What annoys me?

I was reading my blog reader when I cam across a post from Mama Kat about 10 things that make her angry. I thought i might share a few of my own... although I have a hard time really getting angry... so perhaps 'annoyed', 'discontent'... possibly angry if I was having a really bad week (in no particular order):

#1 People who wear their shoes in the house! I am nearly always barefoot, so I can feel every granule that you track into the house on your freakin' shoes.

#2 Mothers who smoke while pregnant or parents who smoke with their children in close proximity. (Ok, this one does make me angry.)

#3 Any loud noise in my house between the hours of 8pm-8am. Seriously... we get the kids in bed and then I just want to breathe and have a teensy bit of peace and quiet. I do not think people without children (or least my children) understand this. But I listen to slamming, screaming, whining, marching bands, blaring pop music, tap shoes... etc... ALL DAY LONG! Sometimes I just want... quiet. Simply quiet.

#4 Loud eaters. Slurping of soup... milk from the cereal, etc... Nothing makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck more. So, if you are eating breakfast with me, please don't take offense if I get up and take my cereal bowl to another room.

#5 Washing my chapstick in the laundry... as near as I can tell I can never get those little grease marks out of my clothes!

#6 People all up in my personal space. This includes people rubbing my arm to tell me they love my tattoos, close talkers, pregnant belly touchers, people who sit right next to me in the waiting room when there are 10 open chairs much further away... etc, etc...

#7 Out of state drivers- that is pretty much anyone out of NH or Maine... you have to realize that we are not in a rush up here! Get off my tail- there are only 2 lanes on our highways and if I am only going 70 mph to pass someone... you just gotta wait it out buddy. And keep your dirty looks, fingers and profanity to yourself because I am just going to kill you with kindness.

#8 People who do not answer my texts immediately. This is a combo of my extreme impatience the fact that I know you are just ignoring me!

That's it... I can not even come up with 10. I am having trouble concentrating since there are 3 kids sitting next to me slurping their cereal milk.

Mommy and Me Monday: Summer Vacation Edition

I have actually gathered a couple of photos of me and my girls since we have been on summer vacation so I thought I would participate in Mommy and Me Monday where Krystyn encourages Mommas to come out from behind the camera.

The first photo is actually 2 of my girls and 2 nieces... and why I now embrace owning a minivan... so many fun trips this summer with carloads FULL of children!

The second photo is myself and the girls atop Mt. Kearsage. Of course, only 1 child would even look at the camera... but, hey, we are all there!

The 3rd photo is myself and baby girl Acadia at the lake during our family vacation.

And the last one is myself and my oldest after our very first mommy and me pedicure. After which, Ariana begged, "Can we do this every week, Mom!"

We are enjoying every day of our summer break in many different way. It has been an adventure so far... hopefully with much more fun to come.

Fifty Shades of Crap

I finally gave in... after months of seeing women swooning all over social media about this Fifty Shades phenomenon, I decided to add it to my iPad reading list... actually, I added all 3 from the series. I like to read some good, mindless reading in the summer as I hang out by the pool or at the beach.

But to say this is mindless is an understatement. I am so embarrassed that these books are monopolizing the NYT best seller list. Man oh man, if some aliens are researching humanity and come across these books... we are doomed.

Now, don't get me wrong, erotica... romance novels... all those things have a place in literature. But the way I was watching people act as though they had never read anything quite so amazing is simply mind boggling. The writing is utterly atrocious. I found a great Amazon review where the reviewer counted with her Kindle how many times words were said. I mean, seriously, using the word whisper 185 times in ONE book??? (And imagine how many times she repeated the words over the whole series????)

I did make it through the first book. I am the type who feels the need to finish any book I start. I always think, "Well... what if... what if it has the best book ending ever???"

Well, needless to say, it did not! And then I moved on to book 2... thinking she clearly had to step up the writing to get a publisher to buy it.... Nope. Even worse.

And this time, I did not fall for it. I bailed not even half way though. I get precious few minutes for reading and I just could not justify wasting any more.

If you want to read an erotic novel, please... choose Lady Chatterley's Lover or Lolita. Something that may not make you feel less intelligent for reading it.

Unless, of course, you would like to read a book my 11-year-old could write with no plot, the same sex scenes over and over again, and the most ridiculous love interest ever (I mean, really... what woman sits around fantasizing about some gazillionaire jerk? I'd take my fantasy plumber ANY day!)

Project 10: Adjusting my exercise definition.

Time again for my Project 10 update. I my biggest commitment in Project 10 was to work out... a LOT! Like 6 days per week. Unfortunately, I made that commitment before the girls summer vacation started. Little did I know how wonderful the weather would be this summer and how busy we would be. It has really put a damper on me getting to the studio for organized workouts... as in working out about once per week at the studio. Boo. 

But I have still committed to getting exercise in different ways while I am out enjoying my vacation with my daughters. 

With all this sun, we have spent a LOT of time in the water. We are very lucky to live by at least 2 rivers (photo 12). We can take a short hike and be down to a sandy beach on the river within a couple of minutes. While here, we can obviously swim for exercise, play a game of catch, frisbee... but mostly I make the girls take a hike down the river bank with me. They love it as they feel like it's an adventure, and the uneven terrain makes for great exercise for me.

We also have spent many days at the ocean. Oddly enough, we have not really been to any NH beaches, we prefer the beaches in Maine. And the rocky coast there provides some great exercise as we climb around on the rocky shores. (photo #8)

I have made a conscious effort to fit in walks if I know I can't make it to a class that day. I will stop somewhere... anywhere... on my way to work or home from work or to the grocery store and just simply walk for half an hour. I choose serene setting so I can also decompress from the craziness that is having 3 or more children with me all day EVERY day of this summer break! I have been taking photos during my walks to document some of the beauty that surrounds me (photos 1 and 6).

We are also very lucky to live where we can get to a plethora of lakes within minutes. Again, we hike around the lake, or play some water sports or swim to get in some exercise (photo 10).

I am blessed to live in a community where there are at least 6 public pools to choose from at all times. Swimming at the pool is great exercise as Acadia is a little dare devil and I have to constantly swim around to catch her as she dives in over her head (photos 2 & 9).

Speaking of the public pools, our parks and recreations system is amazing (photo 7). We can go to 6 or 7 parks where there are hiking trails, ponds to walk around and feed the ducks, basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields... we can go for hours and never bore of the activities.

Hiking in NH is always a great way to exercise (photos 3 & 11) We have the White Mountains for some serious trails... or smaller mountains scattered about the state where the girls can go with me. We have a great little trail right here in Concord that is 2.5 miles round trip and all 3 girls were able to make it up and back unassisted! (Yes, even the 3-year-old hiked up a 1.25 mile hike with no problem.)

Hula hooping is a portable exercise for me (photo 4). Wherever we go on adventures, I can bring a hoop and have instantaneous exercise. Perfect.

And, last, I have been trying to get out and volunteer in activities to keep me moving. Recently, we had a new music festival here in town that I volunteered at. This keep me on my feet for at least 8 hours over 2 days running around a park (see photo 5- that is Chris Robinson... he played there and I was close enough to him to reach over and touch him... but I didn't... I refrained... unfortunately!) I am volunteering this week at our Market Days, which again will keep me on my feet and moving around!

And this is how i am adjusting my definition of exercise until our summer slows down a bit... keeping active... all the while playing with my girls.

In Search of My Father: Part 1

"If my world were to cave in tomorrow, I would look back on all the pleasures, excitements and worthwhilenesses I have been lucky enough to have had. Not the sadness, not my miscarriages or my father leaving home, but the joy of everything else. It will have been enough." -Audrey Hepburn

My biological father passed away a year ago now. And my struggle with our relationship in life has lingered on after his death.

This struggle was once again brought to life recently when I needed to go to the vital records office to get a copy of my birth certificate and copies of his death and birth certificates.

(Let me digress for a moment to explain... I have made it 36 years of my life without an official birth certificate. I have an "heirloom" certificate from my birth hospital, which is a pretty piece of paper with my birth stats on it, which has been accepted to get my drivers licences, marriage certificates, mortgages... how scary is that in terms of identity theft??? Some fluffed up piece of paper with the words "Birth Certificate" in Old English across the top has never once been questioned as my identity???)

Anyhow, I want a passport and I know I needed my birth certificate plus I wanted my fathers legal papers for my records.

So off to Maine I went for a trip to the Vital Records office.

And my heart wrenching day from hell was about to begin....

The office was very small with one woman behind the counter. I asked her for the appropriate paperwork for my 3 requests and promptly filled them out as there was nobody else waiting. I figured I could be in and out in 15 minutes. As I handed them back to her under her plexiglass shield, she kindly smiled and told me it would just be a couple of minutes.

True to her word, she called me back up 5 minutes later. I could see only 1 state-issued document in her hand and my heart sunk.

"I am sorry." She looked very sad. The sadness in her eyes brought tears to my own.

"There is no father listed on my birth certificate is there?"

She shook her head. "I am so sorry." she repeated. "But I cannot give you his records without proof of lineage."

I knew in the back of my head that he was not listed on my birth certificate, my mother had told me that a very long time ago. I knew also because I had to have a DNA test when I was 10 because the State of Maine had requested it to garnish his wages for child support. But when she pushed my birth certificate through the window and the 'Father-Name' block was empty, my heart dropped. I could not stop the tears now as I stood in front of this poor woman. "I have my marriage license that he is listed on..."

I handed her my marriage license... which, again, I am not sure how I was able to add him to that when he was not even on my birth certificate... oh wait, the birth certificate I did not even have to provide to get my marriage licence!

She looked up at me and paused, "I will take this." She made a note on my request forms and then quickly printed me his birth and death certificates.

I can not even express my gratitude to actually get a kind-hearted, sympathetic employee in a position that she was in.

"How can I have him added to my birth certificate? I can not leave that blank? I know DNA results exist that prove his is my father since the State of Maine required it to get child support from him."

"If the state required it, there would have been a court case. Start over at the district court. They should be able to help you."

With my papers in hand, I walked out to my car, got in and just started to bawl...

(To be continued....)