TiMe to Move on

ERROR

That's what the scale read....

right after I got on yesterday morning and it said...

are you ready for this?

Are you sitting down?

Seriously, sit down.

155! SWEET!

It really said that.....and then it said....

ERROR!

Like I didn't know that...

for real....

I knew it...I just wanted to feel that skinniness for a minute!

the scale didn't even let me revel...

Not even one bit....it didn't let me pretend.....for a minute....

it bites the big one, whatever the big one is....

....and seriously, like I needed a mechanical machine to tell me....what I already knew ....

and to make things worse....

it wouldn't even come on this morning....

would not even register....like it had better things to do.

Or it was tired of my weight, too......

Seriously thinking I need a new scale.....we have outgrown each other...

Time to move on.

To the bbq ribs I have basting in the oven and potato salad.....

they will never lie to me...

in fact they will hit the spot....

just like last nights chocolate chip cookie ice cream sundae.....

Do you think there is a connection?

Still Flabbingly lovin yer guts,

Love Grows in Small Houses

I hope you stopped reading to go make that Roman Summer Salad!  Can you just imagine sitting on the piazza, cool ocean breeze blowing your hair...smooth italian voices floating on the air...

Com'on...I cannot be the only one that wants to run away to Italy.....don't all Irish heritage girls want to go there...


My big can of a bahind would fit in....wouldn't it?.....let's just pretend my Irish potato sack of a body has curves instead of just rolls.....pretty please!  I have always wanted to be a passionate Italian....

Next subject please.....

Anywho......I was reducing the balsamic vinegar for the salad...and boy did my whole house smell acidic and powerfully sweet.....

my fam was running out of the house, because well

you can pretty much say something in the kitchen and we will hear it in the bedroom, garage or front foyer...

oh wait.... I don't have a front foyer....it's just a hall squeezed between the garage and the next home.

If you don't know, haven't guessed or cared...I live in a town home...

A great home, a loving home....but a small home.

Where you can't hide if you want to after a tussle, where privacy is not a word that gets used..

I tell you this...because...well....I need to remind myself, that loves grows in small houses.

My grandma reminds me of this.....she raised 6 children in 900 square feet....and part of the time they didn't have an indoor toilet. So when I mention to her that my kids need a little room to stretch....she gently reminds me....

It is a good thing...

and thank heavens they made a country song about it....it makes it all right.

That we all share rooms in this house, we can't be mad at each other for long....because we will need to pass each other on the stairs or in the hall....or be tellin the other person to get outta the bathroom....it is never ending.

Sometimes it sounds like we have a lot more peeps in the house then we do...and sometimes we really do...as the neighbor kiddos come and go....

which is also a good thing.....

so when I dream of my little ole piece of farm heaven....it is the outside, the land that I dream of, the rolling hills and the space.....not necessarily the house

of which mr McD keeps reminding me....

I plan to live outside...on my porch...when I get there.....

love yer house ownin guts!

Summer Food Lovin

oh yes.....

I am talking food again....

it's wrong

yes, I know I have a problem with food.....

But let me tell you....

This summer food lovin is so worth it.....

even Mr. McD loved it, encouraged me to make it...begged me...

said he would watch the mctwins while I tan to the store to get the anchovies....

haha, totally kidding.....I kinda had to run out of the house.....

jump in the sub and burn runner to get away.  But I did it!

I got to the store and bought me some anchovies!

And yes.....you will still like the salad, and no....

you wouldn't even know they were in there if I didn't tell you....or you couldn't read!

Does this summer salad look delish or what?  I am serious...even Mr McD...wanted it.

It is from Giada De Laurentiis.....most likely the most beautiful chef in the whole doggone world....and boy can she cook....that's a plus!

Mr McD Said he wouldn't mind if I could cook and look like her......I'll be working on that...

and while I am doing that...run and make this salad...you won't be sorry.....

Roman Summer Salad

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup pitted green and black olives, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 3 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 8 fresh basil leaves, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound vine-ripened tomatoes (about 3 tomatoes)

Directions

Cook the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat until thick, syrupy, and measuring 1/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine the olives, parsley, anchovies, capers, garlic, basil, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl and toss to combine.

To serve, slice the tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds and place, slightly overlapping, on a serving plate. Spoon the olive and parsley mixture over the tomatoes. Drizzle the reduced balsamic over the salad and serve.

Sister, Sister

This beautiful woman in the middle of these three handsome suckers is a saint!

No, not because she has these three...

because she has the most amazing heart....

and shares it,

time and time again.

If there was a favorite sister day....

she would get my vote.....

(and I can say that cuz my other sister......she hates the web, so she doesn't read my blog....rude, huh?)

Not only does this younger sister of mine...look awesome in a swimming suit!!!

She can cook!!

And she is a mean cleaning machine!

But most of all....

She lives and loves....

She listens to my ravings and my ramblings...

which even mackdaddy will hold a hand up too!

She will tell me if "ma bahind" is gettin a little large...

but most the time...she tells me I look good....

for a mother of seven...

which is....

nice speak for....

we understand why you have a mommy muffin.

She is a wonderfully calm mother

and a foster mom,  a hundred times over...

my babes are at home in her arms...

even if I only see her once a year.

Thankfully we have text.....

unlimited......

It's me and her...at 1 am......

Exchanging recipes and poundage woes....

maybe one day she will live in the state next door

instead of oceans away...

Someday she will sit on my porch and shell my peas for me..

cuz that is what big sisters make little sisters do...

but for now,

she is...

Inspiring

Awesome

and

 my friend.

Loover yer guts

More Closet Space PLEASE

Disclaimer......

YES!!!! a GIRL does need two  pair of BOOTS, and several pair of HEELS (10 to be exact) and dress SANDALS and FLIP FLOPS and RUNNING SHOES.....though running has slowed to a walk...sometimes a crawl.....and TEVAS and FLATS...... a couple different ones, and WATER SHOES and cool NIKES that are one of a kind because  they came from Jordan...as in the country. And DRESS BOOTS and MOCCASINS.....and

that's just how it is.....

Mackdaddy's Father's Day Gift

These really are for HIM.....

Can you tell?

Every girl wants them and every boy needs them...

married boys.... that is....

They are stunningly sexy....

and comfy ....Seriously!  For like..what?.....two hours?

And they were only 8 bucks......YAHOO!

What guy wouldn't like these for his gal?

And the best part.....they don't care the size of my hips or my muffin....

or my butt....

o, you get the not so pretty picture.

Luckily, they don't even talk to each other!!

So these...

will join there sisters......

because....after all....

a girl needs shoes to fill the voids in her life.

Not that I have any.....

because I have these..

they form to my foot....

and remind me of Hawaii...

and that my bestest sista..has the same pair.

We bought them together...

Our husbands think we are dorks.

and because they are the most expensive pair of shoes (including one of my glutimus maximus kickin boots!)

I have ever bought...

but so worth it....I wear them all summer and half way into the winter...

So all of these....

(and there are two rows...several shoes wider)

(and nicely playing peek a boo, so as not to remind my mackdaddy....)

are really therapy.....

for my behind, which won't pay up.

What a mooch.....

Love yer guts!

An apple a day.....er.....fermented?

Day two in the juice fast and I am still going strong...on the couch.....

ha...if only.....I have walked five miles this morning, taken the kids swimming and done several flights of the stairs to do laundry....


but whatta you care......do you care?  A little.....

you are reading...right?

Well lets proceed then....since part of the juice fast is taking olive oil three times a day in the place of your meals...swallowing oil straight can be somewhat of a challenge and remind me of taking castor oil when I was way too preggo......so.........

I added a few drops of cider vinegar since I love that on green salad....it worked like a charm.

But I also found while surfing the web...that cider vinegar is just one awesome product.  So I will share a few things that I saw and learned here and here.

Now I had heard this things here and there, apple cider vinegar kept my heartburn at a low simmer when I was pregnant with the mctwins....and hello.....even better....they say that it is a tool for good digestion and weight loss.

And afterall, it must be true...Macks' grandpa had a saying....

"soak it in cider".......except my husband draws it out...so I pretend that this is really what he meant....

AND....the ole hubby will be happy to hear, that if you soak beans with a 1/4 cup cider vinegar, it will take the, um...how do we say this politely.....the....sssshhhhhh....flatulence......that was a hard word to say!!! And not because he gets a gassy tummy.....either.


Salute!

Muffin Tops and other Weighty Matters.......No More

Hello....

Is this on?

Anyone out there?

1 2 3...testing

aahheeccchhhmmmm.............{stepping on soap box}

After working at this weight issue for the last year (um..totally kidding...it has been more like 16 years).....I am almost tempted to go jump on the HCG bandwagon...

jk......Did I get your attention?

Now all you peeps out there that look absolutely fantastic on HCG and love it....I say hats off to you!  You look great, and I am totally jealous....

but, I can't do it, I worry about the damage that it may be doing to your heart...and the extremely low calories...

and lets not forget to mention....if HCG really works...and HCG alone...then I and every other pregnant woman would have lost all out baby weight and more...cuz HCG is after all the pregnant hormone.....and it has cursed through my veins for many a year now.

And still......the muffin top remains at large...literally!

The fact is that I believe that you are putting your body into starvation mode and tricking it into burning your reserves...which may be wonderfully good and all...unless it is damaging your heart.....

and lets not go into the people that take it and are still eating garbage food because they think that HCG is the magic pill.....seriously..I really wish there was one....

The good things about HCG is that I have seen it help people take off the weight and in places that most of us only dream of getting rid of!  And these peeps really work hard to retrain their body and cravings to eat the proper foods and all.....and that's why I wish I could jump on.....for a minute......when I look in the mirror.

But what happens in twenty, thirty years form now.....who knows...and I hate that I worry that far down the line...and it will probably be no worse then if I keep the extra weight on me.....bad, bad, bad.

So with limiting myself on what I will and won't do....I have only myself to crack into shape.....and round isn't the shape I want!

I have been reading The Makers' Diet and it makes a whole lotta sense to me...natural foods and cutting out the junky processed foods along with some of the foods that we think are healthy but have been denuded of any nutritional value.

So having cut down portion sizes, quit soda and most processed foods and added much more fish to our diet...I have to step it up a notch....because lets face it...the weight just isn't coming off...

So to start it off...I am going to do a juice cleanse recommended by a friend who practices holistic medicine.  Three days...not to bad and then I will cut out all starches, beans, dairy, grains...pasta included and some of the more sugary fruits....for 40 days and then start slowly adding in them back in again.

however....I will not be cutting out butter or red meat....after all we need this good fat....and yes..I said good fat...to break down the proteins.

I could eat goat dairy products...but I can't get past the smell.....

and....drumroll......working on the emotional mess that I get to call my past....because after all....I am an emotional eater....mad, sad, happy....bored....content...I eat....

So you may or may not see some of what I write...I haven't decided yet.....but lets hope it helps.....nothing else has, and only I can decide to really get it going.....and it's time...

So here is g'bye to the muffin top foreva....and pulling on jeans that just button up....and shirts that don't make me look pregnant....

thanks for listening and silently cheering me on....

and not killing me...cuz I just smack talked HCG

love yer guts.....

oh wait..you ask what this all has to do with goin back to the farm?

Well let me tell you...

I could have fresh veggies that taste of warm sunshine...aka tomatoes, and squash and crisp cucumbers, beans that truly snap and pea pods that don't even get into the house...because we eat them right away...

and farm fresh eggs from chickens that I know what they ate last night...and when I eat them.. (the chickens) I know they arent all full of growth hormones and fake soy meal.  I need the cow, so that I know her milk is coming from tall green grass that isnt puss filled and she isn't hopped up on antibiotics and growth hormones...that make our girls develop too soon.....oh wait...and I just made myself sick....

I am already on my soap box....I might fall off if I don't stop....

g'night...just say a prayer for me and my farm.

love yer guts forevah,,,again


signed me, tired of the mommy muffin

Lot's Wife

Do ya all remember Lot's wife? Of the Bible?


She turned to salt...

Mr. McD...calls me this on occasion....especially when we are

here......this is HOME....not home away from home...

I live at the home away from home...and have to come here...to be home.


Do you see where I am going with this?


Yeppers...I miss this place like...well like a long lost love....

this is where 3 of my 7 babies were born...and it was the first place the other 4 visited, when they were weeks old...

This is home...afterall.....we own burial plots here...and it is God's country.


Don't get me wrong.....I do love it here.....

But this is where my heart still is.....because we do this...

...and the kids can loose themselves in this....searching for bugs, or lizards.....we may have brought home one or two...

..and this handsome fella can feel at home in his boots....

We enjoy this......unless we land on it.....

and the beauty that comes from something so painful...always amazes me.

...and these two...well...they were corralled for a minute or two.

And there is this place.....when you visit you must eat here..I insist...and you must have their coca-cola...it is the best.....I promise.

And cousins were there...and well I was too busy cookin and stuffin my face with dutch oven potatoes and pulled pork, and talkin with family that I didn't have time to take pictures....but they are there, through thick and thin and inbetween...they are always there.  Sometimes like dried mud between your toes....but still they are always there...

and....two shared such wonderful news......I LOVE that kind of news!

Soooo....do you now understand why my beloved calls me Lot's wife?

Yes, I thought you would.....

One day, one day.....

and for those still shaking their head......wondering why....

let me explain....s l o w l y......

I am still looking back.....looking back at where we arent living...where is seems we aren't meant to live....but where I still want to live...and let my mckiddos grow up where their dad grew up...and where his dad grew up...and his dad's dad...and great granddad grew up....where their cousins are...and wide open spaces...and horny toads....

oh, you get the picture, yes, I thought you would...

So....if you hear mackdaddy ask for a lickin or two....he's not askin for a beatin'....he's just makin sure....his wife isn't turning to salt.....