Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life

How many times has there been a "tomorrow" for me?

Hundreds.

When I graduate from college, then it'll all be better.

When I get into grad school, then it'll all be better.


When I finish my thesis it will all be better.


When I get my first professional job it will all be better.


When I get married it will all be better.


Yada yada yada.

I've always lived for the next landmark.

Today is one of those landmarks.

I turned thirty.  All day. Thirty thirty thirty. Instead of thinking about how cold it was, how the trees were bare and they'll stay that way for too many months.  Instead of staring at the mirror at the wrinkles that don't bounce back.  Instead of eating myself into oblivion....

I grabbed life by the giblets and started an 8 week program.

Hi, my name is Cort and I don't make time to be me. I get tired and depressed and eat to feed my soul.

Today, I put my health, my life, my being on the list.

No sugar. No carbs. No dairy.

Yes, you read that right.

I, who just cleared a pan of coffee cake BY MYSELF, managed to be good.

I will work hard.  I will be strong.  I will be healthy.

While today I was originally going to be posting an "after" picture... this is my new "before" picture.

Yay for me.

That said, I could totally go for a stack of waffles drenched in maple syrup.

Safe in the hands of generations past

On Thursday evening, I spent the night at my grandparents house.

In the room where I have slept one hundred times - the same creaks and pops, the same soft linens and pillows, the same trains whistling.

But with my child nestled beside me.

I lay watching the car lights chase across the wall feeling as safe as I did as a child.  The walls - three bricks deep - built with my grandfather's and great grandfather's hands over 50 years ago. Blanketed under quilts hand-stitched by generations of my grandmothers and aunts.

My baby breathed heavily as I recognized my Thanksgiving was coming to a sleepy end with my grandparents just feet away.  Thankful for the health of both sets of my grandparents still living and healthy. My parents, my brother and sister-in-law, my nephews, my aunts and uncles, cousins...

Safe and warm with the next generation sleeping soundly wrapped in the same hand-crafted love.

So Thankful

I have a wonderful life.

While we still have our challenges, I am thankful for my sweet, handsome, compassionate husband; my well-rounded, intelligent step-son; and my spunky, sweet Babygirl.

I am also thankful for the network of close (physical and virtual) friends and family.

Other, less sappy things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

Polar fleece

Sprinkle doughnuts

Fluffy blankets

Elastic waistbands

Fuzzy socks

Wireless internet

Flavored vodka

Lip gloss

Baby giggles

Full gas tanks

Chocolate frosting

Big hugs

Sitcoms

Crunchy leaves

Indian buffet

Caffiene

Good hair days

Washed pocket money

Starry nights

...and of course my readers!

One special reader - Deanna - is the winner of yesterday's $50 Hallmark gift card giveaway!  She's going to use her $50 plus 20% off to announce the arrival of their first baby (a girl!) in March!! Congratulations, Deanna! Please email me your mailing address so we can get that gift card to you!

And everyone - don't forget to use the code BABY20 on Hallmark.com to get 20% off your personalized card order!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

$50 Gift Certificate Giveaway!!

I was contacted by Hallmark.com to review their personalized card service. They offer cards for baby showers, birth announcements, wedding events, graduations, holidays, thank yous and MORE!

They were generous to offer me a $50 gift card to use for my review.  My beloved cousin was due to have her first child, so I decided to use that occasion to send photo cards.

The card selection is great! Many options, colors, and layouts.  My favorite is that you can zoom, shift, and recolor the pictures on the website! I've played with having to crop my pictures and RE-upload on other sites to get the pictures to meet my ever-so-anal-retentive standards.  Also, not only can you change the text but the FONT and add a picture on the back of the card! I was VERY excited!

Flaming cheese

I grew up in an area that is such a crazy melting pot of cultures...in Indiana. Yes, Indiana.

I cherish the diversity I was exposed to at a young age.  Hell, by the time I was in third grade I could cuss like a sailor in four languages! That's worth something, right!?!?

One thing that I love (and should be no surprise to any of you) is the food that comes with rich cultural diversity. Since I moved from home and then away from my college town, I've lived in predominantly white towns with predominantly white food.  By white, I mean..."wanna go eat at KFC or Applebees" kind of white.