Real World Mom

The ‘Give Me Five’ Monday meme is designed to share fun information with each other in a simple, short list! Here’s how it works: Each week, I will put out a random topic from my list of topics and you share 5 answers of your choice on the given topic and link back here! You can add photos, links or stories or just a simple list of your own of 5 things that relate to the topic as it pertains to you and your life experiences. It doesn’t have to be in any order of importance unless otherwise specified.Sign up for weekly reminder emails at beccagirl@charter.net.

This week’s assignment from Becca at BeccA’s Buzz: Give Me Five future events you are currently looking forward to and/or planning on attending.

1. Getting a damn job. Sad but true.
2. Starting school in September (yay me!).
3. Buying a car (after I get the damn job).
4. Regaining my independence.
5. Receiving the final divorce papers. (Hopefully someday in this lifetime.)

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Originally posted on 12/12/07, “Perfectionism”, is still something I struggle with.

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Perfectionism

Why is it that we are so often our own worst critics? It can be a very difficult way of life, when we are consistently putting ourselves down, telling ourselves that what we do isn’t good enough, that we’re not good enough…So we try harder, determined to make every endeavor turn out perfectly. But, every endeavor does not turn out perfectly (in fact, probably very few do), and we are left feeling even worse about ourselves and our abilities.

In my own personal situation, I think this was a contributing factor to my Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) diagnosis. I remember my doctor telling me, “You can’t be ’super mom’, you can’t do it all!” I’ve reminded myself of that quite often over the years, and it does help fairly often.

It’s not as though the world expects us to be perfect in everything we say and everything we do–so why do we put that unrealistic expectation on ourselves? Will your son love you less because your boss got upset with you yesterday? Do you think your husband will sleep on the couch if there’s a dish in the sink? Does your daughter avoid you because you’re having a bad hair day? Surely your best friend will simply refuse to go to the mall with you because you haven’t picked up that dry cleaning yet!

This all sounds silly, but, the bottom line is, that’s what it’s really all about. Your family and friends love you–imperfections and all! We need to look at ourselves with that same kind of love, care and understanding that those close to us do–and give ourselves a break!!

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Scrolling Saturday was created by Melissa at Such Simple Pleasures and Coleen at Manners and Moxie. Be sure to stop by and say howdy!

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Caroline over at The Bingham Diaries (also author of Menu Planning 101) tagged me for the Seven Random Facts Meme. Due to the fact that I’m in love with Caroline, I am posting this immediately!
Post 7 random facts about yourself– The Rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Remember, Caroline asked for it!
1~ I am addicted to text messaging.
2~ Yesterday, I was accepted as a contributor for the soon-to-be-live
New Jersey Moms Blog. (Woohoo!)
3~ I need a good divorce attorney (but can’t afford to pay one).
4~ The Salty Mooch is my newest blog. (If you love dogs, go check it out!)
5~ I’m a ‘Linux Chick’! Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 to be exact.
6~ I’d like to have a rabbit as a pet.
7~ I have three tattoos–and I want more.

My victims:

Becca (BeccA’s Buzz), Tara (If Mom Says Ok), Tammy (Mom Knows Everything), Heather (Singing With My Heart), Janice (Twist & Skewer) and Karen MEG (A Day in the Life…One Glass at a Time).

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The ‘Give Me Five’ Monday meme is designed to share fun information with each other in a simple, short list! Here’s how it works: Each week, I will put out a random topic from my list of topics and you share 5 answers of your choice on the given topic and link back here! You can add photos, links or stories or just a simple list of your own of 5 things that relate to the topic as it pertains to you and your life experiences. It doesn’t have to be in any order of importance unless otherwise specified.Sign up for weekly reminder emails at beccagirl@charter.net.

This week’s assignment from Becca at BeccA’s Buzz: Give Me Five favorite memories from your Easter day 2008.

1. I got to sleep in!
2. Ate [too much] yummy food!
3. Lots of chocolate (can someone please come hide it from me now??)!
4. Spent time with family
5. Best of all:  It was my daughter’s 13th birthday!  (Happy Birthday, B!!)

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Happy Easter from our home to yours!

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The following post was originally written on December 16, 2007. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by some the most caring, generous and loving people on the planet, so felt this post was worth repeating!

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Another Form of Family

We’ve all seen the phrase, “Friends are family we choose for ourselves.” And how true that is for me! Especially over the last four years or so, my friends have been more like family than the one I was born into.When I first separated from my husband, it was my friends who were there to offer encouragement and support when my ‘real family’ all but turned their backs on me.To this day, my friends still feel more like family than my blood relatives do.

In the past year and a half, I’ve been blessed with the addition of a whole new branch to my self-made family tree. My boyfriend’s family and extended family have become a very important part of my life. In a very short time, I felt welcomed, accepted and cared about, and I certainly felt the same about them!

There are times I mourn not having the relationship I’d like with my parents, brother and sister. It should be different, but it’s not, and I don’t believe there’s anything I can do to significantly change that. What I focus on is the wonderful people who surround me now. And I try to remind myself–often–of how very lucky I am to have my chosen family!

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Scrolling Saturday was created by the most wonderful Melissa at Such Simple Pleasures and the very talented Coleen at Manners and Moxie.

Happy Saturday!

Don’t forget to stop by and check out my new blog: The Salty Mooch! It’s not quite a week old yet, and could use some bloggy love!

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dkaye from Cold Coffee…and reruns honored me with this award. Coming from her, and because I’m still so new to blogging, this really means a lot! Thank you, dkaye!

The instructions are to share three writing tips and pass the award on to three bloggers that you deem “worthy of recognition and esteem.”
My three tips:

1- Be yourself. It’s much easier to just be who you are and when you’re genuine, readers will know.
2- Write about things you know a lot about, feel passionately for or that interest you. The words flow more easily and make reading your work enjoyable/informative.
3- Something I’ve learned recently is that I don’t need to post every day. Give each entry a chance to be seen. I now try to only write every other day. Besides, Huckdoll mentioned this pearl of wisdom on her blog too, so I know it’s gotta be right!
I’m not going to tag anyone for this, because it seems most people I know have already done it. If you haven’t, please feel free to do so!

I received this award from Colin at Life some time ago (sorry Colin!). Unfortunately, I don’t remember the rules. I’m passing it onto Misty at My Dogs Keep Me Sane, because she is a wonderful friend!

This beautiful award came from Petula at It’s a Woman’s World. Thank you, Petula! Purple and diamonds=two of my favorite things!

This really cool award came from Mama Wise, a new friend I’ve made in the bloggy world!

I’m passing this award to: dkaye at Cold Coffee…and reruns, Jill at Caffeine Court, Melissa at Such Simple Pleasures, and Mimi at Mimi Writes. These women are among the many that bring a smile to my face on a daily basis.

Last, but certainly not least, Melinda at Musings by Melinda has a brand new blog award, and I am honored to be one of the very first recipients! She said that I am “THE Real World Mom”! Thank you, Melinda!
If any of these fine bloggers aren’t already on your daily reading list, please take a minute to go see why they should be!

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Well, we did it. I took B yesterday to get her cartilage pierced. She’s thrilled! (For the background on this saga, read this.)

Just before getting her ear pierced (sorry for the blurry photo, used the camera in my cell phone):

This is right after. See the pretty new earring? And the BIG smile?

We’ll see what the fallout from her father is at the end of the week (if he notices!). But, B is happy, and that makes her mom happy!

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It’s Madison’s sixth birthday! To celebrate, we are introducing:
“The Salty Mooch”!

Please go and visit the new blog and wish Maddie a happy birthday!

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This is a photo I took at Barnegat Bay.

For all the Sky Watch Friday participants, visit Tom at Wiggers World.

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Some News!
Stay tuned for the unveiling of a new project I’ve been working on! I had hoped to kick it off today, but, being the perfectionist that I am, I want to do some more tweaking first! However, it will be soon!

 

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