Well, hello there, followers!

I know, I know, you haven't heard from me in awhile.  Well, suck it  up.  Life has been busy and I haven't had time to write.  My hope is that you'll say, "Oh, okay." and move forward.  If not... well, sucks for me.

What have you done in the last 180 days?  No, really.  I challenge you to figure out what YOU have done in the last 180 days.  Here's a short synopsis of my last half a year...

*Dropped multiple pants sizes
*Quit drinking Coca-Cola, started again, then quit again.  For reals.
*Finished my term as 2 year PTO President.  Hallelujah!'
*Completed a 3,000 mile trip up the eastern seaboard and back with the Monkey.  Wow.  I suggest you check the family blog for a play-by-play of the trip if you are interested.
*I learned that the hokey pokey is NOT what it's all about.  So there.
*I discovered the amazing awesomeness of Pinterest. What? You haven't joined Pinterest yet?  Email me, I'll send you and invite.  Soooooooo totally worth it.
*Commited to becoming part of Mary Kay management.

So... How about you?  What have you done with the last 180 days of your life?

Ready... SHARE!!

Thought Provoking Thursday

That's right ~ Monday was a holiday so even though it feels like a Wednesday, it's time for Thought Provoking Thursday! This week's question: What is your best attribute?

Mine?  Hmm.  I'm going to go with my sense of humor.  I think I'm pretty funny and my friends tend to agree. I use humor to diffuse difficult situations, to perk up friends who are having a hard time, to make the best of dreary days.  It's not to say that I never have a difficult time, because I definitely have my share of those, but I find that humor can make me (and often others) feel a little bit better.  What can I say, I'm a glass is half full kind of gal.

Your turn! Link up with your answer or comment here.

Source: lanipauli.tumblr.com via Pinterest on Pinterest

5x7 Folded Card

Happy Day Cocoa Father's Day 5x7 folded card

Invitations, announcements and Valentine's Day cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I made all of this year's Father's Day cards on Shutterfly.  It's fun, it's easy and it's personal.  Now, go make your own cards!

Ooo-wee

Dear Tomorrow,

Please don't suck as badly as today.

XOXO,

Me

Pass It On

If you've been reading The Answers are Simple for very long, you know I'm all about being positive and making the most of your situation.  Today I'd like to highlight this wonderful organization: 

 The Foundation For A Better Life is a non-profit organization that was started to tell people about the positive actions and values of others, hoping to inspire people to do something just a little bit better: be a little kinder, think before you say something, be quick to help and slow to judge.  The Foundation hopes that by inspiriting just a few people to live kinder, the world will be a better place.  

Have you seen the Foundation's commercials on tv? My favorite is the spot that shows a couple's 'missing' little boy ending up on the concert hall's stage playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano. Mortified, the mother whispers to the dad that he should go get him, when the Concert Master sidles up next to the little boy and joins him in playing.  It makes me tear up every time.  

Or maybe you've seen one of these billboards when you're out driving:

You can't possibly tell me you aren't moved when you look at these bulletin boards.  It makes me want to go out and do something good in the world!

What about you?  What inspires you to do something good?

IPhones & Car washes

No, I didn't run my iPhone THROUGH the car wash. That would be bad. But I am blogging AT the car wash. Yes, thanks to the joys of technology I'm able to take my 15 minutes of downtime and spend it with all of you ~  my fabulous followers. The reason I'm excited about it is because this is my first time blogging from my phone. It's definitely different working on such a small screen but it may be the blogging technique of the future. We'll see.

Big Blue has needed a wash for some time now but, like many things in my life right now, there just hasn't been TIME. After dropping Monkey off with Gram & Pop, I found myself early for my Mary Kay meeting (Yes, you read that right. EARLY.). I was alone, enjoying the beautiful weather, and more importantly, did I mention alone? What to do? I had decided on a Coke from McDonald's and a walk through Hallmark when I saw the sign for the car wash. I'm not going to tell you my full reaction but let's just say that Max would have been proud of me.

That's when I decided I should blog about it and that's also what turned me into the crazy lady who was taking pictures of her car going through the car wash. Once I got started I couldn't stop and I wanted to take more pictures because I knew Max would appreciate them.  It turned into my own little photo shoot with the van. It was bad. Seriously, a woman was staring so I had to stop. {BTW, if you didn't look at the Love that Max link in the last paragraph, you should do it now.  Ellen runs the most awesome 'parent of one special needs and one typical child' blog I've ever read.  Ever.}

Fast forward 15 minutes and Big blue is beautiful! Seriously, the inside of my van is so clean and I'm in heaven. I have a three year old Monkey; I don't know the last time the inside of the van has seen clean! To say I was excited might be a bit of an understatement. In fact, I'm relatively sure that the teenage boy whose job it was to ask me if I was happy with the finished cleaning thought I was going to have an orgasm right there in the parking lot. For you enquiring minds, no, I did not have an orgasm in the parking lot, though the teen boy didn't stick around to see if it happened or not.

Life is all about the little things. Make your own kind of happy.