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I have never been to an estate sale before last weekend. Nor a sample sale. I hit both in one weekend. And, boy, did I score! Actually The Daddy scored at the sample sale but brought home the wrong size so I went back and got lucky by finding the ones I liked in the right size!

On the way home from surfing last weekend, The Daddy stopped by this Reef sample sale that the local rep was having. There were flyers up all over the place down at the beach so he decided to check it out. Kind of unusual for him but there you have it. Apparently he got several pairs of Reef flip flops for $10 each! Hallelujah and pass the Cheez Whiz! And a really cute and huge straw bag for the same. It’s perfect for toting all of Tater Tot’s and my beach stuff down the beach to whatever little teeny spot we find that isn’t inhabited by Everyone and Their Brother. And the flip flops are great! They’re usually about twice the price The Daddy paid so I was happy to have ‘em. I needed some new ones, too since the only working ones I have left are my favorites in the entire world, the
Reef - Costa Rica flip flops. So now I have a pair of the super-comfy and cushy Reef - Leather Slap and some Reef Seaside slaps in camo with hot pink accents. Bonus! If you have the opportunity to stop by a sample sale of any sort, do it! You never know what you might find…

On my way home from the sample sale I saw an estate sale sign and thought “What the hell? The Daddy is watching Tater Tot and I might as well take advantage of this time!” So I stopped by not thinking I’d find anything. The house was gorgeous with a lovely pool in the back yard and what do I see over in the corner but a little kid-sized patio table with two sturdy, white resin patio chairs! $5. Five bucks! The table isn’t anything to look at and will probably take some work if I decide to keep it at all but it was worth it for the chairs. They’re so cute and pint-sized! And they’re not the flimsy, Big Lots! type of resin chairs that will fall apart quickly. They’re thick and sturdy and look great! I’m sure they were priced to sell because there was so much other, high-quality furniture and stuff that they thought nobody would want the kids’ stuff. Wrong! Once you get over the “snoot” factor of estate sales, they can be fun!

So those were my bonus finds for last weekend. I love finding unexpected stuff like that!

Well, gotta go start my chores for the night and get to bed at a reasonable hour. I’ve been waking up at 4 am. Blech.

Yeah. I’m an idiot who never gets out of the house. The evidence of this is the barbecue that we went to yesterday. I was having a good time (in between chasing Tater around the back yard, of course) talking to a few people and stuffing my face with the good food there. Feeling okay. Maybe a little self-conscious since I don’t get out much. Seriously. There needs to be an intervention here. But didn’t feel like a total freak of nature. Until the ride home. I made a comment to The Daddy about feeling a little socially inept because I don’t get out much and he says something to the effect of “Yeah, and all you talk about is Tater Tot.” Oh. Um, well. Yes, I guess he is correct about that. I thought about all of my conversations and they did all have to do with The Princess. Why I don’t surf very much any more (the barbecue was at a surf buddy’s house). How I don’t sleep as much as I used to because I try to feel normal by staying up too late doing stuff after The Tot goes to bed. What she’s learning, doing, saying, etc. You get the picture. A little Kiddie-Centric.

Seriously, I feel like that’s all I have to talk about. Not like I can strike up a conversation about the great surf session I just had or the crappy day at work. Actually, after this morning I could strike up a conversation about the great surf session I just had because I actually got my land-locked Mommy Butt out in the water today! Will wonders ever cease? But I digress. I was feeling like a complete doofus. A little frustrated because, yes, I am Tater-Tot-centric these days. It’s my job. But it hit me. I need to have a teeny weeny tiny little bit of a life for myself. At least to stay aware when I am talking with other adults who do not have teeny tiny children that they don’t necessarily want to hear all about my teeny tiny child. They have raised their own or are not interested in having any. Deal with it and move on. Even talking about Paris Hilton’s jail time would have probably been a better bet than rambling on about Tater Tot’s latest word or teething. Okay that’s a slight exaggeration. I think most people are fine hearing about your child for the first minute. They’re cute and everybody likes a cute little kid. But after the first minute, time to discuss the care and feeding of the rhodedendron or something. Anything! There was one other couple with an 18 month old son there and at least it was appropriate to be talking with them about toddler feeding fun and how they both will still accidentally launch themselves headlong while walking.

So, after the host’s parting shot that they were going to strip me of my surf nickname if I didn’t get my butt out in the water soon, I went surfing this morning. It did me some good to get back out in the salt water. I forgot my leash which can mean lots of swimming after my board if I’m not careful. But I felt comfortable and not cautious like I usually do when I surf leashless. I caught some fun little waves, walked the nose a bit and called it a morning. Got home in time to shower and get dressed before Tater Tot woke up from her first nap. Bonus. Gotta do that more often. Don’t I say that every time?

Happy Independence Day! Pass me the barbecue and stay away from the beach (and off the roads)! You could not offer me any outrageous amount of money to go to the beach today. It will be a complete ZOO there. Which is why Tater Tot and I went yesterday instead of today. And why The Daddy will go with us tomorrow. But today is strictly a patio and other-people’s-barbecues kind of day for us. And the other people’s barbecues aren’t that far away. It’s just not that safe to be on the roads on a day like today when people like to drink lots of beer at barbecues and the beach (there are lots of creative ways to hide it from the lifeguards and law enforcement) and drive home. Anyway, enough Safety Mommy.

Yesterday Tater Tot and I went to the beach. Oh Good Lord this girl likes the ocean! I don’t know why but we hadn’t really gone to the beach since last summer when she was too young to really like the water. But this time she loved it! This is a good sign for me since I love to surf. Hopefully she will love it as much as I do. Otherwise we’re in for some looong summers. We started out our trip with me having to load the Radio Flyer ATW (All-Terrain Wagon) Cargo Wagon in the back of the truck. It wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be but then I had to figure out how to keep it from rolling back and forth in the back of the truck as we drove down to the beach. Bungie cords! My first configuration didn’t work out so well and it was drifting back and forth all the way to the beach. Luckily we don’t live that far. Tater Tot loved riding in it down the beach and everyone noticed The Princess riding in her carriage. I have to admit, she looked pretty darned cute. It was pretty crowded but we managed to find a little spot just big enough for me to set up the umbrella, which ended up being totally irrelevant once she figured out she could walk down to the water and that it wasn’t freezing. She did sit in the wagon for about 10 minutes just watching the water with a big goofy grin on her face first, though. Didn’t want to sit on the towel or in the sand, just in the wagon. Classic.

When I took her down to the water, she did not want to leave. I tried a couple of times and she kicked, screamed, and went boneless until I took her back. Or, once or twice, she sat down and played like she was going to play with the sand toys for a second then scrambled up and bolted back down to the water. Psych! So I finally figured out that if I sat on my feet holding her up in front of me while the tidal surges splashed over us my lower back wouldn’t rebel too much and we did that for about a half hour. Of course there was sand places there should never be sand when we got through and I had about a pound and a half of it in my bikini bottoms but she had a blast so who am I to complain?! I was completely surprised that this little girl who didn’t like her swim lessons had no problem with ocean water rushing at her and pushing her around! She had a great time and so did I because I checked my expectations at the door. I knew that this would be her trip to the beach and we would do what she wanted and not what I wanted. No lounging lazily on the sand soaking up the warmth of the sun. No reading novels or magazines or sleeping. Just laughing and playing and splashing with my little girl. What a great way to spend my day…

This seems to be Tater Tot’s new rule while sleeping. It never fails that every single time I check on her she has Mr. Duckie in some other strange configuration. She’s either face down with her arm over Duckie or face up with Duckie draped over her or splayed out spread eagle holding Mr. Duckie’s hand, er, wing or some other creative, sleep-induced gymnastic move. It is eternally cute but I never have the guts to go take a picture lest I disturb the sleeping Princess (thus disturbing my only Mommy Time). I really should…

I am up way too early this morning. I don’t know why. But sleep is just not happening so I thought I’d type at you all. All three of you. I’m not sure I have a thought in my head to type yet, especially since I haven’t had any coffee but here goes!

It’s hard to believe that it’s July already. Time just keeps sliding on by and The Tater Tot just keeps growing and learning. Every once in a while I think “This is her childhood and I’m responsible for it”. Yes, I know. I think too much. Maybe I’m attaching waaay too much importance to it but I’d like her to look back and think that she had a good childhood. Fun. Peaceful. You know how you look back at your own childhood and attach certain words/qualities to it? Well, I’m responsible for the events that she will attach those words and qualities to. Wow. I sound really neurotic, don’t I? Well, I guess I am a little. Although I don’t think the intensity of your neurosis has much to do with what thoughts you have as it does how you deal with those thoughts. Tater Tot is having a good childhood. We have a good time, she is rarely sick, and she has her loving Mommy and Daddy around her most of the time. I could probably get her out to more play dates but that will come with time.

Whew. Went and got some coffee from downstairs and I already feel better. Coffee even makes me not care as much about the measurements I took this morning. Yes, I measured my chest, waist, hips, and thighs this morning in an effort to motivate me to do something about how I feel about my Mommy Body. And just for general knowledge so that I’m not always working off of just the number on the scale which can be deceptive. Although some would (and very easily could) argue that I like to torture myself and that’s why I took my measurements, I am planning to do weights more regularly and add Pilates to my routine and I’m hoping that I will see results in my measurements from this which will hopefully keep me motivated to keep going. It’s interesting that the chest hasn’t changed and the hips have changed less than I expected them to but the waist…Oh God, the waist! I don’t think I ever knew what my thigh measurements were (thank God) but now I sure do.

Despite all this kvetching about my Mommy Body, all the walking and running has made me feel better. I feel stronger when I run, regardless of how much sleep I have gotten and I know that I am generally in okay shape cardiovascularly. Better than I was before I began jogging a couple of days a week instead of walking. And I’m in better shape Mommy Body-wise than I would be if I hadn’t started jogging. Gotta look at the bright side!

I’m not sure there is a bright side to the appointment I have to go to this afternoon. I have a “female” appointment this afternoon. Lucky me, I get to go in every 6 months because they keep finding pesky abnormal cells on my cervix. Nice. Then, usually, I get to schedule a colposcopy to get some of those cells off and see if they’re cancerous or pre-cancerous. Yeah, fun. At some point I wonder if I will have a cervix left to get the abnormal cells off of. I exaggerate (have you figured that out yet?) but I have had three culposcopies so far and I’m not looking forward to another. Not a horrible procedure, as procedures go but I’d rather not have one than have one. Thankfully so far none have come back pre-cancerous. Hopefully today they won’t find any more abnormal cells….

Lovely note to end a post on, eh? But I’ve gotta go. The coffee’s kickin’ in and I’ve got energy to burn! For a while anyway…

It is officially hot here in Southern California and we have rolled out the portable air conditioner. Tater Tot has a kiddie pool, a fountain, a sand pit, the sprinklers and a homeowner’s association pool to keep her entertained. And I still have one big Mommy Butt that doesn’t feel comfortable in anything in hot weather. I dangle and flap like nobody’s business and it makes me feel entirely crappy. I’ve been jogging or walking every day for months and have lifted weights off and on. More off than on, of course but still. I’m sure it’s my diet.

I hate this feeling. Like I couldn’t reach my goals if my life depended on it. Like I have no discipline. I know that I do have some discipline or I’d be eating junk food every day. I don’t eat junk food but I know that my diet could be more balanced and could probably include a lot less fat. And ice cream is my vice. Huh. I guess that kind of is junkfood, isn’t it. Hm. At this point in my life I feel like I need someone to tell me what to eat and how to exercise. Micromanage me, Baby! Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it, I promise! Can you tell I’m finding it hard to take control of this myself?

Well, I think that, instead of opining to you all about how crappy I am at following through with my plans to lose weight and get back in shape, I am going to use this time to chop veggies, plan menus, put stuff in the fridge to defrost and get to bed! I’ve got to make this a priority because I swore I didn’t want to go through another summer feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. So I’m off to chop, defrost, plan and sleep! See you tomorrow!