Oh, I’ve been busy. Busy with the Children’s Museum, busy with trying to sell my car, busy with trying to lose some weight, busy trying to breath in the last bits of summer… Busy.

The kids all have cavities, which is besides me. I can’t figure out why. We brush religiously, it’s the one thing I can say I’m most obsessive compulsive about. There is a normal amount of sugar in our diets, nothing excessive. I’m really discouraged because Austin went until he was 13 before he got a single cavity and suddenly he’s got 6!? WTF!? Just when I had had almost enough saved to get his braces put on, he’s got $1000+ worth of cavities and other work (a tooth growing sideways under the gums that has to be sugically removed) to be done. And that’s WITH dental insurance! Sheesh. Kids.

Good news is that I’m down to 139 pounds. Which is not so bad on a 5′10″ stature. I did the cabbage soup diet for a week, then started a low fat & calorie diet. I guess it’s low carb diet too because I won’t eat rice, beans, bread, or potato anything. No sugar, no juice, no junk food at all. I don’t even lick my fingers after making a peanut butter sandwich for the kids. I’m eating lean meats (chicken breast, fish, turkey breast) and fruits and veggies to my heart’s content. I lost 10 pounds (7 the first week and 3 last week) and have another 10 to go to get me to my “pre-pre”-Bella figure. I hope to be 129 pounds by the time we go on vacation on the 22nd of September. I don’t plan to diet at all on my vacation, and after having gone that long without yummy goppy foods, I expect I’ll gain 5-10 of it back after a week of seafood and southern deliciousness. Who cares! It will be my reward to myself and I’ll get back on the diet when I get back. But worse case, I’ll be 139 when I get back from vay-cay. I can live with that, after a week of purging to my hearts content!

No one guessed the paintings right! I thought that it would be really obvious because of the lips and eyes of the animals, but Jeremy and I obviously have the same styles of painting. Thank you all for humoring me by guessing! It was fun to read your guesses!

Steph:

Flamingo, rhinos, giraffes, monkey.

Jeremy:

Elephant, zebra, lion

It turns out that once I get a shot of Crown Royal in my belly, I paint really fast. I’d be done with 3 critters and Jeremy would still be painting on his first, so then I’d move on to sewing pillows. Thank goodness for the motivation that is alcohol! We barely got done by our deadline. I’ll post pictures of the Museum soon– we’re sooooo pleased with how it came out!

I just wanted y’all to know I’m still alive, despite that I’m MIA in the blog scene. Don’t go removing me from your blogrolls just yet! I’ll be back…

As you know, we’ve been busy painting a mural and doing some other odds and ends for a safari themed toddler room at the Children’s Museum here in my town. Here’s some of what we’ve done this week. I’ll post final pics later this weekend as Sunday is our deadline!

I made some husband pillows out of safari fabric and red dot minky fabric. The museum director asked me to make husband pillows and I gulped. I stayed up for two nights trying to figure out how the heck to make them. And, then, PRESTO! I’m so proud of them because I’ve never done anything like this…

And a few pics of our animals. We had SOOOO much fun painting together, laughing together, jamming to old school music while creating. Memories are made so easily!

Ok, and now the fun part… CONTEST TIME! If you guess all of these right, I will send you some Happy Mail! Which animals did Jeremy paint, which ones did I paint? Now the Rhinos and Giraffes had the same artist, so there’s your only hint. So, who painted the zebra, the monkey, the lion, the flamingo, the elephant, the giraffes, and the rhinos?

I will announce the winner/s next Friday!

********Edited to add:  I’m thinking that maybe the hint is throwing you guys off… The artist that did the rhinos and giraffes may have also painted other animals too! Alabama Grandma and Stephieface, you guys could try editing your answers a bit!**********

No one intends to become a drug addict or alcoholic. Some people unable to deal effectively with life’s problems and turn to drugs or alcohol as a means of dealing with unwanted situations. A person usually takes drugs because they attempt to make up for some personal deficiency or life situation by numbing their unhappiness and pain with an addiction. They may be depressed, in pain or incapable of dealing with a loss of a loved one or extreme circumstance. It could also be as simple as a need to fit in and make friends, or a way to lose weight. Regardless of the reason, the person begins to seek “help” in the form of drugs or alcohol.

I have loved more than one person with a drug or alcohol addiction, and it is so hard to watch their lives fall apart. Mothers lose their children, or give them away because they know they can’t have the addiction and be a good parent. Fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters… Many have lost their way in life to a drug or alcohol addiction.

But there is help out there, if you or a loved one are suffering with a drug or alcohol addiction. Cliffside Malibu Drug Treatment Center is a residential drug rehab, alcohol rehab center and extended care facility for adults suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, depression, and other co-occurring disorders. Their drug treatment philosophy incorporates a variety of clinical components to create a comprehensive and effective addiction treatment program. The components of alcohol and drug rehabilitation include detox, individual therapy, group therapy, depression treatment, and alternative medicine. You are not alone, there are caring professionals that can help. Visit Cliffside Malibu’s website for more information on drug rehab or for their successful Alcohol Rehab Program.

I’m not coloring my hair again right now, but have been contemplating doing it soon. I know God made me a brunette (or gray, as the case may now be), but he would probably forgive my using hair dye all the same. I’m not sure that I like it more one way or the other though, so I thought I’d ask you. Jeremy prefers if brown apparently, but Austin thinks that’s because the brown can be done at home with a bottle of dye for $7 and the blond has to be done in a salon for $130. Insightful kid, eh?

What do ya think?

This?…

Or That?…