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Seven Deadly Sins Challenge – Wrath
Okay, we’re almost done with the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge, I am admittedly losing interest in the challenge so I am changing the rules. (My ADD hard at work) Instead of listing seven things that annoy me, I will just share one annoying story.
Last week I was coming out of the gym in the rain. I jumped in my SUV and was sitting in the car, in park, talking to my husband. A women attempted to pull in to the spot next to me, but she was on her cell phone. I have no issue with people who drive and talk on their cell phones, if they are capable of it. Clearly, this woman was not.
She pulled into the spot at such a bad angle I thought she was going to hit one or more cars, but she stopped in time. I assumed she would hang up her call to evaluate how to fix her botched parking job, but instead she threw her car in reverse and kept right on chatting. Her side mirror was approaching my side mirror fast. I told my husband, “Hang on babe, some bimbo is about to hit me”. This is of course sent him into a panic, but I assured him I was in no danger, other than losing my temper or laughing hysterically (I really couldn’t decide which way it was going to go.) Sure enough her mirror hit mine. She stopped, looked at the mirror, looked at me and DIDN’T HANG UP THE PHONE. She merely kept trying to straighten her car out. I am now relaying this story to my husband, trying to contain my laughter. She was still in motion and it was raining so I waited a second to roll down my window. She now was in forward again and heading back towards my mirror, I opened my window and pulled my mirror in quickly. I did this because a) I wanted to see if she had scratched it (she had not) and b) I didn’t want her to hit it again. When I moved the mirror, she waved and mouthed thank you while continuing her call. Really?!
I normally succumb to road rage but the whole situation was so silly, I couldn’t help but laugh. She then finished parking on her eighth attempt, jumped out of the care and ran inside. She did not make eye contact, attempt to apologize or even wave. I decided in the spirit of the holidays, I would just let it go, be a mature adult and bad-mouth her the rest of the day!
Was it annoying? Yes, but also funny. Did it lead to wrath? No, because my parents taught me to be kind to those less fortunate than me and based on her driving skills, she will have other bouts of bad luck!
Do you have any funny road rage stories? My friend recently rear-ended a guy who ended up asking her out on a date!
Seven Deadly Sins – Envy
I am sitting here ridiculously full from a meal out with friends and their kids. When I finished my meal off the guilt free menu, I moved on to my kids’ hamburger and chicken nuggets. Unbeknownst to me they had gotten a hold of the salt shaker, that didn’t stop me. I am now uncomfortable. This will explain the theme of my envy.
- I envy people who are smarter than me and don’t overeat.
- I envy those who don’t crave cheese, chocolate, butter and carbs all day long.
- I envy those who have the willpower to turn down sweets. (My husband just brought me a piece of candy that I should not eat. Hmmm… yum.)
- I envy people who wake up excited to workout.
- I really envy those who don’t need to workout
- I envy anyone who doesn’t have a stomach ache right now.
- I envy pregnant women with an excuse to eat and gain weight. (Don’t confuse me with the details that they have to lose the weight afterwards.)
Does anyone think I have a problem? If so, let’s discuss it over a slice of pizza.
What?!
Seven Deadly Sins Challenge – Sloth
I have bragged through vanity, recovered from gluttony and had a blast with greed, so it’s time to move on to seven things I neglect to do. First I have to say that lately I feel like listing seven things I don’t neglect to do would be much simpler! Does anybody else feel like life is chaos right now? I feel like I am barely treading water and slightly (or majorly) behind on everything!
- Wash my hair. I really am lazy and sometimes I get up in the morning and have so much to do that washing my hair feels like a waste of time. I always take a shower… eventually…
- Mail greeting cards. I have cards, I think of people on certain occasions, but I can’t get them to the post office! Similarly, I have baby gifts for two people that have been sitting on my counter for weeks!
- Floss. At least I am honest.
- Exercise. I was on a roll, now I just look like one.
- Share pictures. I have taken so many great pictures of friends and their kids, someday they will get to see them.
- Clean out my closet. Ugh.
- Breathe. So today, I cut out early from work (I am on business travel), bought a cupcake and inhaled it.
What are you neglecting to do? Is it because you’re busy or the task is not appealing?
Maybe tomorrow...
Seven Deadly Sins Challenge – Greed
I am continuing my posts about the seven deadly sins. I have covered vanity and gluttony, it is time for greed.
Here are my seven worldly material desires (Santa, I hope you’re reading this):
- Palatial Pad: A house on the hill overlooking the lake and the city with a disappearing edge swimming pool
- Killer Car: BMW 650 convertible. I have always been practical and never owned a sports car or a convertible. Mommy needs a sweet ride!
- The Life: I’d like to be able to quit my job, keep my nanny and do the good work you don’t get paid for (and still get everything on this list, of course!)
- Travel: Most parts of the world fascinate me and I would like to see it all. I want to plan vacations to the destinations my kids are learning about in school. If they are learning US history, I want to take them to Washington, DC. And when they’re not learning about a specific place, I want to travel anyways.
- Diamonds: Earrings, a tennis bracelet, an upgrade on my wedding ring. I am a girl who likes the bling.
- Wardrobe: Goodbye Old Navy and Target, hello custom fit, designer threads. Jimmy Choo’s and Louis Vuitton bags fall in here too.
- Vacation homes: Yes, that is plural. A house on our favorite lake, a house in the snow, a beach house in Hawaii.
I know this is about greed, but as I finish this list, I am not as excited as I thought I would be. Sure, I would love all the things on the list above, but it seems to me that these only sound nice if I have nailed the important stuff:
- Healthy family and friends
- Happy, confident children
- A loving, supportive husband
- Great friends
- Balance – less stress, more smiles
The thing is I do have the above most of the time (well, I am working on balance), so I am not sure I can ask for more. With it being Thanksgiving week, I am so thankful for my blessings that the material stuff doesn’t seem as important.
What do you want more than anything? It is ok to say the purse or the shoes. Because let me tell you, if I win the lotto, I will have no trouble spending it.
7 Deadly Sins – Gluttony
Happy Thanksgiving!
As I mentioned last night, I am going to do seven posts about my seven deadly sins. Last night I covered vanity. In honor of the tens of thousands of calories I plan to consume today, I am covering the second sin: gluttony. Here are my seven guilty pleasures – narrowing it down to seven will be tough!
- C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E
- Wine
- Any cocktail with rum, but not Malibu rum – too sweet!
- Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
- Jaeger
- Carnitas
- Pizza and beer
And what makes me the most gluttonous? That I would gladly attempt to eat and drink all of the above on the same day!
I feel compelled to dedicate this post to several friends. You know who you are and here’s why:
- Most people think of Napa for its wine, but we know it’s just a beautiful food fest with wine on the side.
- CRACK CAKE! This cake is more addictive than any drug I have ever heard of.
- We won’t drink the whole bottle tonight… (famous last words about wine)
- Hmmmm – the universal sound of gluttony.
- She has hidden candy bars in her couch! Really!
The 7 Deadly Sins Challenge: Vanity
I know I have written about the seven deadly sins before, but the challenge that Ronnie over at The Candy Shoppe embarked on intrigued me, so I decided to jump on the band wagon and give you seven days of information about me that you didn’t ask for and might even fear knowing…
Here’s the schedule, and by schedule, I mean the topics I will cover over seven days. But those seven days won’t necessarily be consecutive, because what if one of my kids starts a riot or I win the lotto? I would need to interrupt this exercise in over-exposure to tell you about such things. Or I might take a day off to recover from eating Turkey…
Day 1 – Vanity: Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 – Gluttony: Seven guilty pleasures. (Yes, I timed gluttony to coincide with Thanksgiving!)
Day 3 – Avarice (Greed): Seven worldly material desires.
Day 4 – Sloth: Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 – Envy: Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 6 – Wrath: Seven things that piss you off.
Day 7 – Lust: Seven love secrets
Let’s get started – Vanity, seven great things about me:
- I am a great devils advocate. I can always look at both sides of a situation. My husband jokes I have an extra dose of empathy, so it is easy for me to put myself in someone else’s shoes.
- My feet – I really do think my feet are my the cutest part of my body.
- My cooking – no really! The few things I do make are phenomenal – Grand Marnier French Toast, Quiche, Pumpkin Pancakes, Moroccan Chicken – all super yummy!
- Song lyrics – I have an uncanny ability to recall song lyrics from the 90’s – Beastie Boys, Bust-a-move – try me!
- Self-deprecation – I am absolutely not afraid to laugh at myself. As exemplified in number four.
- Power of persuasion – Being persuasive is a core competency of my profession, but it also serves me in other parts of my life. Except for my kids, I can’t even persuade them to walk straight!
- My husband – I was running out of ideas and I asked my husband what is great about me and he responded “me”. He thinks he is something great about me… He also said I am a great wife and mother, but he seemed most heartfelt about himself.
What’s great about you?
One of the many hats I wear...
The 7 Deadly Sins of Parenting
MSN did a piece yesterday about the Seven Deadly Sins . It got me to thinking about my sins as a parent:
Lust: With our busy schedules, traditional lust is not a daily occurrence around here. However, I will admit to lusting after shoes and purses. My shopping budget is about as scarce as lust, so I lust after the material things I gave up when I gave birth to the products of traditional lust.
Wrath: I have shared with you the dangers of the crazy mama bear. They say there is no greater wrath/fury than a woman scorned. Wrong! There is no greater wrath than me if you so much as look at my children in a threatening way. Only I can give them that look.
Pride: This is practically a gimme for parents. Have I told you my six-year-old and three-year old can water ski? Yes, I have, but I’m glad to have the opportunity to tell you brag again. I would post pictures of my kids to show the world how stinkin’ cute they are, but it goes back to that wrath and over-protective mama thing. So, pride – check.
Greed: If honesty compensates for greed than let me be clear: I would love to be rich, but not famous. I want enough money to choose my activities, to only work on things I am passionate about, to work less and enjoy life more. But it’s not just money, I want more time too. Time with the kids, time with my husband, time for myself, time for my friends. Call me Veruca: I want more and I want it now.
Envy: I envy moms (and dads) who appear to have more balance in their lives than me. I say “appear” because if they are anything like me, you shouldn’t look behind their curtain either.
Gluttony: Covered that with my post about Mommy’s Hierarchy of Needs. I use sweets and cocktails to achieve balance in my slightly off-balance life. When I really want to show my kids how much I care for them I say, “I love you more than chocolate” and sometimes I mean it.
Sloth: I have had 7 different posts that mention my inconsistent showering habits (really, I counted). Sloth is practically my middle name! I dare say I envy those who have more opportunities to be lazy than me. Do I get double points for a sin about a sin?
Bringing little angels into the world drives us to commit sin on a daily basis. Does that make me a great parent, a bad parent or just totally normal?
Pay It Forward
Slightly Off-Balance 