Taking Control

I have the best friends.  No, seriously.  The very best!  Not everyone has friends that will give up their Saturday to come help a momma-in-need, but I do.  I love this darling girl so much.

Carley is one of the sweetest, funniest people I know.  While I tend to teeter on all things Virgo, she is absolutely the best example of what our astrological sign has to offer.  She is actually a few years younger than me, and I grew up knowing her more as my brothers friend than anything else.  She was never that "pesky sister", though, and I always adored her from day one.  At some point, I saw SNL and thought Mike Meyers was saying Chickey Monkey (um, try cheeky monkey, but oh well.  I shouldn't have been watching it anyway, haha) in one of his skits and I gave her that nickname.  I've called her that ever since.  She is the sister-in-law I should have if my brother had any sense, but I guess I'll just have to accept that he is an idiot.  :)  It really is a shame!

Back to the mess that was/is my house.  I'm not going to lie.  Having your house catch on fire is one of the worst things ever.  I felt like we have never going to fully recover from having our stuff taken away and nearly losing our home.  What was brought back was overwhelming, too, and since I lost my job the week we were moving back in, it was all just too much.  I did what I could handle, but there were many boxes left unpacked and lots of "where in the hell does this go" items strewn around the newly remodeled abode.  My brand new office (formerly my front porch) was literally a storage closet.  The dining room table consistently had piles of random shit on it.    My room had boxes, bookshelves that were full of books that my husband has some weird attachment to, and a closet that I didn't know how to arrange.  So, instead of actually dealing with the issues at hand...I just started to eat, instead.  I had a lot of anger about a lot of things, and I just didn't care anymore.  I found a picture of myself the other day at that time, and it was scary.  I looked like hell.  I looked tired, worn down, and possibly like the next star of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."  I was a hot mess.

Then, something changed.  I read all of these blogs where people say they have these epiphany's, these moments of clarity.  I always thought it was because they were trying to sound good on their blogs.  Then, I had one, too.  Something similar to the day I broke down to God, begging him to let me get pregnant after two years of trying.  (I found out I was pregnant the very next day) It was just like, why am I allowing this to happen to me?  No one is making these choices for me, and if ever I had a chance to make a difference this was it.  I was working from home, my stress level was at an all time low, and we were finally settled back into our "new" house.  So, it was time for a change.  And just like that, everyone around me was wanting to help me change, too.  Hubby is in school, so I had to start cooking a lot more.  I challenged myself to start making more dinners at home with yummy, healthy recipes.  A friend randomly challenged me to doing a 5K.  I reconnected with my BFF and most of our dates are at the gym.  Another friend brought me to the Genesis Pure line.  Today, Carley helped me clean out the office area and kitchen table and let me tell you...I feel like a new woman!  Pretty much like I can do anything, which is good considering I have the 5K in two weeks and I'm scared to death it will be a disaster.  It just goes to show me that cleaning is good for the soul, and organization is totally key in this crazy Virgo.  I got a tweet from Virgonian today that said "Strangers think I'm quiet, my friends think I'm outgoing, and my best friends know I'm insane."  I started laughing because that might be closer to the truth than I'd care to admit.  Oh well.  Y'all love me anyway, right?