This blog has gotten a bit dusty, hasn't it?
Like so many other people, my world has been incredibly busy lately...work, school, kiddo, travel, the usual. I've had many thoughts, topics, and recent events lately to blog about, but just didn't have the time to write.
I still don't have a lot of time to pontificate or expound or regale you with tales of the mundane (I can, however, try to impress you with big words), but here are a few of the recent things that have crossed my mind lately...
I just spent a week on the Texas coast with my family. We haven't taken a vacation in over 3 years. I made a solemn vow to never let that happen again.
I tried hot vinyasa yoga and loved it! Now I'm obsessed with finding a studio to practice more and think I found one.
I finished the C25K program. It took me 12 weeks to complete an 8 week program...but still, I finished it. I am still incredibly slow.
Being a patient in the healthcare system is scary.
I wasn't aware that parenting had become an extreme competitive sport. ("Are You Mom Enough?" Really???)
Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, is hysterical and I love her book Let's Pretend This Never Happened.
I am about to start another semester of grad school, and I really have no idea why, other than I feel a need to finish my MPA degree.
I've taken a new project at work that I'd really like to write about, which pretty much goes against what I said I said I would never write about in a blog. (For those of you who know me, yes...I could write some very entertaining and even educational stories that are work-related, but have made a conscious effort not to. Oh the dilemma.)
Oh...and one last thing...my husband confessed that the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz have freaked him out since he first saw it as a kid and he's not a fan of my Flying Monkey Security guard. I guess I need to find him a new home.
Happy summer!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Power of B
Before my daughter was born, we were blessed with many friends who gave us precious gifts. Handmade blankets, personalized onesies, a Tiffany piggy bank, adorable stuffed animals. I bought my own share of soft blankets and teddy bears, anticipating that one day one these things would be It.
You know what It is. It is the one object a child latches on to for security. More than likely we all had our own It when we were wee little ones. I had a thing for stuffed animals.
My daughter, who rejected pacifiers and thumb sucking, has finally chosen her It.
It's name is actually B. B was a gift from someone who, while being very thoughtful in giving us this soft fluffy blanket, had no idea how important this little piece of cloth would become. B is vital to bedtime rituals. B has magical healing powers. And B makes my girl smile and giggle.
Therefore B wields a lot of power.
I may be a first-time mom, but I've been around enough to know that blankies, loveys, Its and Bs take a beating. They get dirty. They get torn. They get lost. That same B that makes my girl smile and giggle will elicit blood curdling cries and epic tantrums if it is nowhere to be found. So far we've been lucky that she doesn't insist on leaving the house with it...yet. And I'm not interested in tempting fate.
So I set out to find a backup B. I struck out at Babies R Us, Target, Kohl's, and then turned to the Internet. There's no tag on it so my initial search was "pink baby blanket with bear". Do you know how many freaking pink baby blankets with bears there are? I finally found a picture that matched B exactly and got the brand name and searched for a place to get one. I found one...exactly one, on eBay.
And with a couple of clicks I purchased this one B without a second thought, possibly risking identity theft or credit card fraud. Because that is the power of B.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
You know what It is. It is the one object a child latches on to for security. More than likely we all had our own It when we were wee little ones. I had a thing for stuffed animals.
My daughter, who rejected pacifiers and thumb sucking, has finally chosen her It.
It's name is actually B. B was a gift from someone who, while being very thoughtful in giving us this soft fluffy blanket, had no idea how important this little piece of cloth would become. B is vital to bedtime rituals. B has magical healing powers. And B makes my girl smile and giggle.
Therefore B wields a lot of power.
I may be a first-time mom, but I've been around enough to know that blankies, loveys, Its and Bs take a beating. They get dirty. They get torn. They get lost. That same B that makes my girl smile and giggle will elicit blood curdling cries and epic tantrums if it is nowhere to be found. So far we've been lucky that she doesn't insist on leaving the house with it...yet. And I'm not interested in tempting fate.
So I set out to find a backup B. I struck out at Babies R Us, Target, Kohl's, and then turned to the Internet. There's no tag on it so my initial search was "pink baby blanket with bear". Do you know how many freaking pink baby blankets with bears there are? I finally found a picture that matched B exactly and got the brand name and searched for a place to get one. I found one...exactly one, on eBay.
And with a couple of clicks I purchased this one B without a second thought, possibly risking identity theft or credit card fraud. Because that is the power of B.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bad News/Good News
So I have bad news and good news.
Bad news: I didn't lose 7 pounds by May 1st.
Good news: I did lose 4.6 pounds.
I can live with that. That falls within the recommended 1 pound per week weight loss.
I also have not had a cupcake since the end of March.
Based on what I learned this past month about what's working and not working for me, my goal for May is to lose 5 pounds by June 1st. Slow and steady wins the race.
And speaking of race...I have a C25K Program update coming soon. Leave it to me to take 12 weeks to complete an 8 week program.
But first, off to write a 10 page final exam paper.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Bad news: I didn't lose 7 pounds by May 1st.
Good news: I did lose 4.6 pounds.
I can live with that. That falls within the recommended 1 pound per week weight loss.
I also have not had a cupcake since the end of March.
Based on what I learned this past month about what's working and not working for me, my goal for May is to lose 5 pounds by June 1st. Slow and steady wins the race.
And speaking of race...I have a C25K Program update coming soon. Leave it to me to take 12 weeks to complete an 8 week program.
But first, off to write a 10 page final exam paper.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Holy Keebler Elves! (or How I Finally Found a Use for Pinterest)
Do you have any idea what's lurking in your pantry? Or am I the only one who is a disorganized mess?
My pantry (and actually several other kitchen cabinets) is a complete mess. Today I set out to start organizing it. And in the process...FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE USEFULNESS OF PINTEREST!
You may have caught on by now that I don't have the foggiest clue how to do most domestic skills. And I have little patience for reading instructions. So NOW I get Pinterest! One skill I am good at is killing time on the internet. I did a little search on that creepy Pinterest site and voila - I found a whole lot of ideas for taming my pantry in pictures. Perfect!
I got a few things from The Container Store, and still waiting on a few to arrive since they were on backorder. Now I've started the sorting process.
Holy Keebler Elves! Their factory has either moved into my pantry, or we really like crackers. In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, this household will survive possibly years on the amount of crackers found in my pantry today. That, and soup...all varieties of soup.
I forgot to take pictures of the disaster area before I started anything, but you can still get the idea of what I mess I am. If the finished project is suitable for sharing, I'll update a bit later.
In the meantime, am I the only one who is this big of a disaster or do some of you have surprises lurking in your pantry?
My pantry (and actually several other kitchen cabinets) is a complete mess. Today I set out to start organizing it. And in the process...FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE USEFULNESS OF PINTEREST!
You may have caught on by now that I don't have the foggiest clue how to do most domestic skills. And I have little patience for reading instructions. So NOW I get Pinterest! One skill I am good at is killing time on the internet. I did a little search on that creepy Pinterest site and voila - I found a whole lot of ideas for taming my pantry in pictures. Perfect!
I got a few things from The Container Store, and still waiting on a few to arrive since they were on backorder. Now I've started the sorting process.
Holy Keebler Elves! Their factory has either moved into my pantry, or we really like crackers. In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse, this household will survive possibly years on the amount of crackers found in my pantry today. That, and soup...all varieties of soup.
I forgot to take pictures of the disaster area before I started anything, but you can still get the idea of what I mess I am. If the finished project is suitable for sharing, I'll update a bit later.
In the meantime, am I the only one who is this big of a disaster or do some of you have surprises lurking in your pantry?
 |
| About 1/3 through sorting... |
 |
| Soup, anyone? |
 |
| We have crackers...to go with the soup of course. |
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Living Room Skirmish
Our daycare provider is traveling over the Easter weekend, so I get to spend some extra time with Scarlett. The first order of business was to take a trip to the park. She loves the swings...
...and the slide
...and just generally being outside.
The next order of business was to clean house. My parents are coming for a weekend visit and my living room looks like an army of Little People has conquered it. Today I intend to take back my living room.
After breakfast, I started in on the kitchen, and moved my way into to the living room, which is littered with toys, and books, and...is that a half-eaten cracker?
I gather things up. I put toys in the box, half-eaten crackers in the trash. I make pretty good progress and then I turn around....
And everything has been pulled back out.
Well played, Scarlett Avery...well played.
...and the slide
...and just generally being outside.
The next order of business was to clean house. My parents are coming for a weekend visit and my living room looks like an army of Little People has conquered it. Today I intend to take back my living room.
After breakfast, I started in on the kitchen, and moved my way into to the living room, which is littered with toys, and books, and...is that a half-eaten cracker?
I gather things up. I put toys in the box, half-eaten crackers in the trash. I make pretty good progress and then I turn around....
And everything has been pulled back out.
Well played, Scarlett Avery...well played.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
A Good Start
With the help of tracking everything in My Fitness Pal and a well-planned grocery store trip, I was able to lose 4 pounds in a little less than a week. I didn't exercise much, but got in what I could. I'm still plugging away at C25K.
Weekends are always a challenge. We're going to a hockey game tonight so I'm trying to plan around that.
I'm using the guidance on My Fitness Pal for daily calorie goals to lose 2 pounds per week. That's about 1200 calories per day. And it's extremely difficult. If I exercise, I can have more calories to support what I burn. I may wind up dropping back to aiming to lose 1 pound per week. Hey, this girl likes to eat.
Weekends are always a challenge. We're going to a hockey game tonight so I'm trying to plan around that.
I'm using the guidance on My Fitness Pal for daily calorie goals to lose 2 pounds per week. That's about 1200 calories per day. And it's extremely difficult. If I exercise, I can have more calories to support what I burn. I may wind up dropping back to aiming to lose 1 pound per week. Hey, this girl likes to eat.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Closet Meltdown Syndrome
We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary last Sunday. 12 difficult and glorious and awesome years together. One day I will write a really fantastic post about my husband and me. It's an epic story still in progress.
This, however, is not that post.
This is about Closet Meltdown Syndrome. Unless you are Giselle or some other beautifully gifted person, you are familiar with Closet Meltdown Syndrome.
My latest CM happened the day of our anniversary. We had plans to go to a nice dinner. It's officially spring/summer here in central Texas - warm weather and sunny skies.
That means no more sweaters, jackets, and boots.
That means short-sleeves, tank tops, skirts, shorts and basically stuff that shows more skin.
That means a guaranteed CM.
A CM episode usually goes like this:
This, however, is not that post.
This is about Closet Meltdown Syndrome. Unless you are Giselle or some other beautifully gifted person, you are familiar with Closet Meltdown Syndrome.
My latest CM happened the day of our anniversary. We had plans to go to a nice dinner. It's officially spring/summer here in central Texas - warm weather and sunny skies.
That means no more sweaters, jackets, and boots.
That means short-sleeves, tank tops, skirts, shorts and basically stuff that shows more skin.
That means a guaranteed CM.
A CM episode usually goes like this:
- enter the closet to search for that perfect outfit for <insert name of event>
- *perfect outfit means the one that makes you look 20 pounds thinner and 10 years younger
- sigh deeply as you sort through the closet full of unacceptable clothes
- try on outfits with great skepticism that it will work
- throw unacceptable clothes in a pile
- stomp and sulk and whine about whatever imperfection you think you have, but probably don't
- swear that you are starting a new diet/exercise plan the very next day
And that is Closet Meltdown Syndrome.
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