sunday morning rain is falling.....

It hasn't stopped raining here today. At one point, I was locked out of the house, traipsing through the water to the back yard to see if by some miracle I had left the back door unlocked (I had NOT) and as I'm walking through the lake that was my backyard, the water had come up over my ankles. Now, keep in mind, I was wearing three inch wedges and had to roll my jeans up. It was awful! I cannot remember the last time there was that much rain in such a short period of time.

So, I've got a lot to update you guys on. One, I changed shrinks!!! Yeeeee-haw! I am now going to a woman who seems very empathetic and couldn't believe the man I had been seeing said that it was my fault I was gaining weight...never mind that the medication he has had me on causes extreme weight gain. He was just rude. So, no longer seeing him. She also gave me a more detailed diagnosis and explanation as to why she was diagnosing as such.

Finally, I put our house on the market today. Just too expensive right now. Until I get busier selling, there's not a whole lot I can do about it. I'm not sad or upset or anything. In fact, kind of looking forward to not having the responsibility.

I also wanted to share a couple of pictures of Princess K from her birthday, but of course, I can't leave it at just one.
This, I just had to share because I thought the cake was SO fantastic! It's a Barbie cake.
And, finally, this picture was snapped today as we hopped in the van to go to church. Couldn't resist. She's such a cutie - I know, I'm a bit partial!!
Hope you have a Magnificent Monday!!
PS: the title of this blog is a Maroon 5 song. How appropriate!

my sweet princess k....

Well, it's happening. She's growing up. My baby. She turned three on Thursday and I saw my future, along with hers pass right before my eyes. Pretty soon she'll be a teenager. Then she'll be driving. She'll go off to college. My baby. One day she will leave our home and start a life of her own. She'll get married and have kids of her own. I only pray that I God will allow me to see it all.

She's started to look like me in a lot of ways. Makes it a little bit harder for me, to be quite honest. We don't like to punish or deny ourselves anything, right? How can I punish or deny myself at three? She's such a sweet child, but in a flash, she can be cruel (flashback to Billy Joel "Always a Woman").

It might seem like I'm favoring my girl over my boy. I don't think that's what I'm doing. It's just so different. Little Prince breaks my heart, too. They are my love, my life, my all. So not sure if I'm doing the best job of being a mom that I can. Do I yell too much? Do I give in too much? Am I making them egotistical? Am I making them have low self esteem? Am I too strict? Am I not strict enough? Am I giving them too much junk food? These are the thoughts that, seriously, I believe, keep all moms up at night.

Here's to some sleep for all of us. Goodnight. Sleep tight.

sorry if I got you fired....

but you should not have been yelling at, pushing, jerking around the girl in your care!!!

Today, I took the kids to the park and met a friend with a brand new baby. We spent HOURS there. It was a fantastic day....high 70s, very low humidity, crayola blue sky blue with a few white puffy clouds scattered around. Picture Perfect. Until my eye spots a group of mentally handicapped "kids" and their three caregivers. One of the caregivers is being absolutely ridiculous to this poor girl.

My friend and I sat and watched to see what exactly was going to happen. When the woman smacked the girl in the head (for the second time, mind you) - I decided I must call the police. This girl was sitting in the sand, and apparently the caregiver did not want her to be sitting in the grass, so she yanks on her arm to pull her up and when the girl doesn't follow the "caregiver" smacks her in the back of the head!!!

Luckily, the police took my call very seriously. VERY seriously. I was able to get the license plate number of the van they were driving and give the police the direction in which they were heading. The traced it to a home in the next city and that police department went to the house. Turns out it's a group home and the woman who owns and operates it ended up firing the "caregiver" (a term I'm using very loosely) on the spot. She filed an abuse report and called me to let me know - on another note - why did the police give her my phone number??? But anyway, she wanted to make sure I would be able to identify her if called upon. She also informed me that the kids in her care are all non-verbal so it just re-confirmed that I did the right thing.

I had a nice chat with the owner and fully believe her - I don't think she had any idea this was going on - the woman she fired had only been working for her for a few weeks, she said. Oh well. It made for exciting drama in my world. I felt like I was on some secret mission as I stood next to my minivan waiting for them to drive by so I could sneak a peek at their license plate!!

The craziest part was that I actually started to second guess myself. When I first saw them, the hairs on my neck stood up!! If that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will. But my gut was telling me something wasn't right and to keep watching. But then, after I made the call, I started saying to my self, well, if someone called the police every time I yelled at my kids, I'd be serving ten years in a state penitentiary. But then, common sense came back to me and reasoned that these are people who are being paid to care for others, number one and number two, these are children who are not competent, children who cannot and do not have anyone fighting for them.

Well, anyways, that's all she wrote. I'm exhausted, you know, with all my crime fighting, I have GOT to get some shut eye.

stop this train...

AAAACCCKKKKK!

Wanna know why the real estate industry, as a whole, is in free fall???

I have the answer. The banks...those big guys who are taking people's property back...the big guys who made the loans to begin with....yep, them. They are not willing and ready to deal. Plain and simple.

I had a deal pending that is Freddie Mac owned and they, no kidding here, were going to let the deal go because of $1100. Not $11,000 - ELEVEN HUNDRED. My buyer wasn't going to pay it. Seller's agent never disclosed that the seller wasn't going to pay the transfer tax. So, I had to make a decision. I chose the door that had a commission check behind it. I'm allowing it to come out of MY side of the commission. Totally not fair, but I'd rather have something than nothing, right? Plus, this is a client I want to LOVE me, as she'll be purchasing more....and SOON.

This debacle is what I've been dealing with for the past two days. It's very frustrating. People honestly think that Realtors do not DO anything all day long - we just drive around in expensive cars, show people a few houses and collect the big check - HA! - I wish! They have no idea what goes on behind the scenes on their behalf. Yes, we have slow periods, but when the s*&# hits the fan, you have to take care of the problem right then and there and if you don't, you don't get paid and you certainly won't be called to handle the next deal.

Okay, so the frustration is out, I've vented....for the most part. LOL At least in the business arena. The other areas? Well, I'm not allowed to write about those....LOL. I will one day though. You wait and see.

My son had his first sleep over this past weekend....Friday at our house and then he and his friend went to the friend's house on Saturday...they say they're "brothers" and decide that they're going to move into the others' homes on any given day. So cute. Best buddies they are. It's such fun to watch them develop socially, isn't it? Six months and Little Prince starts kindergarten. I can't believe it! Can't think about it now or I'll end up in tears and unable to finish typing.

Life is moving way too fast. Do you ever wish that your life could have its own soundtrack with the music swelling at all the good parts? I think that if I had a soundtrack to my life right now it would be John Mayer's (who, by the way, is my boyfriend, he just doesn't know about it yet) song...Stop This Train

No I'm not color blind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind but...
I just can't sleep on this tonight
Stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly will someone stop this train

Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off and go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't but honestly won't someone stop this train

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game to find away to say that life has just begun
Had a talk with my old man
Said help me understand
He said turn 68, you'll renegotiate
Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train

See once in a while when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark.

Singing stop this train I want to get off and go home again
I can't take this speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I'll never stop this train

(think I got 'em now)

If you don't have Continuum...download it! The entire album is awesome. But this especially, is one of my favorite songs. It's one of those where you want to be driving late at night, all alone, with the windows down on a warm summer night and the stereo turned up real loud. Or, if you're not alone, have the love of your life sitting next to you and the other loves asleep in their seats in the back. Yummy.

soccer moms rock.....

Went to see my shrink today. Not the greatest visit to date. I made him laugh. He just made me MAD. Apparently, and, well, you know, it has no reason to lie, but the scale said that I have actually GAINED THREE POUNDS. Yes, that is correct. I've been doing Weight Watchers for almost two months and have GAINED weight. Of course, HE says it's not my medications...nooooooo, couldn't be that. It's that, and I quote, 'you're not making wise food choices." That's when I wanted to take a fork and stab him in the face. But, I digress. Back to my weight.

Is this the way it's supposed to work? 'Cause, really, not diggin' it. It wasn't enough that I not only am hauling around a couple of muffin tops, but it's really turned into a four tier wedding cake around my middle. My pants are too tight, my shirts are too tight. I'm just plain uncomfortable.

I've been sticking (for the most part) to the plan...eating the number of points allotted. Maybe, though, they didn't mean that I could have as many of the cakes and fudge bars each day, maybe I'm supposed to actually eat that green stuff and lean proteins? Maybe. I don't know. I really thought that it meant I could eat like 19 of those delish cakes and would still lose weight. Can't find that answer on the message boards anywhere. So, it's back to the drawing board.

I thought I had found the solution...thought, okay, I'll take that SlimQuick stuff AND do the WW and surely, the weight will come off. Fast forward back to shrink's office where I do not admit I'm taking anything, but simply ask the question, "can I take any supplements to help me lose the weight?" I thought he was going to slap me. Of course, he had to be a kill joy and say no, that it would just speed me up even more and that is NOT what I need. Maybe that's why my heart rate was up to 102, I thought to myself - I shall never admit that little tidbit to him. So, no more pills for me, at least not that kind of pill.

OOOOOOOhhhhhh....the coolest thing happened this week, too! Came home Monday and lo and behold there was a box of the most wonderful cleaning products from Swiffer and Febreeze and Mr. Clean. I had signed up for free cleaning products if I agreed to write a review....so, I should probably do that now, for fear that if I don't, I will most assuredly forget.

So, NOW, they're making these awesome swiffer duster cloths that have the scent of lavender febreeze - so great and they really do make dusting, especially around the little areas (like in the entertainment center) much easier. AND, my favorite of all the items was the multi-purpose cleaner made by Mr. Clean with the scent of lavender febreeze - I immediately had to clean the outsides of all my kitchen cupboards. So, do I recommend? Highly. They even smell good.

As for the title of this blog.....just thought it was appropriate to say that soccer moms do, indeed, ROCK. And, by soccer mom, I mean anyone over the age of 30 who may or may not have children but are starting to get the feeling that they may or may not be acting age appropriately and then discover that other people think of them as "eeeww, soccer mom" - there should honestly be a day that is celebrated with BBQ and fireworks JUST for young, hip moms. If only I were president.

Have a GREAT weekend!