Newsflash: Mothers are required to take their children to neighborhood pools in the summer. If you want to be a good mother, you must do this. It's part of the mommy code. And my fear of failure in the area of motherhood requires that I play by these unwritten mommy rules.

But the thought of my pale white flesh hanging out of a swimsuit in a matter of mere weeks has set me into a frenzy. You see, it was a long, cold winter here in Colorado. I was forced to pack on extra fat to keep warm. Plus, the act of eating cookies, cupcakes, and chocolate kept me from noticing the snow in the yard. Yes, I am a master of distraction. But I think I might have overdone it a bit. Lily poked my stomach this week and said, "Mommy, you are a little bit fat. Do you have a baby in your tummy?" That was a delightful day.

So because I tend to swing towards obsessive compulsive disorder extreme discipline, I went a little crazy. I cut out all dairy, meat, processed sugars and all white flour. Basically I eat seeds and berries. Just kidding! But my choices are really limited.

My kids laughed when I told them I was not eating meat, but when they heard I was giving up sugar, panic struck their poor little souls. Their minds flashed back to other times I cut out sugar. Let's just say the sugar-withdrawl period is not pretty, my friend. The first few days without sugar one can be a tad on edge. Plus whenever I try healthy eating, I secretly start replacing their favorite foods with healthy alternatives. Unfortunately, the soy cheese gave me away and now they are on to me.

Anyway, here I go again. I've been doing it for a week now and have already lost 4 pounds. But more than that, I feel better. I think I'll stick to this for a while. Anyone else up for trying this with me?

When I was a little girl, my grandfather would take my sister and I to Pancake Pantry on Saturday mornings. We loved going there. Back then it was a tiny little hole in the wall in Nashville where you never had to wait for a table. My how times have changed! Now-a-days you can see a line outside around the block waiting for a table. If you are ever in Nashville, this is a must for breakfast.

We all spent the better part of last week in Nashville. Rod had to go for GMA week and I have family there so we loaded up the kids and hopped on a plane. I heart Nashville. I grew up there. I miss it. Please join me in the following prayer: "Dear God, please make a way for Michelle and her family to move back to Nashville." Thank you. I feel your love :-)

It was fun to have a family of 6 crammed into a 2 room hotel suite. The term "suite" is used sparingly. We did stay at the downtown Hilton, but we are used to spreading out. Plus two of my kids are now teenagers and we all know the personal space that teenagers require to keep them from having hormonally-caused meltdowns. And I swear the size of the beds were smaller than a double. It wasn't a twin, but it wasn't a double. I'm going to call it a "twouble." There was a lot of closeness going on.

The best part of our trip was visiting with my family. I got to spend some time with my Aunt Kathy and her sweet daughter, Katie. Plus it was Granny Jink's bday, so it was great to be with her on her special day.

We also got to visit all the sentimental places that were special to me because of my childhood there: Centennial Park and the Parthenon, Museums, Pancake Pantry, Krispy Kreme...(Side note- my children put the left over Krispy Kreme donuts in our hotel safe. They did not feel it was safe to leave them alone with me.)

The trip was just wonderful. And if the Spirit leads you, please refer back to the prayer in the first paragraph.

Lily (age 5), "Mommy, do you want some ice cream? It will make your eyes sparkle."

...it IS humanly possible for a seventh grade boy to use his cellphone to text 9423 messages in ONE month.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the kind Verizon employee who understood our pain and reversed the charges so our bill will now reflect the unlimited texting plan. If I was going to have more children, I would name my next born child after her. God bless her.