Stranded now Starving

Last week marked one of two little getaways for the hubby and I. I had a work conference in Atlanta so Corey decided to tag along...after all, a free hotel room with no kids! It was quite an adventure. It took us 29 hours to get from St. Louis to Atlanta. We enjoyed an unexpected overnight stay in the Windy City since our flight got canceled. Unfortunately when they cancel your flight it doesn't mean that your luggage's flight gets canceled. Your luggage has a better chance of getting a seat on the next flight than you do.

We made the most of it with only the clothes on our back, I did have Corey stop at Vickie's on Michigan Avenue so I could pick up a pair of the necessities! We had fun riding the "L" , eating at Gino's Pizza and seeing the American Girl store for the very first time (cannot wait to take the girls).

We finally made it to the conference and Atlanta and we even had an extra day to stay and play. There really was so much drama...but I'm over it now. Here's a sampling....canceled flight, no luggage, no necessities, no standby, finally board the plane only to be told we need to deboard and reboard to a new plane, decided Joel might need a "leash" after I watched a lady at the airport with one for her kid, only room left at hotel was SMOKING = headache...). Sounds fun huh? At least we didn't have 3 kids in tow!

You're probably wondering where the starving fits in...NOW! We started the HCG diet while we were in Atlanta because the first two days of the 23 day diet consists of GLUTTONY! I'm not kidding, we made ourselves sick on honey buns, fritos, king size snickers, peanut butter M&M's, nutty bars, you name it we ate it! Those two days are to prepare yourself for 21 days of STARVING! At the end of week one I've lost 5 pounds and Corey's lost 10 (not fair). Not bad but it's going to take a little convincing to make me stick with it for 14 more days!

We have another little getaway planned to Tulsa for a children's ministry conference, I'm praying now for no drama!

Two Weeks

That's about how long since my last post and wow, a lot can happen in two weeks. Obviously we've made it out of the snow and can see grass again! I sincerely hope we don't get any more this season! We celebrated the girls birthdays, the celebration even included a special visit from my Mom. I've been keeping myself busy playing with American Girls, Dsi, loading iPods, etc.

We had a fun Valentine's Day filled with screaming, whiny kids but I still made our traditional heart shaped french toast, heart shaped brownies and expressed LOVE for each one of them (sometimes love comes in the form of discipline). Good thing Corey and I show each other love the other 364 days of the year or I might just have been disappointed. Actually we went out to a really nice dinner Friday night without the kiddos thanks to Aunt Peggy! She must have been able to tell we really needed two hours to our self with each other! Valentine's Day is one of my most favorite holidays. I just love showing love for all of the special people in our life. I didn't show as much love this year as I usually do (i.e. valentine cards, dinners to extended family, etc.). My lack of time to put into it might have something to do with me being back to work full-time but that's about to change!

Yesterday my baby girl turned 5! We also registered for Kindergarten yesterday too. She's so excited to go the school with Aly. Of course all day was about celebrating Ashley and her attitude definitely showed it! Thank goodness that's over. She actually got a spanking yesterday while her little friend was over for having a bad attitude and being hateful to her sister. When I walked out of my room with the wooden spoon Corey laughed and said "I don't think that's what they mean when they say you're going to get a birthday spanking"!

Now on to my exciting news. I love working again and having a career! 40 hours a week...not loving that so much. I've been struggling with this for awhile now and about 6 months ago I approached my boss about working 4 days a week, she told me "no can do". Well last week started off as a challenging week but within 24 hours she pulled me into her office and relieved me of managing a couple of small fundraising events that were taking too much of my time and pulling me away from the family for night meetings. She gave me 4 days a week and told me I solely get to focus on the Walk at Busch Stadium! So here's to being off every Friday starting next week!

Exciting news part 2...Corey and I are headed on a couple of little conference getaways within the next few weeks. There will be work to do at these conferences but plenty of playtime...without kiddos. I guess it's belated Happy Valentines Day! Pictures to come!

Cabin Fever?

I told Corey at 10 last night that "I already have cabin fever"! I'm sure it's because I know I can't go anywhere. What should I do? I kind of feel like when you're a little kid and you tell you're mom "I'm bored" and mom says "go clean your room". No thanks. If my half day at home yesterday was any indication of what today is going to be like here is the rundown:

Morning = "Mom, I'm hungry".
Mid-Morning = "Mom, I'm hungry, I need a snack".
Lunch time = "Mom, I'm hungry, what's for lunch".
1 hour after lunch (I'm still in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast) = "Mom, I need a snack".
Mid-Afternoon = "Mom, I need a drink" (yeah, me too).
While I'm cooking dinner = "Mom, I NEED a snack, I'm starving".
Dinner = "eww, what's this"?
Cleaning up dinner dishes = "Mom, can I have dessert"
An hour later = "Mom, now can I have dessert"?
Bedtime = "Mom, I need a drink" (yeah, I'm still waiting for mine too)

I'll let you know how this works out!