My Name is Tasha....

...and I am a chocoholic!
And it must be hereditary because this morning I was driving my daughter to school and she was naming off the colors in the rainbow. She said, "Purple, red, blue, chocolate..."
I think we will have to go through the 12 Step program together:

1. Admit that we are powerless over chocolate.
2. Come to believe that a Power greater than chocolate could restore us to sanity.
3. Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of something other than chocolate.
4. Make a searching and fearless inventory of all things chocolate.
5. Admit to ourselves, and to another human beings the exact nature of our love of chocolate.
   
6. Be entirely ready to remove all the chocolate from our house.
7. Humbly ask the chocolate to forgive us.
8. Make a list of all persons we had harmed, (by not sharing our chocolate) and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and when we see chocolate in the store, don't buy it.
11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with vegetables and healthy snacks.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to chocoholics everywhere, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Either that or we could go out for ice cream....

TGIF

Well, we made it through another week. Today Bella and I went to the gym and then ran around town doing errands. I had a gift certificate to a posh place that I had never used and it was just about to expire, so we had an extravagant "Ladies Lunch" before we came home. We ordered whatever we wanted to eat. Bella had macaroni and cheese and lemonade. Mommy had corn & crab chowder and Filet Mignon tacos. We colored with crayons and talked about Princesses, The Flintstones and our upcoming trip to Yankee Stadium. I couldn't have asked for a better lunch date. Then we headed home to do laundry, work a little and mess up the house (should have been clean up the house, but we messed it up instead).
Tonight as we were winding down and Bella was getting ready to go to bed, she curled up next to me on the couch and let out a big sigh and said, "It's good to be home."
I couldn't agree more.
Enjoy the weekend. We will.

Wishes Do Come True

Yesterday, Bella was sitting on my lap so we were looking at each other face to face. I had a little piece of glitter on my cheek (when you have a 3 year old daughter, there always seems to be glitter around).The conversation went something like this:
Bella: Mommy, you look sparkly!
Mommy: I do?
Bella: Yes. You have a sparkle right there on your cheek.
Mommy: I wonder where that came from.
Bella: Maybe from a shooting star or something.
Mommy: Maybe. (smile)

The New Life Diet

The other day we were at the grocery store and I bribed, er, I mean told my child that if she was good while I shopped, we could pick out a treat at the end (hey, it had been a long day!). She sat patiently in the shopping cart, singing and talking the whole time. So when I was finished we picked out a treat. A big raised donut with chocolate frosting and pink and white sprinkles! I told her she could have it as soon as we got in the car. Again she waited patiently. When I finally gave it to her, I watched her eat it in the rear view mirror on the way home. She was carefully eating only the top off the donut, which made me laugh, so I asked her, "Why are you only eating the top?". She replied matter of factly, "Because that's where the sprinkles are." I laughed again and then got to thinking....

The chocolate and the sprinkles are really the best part. The rest just makes you feel sick and regretful and full. When you relate that to life, it seems like we, as adults, have kind of forgotten that 'go for the good-stuff first' behavior. We spend so much time dealing with stress and worry...the part that makes you feel sick and full and regretful, and the good parts seem to go unnoticed a lot of the time. I think we all need to dive in to the chocolate and sprinkles first every once in a while...learn to appreciate and acknowledge the good things in life. Stop to taste the sweetness and roll the sprinkles around on your tongue a little. You'd might be surprised just how delicious life really is!

Frightening Frigidaire

Today we were eating lunch and Bella ate just a few bites of hers and then said she wasn't hungry anymore. I wrapped a little tin foil over the plate and put it in the fridge, knowing that in half an hour, she'd want it again. Sure enough she asked for it and I took the plate out and set it on the table in front of her. She looked at the tin foil and said, "Why did you cover it?" I replied, "just to protect the food" to which she said, "Mommeee, there's nothing dangerous in the refrigerator!"

She obviously does not yet know the evils of cream cheese, butter and cookie dough.

I Love Denver in the Springtime

Happy Spring Everyone!

A Charmed Life

What is it about little girls and princesses? Before Bella had even seen a book, TV show or movie about a Princess, she wanted to be one. Every thing we do these days revolves around Princesses. Most of the time, I am Cinderella and she is Anastasia (Cinderella's evil step sister). I tried reversing the rolls the other day. After Daddy's success with the Sleeping Beauty game, I thought maybe if I convinced her that she was Cinderella, I might get her to mop the floors and clean the bathroom...but she wasn't falling for it. So, I continue to get stuck with all the chores while Anastasia barks out orders and rules the house.....what's wrong with this picture?

Oh, and she doesn't call Daddy "Daddy" anymore. She calls him "Charmings"...which makes me giggle every time.

Now, back to my chores. But I think I'll head to DSW today...see if I can't find a new pair of glass slippers.

Saturday Night Dead

This week I....
Lost one hour of sleep for daylight savings time.
Prepared 17 meals.
Took Bella to school on Tuesday and Thursday, dance class on Wednesday, school pictures on Friday.
Made 3 trips to the paper store, 5 trips to the grocery store, 2 trips to the post office and 1 trip to the bank.
Worked out for 7 hours (lost 3 pounds!).
Did 7 loads of laundry.
Cleaned the house twice.
Printed 1,106 sets of wedding invitations.
Read 18 books before bedtime.
Washed the car.
Walked the dog.
Laid in bed next to the dog, and promised her I would walk her more next week.
Paid the car loan, the Visa bill and the water bill.
Had one new client meeting.
Answered over 300 emails.
Bought a pair of new shoes.
Went to one afternoon play-date.
Played 3 games of tag in the backyard and attending 3 tea parties.
Went to a hockey game and a surprise party.
Bought a new camper.

It is 11:00 Saturday night and I'm still going. And if my daughter wakes up in the middle of the night and needs something, I will be the first one out of bed to be by her side. Whoever said being a mother is the hardest job in the world, was right. But it is also the best job I have ever had. Knowing that my beautiful girl is upstairs sleeping in her own room, in our cozy house, surrounded by her princess books and fancy dresses and toys. Knowing that she knows she is loved by her mommy and daddy and family and friends, knowing that I am happy with my business and lucky enough to be home with my child everyday and she learns and grows....makes it all worth while.

Although a massage and pedicure would be a nice thing to add to the list tomorrow....

Rollercoaster of Love

There are ups....like when my child out of the blue says, "I really love you Mommy" or when I sing "Here comes the sun" and she follows with "do-un-do-do" or when we have tea parties in the back yard on a 70 degree sunny March day.

And there are downs....like when I am at the gym and a woman from the kids club comes to find me midway through my workout to tell me my daughter has had an accident (not the injured kind...the poop kind) or when I have just changed the sheets on my bed and put the brand new white ones on, only to find my daughter in my room minutes later shaking a glass of cranberry juice ALL OVER the bed.

When you are on a roller coaster, you assume the down part is the fun part. But the down part wouldn't be nearly as fun without the anticipation and excitement of climbing the hill. I think it's the most fun when you just enjoy the ride. Poop, cranberry juice and all.

Do-un-do-do.

Laugh and the World Laughs With You

I was sitting in my office working and was getting frustrated and tired and grumpy. In the next room, Bella was watching Blues Clues on TV and every few minutes she let out a giggle, then a laugh, a real belly laugh...the kind of laugh that when you hear it, makes you stop working, stop being frustrated and tired and grumpy, so you stop working and walk into the other room to give your kid a big hug and kiss...you know...that kind of laugh.