Happy full of love day

I really hope you are enjoying a lovely Valentine's Day! If you aren't, I'm sorry! And that person you think you should be spending this evening with is a complete jerk - and you deserve so much better!

I am having a fine day. My husband is doing his thing down in Dallas, so I am off the hook as far as looking presentable (Love you honey! Mean it!). Last year, I had to tag team doing all three kid's parties at school, which made me insane. This year I only had to worry about one. So it's been a laid-back day.

I have done some reflecting lately. The other day I turned 39 (thanks for all of the nice birthday shout-outs!) so I have thought about how happy I am to still be alive. Yay! And today I watched people driving around with bunches of balloons or flowers in their cars which just reminded me of Valentine's past.

I usually ended up being pissy about Valentine's because it is so close to my birthday. Almost every guy I have ever dated at this time of year combined the two. Even a couple of long-term ones. What a bunch of cheapasses! One of the reasons I married my husband was because he got me a birthday present and took me out for my birthday, and then send me a ginormous basket of flowers for our first Valentine's Day. Huge points!

It's funny how things change. Years ago, it was such a big deal to me to have the guy I was dating go all out, but now my priorities are so different. I get the best valentines ever from my kids.

That beats jewelry EVERY time!

Yoga schmoga

I went to my first yoga class yesterday. It was interesting. I went with my friend Patty. Which made it fun for me. I do much better in a new situation if I have someone I can shoot looks at, like "did you see what that girl just did?!?! Holy shit!" She shot back several "OH MY GOD"s.

It's a good system.

I can see how this yoga thing can be good for me. I think I used every muscle on my body. Many of them haven't been used in years. So, needless to say, they are PISSED. I am sore all over. My ears even hurt.

But I will go back. I have done the worst class - the first. So, it should get easier.

Right?

Please tell me it will get better!

BTW - on a side note I discovered that getting a pedicure right before you go to yoga is a bad idea. There was some mat slippage, which I think was probably good for my legs.

I am sooo glad I got one, though! I had me some pretty grusome feet! You know it's bad when the woman giving you said pedicure is grossed out. She admonished me for waiting so long. I felt like I was about to be grounded.

I am so sorry! I will resume getting regular pedicures. I don't want to be one of the ones the pedicure women roll their eyes at when I walk in.

Starbucks is a cult

I love Starbucks. It is a sad thing to admit that I am one of the masses. I like to think of myself as someone who forges her own trail. But I can't seem to with coffee. I pass a Starbucks and I feel an internal pull. My leg twitches. I must turn in and satisfy my urge at least a couple of times a week.

My husband has been sucked in, too. He gets his fix at his office. Starbucks has a kiosk in the building's cafeteria. He gets to waltz in and get his coffee all day, every day. That's just not right. If Starbucks was kind at all, they would swing a cart by my house every morning.

Now Starbucks is branching out. They have sucked in my kids. It was a brilliant plan. Little by little. Little taste by little taste. My kids have all had a drink and now they thirst for it. They crave it. They beg and plead and whine for it.

Whyeeee?!?!?

I thought I was only succumbing to my own fervent need for tasty, high calorie caffeine. It all started at Target. Target built a super version of itself a few years ago in Edmond, OK. And what was inside? A handy little Starbucks counter. I had not seen a Super-Target since I had lived in Dallas. I was all giddy and having hot flashes. I rushed over with my young children and oohed and ahed my way through my grocery shopping while enjoying the most pathetic drink ever created - the Frappuccino.

I did not realize at the time how Starbucks did it. The insidious way they get one person hooked and then let that person hook in everyone else in the family. The way they make sure that one sip is all it takes.

I didn't think I was creating a monster when I let my daughter take her first Frappuccino sip. But I have. Now she wants one all of the time. If she sees an empty Starbucks cup in the trash she immediately asks why she didn't get one. If I promise her a treat she wants it to be a Starbucks. If I am foolish and leave my Mocha Grande or Frappuccino sitting unattended, she will suck that bad boy down as if it was the last thing she is ever gonna drink.


Our sons aren't much better, but they stick with the hot chocolate and the bottled weak version of the Frappuccino.

Is there some sort of treatment for this? Some sort of intervention? Or are we doomed to watch our daughter become a caffeine junkie like we are?

You are witnessing a family out of control.