MY LITTLE JOY

In a house full of misery there has been one bright spot lately. And that bright spot has a name - Little Butt.  Her facial expression, her use of sentences and her tone of voice has been a great joy to me recently.

Like the time she walked up to me and said "mama I have boobee, I need to go to doctor."  If you hadn't guessed, boobee is booboo. She was in a way telling me that we had been to the doctor way too many times in the last month!  I love it when Mr Insane and Miss Crazy are misbehaving and she will sigh as if the weight of the world is on her shoulders and then yell "Stop it beebee and brubber!
One day I just about peed myself laughing when one of the younger kids got 'hurt' and started unnecessarily screeching, Little Butt sighed that ever present sigh and said "you big faker"

And then there are the times where the kids will be listening to music and she starts singing along.  She sounds so cute singing the words in her own little two year old accent. And then I look at her and smile and she turns all shy and ducks her head and stops singing.  That part makes me sad because I want her to sing all the time, toddler accent and all. The song that she seems to like singing the most lately is In My Head by Jason Derulo. I use it to help increase my typing speed and she picked up on it and will have us play it multiple times in an hour.

And then there is the cute as hell smart assery. The other day she asked for a popsicle and I said "you don't need a popsicle" and she said "I need popsicle." and I said "why are you hungry?" and She said "No, I need popsicle cause I want one. Now! Mommy." Yeah, cute but after we had a 'being polite' talk I sent her out of the room and laughed, again, until I almost peed. (give me a break, I've had 5 kids, I pee when I breathe too deep.)

My oldest daughter and I spent most of last evening just looking at Little Butt and smiling over her antics.  I didn't' think to write down stuff she did and my memory sucks lately but I remember my smile rarely leaving my face all because of the cute little girl who steals my heart again and again every time she opens her mouth.

Until Next Time...enjoy the fun things your kids do and don't forget to write some of them down for future memories.  You'll be glad you did when you can relive the good times.

Update on my health product adventure - 

Well I've had to postpone the  weight loss stuff because I can't swallow very well with this sore throat i've developed so it will have to wait a few days.  I have started on the other supplements and boy am I glad I did.  I'm sleeping great!  My legs are strong again (hips still bad but that will be all weight loss). I can actually go shopping without pooping out after a couple of aisles.  My legs were strong enough for me to go to my son when he was crying out. I didn't have to send Gwen to do it!!!!  I can actually get up and prepare my supplements or prepare a drink without being in so much pain I can't function http://www.omnitrition.com/jjellis

afterwards.  I think I am on the right track with this product and I can't wait to try more.

BURNOUT - JUST ME? - AND A HEARTFELT THANKS TO MY READERS

Why is everyone burning out?  It seems that everyone I know is on a burnout course right now.  I know I sure am, not with my writing thank goodness, but because everyone around me is burning out.

 The Senior has just about had it with the stress of being a graduating senior (and other stresses she tends to put onto herself). She is losing weight because of it all and she's had it with that. She was perfect the way she was before. She loves school, she always has, but she is ready for it to be done.  I know she will miss her friends and teachers at her school, but she is done with this year.  I hope she is/will soon be excited about the new life she is starting!

The freshman is burning out.  She had a teacher who completely undermined her confidence (and that teacher will be hearing from me.) so now she has pretty much given up on this semester and I am having to play the bad guy to get her back on track for the last three weeks of school.  She is so ready to be done done done.

Miss Crazy loves school and is good at it and has a great time with her classmates, but she is also ready to be done. More often than not she would be totally willing to stay home (and yes i've checked to make sure nothing is going on at school to make her feel that way) 

Mr. Insane is pretty much done with being stuck in the house with his bratty sisters and can't wait until his friends arrive for the summer so he can have male companionship. 

Little Butt thank goodness hasn't burned out on anything, but then again she is only 2.  As long as she has my Kindle Fire and youtube she is happy as can be.  

The hubs is also burning out, on his job and where we live and everything else. Hell, even our friends seem to be burning out.  A lady I know lives for taking her kids to school and driving them anywhere they need to go, and for some reason, this year she just can't wait for summer so she gets a break.  She has even ruled out anything but home play for the first two weeks of Summer Vacation.  She is done this year!

So, what is causing this burnout?  I guess it could be anything really, but why so many people experiencing it at the same time. The crazy weather? The economy? Life circumstances? Something in the water? I really just don't know.  I figured for us it is a bit of the crazy weather (just a couple weeks ago we still had a foot of snow and on May 1st we had 3 inches.) a bit life circumstances (We really just want to move away from here! One kid is graduating! Family is visiting! One kid is starting Kindergarten in the fall! Our lives are about to change forever because of ages and milestones!) But that doesn't explain why so many people are experiencing it too.  

So, here is what i've come up with. It is social media. You see, before I started doing this blog and selling my books, I had a very limited view of the world and limited contact with others, but now I am exposed to so many different things and different people that I just notice this stuff more. It's probably always happened off and on, but I never noticed until I became saturated in social media. I will not complain though because I truthfully don't know what I would do without you guys. This is my new life and I love it.  I'm sad that people seem to be burning out but other than being there for them (as a mom, wife, email recipient if any of you would like to chat, blog reader, online friend etc.) there isn't much I can do.  I will continue to keep trying to inspire, humor and relieve everyday pressures for my readers and fans.  I hope you will continue to join me three times a week to get some stress relief!

Until Next Time...If you find yourself burning out hang tight. Find one thing you can do (even if it is only for ten minutes) to relieve some of the monotony in your life. You could also talk to friends or family, or write things down in a private journal or public blog.  It won't last forever if you can just take a short moment to breathe and realize how lucky you are.  That's what i've been doing for years.  Thank goodness I have this blog or I would be a crispy shell of the woman I am now - you all are my stress relief, my way of not staying burned out. THANK YOU ALL!!!

PRETTY COLORS AND SWIRLIES OH MY

I have a new addiction/obsession. I didn't plan on it, but it happened and it slowly taking over my free time.  You see I received a Kindle Fire as a gift and I thought I would be spending a lot of time on it catching up with my midnight reading or playing four pictures one word types of games and maybe watching the occasional movie with my free month of Amazon Prime.  Well you know, I've done a bit of that stuff, but how do I spend a majority of my free time these days???

Playing with the Kaleidoscopic drawing app.  I basically sat there for hours the other day when I was under the weather running my finger over the touch screen again and again and again.. (See and you folks didn't think I had an exciting life...haha!) How can it not be fun right?  Colors and swirlies and mirror images oh my!

It used to be when I would come home from going somewhere I would get on the computer to market this blog or my books and check all of my stats obsessively (Yeah, I talked about that last time I think).  Well, the last few days I head straight for my kindle and my kaleidoscope app. Who cares if I'm going to sell books right? Umm well I actually do care and I have kept up with the marketing, just maybe not as religiously as I should.  I am proud to say that I haven't been checking my stats obsessively :)  (Are you proud of me?).

So how did I realize that I was addicted/obsessed or whatever you call it?  When one of my kids asked if they could have a turn on my kindle (yes I downloaded stuff for them and in fact the kaleidoscope was supposed to be theirs). I grabbed the damn kindle and held it to my chest and cried..."No! Leave me alone, I'm drawing!"  Um yeah, I think it's time I revisit my priorities here.  I have vowed to let my kids use the kindle more (okay, once  day each if they behave) The rest of the time it is MINE!!!  I must see the colors and pretty swirlies, I must see the colors and pretty swirlies, I must see the colors and... Oh um, sorry about that.  I am hoping that some day I can put the kindle down and get back to life as I know it....Kids, Husband, Marketing, Writing and REPEAT. ( See, I told you that you didn't think I had an exciting life!)

Until next time... We all have our little obsessions/addictions but they usually go away with time.  So I guess I'm trying to say enjoy it while you can because eventually life will come back to you and intrude...and then it is onto the next one! ;) (And check out the kaleidescope app, it's hella fun! )

ANONYMOUS

Nowadays you sometimes wonder if there are any generous people left on the planet.  There is so much murder, self righteousness, judgement and meanness here. It is kind of sad really.  And then someone does something out of the blue to help someone, or just plain make someone's day better.  I was graced with one of these wonderful people just the other day.

I was going about my business, working on the social media blitz for my novel, (failing miserably thus far :/) when I received a notice on my Facebook. Someone I knew as a fellow February 2011 mom had tagged me in a post.  It seems that someone had anonymously bought me a portrait of my Rizzy girl. (I'd been trying to win a free one for her last two or three facebook contests!)  If you don't know about Rizzy, go check out this post about her here PLEASE FORGIVE ME.

Needless to say, I was floored!  I cried, I giggled, I was speechless (yeah I know, never happens right?) I couldn't believe someone had been kind enough to do this for me.  Someone really understood how much Rizzy meant to me and how much I miss her to this day. I thanked the portrait artist and asked her to pass along a great big thank you to whoever bought this wonderful keepsake for me. I wish there was more I could do for this person, but other than mentioning them in my upcoming book and writing this blog post, I don't know what else I could do.  But like many generous people, they probably don't need more than a basic thank you.  I know when I give from my heart, I don't need anything in return.  Seeing (or hearing about) tears, a smile, a grateful receiver is more than enough.  So to you Mr./Ms. Anonymous - I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will often wonder who you are, one of my friends, a family member, a blog fan, a book fan.  But truthfully if I never find out who did this I will be okay, and you know why?  Because this simple thing gives me hope for the human race.  There still are people out there who love and give generously of their hearts, wallets and time.  True feel good moments are rare these days, and this old mom was just on the receiving end of one!!!

Until Next Time...Give of yourself and ask nothing in return because in all actuality you will get something in return.  You will get the satisfaction of knowing that you affected someone's life positively.  You will get the satisfaction of knowing that you have given hope to the human race.

If you get a chance, go visit Brianne's Abstract Pet Portraits on Facebook.  But don't be surprised if she isn't accepting new orders for a few days here and there because she is not only a fabulous artist who is always busy with orders, she has a two year old just a sassy and cute as Little Butt to contend with. She always re opens the 'store' for new orders though!!!  BRIANNE'S ABSTRACT PET PORTRAITS