Trying new things.

My name is Maggie, and I've always hated tomatoes. I can tell you stories about picking the L & T off of BLTs on more than one occasion. Once, my mom got so angry, she made me sit at the dinner table until I finished my BLT as it was served. I sat there until bedtime.

Last night, my husband and I went to a local Greek restaurant. It was $5 gyro night. I've never had a gyro. Gyros come with tomatoes. Oh, man! How much new stuff can I handle in one night? I'd recently had tomatoes at a party, so I took the plunge. Kinda. I ordered a chicken gyro - baby steps. Lamb was too much. But I enjoyed the chicken gyro, tomatoes and all, so maybe next time I'll try lamb!

Or maybe not.

Happiness.

I'm truly inspired by the people behind tinybuddha.com, happiness-project.com, and the like. However, when I read entries, I only partially relate. I feel like they're all "beyond" me. As if their version of "I lose my temper with my family" and mine is vastly different.  Mine includes pursing my lips so tightly my eyes bug out of my head. I feel like theirs exclusively includes the word "gosh."

These are unfounded feelings of inferiority that I should explore in a post, right?

But really, what I'm saying is, I'm beginning this betterment journey, and one day I hope to keep my wits about me while muttering "gosh" as my children behave in a manner that used to summon threats of carnival lives. Really, they're kids, and they're only gosh darn kids once.

Party.

Smashing success!

I know you were concerned. That's why I'm making it a point to check in.

First guest arrived around 345pm, last guest left around midnight. There were 22 attendees, including us. We wound down the night with a bonfire and s'mores.  Really? I couldn't have asked for a better event.

Next year, maybe it won't rain for the 24 hours leading up to it so we can use the patio cushions. Maybe...

Ice Cream.

So I make ice cream. I'm relatively new to this, as I only got my mixer and attachment two months ago, but I absolutely love it! At first I found all my recipes on Pinterest. This was gong well until something that claimed to be "Cold Stone Cake Batter." Apparently whoever came up with that recipe has never eaten at Cold Stone.

So I bought Ben & Jerry's book. There are at least two other books on my wishlist, but I knew these guys knew ice cream. I was so right! Heath bar crunch? At home whenever I wanted? Genius!

Last night I ventured into realms I didn't know possible. I used the Ben & Jerry Sweet Cream Base and came up with my own recipe from there. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, but I licked the beater and it was delightful!

Tonight I'm adding a vanilla bean to Ben & Jerry vanilla recipe. I'm so cray.

Instant Gratification.

Dr. Husband (who is not a doctor) said my shoulder blade is probably sore because I walk like Igor. He didn't use those words but the meaning was there. So I discussed his diagnosis with Dr. Internet, and she seems to agree.

Dr. Internet suggested some exercises to correct my posture and, hopefully, my pain. I started them last night and, would you believe it, I'm not cured! Isn't that some BS? That's the problem with choosing physical therapy over medication, though - it takes some time to see results. 

I should probably still go to a doctor, though, as I'm not sure Dr. Internet knows what she's talking about. She also suggested a shoulder pain support group in my area. It is not that serious.

Complaining.

I have a sore shoulder blade today. I'm pretty sure I got it from working out. Isn't that discouraging!?

The first thing out of my mouth this morning was a complaint. "I don't want to go to work today." "My alarm is the worst sound ever."

I got on Tiny Buddha as soon as I could (on my bus ride in) and was able to right the ship, but the shoulder blade? Phew! That sucker is jacked up. If you see me giving you a pained look, I'm probably not offended by your existence. Probably.

Shifts.

I swear I'm happier. Maybe because I've decided to force myself to remain aware of my thoughts. When they turn negative, I attempt to shift them. Or maybe because life hasn't gone over shit mountain in a while.

Baby steps.

You'll never guess what! The plumbers didn't care that my kitchen was messy.

Let's rewind to yesterday so we can all take this journey together. When I left you, I was slightly stressed over not cleaning my kitchen before the 5pm plumber arrival. I was secretly hoping they'd be late and I would have time to get things tidy.

I'm walking to my car at 430 when the borderline unthinkable happens: the plumbers call. They're in my driveway...30 minutes early. When will I be home? Give me 15 minutes, I tell them, and I race home.

But guess what happens when I get home! The plumbers went to the laundry room and got to work. They never gave a second glance to my kitchen.

I cleaned, without running water, while they worked, and I began to think, "Self, maybe you need to calm your silly ass down." So I followed Deepak Chopra on Twitter. Then I unfollowed, because...no thanks.

Baby steps.

Getting shit done.

I'm unhappy with the amount I'm accomplishing in a day. I spend about 11 hours away from my house, 7.5 hours sleeping and an hour getting ready every morning.

This leaves 4.5 hours to accomplish everything else. Things like making dinner, taking kids to whatever commitment, submitting to Jillian Michaels' 30 Day of Soul Sucking, watering the plants.  I also aim to wash and dry one load of laundry each weeknight. I have yet to accomplish that goal this week.

I have yet to accomplish a lot. Yesterday, while my husband took our oldest son to music lessons, I made a quart of vanilla ice cream and turned it into Drumsticks with the help of Pinterest. Then I made dinner and had it on the table when the boys got back. Problems? The dishwasher was already running, I created a boatload of new dishes, and I have plumbers expected at 5pm today, which happens to be the moment when I will be walking in the door.

Sorry, plumbers, not enough time in the day. By the time I finished cooking and serving up everything, it was 830pm. My back hurt, so I went and watched Sons of Guns. My show was more important than impressing you with a tidy kitchen.

My initial complaint is the correct one, I think. I'm not accomplishing enough. I would like to to wake up early (lol, I don't wake up early ever), go for a run (lol, I don't run currently), come back and have time to pull myself together nicely.

I'm torn. How much should I be accomplishing in a day? If I don't take that time to unwind before bed, I'll go crazy. Waking up early makes me grouchy.

Bad.

I'm a bad blogger. Not because I don't have anything to say, but because I never think to share it. Recently I've been thinking about becoming more active on here, so I'm going to see if I can do it.

Ya know, in the early 2000s, before blogging was cool, I maintained maggiediane.com. I'm not new to this. I'm just 10 years out of practice.

DrawSomething

You should play DrawSomething with me. User name: maggiediane

I got my dad playing on Easter. I keep about 15 games going. Fun little app!

I'm back.

I deleted the blogger app a while ago because I really didn't feel I was posting anything of merit. Then I remembered, I'm writing for me! So welcome back, Maggie! Where to even begin?

Well, I'll just skip straight to the kitchen update. I got the itch to update the kitchen in March 2012. We moved in in January 2011 & replaced the counters, sink, faucet & drawer pulls in April of that year. I'd been tossing around the idea of a backsplash and paint ever since, but never found a tile sheet to get the ball rolling.

Until March. I was browsing online on a Saturday night, bought the tile on Sunday, installed it (myself!) the next Saturday. Decided on a paint color over the next two weekends, and painted the last weekend in March.

The new dining table is on order; it'll be here in May. There are a few more finishing touches the room still needs, but I'm in love with the progress over the last year!