After riding behind someone driving a Nissan Xterra who put their hazard lights on to drive through slush, grocery shopping through the holiday melee and putting up a good sweat at the gym I felt a bit addled yesterday. Wanting to beat someone for driving badly in slush is not on par for this time of year. My black heart was still neatly intact. I needed to squelch this irritable air. Fast.I unpacked the groceries, skipping over the black ice, fed the kids lunch and then put them down for naps. Instead of running to my laptop to get work done, putting away laundry, toys or cleaning up other areas of the house and our life, I grabbed a copy of Elle and a cup of coffee. Then I sat my butt down on the couch and read the rest of the magazine, which … [Read more...]
I Have Issues
Clearly, I have issues. I realized this at two different times today. First, I yelled at the gym television that was playing Fox "news". I yelled, "Shut the F*ck up! You are so IGNORANT!" I mumbled something about "fallacies, bad research and fair and balanced my ass" when I realized that my right hand was extending and giving Fox the bird. It seems I have some built up testosterone in my system this week. The cold that has be flagging has also taken me away from any gym time. I didn't make it to kickboxing. I haven't gone on any runs either. The idea of Body Pump or Boxing is just laughable. I kept thinking if I just took it easy, as much as you can with two small kids, I would feel better. The. Cold. Is. Still. … [Read more...]
Kick Some Box
Despite the fact that I'm under the weather (sigh, again.) I'm going to try kick boxing tonight. My attempt at boxing last week was sweat-inducing, red-faced fun, boredom and exhileration all roled into one hour. While it is definitely an incredible workout I really was loathe to having a basketball being bounced off my stomach. Yes, you heard me. It came out of nowhere and immediately pissed me off. If the instructor wanted to get more fire out of me he got a big ol' FAIL. I don't play that way. I felt all at once invaded and angry. I didn't want to try harder I simply wanted to yell at him, "WTF! WTF is WRONG with you?! Are you MAD?! I had a baby just a few... oh, wait, it was a year ago...STILL. You don't just bounce … [Read more...]
Paging Billy Blanks
Remember Tae-Bo? Billy Blanks sweaty, bald head bobbing and weaving as he "punched it out" via my VCR. Oh! Remember VCR's?I digress. I faithfully did Tae-Bo back when I was in college in hopes that I would build up some arm muscles. I no longer remember if I obtained those results. I think I only achieved those through Power Yoga a few years later. I should probably break out those old tapes and find myself a VCR so I can try to brush up on "my moves" because today I will be taking my first boxing class. I recently won a free month at my local boxing gym and while I am a bit scared, it might be good for me. I can get out some of that holiday stress, work off that giant candy bar I ate yesterday and pretend that the punching bag is H's "holiday beard". Grrr... I hate that thing. It is as if … [Read more...]
My Take on Review Blogging- Good or Bad
Most of you know that I also write a review blog, Mummy's Product Reviews. Initially, I didn't set out to write product reviews. It all started right here back in 2006 when as a weekly feature I did 'The Product of the Week'. People were always asking me about places to go, brands, beauty items, I could go on. As a self-admitted "product whore" and advice columnist wannabe, it seemed a likely fit. 'The Product of the Week' was simply my take on a product I tried, loved and wanted to share. That's all. Nothing was sent to me, no one pitched me. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Just items from my house. Review bloggers didn't hold much world wide web space if any back then. Over time things have obviously evolved. An Arbonne consultant sent me a slew of stuff and I joined the Parent Bloggers … [Read more...]
The End of Silence
Last week I conducted a little bit of an experiment. I took myself out of the world of forever Twittering, using Facebook and the rest of the 24/7 social media frenzy. I used it for only work purposes and that was that. I did it because I wanted to see if I noticed a difference in myself and how my week played out via work and with family. Here's what I noticed-Initially, it wasn't that hard to cut myself off from Twitter. I still posted items for work but I didn't 140 character it up all through the day. I got annoyed when people made fun of me for doing this whole #week of silence. Or when they called me to ask why I was still blogging. Um...work. Gah. By the middle of the week I felt like I was missing out on things. I missed my friends who I talk to through Twitter and know IRL … [Read more...]
You Are About to Enter the Sick Zone.
Welcome to the my lair! (Insert evil laugh here.) It's filled with tissues that have been used multiple times over. They litter the floor around me and threaten to take over my tiny world. I shuffle around with a cocktail of Dayquil, Mucinex and ibuprofen. This cold is kicking my ass. I've cried "uncle" many times over and it still keeps enforcing Dragon Whips on me. Last night at 1:18 a.m. and desperate from a rousing fight with my lungs and a coughing fit that threatened to wake my entire house I chugged the kids Chestal cough suppressant in triple dose. Homeopathic honey-ed goodness. I think it worked. It was either that or the Last Call with Carson Daly and surfing Prizey that did the trick. The juice is gone. There are still no cough drops in the house and my nose looks like … [Read more...]
Powering Down
I have become what I loathe. Last night I found myself in the middle of girls night with a strong case of Twitter-itch. Not to be confused with jock-itch. I could blame it on my lack of dinner and a bit of wine but really it has more to do with my affliction known as Twitter addiction. I like me some social media and networking, I do. Symptoms include:-Wanting, scratch that, "needing" to check Twitter about every 2.5 seconds. If I can't. It's a big FAIL. -Believing with all my black heart that UberTwitter is quite possibly the prettiest symbol to don my Blackberry screen. I can extol the virtues of UberTwitter to total strangers. A 'squee' is usually involved.-The need to be 'in the know' is always at the forefront of my mind. However, all I end up knowing is what is happening on … [Read more...]
Win a Dress from Shabby Apple!
off ther shoulder prom dress I know I don't normally do this on ' TMC' but I just love this dress - it makes me happy just to look at it's brilliant blue and retroesque styling. So here goes- WIN IT! "The turquoise Secretary dress aka '90 WPM' ($64) has ruching at the sides to flatter hips and a tie at neck. The dress's puff sleeves have a band that hit just above elbow. The skirt hits just below knee. It is made of poly/rayon/spandex jersey." Enter to win by telling me what your favorite post is on The Mummy Chronicles and don't forget to include your contact email. A winner will be chosen at random on October 16, 2009. Want 10% off Shabby Apple items? Tell them I sent you with this coupon- Mummychronicles10off. Use it fast - It expires Oct 29, 2009. Congratulations to Adrian who … [Read more...]
A Pearl of Wisdom
Cervical cancer is my ghost.When I was 21 my doctor told me she was "pretty sure" I had it. After much hysteria and testing, it turns out that she was wrong. I'm not even going to go into how insane it was that she diagnosed me like that without hard facts and reams of positive test results. I can't even describe the big sigh of relief I had for weeks on end when the results were negative. However, I've had to spend the last 12 years being extra-vigilant, enduring more tests and in general wondering if this will be my end result.While at Blogher this summer I happened to meet the group behind 'Pearl of Wisdom'. I was lucky enough to meet Michelle Whitlock and learn about her incredible survivor story. I believe, like Michelle, that the more we educate and spread awareness about this … [Read more...]