Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Ok, so this past week I did not go to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving and only take pictures of the table before we ate. I always take pictures of my family at every holiday gathering. This did not have anything to do with the fact that I was too busy eating and for sure not because I was in a "turkey coma". I did not sample all of the deserts there. I always watch what I eat and stick to only one desert.

I also did not go to the Grand Illumination the day after Thanksgiving with my kids and proceed to eat a ton of funnel cake. I mean, who would do that after NOT sampling all the deserts from the night before? Not me. I also did not make homemade cookies the next day for my kids to enjoy and end up eating some of them myself. (Are you seeing a pattern here??!!)

I of course am now not looking for some new fad diet. You know, the ones where you lose 15 lbs. in one week? I would never be so desperate that I would stoop to attempting a fad diet. Nope, not me. I never lack confidence in how I look or feel. Ahem.

I also did not forget that today was Monday and I did not forget to write my Not Me Monday post until right now. I am also not concerned about the "last minute" writing and how it won't appear not planned out. I am always prepared for everything and I always know what day it is. I am also not so tired that I am actually contemplating taking a nap at 3:15 in the afternoon. I'm always productive and only rest when everything is done around the house. I would never take a nap with dirty dishes in the sink. I did not just smile to myself as I typed that last sentence. ;)

And what have you not been doing this past week? What would you not admit to anyone face to face, but you will to all of us internet bloggers?! I would love to hear it!

Giving Thanks....

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. It was one of the best in a long time. It wasn't rushed, everything went like it was supposed to, and we just truly enjoyed being with each other. The food was AWESOME, thanks to my wonderful mother. I can only take credit for the mashed potatoes and gravy and the broccoli w/ hollandaise. The rest was all Mom and she did a ROCKIN job. Oh! My dad smoked a turkey that came out BEAUTIFUL. Thanks Dad! And he helped us so much in the kitchen, he was such a trooper! And my sister made a wonderful homemade apple crumb pie....needless to say, it was gone by last night. So this morning I'm sitting here with my kids enjoying the fact that they are home today and we get to enjoy each other's company. Tonight we are going to the Grand Illumination downtown to hear some live Christmas music, a parade of boats all decorated and lit up for Christmas on the river, and watch a wonderful display of fireworks! Santa sings and everything!! This is an event that our city puts on every year the day after Thanksgiving and my kids love it. It is VERY cold at this event because it is right on the river and obviously it's at night. But we layer, layer, layer and head down there for some holiday fun. My hubby will probably stay at home with our 2 yr. old as it might be "too much fun" for him! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. I'm very thankful for all the Lord's blessings in my life. He truly has brought me through so much and continues to love and protect me no matter what the circumstances. I am so very thankful for Him. And so very thankful for my wonderful family and friends, you all are such a blessing to me. I will leave you with a few photos that I snapped of the table from yesterday. This was before the "eating frenzy" began. The turkey that you see is the smoked turkey, we also had a regular turkey. Yum! And after I took these pictures, I was pretty much in a turkey coma the rest of the day. Which is why you won't see anymore pictures! Well, that and I REALLY need a new camera. Maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas. ;)

Atlanta Mckgathering

Ok, so here is my post dedicated JUST to the Atlanta Mckgathering. However, my camera (that I now want to throw out my window) screwed up on most of the pictures that we took. And the ones that did "come out", well they were horrible to say the least. Except for the one of Mckmama talking to all of us wolverines. That one was good. The others, not so good. And the first one I posted I took for this sweet lady because she forgot to bring her camera. So, I'm all, "Oh I will take your picture and send it to you!!" Ummmmm, yeah, I couldn't believe how it turned out. They were SO dark when I first uploaded them that you couldn't see us AT ALL. Just our silhouettes. So I "Dr'd" them as best as I could. And THEN I thought about not posting them at all. But I said I would post them, so I'm going to. And please know that I am totally embarrassed about them. I mean, all of you have these fabulous photos on your blog, and then you will see mine and say, "Is that a picture?", "Or, is it a blurring, dark mess?" But hey, it is what it is, right? So I'm posting them and I will look back fondly and remember what a good time I had there. (Hopefully I will look back with a NEW camera). And I did have a good time! It was so nice to meet MckMama and her family. And wonderful to meet some fellow Wolverines who totally understood me when I asked, "So, how long have you been stalking following MckMama's blog? I hope that we can all get together again some day. Hopefully when the weather is better! I'm glad to have met all of you that I did meet and glad that it's led to some new internet friendships!

Ok, I'm off to work. However, I don't have on PJ's today. Well, at least not ALL of my PJ's. I did have a meeting this morning and of course I got dressed for that. I mean, I have to draw the line at going to meetings in your PJ's. Well, at least if it's obvious that it's your PJ's! But I did get dressed. And when I got home, I changed into my lounge pants/PJ's/Don't answer the door unless you know them pants. ;)

And I'm actually looking for ideas right now for my business. Anyone? Anyone? Do share your ideas. I love hearing from you guys. Oh! And I need to do a giveaway. What do you guys think about that? Ok, I will go now. I have some customers to follow up with and an Open House to schedule. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your week!!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Ok, so this past week I did not work from home in my pajamas at all. I mean, even though I have my own business and I work from home, I'm always professional and get up and get dressed every morning. I also did not get so excited that I made quite a few sales last week that I didn't intend to make, that I danced around my house. I mean, I'm always refined and calm. And I certainly didn't ask one of my customers to borrow HER calculator to total her order because I had forgotten mine. I mean, who would do that?! I always have everything I need when I meet with a customer.

I also did not get at all nervous when I went to the Atlanta Mckgathering yesterday. So nervous that I didn't talk as much as I normally would. Who would be nervous about meeting people that you have only known online for a year and a half?! And I did not drive 2 hours in the cold, cold rain to go to this Atlanta Mckgathering saying that I didn't care WHAT happened, we were going. All of us....no matter what.

And I certainly did not take THREE pregnancy tests within the past 3 weeks because I was SO late. My hubby and I are always very responsible and I never have reason to wonder.....

I also am not dreading going out to the bank because it is still wet and cold outside, so much so that I am not contemplating just sitting home in my PJ's while I work. I don't let a silly little thing like weather keep me from going to the bank. I mean, who doesn't want to get showered, dressed, and put on full make-up just to go to the bank and come home again??

And I for sure did not decided to post pictures from the Mckgathering yesterday in a whole separate post to dedicate a post JUST to that.

So, what have you not been doing this week? What thing would you never admit to anyone, especially to thousands of strangers on the internet?! Do tell.

On The Road To Recovery

So, last week I told all of you about my hormone issue. You know, the one where I'm 32, but my body thinks that I am 80?! Ahem. Anyway, things are on the up and up. My Dr. has put me on hormone therapy and I am actually starting to feel better. I can tell that they are probably going to have to increase the dosage, I usually tank in the afternoon. She started me out on a low dose and is testing me again Dec. 1st to see where my levels are. I suspect that when those results come back, they will increase my dosage. But at least there is an answer and I'm starting to feel better!

Let's see, what else is going on in the Willard household? It's almost Thanksgiving (Woo Hoo!) and the boys will only be in school 2 days next week. I am SO thankful for when they are on vacation. I am just not a morning person. I try to be, I really do. But truthfully, I think school should start at like 9am. At the moment I am getting up at 5:30am and I have to say I DO NOT like it. Plus, I just really like spending time with my kids. I miss them when they are at school. So, when school vacations roll around, I do a happy dance! I'm looking forward to spending time with my wonderful family this next week.

Then we have Christmas right around the corner!! I so LOVE the holidays. And I mean LOVE them. We have family coming into town on Christmas day from Charleston, SC. and I am thrilled! Jon's dad and step mom are coming for a few days and I am SO excited. I love it when we get to visit. This will be the 3rd time that we have seen them this year and I hope it becomes even more frequent.

I wanted to share some wedding pictures from my mom and dad's wedding in Sept. The photographer FINALLY got the pictures to them. Why did it take 2 months....hmmmm....we're not sure. I'm going to have post them in a separate post because Blogger is being weird and won't let me post them with this post. So, stay tuned for wedding pictures! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Chicken With My Head Cut Off

I'm sure with the title of this post you can already tell that I have been a super busy lady lately. So to update my friends and family as to what has been going on in the Willard household, here goes. As many of you know I have not been feeling well for about the past 6 months, well really a year. But that sounds horrible, so we will stick with the six months. I had some blood work done last week and found out this past Monday that I have the hormones of a Post-Menopausal woman. Ummmm, what!? Yeah. My progesterone is "almost non-existent in my body" to quote my Dr. And guess what? My testosterone and estrogen are messed up too. Oh yay. I'm so excited. Well, I am grateful that this was discovered so they can fix it, but really?! I mean, how did this happen to someone my age? Who knows. This is all new territory for me. But it does explain a lot. The main thing that it explains is the MAJOR fatigue that I have been having. I won't go into all the other symptoms (trust me) because really who wants to know that I basically feel like I am dying every single day and I act like a crazy woman?! Ahem.

So I've been trying to be a wife, keep up with 4 boys and a HUGE dog and start my own business all while basically have the symptoms of your 80 year old grandmother. Sounds like fun you say? You want to do it too!? Nope. I didn't think so. But in all seriousness, I am so glad that this was discovered and that they are working on a solution. I am hoping to know something by tomorrow. My Dr. is actually presenting my case as a case study with all the other Dr's in the practice tomorrow while they are at lunch. Yes, that's right. My case is so freaky she needs to run it by some other Dr's so they can all drop their mouths and sit around and ponder what to do. BUT, they will figure out what to do and I WILL feel better! Hooray!!!!

I am truly thankful that all of this is coming to an end and my body will actually line up with how I feel on the inside. This has been really hard for me. My heart is to go and do and be with my husband and kids doing fun stuff as much as possible. But my body struggles to even get out of bed in the morning. So, thank you God that they found this out and there is a resolution!! And thank you to all of my friends and family who have been such a support to me during this time. I am a very blessed woman to have you all in my life!

For those of you who don't already know, I did start my own Mary Kay business and I could not be more happy with it. I am IN LOVE with Mary Kay products. I am so grateful for this opportunity that God brought into my life. And things are going really well! Feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more about our products. They really are the best I have ever used. Or, maybe you want to join the Mary Kay team? I can do that too! Just let me know! And thank you all so much for all of your support. You guys rock!!

www.markay.com/summerwillard
www.be-simply-beautiful.blogspot.com