The Sewing Mom

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of AccuWeather. All opinions are 100% mine.

Scroll down if you want to see the snowman I made just a couple of weeks ago, right in my own front yard. While my daughter and I had a lot of fun playing in the snow, we really did move to the south to get away from all that white stuff and I really don’t enjoy being cold. That’s probably why I’m enjoying this weeks weather so much more. It’s iin the 60’s and the sun is warming us all up. Before long we’ll be seeing the flowers in bloom and I can’t wait!

The weather lately has been so completely unpredictable! I don’t think that’s only the case in Dallas, but it seems to be true just about everywhere. Now that softball season is starting back up, I sort of like to be able to plan what I need to wear out to the fields. Do I need a coat or just a sweatshirt? Long sleeves or short? Will we get rained out or just a delay?

I’m downloading AccuWeather to my desktop so I can have immediate access to the local conditions. AccuWeather.com has that makes it so easy to find local weather conditions and forecasts. I can also find weather in other places so when we travel for vacations, etc., I can plan better. I like their new site because it’s just so easy to find what I’m looking for and I particularly like the 5-day forecasts that help me plan my week.

Consider checking out AccuWeather, I think you’ll like what you see!

snowman Feb 12 2010, originally uploaded by the_sewingmom1.

This is actually one of two snowmen my daughter and I built the day we got around 13 inches of the fluffy white stuff here in the Dallas area. There are no slow plows here so the snow sticks around until the sun decides to return and melt it. We had plenty of time to play in it and we took full advantage, even though we no longer own any proper winter clothes to be playing outside in!

Snow in Texas, originally uploaded by the_sewingmom1.

It is hard to believe that this is what I was looking at less than 2 weeks ago when I stood outside my front door. We live just northeast of downtown Dallas and we received 13 inches of the white stuff in a 24 hour period. This set all kinds of records and made me question why we ever left Chicago, leaving our snow blower behind!

If you live somewhere that gets snowfall on a regular basis, it is probably difficult for you to understand why this is such a hardship here in the Dallas area. Basically, it comes down to this. Texas doesn’t own a snow plow. Not a single one. As you can see from the photo, the roads were completely covered and this photo was taken around 8 in the morning. Up north, these streets would have all ready been cleared!

We also don’t own a real coat anymore. We left the parkas behind when we moved south, along with the snow shovels, sleds and snow blower. This was excellent, wet, snowman building snow. So, my daughter and I layered up the best we could and headed out. We built 2 of the best snowman we’ve ever built (I forgot to upload those pics) all while wearing jeans (you know how they soak up the cold moisture), sweatshirts, and some thin driving gloves. But, we did have a blast and enjoyed the beauty of the day.

I am glad the snow is gone though. As pretty as it was it made for very dangerous conditions here. There were mass power outages, people without heat, and people, including me, who couldn’t get to work. I am definitely looking forward to Spring.

WOOHOO! It’s Friday (almost!)!! I am really celebrating because Friday is my final day of having to drive in for my training class. I get to go back to working from home starting Monday. While I will definitely miss the personal interaction, I won’t miss the commute and the expenses connected to commuting. My life will start feeling more like normal again and it will free up more of my time.

To celebrate, I’m getting back to something very normal for me, my favorite meme. If you want to participate in < a href="http://funcraftsandrecipes.com/index.php/2010/four-foods-on-friday-107/" target="_blank">Four Foods on Friday, feel free and be sure to visit Val and leave her a comment!

This weeks questions:

1. Name two items on your kitchen counter. Coffee maker and toaster

2. What’s in your sink now? Something I hate, dirty dishes. (I haven’t had time to unload the dishwasher so I can reload it!)

3. What’s on your stove now? A teapot.

4. What’s in your oven now? Not a thing!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of wellnessdaily.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

The last few weeks have kept me running way more than usual so, of course, I got sick. I get up, go to work, struggle to keep my head from falling onto my desk, come home, try to get at least 15 minutes of downtime before heading out to pick my daughter up from school/play practice and head out to whatever else we may have planned for the evening. It’s been absolutely crazy. During all of this craziness, one thing remains constant, wishing I could feel strong enough again to get back onto some sort of wellness program.

When we first moved here I started walking around the subdivision. It doesn’t sound like much, but when I checked it with my pedometer, one time around the circle was about 1 1/2 miles! If I walked at a fast pace, I could certainly feel the burn. I also felt myself feeling stronger and even losing a couple of pounds. It helped that I was eating healthier too, especially once I learned my cholesterol levels were high.

I have to admit though, my good intentions sort of came to a halt once I became bored of the neighborhood scenery. I haven’t walked much at all in the last year. Recently I was introduced to www.wellnessdaily.com, a website that encourages personal wellness through exercise, good eating habits and daily balance.

I became even more interested in www.wellnessdaily.com when I discovered on my own that it is sponsored by Jennie-O, the makers of the turkey bacon that my daughter loves so much! They also make many other low sodium food products that I enjoy feeding my family because I know it results in all of us having a healthier diet. Anyway, back to the website, it has a ton of ideas for staying fit, eating well, and balancing exercise and healthy diet in our daily lives.

If you sign up at www.wellnessdaily.com, be sure to enter the Twitter contest for a chance to win a WellnessDaily.com prize package which include coupons for a year-long supply of Jennie-O Turkey Store product and a one-year gym membership, valued at $1,250. The suggested tweet is: “Enter to win $ towards a gym membership & JENNIE-O turkey products. Just follow @wellness_daily & RT this! The Twitter promotion ends March 10.

By the way, when you sign up, you can also print a $5 rebate good for any one Jennie-O Turkey Store product.