This weeks pinning

Here are a few things I’ve tried from Pinterest this week.

1. Calm Jar

This didn’t work. Kayla hated and threw it across the room. I ended up getting rid of it because the thought of glitter and water and broken glass all over my house nauseated me.
I used only glitter and water inside a washed out pasta sauce jar.

2. Teacher’s end of school gift.


http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/04/21/fun-in-the-sun-summer-relaxtion-kit-teacher-appreciation/

Here’s how mine turned out.

I love them. I wish the picture was bigger. I didn’t add the sunglasses or aloe but I did put a box of crystal light packets and a few water bottles in.



3. Leg pyramid

Ok, I didn’t do all of them but I did print it out and hung it up at work. Wall sits suck.



4. Egg in a pepper

I don’t know how I screwed this up but I did. Mine didn't look as pretty. I like my eggs well done, maybe that's why.



5. Sugar scrub

This is one I always use and I'm not actually sure I saw it on Pinterest.
Here's how I make mine:
equal parts brown sugar and white sugar. Pour olive oil in until it's the right consistancy for you.

It might look gross but skin feels so soft and lickable. Plus, pretty jars with ribbon and paper are not practical for the shower.

That’s it for this week. I’m sure there’s probably more pins that I’ve tried this week since clearly Pinterest is taking over the lives of wanna be crafty, chef, fashionista women everywhere. P.S. I tried to properly link these pages but it did not work. I guess I should google that before people accuse my of plagiarism.

Painting plastic and glass patio furniture

You cancheck outthe updated version of this post on averagemomlife.com my new website!!

 Like my dining room set, my patio set is filthy, disgusting and gross but it gets the job done. It was also left here by the previous homeowners. We planned on throwing it in the alley and buying a new set the first year. Instead we kept it and I found another one that was equally awful in the alley, along with more plastic chairs. Great! We now have two junky sets. Summer comes and goes again and I decided; why spend all that money when (just like cute party decorations) no one really cares as long as we are all having fun eating, drinking and hanging out by the pool. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself, even though I dream owning really expensive and fancy patio furniture. Also, I think of money in terms of vacations and an extra $500 plus is almost enough for a weekend trip.

Here is what it looks like. The round one was worse but I don't have a before.

I planned on only painting the rusted metal trim around the table and stand to spruce it up but while I’m at Home Depot I notice there is spray for plastic and it comes in all different colors. Who knew? I buy multiple bright colors to give it a summery feel because I like tacky and lots of color. Rustoleum was the brand I used.
Before spraying make sure you wipe down the table and chairs. The alley chairs are really gross and the more I scrub the worse they get. They’re actually turning gray and feels like they’ve been sanded. I decided not to sand or prime them because that would require way too much effort.

Tip 1: Don’t use spray paint in the wind. Tip 2: Use a well-ventilated space. Tip 3: Use a drop cloth. Tip 4: Wear junky clothes. I did not follow tip 1 or 2. I was eager to get started and I like getting high off fumes.
The yellow looked a little dingy and could use an extra coat but I ran out of paint. The rest of the colors looked great. For the table, I sprayed the underside of the glass because I figured it would hold up better that way.
Here it is!

And the other set!

It does look a bit cartoonish but I it’s better than the boring beige and white. I'll let you know how it holds up in the sun and rain.

My fat

So, let’s talk about my weight again. I gained some and I'm not happy about it. I read a quote that said something like "my life is a constant struggle between my love of food and not wanting to be fat." This is so true. It sucks. I don't want to not eat or pass up a big old piece of pie or not be able to dip my crab legs in butter because I'm dieting but I don't want to be overweight. I tried moderation but that is less than satisfying for me. I need motivation. I tried putting skinny quotes in my home, such as "Don't eat the cake you fat pig." That didn't help. What I need is a personal shopper, chef and trainer. That's not going to happen, so I made a food list instead. Be ready, it's long. I felt the need to add 2 bites of this and 1 spoonful of that because that's where I'm feeling I screw up. This is day one.
1. 3 bites of cereal
2. Coffee with cream
3. Banana
4. Rice cake
5. Chuck of cheddar cheese
6. 10 pita chips
7. Slice of Muenster cheese
8. Salad with lettuce and peppercorn dressing
9. 1 bite of turkey sandwich
10. 1/2 slice of turkey
11. 3 pieces salt water taffy
12. 4 chips
13. 1/2 cup yogurt
14. 1 crystal lite tea
15. 1/2 Bagel with cream cheese
16. Cutie (baby orange)
17. 2 bites of bagel
18. 3 marshmallows
19. 3 green beans
20. Bite of chicken
21. Green tea with honey
22. Tootsie roll pop
23. 1 cup taffy apple salad
24. 2 big potato wedges
25. 1/2 cup pasta salad
26. Brownie
27. Mini cupcake
28. 2 handfuls goldfish
29. Mini cupcake
30. 2 bite size Twix
31. 1 air head

I had at least a gallon of water and more low or zero calorie teas. I'm sure I had a few more bites here and there too. I think it only looks like a lot. I was going to enter it into calorie counter but I know the brownie was probably over half of my daily calories.
I noticed my problem is sugar and it's probably the reason my skin is disgusting right now and why I have dandruff.
Maybe I will try to do better tomorrow. On the plus side, I walked for 50 minutes today.

I really don't travel that much

For the record, I am not rich. People think I am because we go on quite a few vacations. People also think I’m lucky. I didn’t win these trips, so no, I am not lucky. We work our asses off. Ok, he works his ass off but I work hard on finding great travel deals and budgeting. I don’t say you’re so lucky you went to the mall and bought some shoes. People do what they want with their money and time. We chose to travel. Sure, my house can use some work, my car is not paid off and I could use some new shoes too. You may like saving, I like going. If something major broke down, we’re pretty much screwed. We should have a ton more money saved but we don’t and I’m not even worried about as long we are doing what we want to do. So, yes, it is fair that I go on trips and you don’t. I’m sure you have a bigger savings than me and I truthfully don’t care. What good is your savings when you’re dead?
Also, these are weekend trips. That’s all I need or can really afford. I am not going on fabulous 7-14 days Caribbean, European or anywhere out of the country vacations. Weekends trips in my homeland are perfectly fine and fabulous for me right now. I still want to travel to New York and San Francisco and then I think I will venture outside of the country. I actually think I could use a staycation and check out the touristy sights in Chicago and Illinois. There’s no reason I need to justify my reasons or spending habits but I feel the need to because everyone always asks me.
Here is a brief view of my travels since last March:

March 2011- Florida

June 2011- Myrtle Beach

Oct 2011- Niagara falls

(Isn't this amazing?!)
January 2012- Kauai

April 2012-San Diego

May 2012-Boston

May 2012-

See, that’s really not that much. Most of them are Thurs to Sunday. The Hawaii vacation was a little longer. So who cares, stop being jealous and just go somewhere, people!

Shapes and sizes

I constantly worry and fear that I’m doing all the wrong things as a mother. Every parent has embarrassing moments when their kid makes an inappropriate comment such as “look at that fat person.” Mine have done that. They also have asked if a person was a man or women, asked about a scar on someone’s face, wondered why two boys were kissing, why is her skin darker then mine, why is he in a wheel chair or they simply stare at the person who looks different. Kids are curious and some situations are new to them. These are all great teaching opportunities. I didn’t see these situations as opportunities at first; I saw it as my kid being rude and me being embarrassed. We have now had several conversations about different types of people. I grew up in a small town and never had any conversations with my parents about gay, black, or disabled people because there was none in town at the time. There were a few times when my kids saw two men or two women kissing. They stared but they would’ve stared at a heterosexual couple making out too. “Why are two boys kissing?” I would normally say, “I don’t know but stop watching them.” I finally realized maybe we should talk about gays and lesbians. They were ok with it. They liked the idea, to the point that when playing house they would play “two moms” instead of “mom and dad” or “mom and baby.” Had I taught my kids about lesbians earlier, we could’ve avoided many fights about who was going to be the mom. I once asked my daughter if she wanted to invite a girl to her birthday party. She answered “No, I don’t like her she’s black.” Normally, I would’ve snapped but I was too shocked to, considering we hang out with a lot of black people. I mentioned our friends and relatives that were coming to the party that are black. She said “I know but they are different.” We proceeded to talk about the girl’s personality and behaviors and realized she didn’t want to invite her because she simply didn’t like her. I told her it is ok to not like a person if there is a reason and she doesn’t have to be friends with everyone. We discussed many different races and skin tones as well as people’s accents after that. In fact, most of the children they hang out with are African American, Hispanic or Asian. Either way the comment shouldn't have been made. Of course, since I have weight issues and call myself fat, my children think just about everyone is fat. I guess if you are only about 30 pounds most people would seem rather large. Once, the kids were in a phase where they were obsessed with babies and asked just about everyone if they had a baby in their belly. It was so embarrassing. “People come in different shapes and sizes and don’t you ever call anyone fat again.” That’s my standard response. I still have a problem addressing the fat issue with my kids because I’m not exactly sure if I am completely ok with telling them that it is ok to be fat (by that I mean morbidly obese) since there are so many health risks involved. These are just a few examples of my curious kids and trying to find a response. I think it’s important to talk to kids in detail about things. I’m not sure if I’m giving to many details to my 4 and 5 year olds but either way I think it’s better than the standard “people come in all shapes and sizes.” Plus it’s best to fill them in know before they have a chance to think otherwise. I pray my kids never bully or judge others.