Why the hate on the 'burbs?

Here is a random thought.  What I notice, is that there seems to be a lot of "hate" on the 'burbs.  In full disclosure, I live in suburbia.  There are things I like and things I don't like about it.  So, here is my list of what there is to like and dislike about living in the 'burbs.

What I like:

• Not a lot of traffic
• Neighborhood kids for my kids to play with
• Clean
• Fairly safe
• Neighbors notice if something is not quite right. 
• A great area for outdoor exercise

What I don't like:

• Not much diversity
• There seems to be an awful lot of rules and regulations.
• Busy bees
• I have to drive to most places
• It's really hard to "bond" with neighborhood folks, when you don't watch sports or drink.
• I would love to have goats or chickens or both and obviously that's not happening around here.

Ideally, I would like to be a bit more in the country.  It seems like the hate comes from city dwellers.  So tell me, what's so great about the city?  I would like to know if there's something that I'm not seeing that I may be missing out on.

When It All Seems So Overwhelming...

Well, I've set my goals annnnnnnnnnd...I've not even started on them.  I feel like I have so much to do that I'm having a hard time setting aside the time to start my journey into minimalism.  How do I get over the hump?

Another thing I'm struggling with is my son.  He's very strong willed.  When he does something wrong and we try to discipline him he just laughs and thinks it's a game.  We've tried to put him in the corner...he leaves or he laughs when we try to keep him there.  We've tried just telling him "NO"...he doesn't listen.  We've tried slapping his hand...he laughs.  The only time he does listen is when my husband yells at him in his "briar voice".  Basically, he yells at him loudly with a deep voice.  I don't want my house to be full of yelling all the time and besides my husband isn't home all day to yell at him.

Do you have a strong willed child that's around two?  How do you discipline them?

New Leaf Project

As I said before, I'm a project person.  I'm getting ready to immerse myself into a new project.  I'm calling it the New Leaf Project.  What is it?  Well, I've decided to explore the world of minimalism.  The first thing I need to do is get rid of my crap.  I'm not going all extremist (though the temptation is there).  I'm going to start small.  I'm going to post my minimalism and health (totally different topic) goals on here.  I'm going to do this in small and hopefully attainable chunks.  It may not seem like a lot at first, since I did become inadvertently busy this summer.

Why do I want to do this?  Well, we have a large amount of debt right now.   My husband and I both feel the stress from it and we feel we never have any time.  The list of things to clean, shred, repair keep piling up and not getting done.    My hope is by having less material things we will reduce our debt, get more time and have less stress.

I'm also going to work on my fitness goals as well.  My boy is 17 months old now and I've been struggling in the "being healthy" department.  My lower back has been hurting and I recently dislocated a rib.  This has demoralized me quite a bit.  I feel if I exercise and eat smarter then I will feel better.  So here are my short term goals:

New Leaf Project:

In the next two weeks (by 7/14) I will have all of my old business stock posted for sale.

By August 1st, I will have all of our old clothes that we don't wear or it doesn't fit either for sale, sold or donated.

By September 1st, business stock should be all sold.

Fitness Me:

My goal is to lose 10 lbs by August 1st.
I will do progress pictures and measurements monthly.

What's going on?

Well, it's been about four months since I last posted.  As always, we have a lot going on.  We celebrated Montana's birthday in February with a Hello Kitty themed party.  She had a lot of little friends come and it was crazy around here.

We've been finishing up on "school box".  I would say that we are behind, but we're really only behind on the lessons that came with the curriculum.  I've relaxed quite a bit, since I've noticed that Montana already knows the stuff the curriculum is teaching.  I'm not quite sure how she jumped ahead, but it seems like a switch just flipped from "struggling" to "I got it".  We registered with our local K12 public school for her "official" kindergarten, next year.  I suspect we'll go through it pretty fast.  I think it will be nice to have some extra support.  I'm sure I'll post on how the program is working out for us.

April started morel mushroom hunting.  It was a terrible season for me.  I think part of it, is that I have a very limited amount of time that I get to go out without the kids.  Montana wouldn't be so bad, (except the whining).  However, Gibson has just started walking and I have to take him in the hiking stroller which means that I have to stay on the trails.

The first weekend in April, I took my first backpacking trip.  It was just local and beginner's trip through our local metroparks.  It was really a treat and I loved every minute of it.

I hope to get to go again soon.

Well, I'm off until next time.  Hopefully, it won't be long.

Gibson's First Birthday!

Well, today my boy turned one.  It's amazing how fast time flies.  I'm glad he's starting to get his own little personality and starting to do all those cool things, like walk, talk and feed himself.  However, it makes me be a bit sad as well.  I feel like post-partum anxiety (PPA) robbed me of his first 7 months.  He's my last baby.  I'll never have another one, and I can only really remember these last 5-6 months.  I'll never get that cuddle time back.  That breaks my heart.  At the same time, I'm so very glad that we've finally bonded.  He's so different from his sister, he's loud, rough and Daddy is his favorite.  But it just melts my heart to no end, when I walk into a room and he gives me the biggest, sweetest smile.

Happy Birthday Gibson!  You are so wonderful and we all love you so much.  You make our family complete.

Here are some pictures.

It's been a good ride but...

We are shutting www.BlueStarBaby.com down tonight.  This makes me sad but it was worth a shot.  The economy is bad, people just don't want to spend the extra money to support items made in America.  What really put the nail in the coffin was that more and more of my vendors were starting to have their products manufactured in China.  Again, it all goes back to the economy.  We still have a few items, mostly baby clothes and toys.  If you're interested in these email us at customerservice@bluestarbaby.com.

Everyone have a wonderful New Year.  Now off to our next adventure.

I’ve not posted for a long time, so here is my year in review.  It’s been a hectic year.  We had our baby boy last January.  That was something that was very hard on me.  I never really thought that post-partum depression (PPD) would ever affect me.  It wasn’t really PPD, it was more post-partum anxiety (PPA).  It took about 10 months before I really started to feel like I was getting a handle on it.  Of course it helped that the biggest stress in our lives was coming to the end.  I still have episodes but they are getting further and further apart and I definitely have better coping skills.  One of the best things I've done for myself this year was to arrange time with a professional to teach stress handling and coping skills.  For someone like me, who tries not to take medication, this was best path.

The finishing of the basement has been an elephant on our chests for over a year.  Everything was like a big block puzzle where you have to move certain pieces all around the board before you get the picture.  But now it’s done (except organizing).  Finally, little Gibson got into his own bedroom.  That’s has definitely loosened things up around here too.

I’m closing down my website www.BlueStarBaby.com.  One by one my vendors have started getting their items manufactured in China.  The economy is too poor for people to justify paying more for an item when they can get all the crappy ones for so much cheaper.  Besides, I’m homeschooling and have a baby in the house.  There is just not enough hours in the day.

Montana shot two commercials but so far, neither one has aired.  Oh well, she got paid just the same.  The experience has certainly given me insight on why movie stars think they are so important.  Everyone from the director to the cleanup crew tells you how wonderful you are all the time.  With so many people saying that, it’s almost impossible for the actors not to believe it.  I met two stage moms in my experience with Montana’s modeling.  They both had spent multiple years away from their husbands and other children to live in LA.  It’s not that they had a job already out there.  They were out there trying to get jobs.  I just don’t see how you can sacrifice your family for something like that.  Don’t get me wrong, I would spend multiple months on location with Montana, IF she already had the job.  But I would not go out there for the pipe dream, not when there is a very real family at home.  Montana also tried and disliked gymnastics.  She’s doing martial arts right now and seems to like it.  I have a feeling we’ll be back in dance before too long though.

Now that the basement is done, Bob has a bit of time to work on his own projects.  He basically built a house and he deserves a break.

Finally, my parents celebrated being married for 50 years.  What an achievement!  I love them both very much and I hope they have many more years to come.  So there it is, my year in review.

Now, I’m not one for resolutions but I’ve got a couple I want…no…NEED to do.   I’ve had a real hard time getting back into the groove of eating right and working out.  I NEED to do better at that this coming year.  Also, I need to utilize our parks and the cheap or free programs they offer.  There are things I want to do and these two resolutions will help get me there. 

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and here is to looking forward to the New Year.