hurt someone in such a way so I'm being much more diligent of how I act and what comes out of my mouth so that would never happen. Less is more is my new motto for everything in my life.

Final 4

 We were so thrilled that SU made it to the Final 4 that we even decorated the house for the game. You would have though that is was Christmas day. Seth was so excited.

 We had already lined up a sitter before we knew that it was going to be a big game so we decided to go out early, watch the first game and have some drinks and appetizers. Then we headed home to watch the game with Seth. We even talked Poppy into coming over for the first half.

 Unfortunately SU lost, but it was a good game and we all had a ton of fun in our orange.

Until next year SU...

A Musical Week

 This week is extra special because it is full of music and fun. On Friday evening Seth will be part of our local Stage Notes group as they put on a show called A Salute to Broadway. He has been attending all sorts of rehearsals and he is psyched for the show.

On Saturday I am going to see Wicked in Rochester. I've wanted to see it for a long time so my dream is coming true. I've been listening to the soundtrack in the truck trying to learn some of the music and I just can't wait.

Music Week Here We Come...

A Little Get-a-Way

 Kristen invited the kids and I to a little vacation get-a-way at the end of the week. She had been invited by some hockey moms so she extended the invite to myself and the kids. I was a little nervous since I didn't know the other moms, wasn't used to driving that distance on my own or staying at a hotel without Ro, but it turned out to be a really fun experience. There was a total of 10 kids and 4 moms and everything went just great. The kids played for hours and hours in the water with no problems at all. They also slept like logs.

I think we are definitely water parked out now as moms, but I think the kids could have moved right in, they were so sad to leave.

Final 4 Prep

 On our way home from Rochester we stopped at Syracuse University and did some Final 4 shopping. Seth was thrilled to get a couple of new t-shirts as well as a sweatband like CJ Fair wears. He wore that headband every day last week. He might have even slept in it.

JOY

Daily Inspirations

Coming back from vacation has been tough at my school. We have two staff members who have close family members with either Stage 4 cancer or are on hospice. My heart feels like it is carrying the weight of the world in it and I tear up constantly as I think of these wonderful families and what they are going through. I can cook, shop for gift cards and give hugs, but it just doesn't feel like enough. I'm counting my blessings today and everyday and letting all the crappy foolish stuff in my life go. It doesn't matter. I have a happy, healthy and safe family to go home to and I plan to embrace it. Count your blessings each and everyday and let everything else go. Live, laugh and love. Each day is a gift.

The Museum of Play

 On Monday we planned to take the kids and Grandma Bonnie to The Museum of Play in Rochester. It ended up working out that Bonnie went back to Sheryl's on Sunday and then Roland took Monday off so we were all able to go together which was really fun. Leah is at the absolute perfect age for the museum so she could have stayed overnight we was having so much fun.

 We visited Sesame Street.

 We had lunch in an old fashioned diner.

 Leah's absolute favorite part of the whole museum is the mail room. She had such joy in her eyes as she pretended that she was a mail woman.

Flying the jet.

The museum was such fun and we all had smiles from ear to ear.