No Pain, No....

No waddling like a duck.
No pulling myself up from a seated position by holding on to any stationary object.
No dirty hair because I can't raise my arms over my head.
No four-letter words mumbled with every step I take up and down the stairs.

Oh wait. It's supposed to be "No Pain, No Gain." Right.

I've joined this CrossFit craze going on. And yesterday I met "Cindy". I won't go on about the "box" or "WODs" or CrossFit in general. You can Google it and find information for days.

No, today I just want to complain about how sore I am. And how silly I must look just trying to get in and out of my truck.

Seriously, why must I be this sore? Obviously it's the months I have spent just dabbling in exercise. A jog now and then here, hot yoga occasionally. I haven't exactly been "fit".

So let this be a cautionary tale to all you youngun's. Take care of your bodies consistently. Not just for a New Year resolution or wedding or reunion or whatever occasion. Because when you are 41 and trying catch up, it hurts. And you walk like a duck.

Obligatory New Year Post

Wow. Nothing here since July 21st. I'm a bad blogger. But, since is the New Year, why not throw my blog post in with the rest of the bad bloggers who resolve to 'journal more' this year.

I have no resolutions this year. Quite frankly it didn't occur to me to make any because things have been so frantic around here recently. There were a whirlwind of changes in a short period of time and boom...Christmas has passed and now we're into a New Year. (Don't even ask about Thanksgiving....I don't remember it).

The biggest change: my 16 year-old step-daughter moved in with us permanently on December 21st. That brings our census in this house to 6: 2 early 40s adults, 1 teen daughter, 1 2 year-old daughter, and 2 old dogs. (My dogs should write a blog. I bet they could tell some good stories).

So how in the midst of this do I make resolutions? Lose weight? Be more organized? Write a blog entry every day?

Listen, I'm just trying to figure out how to keep everyone fed and in clean clothes.

For now, my resolutions are basic: to be open to new things, to not sweat the small stuff, to spend my time in meaningful ways, and to never let a day go by that my husband and my kids don't know how much I love them and they are my world.

Battle on Brentwood.

It's quiet now, but don't let that fool you. A battle has been waged all day here. You can see the casualties all around: the kitchen looks like a small animal has been slaughtered, the hamper in the laundry room has been ransacked, a haphazardly parked stroller blocks your only exit, and the dogs are hiding in the corner.

The battle lines were drawn early today. 5:30 a.m., to be exact. "Dah" is out of town and we're just at the end of new teeth coming in. That's just enough change to create a ripe environment for battle.

After breakfast and a lot of coffee for me, we headed outside where the dogs were the first victims. First they were chased by high-pitched squealing and giggling. Then when they succumbed to their fatigue and probably ringing ears, they were mounted like horses and treated to more squealing.

Once the Dog Conqueror grew tired of her victims, she headed inside, demanding to be fed. But the meal prepared for her was not suitable to eat and apparently only suitable for tucking away in the pocket of her bib.

A trip to the store was uneventful. I think she was simply planning what her next strategic move would be. "Should I scream as loud as I can on Aisle 10 or wait until we are in the car?"

The battle resumed when we got home. This time, she demanded a snack..."cheese". I hand over a cheese stick, turn my back to get her a drink, and turn back to find her empty handed. I still haven't found that cheese stick.

We battle for nap time. She does not yield. Instead she drags out and unfolds her stroller, banging it into walls, furniture and my toes. Finally she parks it in front of the door. My guess is it's to prevent my escape.

Clean, folded clothes that were in the hamper were thrown all about the house. Dog food was pulled out of the container and into little bowls. I'm still not convinced she didn't eat some, even though she didn't have doggie breath.

Still no nap, and the battle rages on.

Dinner time rolls around and I think I am going to hit a home run with pasta, her favorite. Sure it's a bit messy to eat, but not a big deal. Unless, she decides to fling it everywhere except in her mouth.

We battle for her to eat a few bites. Actually we battled for just ONE bite. The majority wound up on the floor, the windows, the counter top 15 feet away, her ears, my hair.

And it was then that we both looked each other square in the eye and yelled, "aaaaaaggghhhhhhh!" simultaneously.

In some strange way, I guess that was how we called a truce for the day. A truce, because neither one of us is capable of surrendering. We are too much alike - too stubborn, too independent, to give up.

And now, after all the pasta sauce is cleaned up, and she's had her bath, and we've read Goodnight Moon, and we've sung "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", I watch her sleep and think I am the luckiest person ever to have this angel in my life.

I still haven't found that cheese stick, though.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Once again I have been chastised for not blogging on a regular basis.

My dear friend (and you know who you are), I. Am. Busy!

I am struggling with how to fit it all in. Work, family, school, exercise and sweet, bless-ed but elusive sleep. The more I try to "balance" all of them, the more I find I don't do any of them very well.  I just feel busy...and tired...without feeling like I'm really accomplishing anything.

And then a few days ago, several of my Facebook friends posted a link to an op ed piece from NYTimes.com:  The 'Busy' Trap.

Now, I will admit that I have been a hypocrite.  I have inwardly rolled my eyes at a few individuals who have boasted about how they are "soooo busy" with things that I perceive that they have brought on themselves...some project, some activity, some travel, some thing they voluntarily signed up for and then lament brag about how busy they are.

Oh wait...that's me.  (Insert blush of shame here).

Now I've become that person that is "so busy" with all this stuff I signed up for.  And it's not like I can un-sign up for many of these things without some serious consequences (like work...sleep).  So the challenge now seems to be how to re-balance these things so that the time I spend on them is quality over quantity.

So once committed, how does one become un-busy?

Let's Dust This Off

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!

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.

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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.



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