Selena Gasbarro

I have the best intentions of going to the gym all day today. I worked out yesterday and I'm doing it tonight too. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I have to get my body moving. I am so tired of carrying around all of this extra weight and I'm incredibly pissed at myself for discarding all of the work that I put into my body two years ago when I was feeling great. I am going home on time, playing with the girls and then I'm out the door to the gym - that's my plan and I'm sticking to it. Oh wait, last minute late meeting which means traffic on top of a late start. That's ok, I'll go to the 6:30 class instead. Oh wait, now it's storming, none of my gym buddies can go and the kids don't want me to go either. Must get the weight off, I am so tired of not fitting in my clothes and honestly my body just feels miserable, I have to get my body moving - I have to keep that in the front of my mind. Ok, I have a Beachbody DVD that my awesome ...

We should all be spending time teaching our children to be thankful, but that isn't what this post is about. This is about the gratitude I have for each of my new readers. Some of you followed my previous family blog until I abandoned it and some of you are new to my rants. The amount of people who have not only visited my new site, but who have called, texted, messaged, tweeted, sent smoke signals, etc. has astounded me. The best part for me has been those that have in return opened up about their own personal situations. I thank and applaud you for having the courage to say what is weighing on your heart and for trusting me to ask for my own advise. I used to dread writing my blog because it started to feel like an obligation, but now I get excited to spew my words onto the screen. I don't do this for additional income or notoriety, I don't have plans to turn into a writer. I do this as an outlet for my own anxiety, worry and at times disgust and heartbreak. I'm n...

Has anyone seen my sweet little P? You know the one who loves to cuddle and ask sweet little questions? She has gone missing and in return this sassy, long haired, 4 foot tall teenager has started sleeping in her bed. Someone please tell me that my youngest child is not the only one who can out sass the parent in the house. I mean SERIOUSLY, P is going to drive us insane and she is 5. How the heck am I going to survive her over the next few years let alone the dreaded teenage years? It was funny when it started, I would laugh out loud and big surprise - now it is all that she does. She can entertain herself and a room forever. Not only does she have sass, but she is also getting this valley girl tone to her which I CAN NOT STAND!! I don't even understand where it came from. Ok, so she drives me crazy, but here is my concern - how do I get my cute little 5 year old back? With A we never had to worry about her being sweet or kind to others, she doesn't know how to be any ot...

Do you ever have those days where you feel both brokenhearted and completely relieved all at the same time? That was this week for me. Grant and I have struggled with what to do with A's education for years and the time has finally come to make a decision. A has tried and tried to keep up educationally since Kindergarten and has been able to squeak by to the next grade. She probably could have done it again this year, but we finally said enough. We don't want her to be in a situation where she is always stressed and selfishly, I can't continue to watch her struggle. So we did it, we made the final decision to retain her in third grade. The decision did not come lightly. There were tears, many meetings, phone calls and now anxiety over how she is going to deal with it. We know that this is for her educational benefit, but I'm incredibly worried about the social side of it. How is she going to handle the first day of school when the classmates she has been with for th...

So the rule of thumb is NOT to cuss/swear in front of your kids, right? Here is the problem - I feel like I should have been a sailor with some of the words that come out of my mouth. I'm not supposed to cuss at work because I'm a professional and I'm not supposed to cuss at home because I'm a mom so what does that leave me? I'll tell you what happens - I have approximately 40 minutes of drive time each afternoon and the hours I'm awake and my kids are asleep to get every pent up cuss word out of my mouth before I combust. Please take pity on my friends and husband - I'm like a loose cannon when it comes to my word choices and honestly, I have some friends who prefer not to hear my sailor mouth and if they cal l or text when I'm on one of my rants - I don't answer because I know I don't want to control myself. So here is my question - how do kids know which words are bad words and which aren't? At no time did I go through my dictionary of...

I'm going to back up and explain where everything started. Nine years ago I had an incredible pregnancy. I gained WAY TOO MUCH weight (60ish pounds, yes I know), I was happy, I was in love, everyone was over the moon excited for this precious baby to be born. She made us wait an extra two weeks to make her appearance in the world, but when she arrived she absolutely changed my world.  At six months old I was told my precious baby girl may have a brain tumor. Thankfully that was not the case, but we did discover that she has a rare genetic disorder. When I say rare I mean 1 in 14 reported cases in the world. I have the most perfectly imperfect 8 year old child who I couldn't possibly love anymore than I do. Granted sometimes I have to walk away and find a way not to scream, but that's "normal", right? My frustration 8 years ago and still today is that all of my friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family acted like their lives were perfect and "norma...

How many times in your life have you heard or said, "I should write a book." Let's be clear that I have no desire to write a book, I am far too lazy and grammatically incorrect for that. What I can do is vent, cry and laugh in a free public forum such as blogger. So, if you are reading this blog please remember that this is my life, no one else's and my opinions and experiences most likely won't be politically correct. Also keep in mind that I don't have the time or patience to edit my posts so after I work all day, play with my girls when I get home and spend time with my husband you get what you get. Why am I writing this? Quite frankly I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that the day you announce your pregnancy everyone has advise on getting through the pregnancy. Where to buy the best maternity clothes (gap.com), which pediatrician to use, and oh the opinions on names, so many damn opinions. What people don't tell you is about the actually deliver...