flAB to fABulous

I am going to start with another confession.  

(Because I am a good Catholic....well, maybe not all that good.  This is as close to a confessional as I care to get.  I know the Sacrament of Reconciliation is supposed to rid you of all your sins and all of that, but quite honestly, sitting in a little room with my boss, telling him every bad thing I've done over the past several years just doesn't sound appealing to me.

I have to admit I really liked it when I worked in the Lutheran church, and the Pastor would get up in front of the congregation and say "I absolve you of all your sins" to us.  We didn't have to have a face to face evaluation with him...he just wiped them all away.

(Well, I actually did have to have a face to face evaluation...but I worked there, so that was a whole other matter.)

Crap.  What the heck was I going to confess???

I have no idea.  

I need to quit going off on tangents all the time, because I never get to the point...and when I do, I forget what it was.

~

By the way....my house smells a lot like lefse right now.

This is strange, because there certainly isn't any on the premises....unless my kids have gotten in touch with their Norwegian heritage, and taught themselves the art of lefse making...which is highly unlikely.

~

Okay, so yesterday was an interesting day.

We celebrated Christmas with my sisters and their families.  

Though, I'm not really sure you would call it "celebrating Christmas."  

We no longer have the kids exchange gifts, because, quite frankly...there are just too many of them.

I have two kids, Kris has four and Emily has six.

I could handle buying two gifts...but when you are the one having to buy six...well, it starts to get a little spendy.

So, we sisters usually give each other a little something (socks, soaps, lipgloss, etc) and then a treat or two for mom.

We did something we've never done before this year....we left the dads in charge, and the three girls went out to get some business taken care of.

I wish it had been some fun business...but it was real business business.

We spent some time at the Department of Aging, and discussed resources that were available, and future plans for mom.

Then, we went to the funeral home.

Planning your mother's funeral while she is still alive is an interesting process.

Especially when she isn't there to give you any input.

We wanted to get everything in place and paid for now, so it is one thing we don't need to worry about in the future.

I figured we would be choosing a casket and outlining the service.  I didn't expect to be deciding what kind of flowers we preferred, or if we wanted a hairstylist or not, nor was I expecting the ridiculous cost of running an obituary in the paper.

Death is one lucrative business.

When it came to the music portion of the worksheet...we simply said "we will handle it."

At least that is one area where we will feel like we know what is going on, and can be assured it will be just what mom would have wanted.

~

When we finally finished up our "business" we joined the troops back home.

And what a house full of crazy it was.

Fourteen kids ages 16 and under, and seven adults.  It wasn't so bad until the pizza arrived.  Having that many people in one kitchen was, well, chaotic.

As much as I love my nieces and nephews, our family gatherings are always a good reminder of why I have only two children.

My house is SOOOO quiet.

~

Needless to say, a big family pizza party did not get me any closer to starting my New Year's Evolutions.  However, when I arrived home, there was a package waiting at the front door.

My three new books had arrived. 

(Honestly...there is nothing more exciting to me than getting new books!!)

I think that these books will address exactly what my goals are geared toward.

Here are the titles:

1.  the life-changing magic of tidying up

the Japanese are of decluttering and organizing

2. Spent

Break the Buying Obsession and Discover Your True Worth

3. The Little Spark

30 Ways to Ignite Your Creativity

Now, obviously the only thing missing is something to address my goals involving weight-loss and getting healthy.

However, we have some Christmas money that we have decided to put toward creating a work-out room in our house.  Everyone seems to be on board and excited about it, so that will be in the works asap.

I have products on their way for my 24-Day Advocare Challenge, so hopefully that will be a good jump-start for the weight loss factor.

~

I'm still moving in baby steps...but the biggest thing right now is motivation.

I am soooo tired of feeling tired.

I'm sick of having headaches and feeling achey and lethargic.

And more than anything....I am sick of trying to hide my balloon tummy under baggy clothes.

It's impossible to hide a big roll of flab.

So, it's time for that flab to GO!

^^^2014^^^

I'm thinking that 2015 will be the year of the bikini.

I'm thinking...6-8 weeks?  No problem.

Well....maybe I'll give myself until June.

OMG.

Excuse me.  I need to go work on my abs.

Have a great Saturday!