My Mr. Boston

So I've mentioned Mr. Boston a few times on the blog, and more than that on the Facebook page. But I feel like I haven't really given him a proper introduction. And he deserves that. Plus, it leads into what I really want to write about.

Mr. Boston grew up in Boston. I bet you never could have guessed that, right!? Anyways. After high school he decided to join the U.S. Army. He went to boot camp, he went to training, he was stationed in Louisiana. Mr. Boston was an Engineer for the Army, so you know he's got to have some amazing intelligence. (Which is funny because he's forever telling me he's not book smart. Forgive me if I call BS on that one!)

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Is There a "Right Time" to Teach Our Children About the Bad Happenings in the Real World?

Ah, the end of another day. And today was a very trying day. KBug was just off kilter from the moment she woke up this morning and it kind of went downhill from there. But we've survived, and I'm feeling accomplished. The sink is (mostly) empty, the laundry is (almost) done, KBug is (hopefully) sleeping and I am drinking a (full) glass of wine. It's a good night.

But anyways.

 

Mr. Boston is (kind of obviously) originally from Boston. And being from that area he is a huge New England Patriots fan. And if you haven't been paying attention to the news, there is a huge story about one of their players.

"Real" Single Mom?

Today is Tuesday. And today being Tuesday, and the end of the day, means I have officially survived seven full days without my Gramma in the house. And that, my wonderful friends, means that I've actually survived running this household on my own for an entire week.

I have been told on numerous occasions that I'm not a "real" single mom because I live with a family member and I don't pay rent. Well, true, I live with my Gramma and I don't have to pay rent to her. But I do pay for all of my own groceries, covering myself, KBug and PJP. I also pay my own car bill and KBug's tuition for school. Neither of those were easy to do this past year while I was only working 5-10 hours per week in order to get further ahead in my studies so I can graduate this fall. But I never missed a payment.

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The Runner's Blues

A little over a year ago, I started running. I didn't really want to start running, but I knew it would be good for me, so I didn't it anyways. And it took me a while, but it eventually became enjoyable. It was time to myself- I could think, I could make decisions, I could de-stress, I could feel better- all while pounding the pavement for ten or fifteen minutes.

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Oh No! I Sound Like My Mother!

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a mom. I used to play mommy to my dolls and cart them around pretending they were my children. I played house with the kids from my mom's in-home daycare. I pretended that one Barbie was mom while a second Barbie (of the exact same size) was the child. Maybe I was a weird kid. I don't really know.

I do know that I wanted to be a mom, though.

 

I also know that I wanted to be nothing like my mom.

It's The Little Things In Life That Become The Big Things

I've been thinking a lot lately about being a mother and what it means to me. And I decided that I would write about it because, well, that's just what I do. I came to realize that, overall, being a mother to me is taking care to pay attention to the little things. It's no secret that the little things in life all add up to be the big things. And, in my life, the big thing is happiness. All of these little things that KBug and I share have come together to bring us a life full of happiness and I think that is so incredibly important.

Single Mama Troubles [four]:: Being Daddy

Today is Father's Day. And I have had several people wish me a Happy Father's Day. Now, this is endlessly confusing to KBug because, obviously, I'm not her father. I tried to explain it to her, and I think she got it. Sort of...

PJP's Graduation/Mom's Visit [in photos]

Last weekend I wrote about my brother's impending graduation. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can check it out here. Basically I wrote about the craziness that has been the last ten months of our lives in my house. It has been nothing but chaos since my brother moved in with us, but we have loved every second of it.

Well, almost every second.

It all came down to one major event, though. PJP's high school graduation. And that was last weekend!

It Works! Wrap - Review *and* Giveaway!

Let me just start off by saying I am a huge advocate for eating right and exercising. I do my best to maintain a healthy lifestyle, with the exercise and eating habits I want my daughter to grow up living. Sometimes I slip up, I'm only human. But going an extra day in between runs or having a small bowl of ice cream isn't going to throw me off my game completely. There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence now and again.

That being said, I am so excited to have been hooked up with Beth from Wrap Your Flaps, With Beth! Most of you, I'm sure, have heard of the It Works! products that are all over television and the internet these days. They're the current big thing in weight loss and are being sold all over the place! Well, I have had the opportunity to try out one of their body wraps.

CK's 21st Birthday Weekend [In Photos]

Alright, it's been a couple of weeks since I made it home from celebrating my beautiful sister's 21st birthday, so I figure it's about time I share some of the pictures! I could write about it all, but I think the pictures will give you a good enough sense :)

My beautiful sister, all dressed up for her birthday!

PJP Made It To Graduation!

It's 7:51AM on a Saturday morning. I've been awake for an hour.

Why is it so hard to wake up early during the school year? But then, once it's summer time, I'm up early every day, no matter what time I go to sleep?

Ridiculous.

 

Anyways. That's not what I wanted to write about this morning. Granted, I shouldn't be writing at all this morning because, well, my mother is flying in today and I have to pick her up in a few hours and because my house is a disaster and we are having people over tomorrow.

 

Why is my mom flying in and why are we having people over?

 

PJP is graduating on Sunday!

 

My Painful Stories [part four]

It's been a long while since I wrote the last section of this series. So I figured, while I had a few minutes, I would pick it up where I left off. You can read parts ONE, TWO and THREE by following the links or locating them in the month of April in my archive. They provide a lot of back story to what I am about to write and to who I am today.

Remember, we've met depressed, cutter, anorexic Christine. We've also said good-bye to her. And My Painful Stories [part three] introduced you to teen mom Christine. But I never finished telling you about my experience as a teen mom. So, here we go.

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Look on the Bright Side! And Snap a Photo While You're At It!

So I know that there can be a lot of "downsides" to being a single parent. I've spent some time writing about them in my Single Mama Troubles series which you can read by following these links: one - two - three.  And these "downsides" can make life as a single parent very difficult to navigate at times. In the end, of course, these "downsides" are always worth it because you have a happy, healthy child whom you love more than life itself.

And let me be clear. There are very good things about being a single parent. And one of my favorites is being the one who gets all of the best photo ops!

Single Mama Troubles [three]:: Child Support

Alright, let's talk about this. All of us strong, beautiful, hard-working, selfless, respectable single mamas (and daddy's) out there have problems with it. There's really just no getting around it, no matter how everything goes down.