hi again

January 3o just seems like a good day for a new start. Maybe it's something in the stars that has motivated me, who knows. I'm committed to dedicate more time here starting today. I miss self-documentation and think that getting back to the things that really make me happy is a great way to start off. I seem to have a tendency to try to change things up all the time, usually this only results in me coming back to what was working in the beginning.

This past Fall was an interesting time of great happiness as well as some very distinct feelings of unrest. I was feeling so good in October that I decided to stop taking my anti-depressant/anti-anxiety med (Cymbalta) and thought, personally, that I was doing fine. But looking back, that was about the time my anxious unrest began. During and after Christmas things seemed to escalate at a rapid speed. I was constantly stressed, nervous, anxious and slightly angry. I called doc early Jan and started back up on the Cymbalta. It calmed me down considerably, but I've been very depressed - classic symptoms of fatigue and lack of enjoyment with the things I LOVE. I had an appointment yesterday to voice my concerns and was told that it is not uncommon for these types of drugs to lose their effectiveness after a few years (it's been 4 for me) and it often helps to change things up a bit. So... he gave me some samples of a fairly new drug called Prestiq and, yes, today is the first day. So here's to my onward and upward... once again.

I have tons more to post here but that will have to wait for another time. My two beautiful boys are sitting on the floor next to me playing Operation and would like nothing more than to have me play with them. Just call me "steady."

bring on Christmas!

I'm officially counting down now. Tree is up; stockings are hung; nativity set is on the entertainment center; lights are on the house; I finished the LAST of my shopping yesterday; everything is wrapped and stashed in the attic; and we have been watching all of the requisite Christmas shows for the past week (Rudolph, Polar Express, Frosty, The Grinch, Fred Klaus, and my personal favorite... A Christmas Story); and we attended our first holiday party on Friday night. I have also enjoyed several glasses of "better-than-nog" at said party.

Since my last post life has been going on in quite the usual pattern for me otherwise. I said goodbye to my group of men at Beto at their graduation ceremony on November 25. I have to admit it was a sad night as I had grown quite attached to several of them and the thought of them being in prison for so many more years is very sad to me. I know deep down they do need to be there for the things they've done, but it still breaks my heart.

Shortly thereafter we traveled home for the Thanksgiving holiday. I gained 5 happy pounds over that short trip... but that's okay now isn't it? We have since been looking forward to the Christmas trip which will last much longer and add even more pounds. And thanks to the choreo-talents of my Zumba-sisters, Leah and Tanya, I have been able to incorporate some Christmas songs into my classes which have been down in numbers but I'm thinking things will pick up again after the new year.

I am now psyching myself up for the coming week. My dear husband and partner, Mikey, will be gone on business until Thursday so I'm a single-mom for most of the week. I'm sure all will be fine. The only challenge will be bedtime because we are quite a team when it comes to putting this house to bed. But I can do it... I can do anything!

on to the future

Lack of time and energy will prohibit me from talking more about the election. I will say, though, I am happy, hopeful and so very inspired. Despite the fact that race shouldn't be such an important part of this election... it is! The African Americans deserve this day; at least I think so. Yes, I'm happy about it and my heart feels good for them. I can only imagine how it must feel, especially to the older generation who never dreamt that this day could happen in their lifetime. My strong "feeler" and "intuitive" traits are truly overjoyed!

And with that... You go, Obama! You go, Biden! I will continue to hold hope for you to make the differences you have promised.

election day 2008

Wow, can you believe this day is already here! I have refrained from writing about the upcoming election because I am quite honestly undecided. This year is so different from the last election - the dreaded Bush/Kerry decision. Back then I pretty much disliked both candidates and made my decision based on the fact that I disliked Kerry just a tad bit more than Bush. Honestly, the thought of that weasly guy running this country made my skin crawl, but that's my own opinion. Bush has his (many) flaws but he actually (at the time) seemed a stronger leader.

This year, on the other hand, I sincerely LIKE both of these guys. I will be pretty darn happy with either of them, quite frankly. I am very happy to be a witness to the first African American candidacy... I will be leaving for the voting booth in about 10 minutes and am still pondering my decision. There are a couple of issues I am very, very passionate about, but am wary of voting based on one or two issues. Alas... my vote will be cast nevertheless. I can't wait for the results!

halloween and other aspects of my life

Let's see... what has been happening since my last post?

Halloween

We headed over to Jimmy & Wendy's in Whitehouse. Between our family and theirs we had children ages 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5, a steak dinner waiting back at the house, beer & our cups full of wine as we stalked the neighborhood. As you can imagine, it was superfun for everyone. Stephen caught on fast. After the first house, he came walking back to us, so excited, with the biggest smile on his face as he happily showed us his little pumpkin bucket with one piece of candy in it, and was off to the next house! At one point, a motorcycle cop pulled up right in front of us and turned on his lights and sirens. I looked down at my now empty plastic cup which had just minutes earlier held several ounces of white wine and thought to myself... "Oh man, my kids are going to have to watch me take a breathalizer!" Luckily, the cop was simply passing out candy to the kids. Nicholas was elated - as his love for motorcycles reaches beyond the bounds of this earth!

ZumBA!

I have officially begun teaching three classes per week at the Y; Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning and Friday morning. My first Wednesday class on the 22nd brought in only two people. This week brought in six so I won't worry yet. It is the first class they have placed in that timeslot so it may take awhile to get the word out. Thursday's class, on the other hand, has been marketed as a beginner class and is FILLED with a wonderful group of senior citizens. They are so sweet and fun. I have slowed the class way down and spend a lot of time breaking down the steps in between routines. And Friday is a power class. I have been getting a great turnout in that one - mainly other moms who frequent the YMCA's other morning classes. Most are new to Zumba so it has been a bit more instructional than normal but they all seem to be catching on and enjoying it. As for me - I'm lovin' this new facet of my life:)

Leah also threw an awesome ZumBOO party last Thursday. She choreographed routines to some Halloween music, everyone came in costume, there were prizes and giveaways and food. It was a blast. I went as a flapper.

Bridges to Life

The Texas prisons have been on lockdown for the past two weeks due to some security breaches at Huntsville. So my lovely family has had the gift of my Tuesday night presence.

So those are the big things. Bring on November... the food, the shopping, the stress. I think i'm ready.

scenes from a parade

scary happy

me... tired from lack of sleep last night. legs sore from practicing zumba routines all day. anxious for tomorrow's first Zumba instruction experience. hungry from eating small, healthy portions today. stressed about my less than tidy house and forever pile of laundry. no make up.

yet... happy.

I'm so happy. Don't know why. Life just seems to be really good for me these days. I feel really in control of my life, my future and my emotions. Alright, I'm not completely in control of my emotions all of the time, but a lot more frequently than in years past. My hubby may disagree, but I feel pretty confident that there's an improvement.

I think it may have something to do with the fact that the things I'm involving myself in these days stem from deep rooted interest and passion. It's amazing how happy a person can be when they are doing things they are meant to do. My new Zumba addiction, for instance... I may not be the world's best dancer, but I have such a passion for music that I don't even care. It just does so much for me - When I love the song I can feel it throughout my whole body, I smile and I just have to move -it's so freeing and makes me feel wonderful!

I pulled a book from my shelf the other day called the Strengthfinder 2.o. As the title implies it is dedicated to finding and applying your strengths and gives you themes and ideas for action. So... instead of focusing on things you don't do well and trying to do them better - this book helps you find your top 5 strengths and encourages you to incorporate these strengths to all aspects of your life. My ex-boss, Russ, gave this book to each of his direct reports. So bringing this book out again at first made me a little sad because Russ passed away this Summer. It made me miss him and all of the other people I worked with at Alliance for three years.... But I digress; back to my point.

I revisited my strengths and their descriptions are:

Empathy - sensing the emotions of those around me

Strategic - see patterns where others see complexity

Maximizer - strengths, whether mine or someone elses', fascinate me,

Input - the world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity

Connectedness - I gain confidence from knowing we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it

And in true form, knowing this about myself fascinates and energizes me and I want to build on it. It is obvious to me that working with a program like Bridges to Life, my involvement with the 29Gifts Challenge and, yes, even motherhood, are perfect venues for my strengths, interests and passions. Tada!!! Happiness! Energy! Yes!

Those who know me are shaking their heads and chuckling because they are thinking of all the times when I attempted to push them to learn their Myers-Briggs and "let's talk about it!!!" (I still aim to be MBTI certified, BTW. I should start my fundraising for this $1200 task.)

Before I close my ramblings for the night ... some recap from the past few days.

Yes, my amazingly talented children are excelling at their bike riding abilities. Macy and Nick have been freed from the training wheels and are now officially racing, skidding, falling and scraping knees and various other body parts. It's amazing to watch them ride down the street. Stephen enjoys filling the bucket on his little trike with... whatever... and rolling down the driveway.

The Halloween season continues with the Owens Elementary Fall Festival last Friday and the upcoming events, Colonial Hills Halloween Party, ZumBOO, Girl Scouts Pappy's Pumpkin Patch field trip, St. Mary Magdalene Halloween Festival and Boo at the Zoo to look forward to, not to mention the big night itself! So needless to say, you should expect many festive pictures to come your way via inforrific over the next couple weeks. Even Mike and I have sprung for costumes this year... I hope the suspense doesn't cause you much harm.

breaking news...

Macy and Nick BOTH learned to ride their bikes today withOUT training wheels! It's a proud, proud day!

pumpkin farm

Made the annual trip to Moore's Pumpkin Farm today; this year, with Uncle Levi and the Wansleys. Here are the precious kids - Megan, Macy, Paige, Nick & Stephen. After we took the hayrack ride to the pumpkin field, successfully found our way through the cornfield maze and picked the perfect pumpkins, we returned to our place where the kids painted their pumpkins. Mike smoked ribs and made 2 beer in the butt chickens.

catch up pics

thursday - my day

I can breathe now. Macy got off to school happy and excited about today's field trip to the pumkin patch. The boys are dressed, fed and dropped off at Parents' Day Out. I spent an hour and a half rehearsing my Zumba routines for tonight, I scrubbed the kitchen floor, cleaned the ceiling fans, vaccuumed the floors, showered, balanced the checkbook and ate a healthy lunch. I have an hour and fifteen minutes to do whatever the hell I want. Let's see, where should I start... My short term list includes cleaning the bathroom, picking up the back yard, putting together some wording for Beki's website, reading and preparing for next week's Bridges to Life class, filing, painting the hallway, getting caught up on the 29Gifts site, finding a halloween costume for Stephen and (gag) ironing. Not to mention this beloved website which has been sorely neglected.

It may seem like I'm complaining but I'm not. Believe me, I would be much more upset having less things to occupy my time. I guess what I struggle with is time management when I do get to those things that I don't absolutely HAVE to do RIGHT NOW. When I do have time I feel overwhelmed with what is the next priority. Alas!

The above image is my most recent purchase. I bought this at Canton last weekend for Macy's room. I don't know what it's called but it is some sort of yarn art from the early 80's. What makes it great, though, is that the frame is pink and SPARKLY!! It's such a nice combination of retro and modern; and it goes great in Macy's funky little room.

As for the other preceding images - just a little something to catch you up on the past few weeks in the Miriovsky household.

east texas state fair

what better way to celebrate the last day of summer than at the fair!

friday again

We've been having lovely weather in these parts lately. In fact, we have had our windows open with no A/C since Sunday:) Maybe hurricane Ike should get credit for this, I don't know. He came through last Saturday as a Tropical Storm over Tyler with heavy winds and rain that seemed to come from all directions at once. We lost our canopy in the back yard but other than that came out unscathed. We didn't even lose power (thank God)! Sunday and the days thereafter brought cool temperatures in the evenings and 70's during the day. I have been so happy not to be constantly sweating.

I began donating plasma this week during my "parents' day out" time. I decided this is a win/win/win situation: 1) I'm giving something that is needed and saves lives; 2) I can add a bit of money to our savings account; 3) I get to spend an hour twice a week lying down doing nothing! It's bliss, I tell ya... simply bliss. Yeah, I have a big ol' needle stuck in my arm at the time, but it's a small price to pay for enjoying some time off of my feet and not feeling guilty about it.

Whitehouse YMCA has been housing evacuees from the Beaumont area so my activies there have been limited. All classes (including Zumba) have been cancelled. Wednesday, Leah and I attended a class at the Tyler "Y." I was forewarned by some that Alberto's classes are very competitive and Diva's abound but I must admit I really enjoyed his class. Alberto's style was much more improv than Leah's but it was still fun. I wore my brand new Zumba carbo pants and tank top so I was feeling pretty sassy. Leah loaned me some of her instructor dvd's and cd's so I have been watching and listening and falling in love with Beto Perez. Yepa!

So all in all a great week at the Mirio household.

back to basics

Wow... my life is so full these days I'm having a hard time keeping true to this website but I am determined not to let it die. I have decided, though, to go back to the basics of journaling instead of trying to make this into some sort of informative site. I still may throw some random information at ya but mostly, I'll just be talking about me - hee hee. For my own sake and that of my children, journaling is very important to me and I feel more like myself when doing so on a regular basis.

Lately... I have been highly involved in many things: Kids, Bridges, YMCA, Zumba, 29Gifts...

First and foremost are the kids who take up most of my time. I make sure to spend time with Macy in the mornings before she's off to Kindergarten. It's been hard for me to break the habit if getting her up and dressing her but I really need to let her grow up. She has asked that I let the alarm wake her up and is very excited to come out of her room and surprise me in the mornings. She has also been picking out her own clothes which is hard for me because I love the "artistic expression" of dressing my kids. She is, though, her own person and I need to let her express herself. Her tastes are definitely different than mine, but she does well on her own. She loves Kindergarten, as I've mentioned in previous posts. Mike drops her off every morning and she is now walking in by herself. Mike told her he'd walk her in as long as she wanted to, but she has noticed that the other kids do it on their own and is taking their lead. She has expressed that she feels "like she's going to throw up" when she's walking in - but we have explained to her that this is just nerves and it's okay and very normal and will go away very soon.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Nicky and Stephen go to Colonial Hills Baptist Church for "Parents Day Out - Preschool." They both love it and have sweet teachers who love them. Stephen's teacher whispered in my ear the other day, "Stephen's my favorite." Nicky's teacher says he's the smartest one in his class. Well... duh!

I continue to Volunteer with Bridges to Life and spend each Tuesday night at the Beto Prison in Palestine. My group is quite a bit more challenging this year. The men seem more calloused and hardened and the majority are in on murder charges. There are a couple of men who stand out - one because he is truly changing his life and on the right track and the other because he just doesn't get it - but if and when he does it will be quite remarkable. He is so charismatic and influential - if only he would use his powers for good. He's my special little challenge.

I have joined the Whitehouse YMCA and spend Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings there with the boys. They play in child care and participate in "Kids N Motion" while I use the elipical, attend toning classes and/or lift weights. The boys enjoy their time to run and play while I get in some quality time sweating and actually getting to listen to some grown up music (with bad words, even!) on my MP3 player. I have also enjoyed getting to know some of the other moms that frequent the Y on a regular morning basis.

ZUMBA! I have been doing Zumba since February and am now offically addicted. Thanks to my friend and amazing Zumba instructor, Leah, I had the inside scoop that the Y was in need of more Zumba instructors. I expressed and interest, she told her boss about me, I auditioned and now I have officially been asked to become certified and teach. I'm very excited because I have fallen in love with it and am thrilled to make it a bigger part of my life. My fears are the usual - looking foolish. I don't look like a dancer (at least not right now). Leah has reminded me that it is all about having fun and being a good role model for the students. She's totally right and I will go in with renewed energy and enthusiasm to bring Zumba to the world:)

Cami's 29Gifts Challenge has blossomed into quite an international event. I have volunteered as one of the members of her "Welcome Crew" and spend an hour or two on Saturdays attending to the website, welcoming new members, posting giving suggestions and responding to members entries. I enjoy it and believe in it's impact tremendously.

So those are my most recent endeavors. I hope to fit a few more things into my schedule soon like donating plasma/blood on a regular basis, Volunteering at the Crisis Center and visiting nursing homes.

Last but certainly not least is my dear, wonderful, beautiful husband who takes the back burner all too frequently. He continues not only keep on moving up and up in his career, but also support me in all my (non-paying, often costly) projects by taking care of the kids, the house, the yard and never complaining. I definitely need to move him up a zillion notches. I'd say he deserves a little more of me.

quick little update

We made it through our first week of school - success! I'm feeling much better now. I guess I didn't realize how anxious I was about Macy starting. She has made a friend - Elizabeth - who she talks about a lot and wants to invite over for a sleepover sometime soon. She doesn't talk much about any of the other kids but I'm sure that just takes time. I can only compare it to what I remember of Kindergarten and the small-town experience I had. Things will be much different for her and I have to keep that in mind.

Nicholas and Stephen did great at Parents Day Out. And on the days they were home, there was a strange calm over the house without Macy's energy. Nick spent a lot of time playing with his motorcycles by himself and Stephen finds lots to keep him busy. Their calmness allows me to get stuff done and, inbetween chores, I find myself sitting down and playing with them or just watching them - it's nice. We do miss Macy, but she is better off now being able to express her creativity and use up her energy with peers.

Mike and the rest of the ETMC crew are preparing for Hurricane Gustav. They have sent crews (including Levi) down south to Houston and San Antonio to help with hospital evacutations and whatnot. Tyler is sister city to Beaumont and we are already hosting many evacuees from that area. Ol' Gustav may just come right over Tyler as a category 1, as well. That means 70-95 mph winds. I guess we can say goodbye to our patio canopy... and remind me to park the van in the garage, will ya.

As for me - I have an audition for Zumba Instructor at the YMCA next Saturday. If all goes well I will get certified in Ft. Worth on the 28th of this month and then start in teaching my own classes shortly thereafter. I'm very excited about this new venture.

first day of school 2008

Macy started Kindergarten Monday and Nick's first day of "Parents Day Out" was today. Macy did great yesterday and woke up excited to go again today. Contrary to how Nick looks in this picture, he was thrilled to be at his new "school" and I had not problems dropping him off. It was Stephen and I on our own to the Y this morning...

detox

The YMCA child care is closed all this next week so I have been trying to think of something healthy to do at home, sans exercise. I have decided to try some sort of detox, God help me. I have just started doing some research on the proper way to do this and think I may have found something from the Natural Health website called a 7-day Detoux. Lots of liquids, fruits and vegetables... wish me luck!