Life as a CrazyMimi

Every year, as the New Year approaches, I, along with most other people, reflect on the past year.  What was good?  What wasn't so good?  What could I have changed, and what did I have no control over?  All good questions.  I think it's normal to have regrets, too, and as long as you go about it with a positive attitude, I think it's ok. So, in my reflections, I've been thinking about the "biggies" from 2018.  I hit my goal weight, I ran a 10 mile race,  I attended the Daytona 500 for the first time, and  I made a decision about retirement.  (Not retiring for another 5 years, but the plan is now in place.)  These were all huge for me.  And good....very good. The not so good, we don't need to discuss in detail.  But one of the biggies is to see my Son struggle with certain aspects of his life.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and we are praying it's not an oncoming train as has been the issue in the past.  This has been a long, h

Today, this world lost a great man.  My Mom lost a beloved brother.  Today, I lost an Uncle whom I loved dearly.  Today, I also lost the Pastor I grew up with, the Pastor that baptized me, and the Pastor that married me.  Today, the world truly lost a wonderful, Godly man.  When I think of Uncle Fred, I think about my conversation with my Son when we discussed his end being near.  We discussed his life as being the absolute definition of "A Life Well Lived".  That got me thinking, and I found this when I googled the phrase: "A life well lived cannot be measured by salary, or title, or job satisfaction. Nor can it be measured by accolades, or friendships, or tasks accomplished. A life well lived cannot be measured in likes, or tags, or retweets. A life well lived is measured by love, by sacrifice, by joy. A life well lived is measured by intention, by action, by motivation. A life well lived is measured by how many times you smiled when it would have been easier to

This morning 6AM: I'm brushing my teeth with one hand, and curling my eyelashes with the other.  Don't judge.  I multitask.  Anyhoo...I notice my phone notification light blinking.  But I have no available hands to check it.  After a brief moment of - let's call it uncertainty because it wasn't urgent enough to call it panic - I checked my Samsung watch to see if it was there.  My phone wakes up with movement, so no hands needed!  I only get certain notifications on my watch.  I can get all notifications on it, I just choose to only get text messages and missed phone calls, etc.  I am proud to say that I have all social media notifications turned off for my watch.  So, back to my moment of uncertainty.  I decided it could wait the two minutes it takes for my toothbrush to turn off.  The notification turned out to be nothing but my fitness app telling me what today's goals were.  Shew!  Nothing urgent!  But this got me thinking about what IS and what is NOT urgent

This blog post should come as no surprise to anyone who follows my social media pages.  I'm pretty transparent.  I post about my Punkins, I post about my workouts, and yes, I post about my achievements.  Now, I don't post all these things to brag.  I post these things because, well, it's my life.  My Punkins are my greatest achievement.  I mean, I DID have their fathers which led to them being born, so Yes, I'm taking some credit!  I post about my workouts because, well, that's what I do every day.  And I post about my achievements because, quite honestly, sometimes I need to put these things on paper (ok, computer) to believe them myself. So after yesterday's 10 Miler, I had some time in the afternoon to sit and think while I was stretching, doing some yoga poses, and using my foam roller to work out some stiff, sore spots.  I got to thinking back over the past 18 months that led me to that event.  18 short months ago, I was a couch potato.  I did go to yoga,

Well folks, another year has gone by, and vacation time is here.   Now for those of you who know me well, you know that I have two Happy Places....A Nascar race track, and Lake Anna!  So as I've packed for my Lake happy place,  I've been reminiscing about past lake trips, and trying to plan some new fun things for this year. We have a first for this year, also. Jeremy will be bringing his fiancee who has not met Ryan or his children.  So this will be a celebration of sorts, as we welcome Angie officially into our family!  And if she doesn't run screaming after she sees our craziness,  we know she's in for the long haul! Dalton's girlfriend Shelbie's family will be joining us one night for dinner, also.  This is Shelbie's third year with us at the lake, and we love her so much she is considered another Punkin !  We feel it's only right to invite her family!  We have a much bigger house this year, with all kinds of "toys" such as kayaks (yay!!

In a perfect world, we grow up, get married to our best friend, have a good career, beautiful children, healthy family, and then move into the time of our life where we have the most awesome grandchildren ever, a good plan for retirement, and are enjoying the fruits of our labor. But what if you don't live in that perfect world?  And really, who does?  What if you have had some setbacks along that road.  What if you aren't looking at retirement with great anticipation because your good plan wasn't so great, and you won't have what you need to live comfortably?  What if there are health issues plaguing your family?  What if that marriage didn't evolve as it was supposed to? Recently, it has hit me that I have a lot of friends who are not living in the perfect world.  No matter what we may see on social media, sometimes there are problems in people's perfect worlds.  And I don't think we would be surprised if we knew how imperfect most people's lives a

This blog post should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me.  I write about what is bothering me, or what is happening in my life at the present time.  And this week, it is all about the Blue Family....Law Enforcement....The Thin Blue Line. I am a very proud LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) Mom.  Everyone knows this.  I love my Son, and I am very proud of him.  He made it to the rank of Lieutenant by the age of 36, while being deployed for 3 full years with the National Guard during his time on the force.  He's done well.  And with every rank advancement, I am more hopeful that it keeps him in the office more, and off the streets.  However, my son is not one to stay in the office.  He has gained the respect of his officers by being out on the streets with them, by not asking them to do anything that he isn't willing to do first.  He's a cop's cop.  Law enforcement work is not new to our family.  My brother is a retired officer, and I have multiple cousins and uncles

What if people are doing the best they can? This has become my obsession this week.  Let it sink in.  What if?   I started listening to a new audio book in the car, and the author, the fabulous Brene' Brown poses this question in her book "Rising Strong as a Spiritual Practice".   So the lesson I have learned is this: I am doing the best I can.  I have problems.  I don't need to, nor will I, air them here.  But I'm doing the best I can, given the problems I have in my life on a daily basis. Everyone is battling something.  Addiction, mental illness, abuse, financial struggles, health issues, marital problems, etc., etc., etc.  I could on and on, but you get the point.  So....is everyone just doing the best they can, given the problems they have? I won't answer this for you.  You can decide for yourself.  I choose to think YES.  People ARE doing the best they can.  Most everyone that is.  I know there are some that probably aren't, but for the s

Well folks, the day has arrived.  I have reached my goal of losing 50 pounds.  Yes!  I really did it! So after the initial euphoria (I admit that I shed a few tears), calling and texting everyone I know, and posting on every social media I have, I have settled down a little bit...just a little bit.  Folks, this has taken me over a year.  I did it very slowly and methodically.  I have totally changed my lifestyle.  I no longer think of it as a dreaded diet.  It is just my new way of eating.  If I eat junk, my body rejects it...literally!  (You don't want an example described here!)  I'm so, so happy I embarked on this journey! So, now what?  People are already telling me not to lose more.  People are telling me I'm obsessed with working out.  People are telling me to shut up basically.  Of course, people have been telling me to shut up since I started talking.  This is just the newest subject that I like to talk about. Well, I've given this some thought, and I

Sometimes, all of the pieces fall into place.  It's rare, but when it happens,  it's a beautiful thing.  And it happened yesterday.  Here's how it went.... Now, as most people know...ok, everyone knows because I don't hide my feelings well... Anyway,  I love my Punkins (well, all my Family), I love Nascar, I'm extremely patriotic, and I love my Lord.  And that's not in order of importance by the way.  Yesterday as everyone knows, due to your newsfeeds being blown up by my pictures and posts, I had all of those important aspects of my life happening!     We got to Richmond Raceway at 7AM, and got front row parking.  We set up our tailgating area, cranked up the music (a playlist created by input from all of us, so every genre accounted for), had breakfast, and tried to stay warm...it was in the 30s!  It warmed up through the morning,  and we explored all that the fan area had to offer.  An interesting area we enjoyed was the "Who's Your Drive

As I sit to write this, I have been motivated by some things that have happened recently in my life. I try not to air "dirty laundry" on social media, and I won't air it here in my blog either.  But sometimes, things happen in life that change your way of thinking and reacting to life.  I have let "things" worry me, stress me, and change me for way too long now.  So I had a long chat with myself, and "we" (me, myself, and I) decided to rethink our approach to life.  I have so many reasons to be happy.  I am blessed with good health, parents who are still vibrant and mostly healthy at the age of 89, two wonderful sons, six incredible grandchildren, and a husband who cooks for me, and makes my coffee every morning.  But my life is not perfect.  Far from it.  There are problems.  And as I said earlier, I will not air them here.  But like anyone else, there are problems.  We all have them. So in rethinking my approach to life, I have decided to look dee

Being a Boy Mom has always been a great joy to me.  I wanted boys.  I got boys.  I am thrilled to be a boy mom!  I have always had a great relationship with my boys, and even though they are now 38 and 40, I still love the bonding moments!  And those bonding moments are vastly different for each Son. Ryan, my oldest Son, and I have always bonded with our faith, and with our love of Nascar.  We attend two Nascar races every year together, enjoying the tailgating, that beautiful smell of burning rubber and the rumbling sound of the engines.  We enjoy the banter all season since we support different drivers.  Sundays can be interesting, texting back and forth, while watching races in our respective homes.  With our faith, we enjoy the same Sunday services, me in person, and Ryan watching online.  We compare thoughts and exchange prayer requests. Jeremy, my youngest Son, and I have not always had a lot in common.  He is, after all, a police officer, ex military, and a fitness beast.  I

We all have doubts.  Everyone.  How we deal with our doubts is what's important. My very favorite author and Life Coach Valorie Burton says this: "Fear. It creeps up on us, often without a sound. It asks, “What if everything goes wrong?” “What if I fail?” “What if I never get what I want?” And disastrous answers to those questions can send us down a path of negative thinking that spirals out of control. Psychologists call it “catastrophizing.” Next time it happens, stop fear in its path with an opposite question: What if it does work out? What if you succeed? What if you finally get what you want? What if things go right? Asking these questions gives you a sudden burst of energy. That energy is hope."  So in my life right now, doubt (fear) has reared it's ugly head.  Here's what's happening: As you all know, I've gone through a total "transformation" since last March.  I turned 60 and decided it was time to get healthy.  So I have los

We've all had them.  That day where you resist nothing.  You don't start out the day with those intentions. You start out the day like any other. You have your breakfast protein shake, you have your banana for your snack mid-morning, and then you see that bag of chips.  Nothing prepared you for this detour this morning, you had no plan of action prepared, but there they are... In all their thin crispy salty goodness! And you eat them. You eat a lot of them. And they are heavenly! And then you see candy. And you eat that too. And by the evening you are having a very serious conversation with yourself. Yes, you had your yogurt for lunch, and your grapefruit.  In all actuality, the day was not a total loss. You had a healthy dinner but then you sat and ate an entire chocolate chip protein cookie because it was the only sweet thing in your house.  Half of a cookie is a serving size by the way. Now, let's revisit the dark, deadly places I visited yesterday...Carb city, sodi

I've talked a lot in the past year about change....me changing.  I've changed my eating habits, fitness routines, etc.  I've felt pretty good about myself in the last six to eight months.  But something was missing.  Something.... I have always be a church goer.  I was raised in church.  I raised my kids in church.  I have always been a believer.  But while working a part time job on weekends for many years, I had no Sundays free to attend church.  This allowed me to break the habit of going regularly.  And once that habit is broken, it just becomes a new routine not to go to church every Sunday.  Now please don't think I am using this as an excuse.  It's not an excuse.  It's what happened to me.  Realizing that something was missing in my life, I started contemplating returning to church.  But as much as I love the church I was raised in, I felt that I needed to explore other options.  I needed something.... About the time I was thinking all of this, I re

Sugar can be addicting...true or false?   I have always had a sweet tooth.  As a child, I was a sugar junkie... no really!  I. LOVED. SUGAR.  (Still do actually!)  As an adult, growing older, I became "pre-diabetic" with warnings from the Doctor to cut back on the sugar or I would be diabetic soon.  So as a side effect of my new healthy lifestyle, I changed those important numbers on that blood test, and am no longer "pre-diabetic".  Yay me, right?  Absolutely.  I no longer craved sugar.  No longer needed sugar.  Until.... Ok, so over the holidays, I indulged in cookies, candy, sweet punches, cakes, etc.  Having lost 42 pounds, I felt like I deserved those treats.  And I worked out like a crazy person to counteract those extra calories.  I put on 2 pounds over the month of December.  And that's ok.  Not bad really.  I will take those off quickly, so no worries.  However, the one thing that does worry me is that all of a sudden, I'm craving sugar again