RazNoggle

The other day while I was waisting time on pinterest, I came across a pin for “the world’s fastest workout.” Actually I’d seen it a few times before, but it captured my curiosity this time. Maybe it was because I was in a “need to get in shape” mood or something. Who knows. But I started following the links on the pin, and that led me to more info, and other stuff, and finally I figured out that it is something called Tabata Interval Training. Once I started looking up info on THAT it was somewhat familiar in that it really reminded me of INSANITY only much much shorter!! I like short! That, to me, is the biggest drawback for INSANITY. It’s too stinkin’ long!! And I really just can’t go “full blast” for 45 minutes 6 days a week. Honestly, I don’t think many can.

So I decided to give it a whirl. I found a Tabata MP3 that will tell you when to “go” with some music, and when to “rest.” This is important because the intervals are only 20 seconds long, and your “rest” is 10. You do 8 sets, and really have to go “all out” for those 20 second intervals. Now there’s a TON of stuff out there that says do it with weights, don’t even think about doing it with weights, do the same exercise for all 8 sets, do different exercises for all 8 sets, do any exercise you want, only do sprints… yadda yadda. So I finally came up with what looked good to me, since it’s obviously SO subjective.

I chose to do different exercises for the sets because I want to work different muscle groups, and not use weights because I’m interested in cardio and fat burning. I added some stuff to my whole workout that I want to keep, and the entire thing (which takes closer to 10 min with warm up and cool down) looks like this.
Warm up 2 min: Kettle bell swing
Tabata Training: 4 min
4 exercises repeated 2x’s
Cool down: slow jogging in place till I can breath w/o heaving! 2 min (or so)
Then I did mitotic crunches on the ball, and the “cat vomit” exercise (I know, I know) for abs.

And I was done! It really gets your heart pumping and your lungs (in my case) burning like crazy! I have exercised induced asthma, or something, but for 4 minutes, I can manage it! Still, I was breathing hard for awhile after the workout. But then it was over, and I felt fine. I certainly felt like I had worked out, but I wasn’t all gross and nasty after a 45 min work out, and I felt good, not like a truck had hit me.

Fast forward to the next day. I woke up not even the teeeeeniest bit sore, and began to think it was all a bunch of malarky! Phoh, what’s the point of a workout that you can’t FEEL working, right? Well fast forward to a little bit farther along in the day. I suddenly “notice” that my abs are a little sore. That “little soreness” gradually increased through the rest of the day till by evening I was REALLY sore! Ah, there it is… the “work” from my workout! WOW! Every bit of my abs were sore all the way to my ribs and then around my sides to my back. My legs were also sore, as well as my shoulders. Hmmmm…..

Today is 2 days after my initial work out, my abs are STILL really sore, but today is another workout day so we’ll see how that goes. Ha! At any rate I’ve decided to give this workout program a shot now, through the end of Sept at least. Can’t hurt, and it’s not like it takes up much time.

Now to the abs diet. Another thing I came across while I was looking up Tabata stuff was something called Abs Diet. I’m going to try it out. The thorn in my flesh (lol) is my flabby abs from having babies. I don’t know if this diet combined with the above workout will “fix it” but I think it’s worth a try. I’m going to be eating 6 meals/snacks through the day of the foods on the abs diet, which is every 2 hours through the day. I’m thinking that I won’t have a chance to feel hungry at that rate, ha! Anyway, I’ll keep y’all posted on how that works out. I have not, unfortunately, lost that 10 lbs that I wanted to this summer. *sigh* No, no, no. So I have to do SOMETHING drastic here before cold weather comes and all I want to eat are warm, yummy comfort foods. Ha!

So stay tuned for progress reports as I go. My stick-2-itaveness is not so keen with these kinds of things, but right now I’m highly motivated. Wish me luck!

I like the idea of the city. The uptown areas, shopping, specialty stores. I have these semi-fuzzy day dreams of strolling hand in hand with my love down city sidewalks, sipping on lattes at a sidewalk cafe’ and eating gelato. Ha ha! I probably have hollywood to blame for all of that, because my experiences in the city are a little less… uh… picturesque.

For example, my last city experience was last week when I went to visit my fam while Stu was at a conference and work was being done on our kitchen. The family part was fun, of course, but other than that I have to say that the city did not thrill me. I had these horror visions of being smashed to bits in the crazy traffic, and I even drive one of the bigger vehicles! The night sounds with the booming traffic and subsequent sirens, not to mention the cannon that was going off somewhere down the street (seriously, I still don’t know what that sound was, but it was loud enough to make my heart skip a beat) were enough to make me want to invest in earplugs. I might have, but I wanted to be able to hear the thugs and ruffians that might try to break in and kidnap me!! Plus it was HOT! That may not be the city’s fault, but all the paving and roads certainly don’t cool things off.

Now, I know that I’ve painted a rather dramatic picture there, but I’ve long known that cities and I don’t really get along. Probably being there without my Love made a big difference. Being a mommy while driving in crazy traffic can give me gray hair! And I know that the noises become common after you’ve heard them for a time. Still, I enjoy the stillness of a little more country life. Of course, finding paying clients, decent shopping options, and any kind of human interaction becomes more complicated. Perhaps someday I can find a happy medium somewhere. Close, but not TOO close, to the amenities that a city (or large town even) can provide, without the racket and chaos of the busy city streets. Maybe…. For the time though, I’m happy where I am.

I’m happy to be home with our family all together again. I’m happy that our kitchen looks SO amazing! I’m happy that our kids are getting back to a “normal” routine. I’m happy that I get to see my Love every day!

I do wish I had more clients… but I’m telling myself to be patient because I know that building a business, especially one like this, takes time. And I’m really glad that I discovered that the city has a Melting Pot!! Someday when we’re back there, I’m taking Stuart on a date!

There is a small herd of antelope that trot across the ranch from time to time.  There is one very big buck, the biggest antelope I’ve ever seen! and some does.   Occasionally I get a good up close glimpse of them when I’m walking or driving on the dirt road.  More often I see them from a little distance.  Either way I always LOVE the site of animals that are wild and free.  I got into the habit of looking for wild creatures during the times I lived in Colorado at TWR.  Anytime I drove anywhere I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of an Elk, deer, bear or the elusive Moose!  Mind you keeping my eyes open didn’t stop me from crashing my car into a deer on a very dark night!  Yikes!

Anyway, I still look for wild things, though what I’m most likely to see out here are coyotes and snakes, (ugh) and the occasional antelope.  Something I’ve noticed though is that while I get all excited when I see one, the lads aren’t all that impressed.  In fact, they seem to get a bigger kick out of seeing the plodding, fat cows and calves that graze on this property than in seeing a fleeting flash of antelope hide.  Hmmmmm….. I was thinking about this recently and started to realize that to them seeing cows and horses penned up behind feces is just as exciting as it is to me to see some wild, free animal.

The whole world is still such a wonder to them at this age.  They don’t discriminate between wild and domestic animals.  In fact, when we went to a Zoo recently they were more enamored with the spiders and snakes in a box than they were with a HUGE black bear scratching his back on a fence just feet from where we stood.  I have to slow down now and then and learn to see the world through my children’s eyes.  It’s all amazing!!  Though I like spiders quite a bit less than anything, it’s good for me to see the wonder that they see because a spider is something they know.  To be able to stand at a glass and stare at it for some time is something that thrills them.  A bear may be more awe inspiring to me, but they have a way of looking at the mundane that makes me wish I could still be as thrilled over a silly spider. (not likely, ha!)

So that’s what I’m working on doing lately.  See the amazing in the ordinary.  My kids inspire me to notice that yes, a cow is an amazing creature.  Really!  And even though I know I’ll always get a thrill from spotting the wild ones, I can still be excited about the ordinary.

I crave peace. I do. I crave a lifestyle that promotes peace and calm. I cringe at the harried, constantly moving, constantly doing, constant chaos that so frequently defines life. Some people plan so that they can be peaceful, some people drive peace away with constant frenzied planning, and some people don’t plan at all and are peaceful. Why is that? I think I’ve found myself in all of those moments. Moments of unplanned peace, peace that comes from planning, and planning myself out of peace. Weird!

I’ve been thinking about it a bit lately. I’m tired of busy stress. I really Really REALLY want to simplify my life so that I can enjoy what I do instead of be stressed out by it all.

Of course, peace and tranquility are difficult to create with a house full of small children, a home business, and the inevitable unexpected events in life. But I’ve made up my mind, and I am going to do it.

There are a few steps I’ll be taking along the journey, but I’m not going to sit and “plan” it all out to the point. I know that I will be limiting screen time for everyone. Kids get fewer “shows” and that’s been happening already with the warm summer weather, but Mom needs to be disciplined as well and just NOT turn on the computer. I will be weeding out, disposing of, and swapping out toys in the next week or two. Who needs all the clutter? Not us! I will become pro-active and think up creative things for the lads to engage in instead of just chucking them out the door to get them out of the way or keep them quiet while Ella naps. Ha! What mom would do that now, really? I will be getting my keester out of bed early enough to have a cup of coffee and a Psalm to start my day. If I can begin peaceful it’s more likely to continue longer. I will set “work hours” for myself when I get my editing and planning done and then just leave it. It’s far too easy to get sucked into the vortex of photo-playing when it’s so much fun!!! But then I find myself scrambling to keep up with other responsibilities and the stress mounts and the peace is gone. I’m going to start teaching the lads how to fold their own laundry so that I will have a couple helpers with some chores. Stick to my menu plans. Set tasks for certain days (bread baking) and just always do it on that day.

There are a lot of little steps that I can take to get it done. I know what I need to do, now I just need to do it. I think I’m ready. I’m certainly tired of life living me. I want to enjoy it, and live it, not just hang on for the ride. So here I go, off to find peace in the middle of my little, blessed, mess.

So since the secession from the slow-carb diet, I have been reworking my workouts and such. I am still determined to lose more weight, though honestly I could deal with the numbers where I am. I just want a little more wiggle room in my “skinny” clothes. The jelly-belly really gets me, but I don’t know if it will EVER go away. I need to be patient. That poor thing has been pulled all out of shape over the last 4 years with 3 babies. Ha ha! I can feel my abs under the goo though so I know that they are strong and they are working… just wish it was visible on top. *sigh*

Anyway, that was free, and I’m sure now that you’re all thoroughly disgusted you don’t even care about what I’m going to do for workouts this summer, but I’ll tell ya anyway.

I have been walking more as I had planned before. Yesterday I even jogged a little. Not much, but some. I have some songs on my iPod shuffle that just NEED to be jogged to. So that has been going well. I am still doing the kettle bell and crunches on the exercise ball. Those have been going well too! I’m working up to 75 reps on the kettle bell, but right now can usually only do 45 before taking a short break. Since we are adding in Insanity. I will be doing the kettle bell and crunches on off days. So basically I will be doing SOMETHING 6 days a week. It’ll be good, and even if the numbers on my stinkin’ scale (as if it’s the scale’s fault!) don’t change the way I want them to, I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I’m still getting into better shape.

Well, that’s the plan. I’m pretty sore after my first INSANITY day, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m glad that I don’t have to do it again today! Ha ha!

I had some of my little walnut butter cookies with a cup of decaf last night and didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. Eating reasonably and exercising are really the way to go. Starving and binging aren’t so fun, nope!

It’s Wednesday. (last week)

So far most of my plans for this summer have failed me. Or maybe I’ve failed them… guess that’s more likely.

Tomorrow is a new day and I’m turning over a new “weaf.” Isn’t it nice that we get so many chances to “do over” in life? I’m glad God made it work out that way, cause we’d all be in such a pickle if we couldn’t try again. And the little motto that has stuck in my head ever since I read the book from the “Library on Wheels” when I was in Kindergarden or maybe 1st grade, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” That book has always stuck in my brain. I distinctly remember the poor little mouse trying to push an Elephant up a very steep hill. Ha! I should see if I can find it. It might be a good book to read to my own rather impatient Monkeys.

So tomorrow’s good intentions are going to start with rising earlier than my kids. The boys have become SO bad about trying to beat down their door in the mornings, and let me tell you, it does not make for a happy momma first thing. I’ve been meaning to get up earlier anyway, but for whatever reason we haven’t been sleeping well in our house. Not one of us. Ella is dealing with teeth and the lads are just possessed with a spirit of sleep denial. THEY won’t go to bed till 9 sometimes 10pm and that makes for a harried evening for this Ma. THEN recently one or both of them have been waking one or more times a night with some crisis or another. From having to go poop at midnight, really??? to being “stirsty” or needing their blankets “spread out” it’s been quite the production. Whew! But regardless. I need to get up, I have no excuse, and I’m completely ashamed of myself for being so lazy.

Something else that I have been working on, but need to think up some new strategies in is curbing our lads’ behavior. *sigh* It has been nice to have Stuart home since summer break started because he has assumed a lot of the discipline responsibility with the boys, but they have surely been outdoing themselves lately. I have to admit, though some may think I’m a horrible person for saying it, but I am not enjoying our lads much right now. Yes, they say cute things and are funny every day, but the seeming constant battles seem to overshadow all. Ella is so sweet even though she is teething, although she has discovered a little “fit” of her own. But mostly it’s the boys behavior that gets me down. They just about refuse to get along for more than 5 minutes these days unless they are doing something naughty, then they’re the best of pals. Qade has developed the deplorable habit of talking back, and that’s complicating matters. Myles is showing his 2 yr old colors brightly by balking at any and all instructions the majority of the time.

I know that this is a “season” and it will pass. Qade is so much more communicative and makes the most interesting connections to current conversations and past ones or things that he’s heard and seen. I know that the wheels in his head are turning, and when I told him this morning that disobeying mommy was sin, he looked very surprised, but he knows that it’s true. Myles is only 2 and doesn’t make all of those connections, and I know the best way to get through to him is consistent discipline, but between his outright disobedience, and near constant whining, I feel like the entire day is just one huge discipline problem. Add the frequent issues with Qade in, and you have the recipe for some really wiped out parents. So pray for us and our kiddos if you think of it. There are a lot of fun things we want to do together, and so far it’s difficult for ANYONE to have fun when such bad behavior and subsequent corrections are going on the whole time.

Anyway, I just needed to vent about that a bit. I get really tired and run down by the constant battles. Need a break and a recharge!

I’ll be getting both when I go to the Chicks who Click conference later this month! I’m super excited about that! It’s fun to learn more about photography and how to become better on many levels! I’ve been browsing the pages of my camera manual, which I do from time to time because my brain doesn’t absorb much at a once. And I’m discovering new stuff all the time. It’s nice to be able to grow in what you love to do because it keeps it from becoming boring.

Oh, some good news! Our oven is back and it’s working like it never worked before! I baked some cookies yesterday and they turned out fabulous!! I purposely heated the oven to the temp on the recipe (I’ve always had to turn it lower before because it would get too hot) and I purposely left them in the oven for the exact time instead of taking them out early like I had to do before. I was SO pleased to see it working the right way, and was pleasantly shocked that I didn’t see any flames coming up from the bottom of the oven. Maybe this was a no brainer that the fames shouldn’t be coming through there, but like I said, my experience with gas stoves has been nil up till now, and that’s always what happened with this stove so I assumed it was normal. Now I’m actually looking forward to baking in that oven!! I need to give it a good cleaning first though. The blackened bread incident doesn’t make the insides look or smell good, that’s for sure!

Okay, I’m off to comfort a poor teething little lass of mine. Hope they come through soon. Poor girl!

My thoughts about water.

Very deep.

Really.

Okay, so you may recall that one of my summer goals is to drink more water. Specifically a gallon a day. Yup. I want to it with a rather grim determination to “choke” down a gallon of water that first day. See, for some strange reason I go through seasons… sometimes lasting a very long time, where I just don’t “like” water. Apparently this is actually a common phenomenon, especially among women. Anyway, I just knew that having to drink that much was going to be difficult.

Cue first day on a gallon:

I was shocked to discover that first day that it actually wasn’t hard to drink that much water. Especially if when I went to get a drink I drank a BUNCH quickly instead of trying to sip it all day. Drinking before, during and after meals helped as well. I didn’t think I was quite going to make it through the whole gallon that day, but I did, and I noticed a couple very interesting side effects. (besides the obvious)

First, I was SOOOOOO thirsty all day! Imagine that! I felt as if I simply couldn’t get enough water. Surprising, since I’m sure I had been drinking no where close to that much water at all in the preceding days, weeks, months…. year? Weird. The other thing I noticed especially that first day was that I was much less hungry all day. Perhaps my tummy was just trying to deal with the flood and therefor couldn’t send any “food” signals to my brain, but either way I thought it was a good thing. The third thing, which may be unwater related, but that I did notice the first few days of my gallon consumption was a very sharp headache in the late afternoon. I wrestle with headaches on a regular basis, so it COULD be completely unrelated, but for some reason I was associating them together. Maybe it was the detox of having extra fluid cleaning things out or something that caused it, but it was interesting anyway. If a headache can be interesting.

I haven’t been tracking my water intake as strictly as I did the first few days, and we did have some travel time last week which always kills it for me. But since then I know I’ve been drinking at least 3 quarts a day. I have a big Sigg bottle that is one quart, and that’s how I gage my intake. I’m going to ramp it up again this week and get back to the (self) prescribed 4 quarts. I can’t believe how not hard it is compared to what I was expecting. Water, and plenty of it, has great benefits, and I’m glad that I took this step to get more of it in my daily routine.

I miss Facebook. Not going to lie, I do! It has been nice to be “unconnected” for awhile, but I do miss keeping up with my friends online. So in an attempt to keep up with it, I’ve been keeping track of my status updates for the past week. Ha ha ha!! They won’t have dates and times attached, because well, I don’t like being THAT specific when I have to keep track myself. LOL. Here’s what’s been “on my mind” recently.

Feeding Ella more than three bites of food is a challenge that I am not always up for. Guess we’ll call it good after 3, and try again tomorrow!

It’s SO smoky here from the Wallow fire. I hear the smoke goes all the way to South Dakota!! Poor lads don’t understand why they have to play inside today.

Made stir fry with actual stir fry sauce for dinner tonight. Why haven’t I tried this before??? It was yummy!

Trying to find ways to use my pressure cooker. Doing beans right now. If it works, this will be a hit. Cooked beans in half an hour instead of an all day ordeal in the crockpot only to have tough beans in the end!!
It worked!! They were tender and SO flavorful!! I dished up a bowl for me right THEN for lunch and put the rest in the crock pot for chili! YUMMERS! Glad it worked out because I was so close to sending the pressure cooker to my mom. Now I have a use for it! Yay!

Thinking up ways to get new biz this summer… really want some of those babies and mammas to start coming my way. Patience…… *sigh*

Naptime today is so peaceful!! Makes me want to take a nap too instead of work on some projects I know I need to do.

Slow-carbing again. Gotta get these pesky pounds off, so I don’t feel like a lump all summer. Still eating watermelon though.

Family walks would be so much more enjoyable if Myles’ enthusiasm lasted farther than the end of the driveway.

Just call me “Queen of Dishes” since that seems to be the only thing I was put on earth to do. Oh wait… there is another thing I’m good for…. Laundry. Boo!

Finished my first fringe blanket for a photo prop!! Also got a couple tutus in the mail. Now to get some cutie-patooties to model with them.

Managed to get 1.5 bites of cereal in Ella and about 3 Cheerio’s. She was HILARIOUS eating the Cheerios!!

Miss internet…. *sniff*

Have “fringe blanket fever” after making the first one. Started on a second and have plans for the third. Then I think I’ll take a break.

Crunching numbers with the Hurb. Makes me realize that having a biz is a LOT of work… and actually making money is even MORE work. Hope that clients keep coming!

Oven is on the fritz! Last night I tried to bake bread and it burnt it to a crisp in a matter of minutes. THEN it wouldn’t turn off and got so hot that the kettle set in the middle of the stove, ON a trivet started whistling!!!! Yikes!!! Hurb finally had to go shut off the propane at the tank for it to stop. Weird.

Ella’s teeth are coming in like popcorn! She just got her third tooth and now 2 more on top are looking like they’re about ready. Poor girl! She keeps on smiling, but I know it’s got to be painful for her!

Quitting slow-carb. Blah! I’ll be writing my thoughts on it in a blog post soon, but I have to say, me no likey!

When I asked Ella where she was going as she attempted to climb out of her swing, Qade answered “She’s not going anywhere. She can’t drive.” Ah ha ha ha!!!

Finished my surf inspired fringe blanket! Love it!

Ovenless isn’t so nice, but I’ve realized how “spoiled” I am to have the conveniences that I do. I can still bake bread in the bread machine, even if I don’t like the size of the loaf, I can still cook good meals in the crock pot. Plus we have a grill and a microwave. Apparently a stove top and oven are just “luxuries” ha ha!

Stu downloaded my e-mail for me when he was in internet land. A zillion junk mail and not one “real” e-mail. *sniff* It’s starting to be like USPS.

This morning when I mixed up a yogurt/berry smoothie for my lads for breakfast, Myles response was “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!” Ha ha ha! Glad to have hit on a winner.

Potty training has been at a stand still because this ol’ Ma is just so unmotivated. Contemplating implementing my friend’s “Bottomless Lemonade Brigade” next week. LOL…. we’ll see.

Still haven’t taken Qade’s 4 yr old pics. Need to get on that!

When Qade saw that our oven was still gone this morning, he asked, “How will we cook bacon and eggs?” Is he his father’s child or what???
I love the warmer weather, but detest the bugs! Seriously, I can’t sit outside for longer than 10 min because they plague my life out! Ugh!

Our cat is in kitty heaven chasing and subsequently torturing the lizards that roam around here. The lads often watch on with a gruesome infatuation. Boys!

COFFEE!!!!!!

I dressed up Ella in some cute flair jeans and a little frilly girl top today and just had to sigh over how big she looks. I think I might just keep her in baby rompers till she’s 10!

Ya know it’s summer when you can’t even remember what day of the week it is! Wait… I can’t remember it any time…. oh well. SUMMER!!!

Have to send my 50mm back to Nikon to see if it can be repaired. Good focus is a must in a “fast” lens.

Going to start work on a few more “props” that I’ll make for myself. Not sure if I’ll keep doing the Etsy thing…. doesn’t really seem to be taking off.

Is connecting with my “inner Anne” as I read the Green Gables books again. Lovely!

I tend to re-resolute throughout the year. Generally at the “big” changes like summer or winter… and of course the “New Year” that is oh-so-popular. It’s a good time to reevaluate what has been resolved and either change some of the previous resolutions/ditch them entirely/make new ones. So that’s kind of what I’m doing. I’m not going to go back to my old list I made at new year’s. Mostly because that would require too much effort. But I did make a new list for this summer. Here it is.

?Drink 1 gallon of water a day
?Go on walks daily
?Eat watermellon EVERY week
?Figure out CDO biz policies and pricing/complete “todo” list
?Go hiking w/ Stu
?Camp with family
?Spend an hour or 2 outside with the kids every day
?Reach goal weight
?De-junk the house

Not too involved. Some of them are a little more complicated. Like the one with the CDO Studios thing. A lot of thinking, number crunching and planning will have to go into that one. But most are pretty simple. Drinking more water is something I simply NEED to do. A gallon a day… I may have to work up to it, ha! I’m not a very good water drinker, but think that I would benefit from becoming so. Stu and I would like to do some hiking this summer, even just locally. I’ll be keeping my eyes open and scouting for good photography spots along the way as well. And as for the weight… well, we’re back to those pesky 15 lbs that I’ve been wanting to lose since shortly after our wedding. Arg! Realistically, I will be ecstatic if I can drop another 10lbs by the end of summer. That would be fantastic!! And if the water and walking work out, I think certainly possible. I’m quitting the high protein-low carb diet for now. It bothers my tummy, and is too difficult to keep up with all the wonderful warm weather (pasta) dishes I like.

Anyway, those are some of my own goals for the summer. I have others that I haven’t written down about my kids and stuff… but not everything has to be written on a list. I’m looking forward to a very good summer!

Confession time…

I read a kid’s book called… uh.. oh.. “The Phantom Tollbooth.” In it Milo found himself in the doldrums where nothing ever happens and it’s inhabitants were small slow-moving creatures called Lethargians. Yep, it’s fun. I wonder if I still have that book or if it got lost in one of my more radical purges. Hmmmm…. Anyway, right now in life, I am one of the Lethargians and am deeply mired in the doldrums. *sigh* Ha! Nice little bit of literary drama there huh?

This is what it basically boils down to. That flu we got awhile back REALLY knocked me down. It lasted, at least for me, about 2 weeks, and completely took the wind out of my sails an the umph out of… everything. Unfortunately I’ve been having a hard time finding my motivation to get back up and plugging along like I should. I’m in a rut, slump, whatever-you-want-to-call-it.

I haven’t been “in the mood” for laundry, dishes, cleaning of any kind, and definitely not cooking. I have been doing the bare-bones essentials of those things, but not with any heart for sure! Yes, I win the Worst Homemaker of the Year award, and it’s not even March. I just seem to have lost interest in any and all of those things. Not to mention the issues I’ve been having with my two toddlers that leave me with little left over patience for situations like Qade locking me out of the vehicle then staring at me through the window like I was speaking Mandarin to him as I told him to PUSH THE BUTTON!!!! to unlock it.

I’ve been completely unmotivated to continue on my weight-loss quest, and as I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t been posting weekly weigh-ins. I haven’t gained any, but I’ve not lost either. What can I say, I’m good at maintaining. I haven’t done one INSANITY workout since the flu hit. I did go for one walk/jog, but over the course of… however long it’s been, that doesn’t make much of an impact.

I have recently (like in the last 2 days) mustered up some determination to “whip it” and hopefully will be able to get unmired from these blah’s. I have taken an interest in crocheting again, and have recently opened my own etsy shop, so those extra interests have been helping. I have a plan that includes being diligent about taking my SUPERMOM vitamins, going to bed earlier, rising from bed earlier (which is not easy for me to do when it’s chilly out!) getting outside at least once a day to get some sunshine in my soul and fresh air in my lungs. Feeding the birds is a good way to do that, and they appreciate it, I’m sure! I need to go back to having regular exercise, because that really IS a mood-booster even if it doesn’t feel so much so at the time! I don’t know that dishes, or laundry will ever thrill my soul, but I’m going to make more of an effort at just getting them out of the way so they’re not hanging over my head. Cooking I can enjoy, and will be more diligent about making weekly menus so that’ll take the stress out of the evening.

Believe me when I tell you that things aren’t THAT bad. Writing stuff down in a blog can be dangerous as people will read it all kinds of silly ways and before you know it the world is sweeping in on you to rescue you from yourself. Ha! It’s not like that. I’m not moping around all day in my bathrobe feeling sorry for myself. No, and in fact I’m basically fine, just find myself not so thrilled with all the “regular activities” that I have to do in my life. It’s going to change and it’s gonna be better, and I’m sure I’ll get my mojo back soon. Putting it out there on the blog is just my way of beginning to deal with it. Besides I’d rather blog than deal with the couch full of clothes to be folded, dishwasher to be unloaded and a sink full of dirty dishes. Ha ha ha ha ha!! Just kidding!! I’ll get right on that….. after lunch!

Ta ta! Hopefully I’ll be back soon!