If You're Feeling Hopeless After the Election...

Know that you're not alone.  I feel that despair and concern for others as well.  And so do many, many of your fellow Americans.  Know that the majority of us did not vote for Mr. Trump.  And I'm not just talking about the 3 million additional people who voted for Mrs. Clinton.  I'm talking about all those who voted for a third party candidate or didn't vote at all because they were not sold on any of the candidates.

While it is difficult to find hope in this tumultuous time, it's there if you look hard enough.

After the election, I started looking at voter demographics.  I was interested in knowing who voted for Mr. Trump and I thought looking at the demographics may help me understand why.  While it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to understand why anyone voted for him, I found it refreshing to learn that only 37% of 18-29 year olds and 42% of 30-44 year olds voted for Trump.  There is hope for the future.

This election has inspired more women and more progressives to run for office.  I think this world absolutely needs more of both groups in politics.  I know so many strong, inspirational women.  Women who have what it takes to be leaders and inspire change.  Be that change you wish to see.  While running for office isn't my passion at this time, if it's something that interests you, by all means, go for it!  Now is as good a time as any!  Gather information and run for a local position.  http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/12/since-the-election-more-than-4-500-women-have-signed-up-to-run-for-office.html

The Women's March was incredibly inspiring.  Millions of women peacefully joining forces to fight discrimination.  It was an amazing sight to behold and made me so proud.  No arrests were made and the only criticisms I've seen of the March were complaints of signs left behind (eye roll) and vulgar language on signs (you're ok with inappropriate language when it comes from the President, but not when it appears on a sign?).

It was awesome to see protesters and lawyers rush to airports to show their support and offer their services to those attempting to enter our country from the seven banned countries.  There will always be heroes who stand out in times of desperation.

Don't be afraid to call your representatives and senators or send them an email.  I'm not much of a talker, but there are actually scripts available if you're not sure where to start or what to say.  Keep your stance clear and your message brief (no need for lengthy dialogue on the many reasons you feel the way you do).  Be empowered and make your voice heard! http://echothroughthefog.cordeliadillon.com/ The phones in Washington D.C. are ringing off the hook and it's inspiring to know that people care enough to contact their politicians.  As strange as it sounds, follow Michael Moore on FB - he always has suggestions and action items if you want to participate.

Do yourself a favor and take a break from social media.  I need to follow my own advice on this one.  The recent news regarding Mr. Trump's immigration ban had me in tears and there were times I had to just avoid the news and Facebook altogether to stay sane.  If you are using social media to voice your concerns, PLEASE, PLEASE stick to sharing facts and be respectful.  I've seen so much misinformation post election.  I think articles from reliable news sources are usually safe to share, but if you're sharing a video, check to be sure the message being relayed is accurate.  Remember, everyone has an opinion and anyone can create a video.  Just because something is said, doesn't mean it's true.  Feel free to (nicely) point out inaccuracies when someone else shares something false.  Misinformation hurts everyone.  I've also started unfriending or unfollowing people who are disrespectful and hiding my political posts from certain Trump fans who always feel the need to argue with me.  I get it.  We have a difference of opinion, but you sharing yours on my post will not make me change my opinion - it's just better for both of us if they never see my political posts.

Discuss your thoughts with friends and family.  Feel free to send me an email if you need to vent.  I always feel better when I share my concerns and worries with others who can empathize.  We're in this together.

When all else fails, eat your weight in jelly beans.  That's what I've been doing lately. ;)

Together we rise.  Stay strong. <3

Weekend Recap

I live for the weekends and luckily this was a good one!  I was so so tired Friday and really hoped for a good night’s sleep.  Naturally, S woke at 5am on Saturday morning.  I can’t even remember who went to get him from his crib, but one of us brought him back to our bed and by some miracle, he fell back asleep.  I actually got to sleep (with the exception of the 5am wake up) until around 7am.  It was glorious. 

I took S to school and once again, we both had a great time.  S got lots of compliments on his hair color and his mocs. J  While S and I were at school, A took W to swim lessons.  Apparently W’s swim instructor said W was doing really well and complimented his swimming.  I’m so proud of him.  I just want him to be safe in/around water, but I’m so happy we’ve found an activity that he enjoys.

Saturday evening, we attended church and then went to the chili cook off immediately following mass.  A picked up McD’s for himself and the boys, even though I think S would’ve been just fine with hot dogs and chili.  We had fun trying the different types of chili and visiting with our church friends.

Sunday, we went to Starbucks and then I took W on a date. J  We went on a tour of the Jelly Belly warehouse and visited the Jelly Belly store.  We had to wait a while for the tour and there was a long line of people.  W mentioned that he had to go to the bathroom (of course!) and I told him that if we went, we’d have to go to the back of the line.  I asked if he could hold it and he told me he’d try.  The tour consisted of riding a little train and it would stop every few feet so that we could watch a video on how jelly beans were made.  I could tell that W wasn’t interested in the videos, but he liked riding the train and seeing how big the warehouse was.  When we got off the train, he exclaimed, “I held my pee the entire time!” Haha!  He later told me, “I didn’t like that the train kept stopping.  I was thinking I have to pee, I have to pee…”.  Bahahahaha.  After visiting the bathroom, we checked out the store and W loved seeing all the different types of jelly beans.  He chose gummy bears as his treat.  I know… you’re supposed to choose jelly beans at the Jelly Belly store… oh well.  After that, it was off to the Rainforest Café for lunch.  We had so much fun chatting together, taking in the scenery and sharing French fries.  I really enjoy spending time with him.

Once we got home, I tried to clean up a bit (pointless) and A and I caught up on This is Us (what’s with the horse guy?!?).  Minus the political atrocities (which I’d like to discuss at some point, but it just makes me want to cry), it was a really great weekend.  

Friday Thoughts... Work, work, work

What a week!!  I'm in desperate need of a nap, but we all know that won't happen.  And this is strange, but my upper eye lid has been twitching for a month.  It's SO annoying.  I read that one of the culprits may be caffeine.  I don't necessarily consume a lot of caffeine, but trying to avoid it.  So super tired and no caffeine... yikes.

Anyway.  I flew to Cincinnati on Wednesday for a business meeting.  I'm ecstatic that none of my flights were delayed - delays seem to happen often when I fly to Cincy (especially in January).  One of my colleagues had seen the Taste of Belgium on the Food Network so we went for breakfast and I indulged in this Belgian chocolate and cream waffle.  Holy amazing!!

I wore Stitch Fix to my business meeting and felt professional, but still young and current.  I felt like me! :)  Top from Fix #13 and blazer from Fix #5.

I know... terrible picture

The meeting was really productive - I always feel motivated and inspired after an effective meeting.  I was a bit intimidated going into it because I was surrounded by Executive Directors and VPs, but I think (hope) it went well.  And I finally made it home around 10:15pm last night.

In other work news, I'm SO excited to report I'll be traveling to France and Belgium in June.  I'm a little hesitant to say that since I was supposed to travel to Switzerland last fall and it didn't work out.  BUT my hotel is already booked for June so that's further than I ever got with the Swiss trip.

Looking forward to a relatively low key weekend!  I need it!

Weekend Recap

My goodness… what a weekend!!  It was so much fun (albeit exhausting).

But first, I want to mention that my little blog was featured on the Stitch Fix Reviews page.  Check it out!!  I was completely surprised and flattered when I received an email from Stitch Fix letting me know.  Maybe this will inspire me to take better pictures. ;)

Our weekend started out with quite possibly the saddest conversation I’ve ever had (don’t worry… things get better after this).  I was tucking W into bed on Friday night as I always do.  He had had a meltdown prior and I knew he was overtired.  As I was saying goodnight, W asked me, “Mommy are you going to die some day?”  The question totally caught me off guard and I wanted to be honest so I told him that yes, I would die someday, but not for a VERY VERY VERY long time and it was something he shouldn’t worry about since it would not happen for a really long time.  He then burst into tears telling me that I was his best friend and he would miss me so much.  So clearly I should have just lied (I’m kidding… maybe).  It was heart breaking.  I assured him that I would be around for a long time and suggested that we go on a special Mommy/W outing together. 

Here’s the thing… We are very overprotective of our kids and I don’t think I’ve ever used the term “die”.  Even when my mom’s cat died, I carefully told W that her cat was no longer here because he was very sick.  I know kids pick up on things and we occasionally have the news on television, but I was still surprised by the question.  I asked W where he heard about dying and he told me church?!?  We go to church every Sunday, but the boys read, have snacks, play, etc.  I never ever thought he was paying attention and understood the meaning of dying.  Crap.  Anyone else have experience with this?

Luckily, Saturday was a great day and there was no more talk of dying.  A took W to swim lessons and it went well once again.  I took S to school and he did awesome.  He painted, played at the sand table, poured rice in the sensory bin, and played with cars.  He was so well behaved.  The only time he got fussy was when I told him it was time to leave.  The weather was amazing that day.  55 degrees!!  In January!?!  Unheard of.  On a whim, A and I decided to take the boys to a local zoo since the weather was so great.  I absolutely love this particular zoo – inexpensive, small, playground, and about 45 minutes from home.  We were able to time the trip perfectly so that S slept the entire way there.  The boys loved watching the monkeys and W even got to see an owl!  The car ride home was a little more challenging, but S only cried for about 5 minutes, which I can handle.  Such a fun day!
 

Sunday started off with church and a trip to Starbucks.  Then, A and I headed out to view the World Series trophy.  We had to wait in line outside for about 3 hours.  It was 45 degrees, so tolerable and not at all bad for January.  The Cubs fans in line were friendly and we brought lawn chairs to sit in.  The 3 hours actually went relatively quickly.  The first 500 people in line were guaranteed to see the trophy and we were in the 300 range.  Once we got into the building, things moved quickly.  We were only close to the trophy for about 10 seconds, but I’m so excited that we had the opportunity to see it.  As silly as it sounds, this was one of my goals for the year.  And I accomplished it in January!!  Such an overachiever. ;)  Afterwards, we stopped for a quick lunch.  W and I went grocery shopping and I made my famous mac and cheese for dinner.  A wonderful, very full weekend in the books.

Friday Thoughts

If there is one thing I can't stand, it's internet trolls.  The kind of people who post offensive/disrespectful comments on anything - blogs, Facebook, news articles, etc.  The internet has given people a sense of anonymity and some take it as an opportunity to be rude, judgmental, and condescending.  And it's increased immensely since the election.  Hate speech and free speech are two very different things.  I'm fine with a difference of opinions (and believe me, I've partaken in many discussions on controversial subjects), but I'm not fine with disrespect.  Rant over.

Moving on...

W has been so funny lately.  I love his expressions... "Mommy, you are going to be so surprised when I tell you my snack today; you are not going to believe it!".  He occasionally calls A and I Mayor Daddy and Mayor Mommy.  "You look handsome today, mommy!"

Speaking of W, I said something really stupid to him the other day.  He fell at school and when I arrived to pick him up, he was sitting on a chair with his leg up, icing his knee.  I asked if he cried and he told me no.  I then said, "Well, you are very brave."  Immediately, I realized my mistake.  The next day he fell and started crying and between tears, he said, "I am not brave anymore!".  It broke my heart and I quickly explained that crying does not mean you are not brave and it's definitely ok to cry when you're hurt or upset.  I told him I thought he was VERY brave.  It was an important lesson in choosing my words carefully - especially around little ones who are always listening.

I follow a few different bloggers who share their Stitch Fix items among other great fashion finds and I always wonder if they continue wearing their Stitch Fix pieces after sharing them on the blog.  I can assure you that I wear my Stitch Fix clothing all the time.  Case in point (this was in one week)...

1.  Top from Stitch Fix 5

2.  Vest from Stitch Fix 11

3.  Jeans from Stitch Fix 11 (one of my favorite pairs of jeans EVER)

4.  Top from Stitch Fix 3

I also wore this outfit recently (top from Stitch Fix 3) and the black jeans I received in my most recent fix have become a wardrobe staple.

So YES, I love Stitch Fix and wear the clothing I've received very often.

Weekend Recap

First things first.  Shout out to Amanda at My Show.  I’ve been following her blog since I was pregnant with W.  Our kids are close in age and we both work full time so I feel like I can relate to her and I enjoy reading her perspective.  Anyway, she had a contest for a gift card and I won!!  I NEVER win anything.  EVER.  So that was super exciting.  Check out her blog!!

If I had to pick one word to describe the weekend it would be hectic.  I think S must be going through the terrible twos because whoa… he was challenging.  Saturday started out with swim lessons for W.  That went really well according to A and I’m so happy W is enjoying it.  After swimming, W and A met up with S and I at a local restaurant.   I ordered S an apple juice in a straw cup, which was a huge mistake.  He had a fit when A tried to help him hold the cup down (as opposed to his method  of tipping it so the juice spilled all over).  We didn’t realize how much juice he was actually drinking (on a somewhat empty stomach) so when I took W to the bathroom, S projectile spit up all the juice all over the table.  Yet another example of my kids puking more than anyone else. :|  During the course of lunch, W had to pee 3 different times and S had another fit when we told him to sit.  I ended up taking him to the lobby.  Luckily the restaurant was pretty empty and no one seemed to notice.  Not sure what was going on with him – he’s usually great and we’ve been to that restaurant many times.

I know he looks innocent, but don't be fooled!

After that fiasco, we decided that A would take S home for a nap and I would take W to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping.  Well, S screamed the entire way home and refused to nap.  W was great at the grocery store and so helpful.  I definitely got the better end of the deal. 

After shopping, W and I picked up S and A and headed to the salon.  Both boys really needed a haircut.  You can probably guess how that went.  For some reason, the lady kept trying to use clippers on S and he was terrified of them.  Not sure why she continued to try.  W proclaimed that he liked his hair the way it was and did not want a haircut.  He had the salon laughing at him.  All throughout his haircut (which was 15 minutes tops), he whined and fake cried.  I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

We finally got home and I discovered that Addie had pooped in the house.  A went to unload the groceries and upon opening the trunk, the orange juice fell out and spilled all over the driveway.  Geesh.  At that point, I was ready to be done with the day.  I can’t even remember if we had dinner that night (pretty sure we did).

Sunday, church and Starbucks were great.  Both boys were awesome and S took an early nap.  That afternoon, we headed out for a get-together with A’s side of the family.  It took us an hour to get there and the boys do not do well when they’re in the car for a while (we could never handle a road trip!).  For the last 15 minutes, S was screaming and W was yelling because S was screaming.  It was awful.  And we seriously got every traffic light red.  When we finally made it, the boys were pretty good, but S just wanted to run around and climb the stairs.  Luckily, we had a room all to ourselves so it worked out pretty well (except for when S escaped to climb stairs).  The ride home was even worse.  We had to stop twice so that W could pee.  S screamed for at least half of the drive.  Maybe it’s just me, but I find kids crying in the car to be extremely stressful.  There was no way to make S feel better – he just wanted out and I felt helpless.  I offered snacks, drinks, my phone, sang to him – nothing worked.  And then W started up because he didn’t want to listen to S crying.  It was really bad.  No more long car rides any time soon.  On the bright side, no one puked.  So there’s that.

This picture has nothing to do with anything... Thursday was International Kiss a Ginger Day so I participated.

When we got home, we brought our things in and I basically collapsed in the chair.  Addie had to go out and A got his coat on and grabbed her leash.  She looked at him and walked over to me.  I said “Addie, aren’t you going out?”  She hopped on my lap, gave me a kiss, and then hopped off and headed out with A.  It was really cute.  Dogs always know how you’re feeling. :)  I think I’m actually happy to be at work today…

Friday Thoughts

The new year has brought a few challenges our way.  A’s car wouldn’t start one day and we had to call a tow truck.  It turned out to be the battery, as we suspected.  For some unknown reason, A was unable to jump start his car, hence the tow truck.  We also had to purchase new tires and A also needs new brakes.  He’s not the best at maintaining his car. :\  Then we received a call from the tenants in our townhouse.  Apparently one of the pipes to the toilet leaked and soaked through the floor so there is a large water mark on the ceiling below.  Seriously?!?  I know these are just inconveniences, but still very frustrating.  And I’m sure that will be a costly repair.  I look forward to the day we can sell that house.  Unfortunately, right now, I think we’d just break even on what we owe.  Damn housing market crash.  Oh, and did I mention our property taxes for the townhouse (which is hilarious because townhouse = NO PROPERTY) increased and we have to pay an extra $250/month?  What.the.heck??

Since our failed FET, there is a pregnant lady everywhere I go.  I’m not even joking.  Grocery store, restaurant, Starbucks, library, church...  On the day of my blood test, I was leaving work and a colleague stopped me in order to introduce me to his daughter who just so happens to be pregnant with twins.  Impeccable timing.  And why does she get two??  While I’m learning to accept our situation and I think I’m doing well all things considered, I’d be fine without the constant reminders that I am not having a baby and everyone else seemingly is.

So happy it’s Friday, but not so happy that we have a really busy weekend ahead.  Here’s hoping I can find some downtime.  Also hoping that A and I can catch up on This is Us.  Love, love that show!

How about something a bit more uplifting?  Both boys love when I pretend to be a monster and chase them around the house.  S has starting asking to be chased by yelling Ma!, grabbing my hand, and then running from me while looking back to make sure I’m in pursuit.  Their little legs move as fast as possible through the kitchen and living room, while laughing the entire time.  It’s something I never want to forget.

When I dropped W off at school today, two of his teachers asked how dinner was on Wednesday?  Apparently they had commented on W looking so dapper and inquired why he was dressed up.  He told them it was because he was having dinner at the country club.  I can’t stop laughing.  Technically we did have dinner at the country club, but it’s very casual, dinner is buffet style, and we are the only patrons under 80 years old.  We all love going because the people we meet are incredibly kind and dinner is delicious and cheap.  It does not require dressing up – we all wear jeans, but I love that W thought he should look the part.  Bahahaha!!  The truth is I love dressing up the boys.  I figure I only have so much time before they have their own opinions on what to wear.  Also I wish I was princess Kate and love dressing the boys like they’re ready for a play date with Prince George. ;)

Happy Friday!

We started wearing our valentine gear... Eligible bachelors in the house! :)