Busy little bee.....

For those who know me, you know that I love to stay busy. For the past 11 years I have been doing everything I could for the local schools. I've been on several parent teacher boards as well as a few years as trustee and President for the local Education Foundation.

With all of this, I have realized that I don't want to go back to my career as a pharmacist, but continue on the path of working with Non-profits and making a difference in the lives of others.

A few years back a good friend of mine, Scott Clinton of Scott Clinton Photography, told me about an organization that he was helping The Sandbox.

I had reached out to the Executive Director, Mara Campolungo, awhile back and we just recently hooked up again and I'm happy to say that we are working on bringing The Sandbox here to the New Jersey.

This organization helps put a smile on the faces of children with cancer and life altering diseases and it is an honor to have the opportunity to help them make a difference in the lives of others. I will keep you posted as to how things are going. In the meantime, check out the video below to see what they are about.

Dig deep and join us in The Sandbox!

If you would like to get involved, please contact me! We can truly help make a difference.

To speak or not to speak......

At this time of year, hopefully, we take the time to appreciate all the little things in our lives. Three of those things for me are my children and even though I complain here and there, I am thankful.

I am thankful for the life that I have been given and for all that has been provided for me. I am thankful for my loving friends and family and I am thankful that so far..... my kids have kept the straight and narrow (or so I believe).

Like many of you, I have waited in anticipation for this period in my life, where I would have the "dreaded" teenager, but so far I've been spared the heartache and frustration that seems to plaque these teenage years.

As parents we all try very hard to make sure we raise our children the right way. We give them opportunities we never had. We buy them things we never dreamed of. We encourage them with love and support, helping them when they fall and praising them when they succeed.

But let me ask you this....how well do we really know them? These mini-mes.... these carbon copies of us?

I have always prided myself in thinking that I "know" my daughter and that she would never do anything wrong. I also thought that all my friends enjoyed this same type of security  -- of "knowing" what our kids were up to. However, recent events have shattered this apparent false sense of security and now I find myself in strange waters.

So let me pose a question to you....

If you found out (from your daughter) that a friend's child has not followed the path of the straight and narrow and has engaged in inappropriate behaviors, would you tell her?

Would you say something, knowing that the child has already been deemed by her peers as wanton and licentious?

Would you say something, knowing that by doing so, you are also breaking the trust and confidence that your daughter has placed in you?

Or......

Would you hold your tongue?

I have asked this question to some of my friends and I find people falling into two categories.

One group feels that since the events occurred in the past, I should leave it alone and hope that the child is now in a better place. They feel that by divulging the "secret" at this point in time, there is no upside. I could potentially incur the wrath of my friend (because she may not believe me), cause a rift between my friend and her child, destroy my daughter's friendship and in the end I could also lose the trust and confidence my own daughter has placed in me and cause us to drift apart.

The other group feels that I should say something no matter the cost, while trying to minimize the potential backlash towards my daughter and hope that all will work out.

What are your thoughts?

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? If so, what did you do?

How would you feel if this were your child?

Challenge....Schmallenge....

30 day challenge? Please. What's so hard about doing a repetitive motion on a daily basis with a slight increase in reps. I know I can do it....no problem.

Fast forward 7 days......

OMG!!!! Owwwww......

Yes, just a mere week into my challenge and I'm starting to see stars and tears are beginning to well at the thought of squats, crunches and planks.

Over the past couple of weeks, I kept seeing friends and family members posting how they are starting up 30 day challenges to prepare for the upcoming bikini season. I usually just scrolled right past them on facebook, twitter and instagram, thinking to myself, "What's the challenge in doing that? I'm sure I can do a 30 day challenge". Then, one day as I was looking at the mirror (a very scary activity) I realized that I need to get myself in gear. I need to get in shape and become a healthier person. So, I decided to add the 30 day challenge idea into my routine (which is Zumba classes every so often).

I was determined.....30 day challenges don't scare me, in fact, I'm going to make it a REAL challenge and do a challenge incorporating 3 different exercises.

So off I went to my computer, looked up various poplular challenges and I decided to go with the 30 day Crunch-Squat-Plank Challenge. I copied the formatting from a few different sources and borrowed an image of a fit individual and titled my workout : I'm doing it for ME!

I quickly sent an email to my sister and one of my best friends and encouraged them to join me in this little quest to fitness. My sis.....(the smart one) declined, stating that she is already engaged in the 30 day plank, so it was left to me and Rita.

That evening as I was explaining everything to my family, I was very happy to see that my husband didn't poo-poo the idea....in fact, he agreed to join me on this crusade. We did our crunches, squats and planks with ease and for the first couple of days things were hunky-dory.

As the days progressed, it started to get more and more difficult.

....sad to say my hubby has since dropped out, stating his need to do the taxes, working late and then last night he was sound asleep and wouldn't get up. (YES! he stopped on Day 4 ~ WIMP!!!!)

My friend Rita and I are still at it, trying to encourage each other with daily text saying "Done", "Did it".... and telling each other that we are turning a new leaf, blah blah blah......but now, the text are beginning to show our fatigue and AGE.....such as sad thing - getting older.

Rita's text to me

However, we are determined to finish, although to be honest with you all, I'm not sure I'm going to make. So, to all those people who are doing various fitness challenges....."Hats off to you!! Keep it up and I'm sorry to ever think that these challenges were a piece of cake."

How about you? Have you ever done a fitness challenge? Would you consider doing one? Let me know, I would love to see what everyone is doing to get healthy.

Off to do my daily workout.....wish me luck (I think I will have a piece of cake when I'm done..... mmmmmm).