My house is soooooo clean, y'all!! Cleaner than it has probably ever been. Certainly cleaner than it has ever been since the day we purchased it. It is Auh-maz-ing. I loooooove it! I cannot believe I waited so long to get a maid. If you are reading this, and you are thinking about a main, DO NOT HESITATE. Seriously. Best decision I've made in a long time. Probably some of the best money I'll spend every month, too.
And on to the running. I really want to race this weekend. Preston *may* have to work. It is a source of endless irk to me that his company has been scheduling overtime and then cancelling it every week for the last 3, so I have no idea if he'll actually be around or not. Add that to the fact that most local races aren't stroller friendly, and you have me not being able to schedule a race.
So with that said, I've got 2 potentials for this weekend, and I'm pretty determined to hit one or the other.
Saturday: Sprint for Life 5K - like this idea because it is on my birthday, and they have a "Trot for Tots" dash that is so short that Z could do her first race! It is not stroller friendly, though, so if Preston works it is out.
Sunday: Go for Goal 5K - stroller friendly second choice if Saturday doesn't pan out. They both offer race day registration, so now I'll just sit back and see.
Maybe I could do both...
And then for the following weekend I'm interested in the YMCA Trail Run, which is close ish.
Or the weekend afterwards, Girls on the Run. (Tech-t and STROLLER FRIENDLY)
For future, Father's day has the Dad's Day 5K, which I think would be really nice, considering Preston's Dad has prostate cancer. (Not stroller friendly, which is insane since it is supposed to be family oriented, but whatever.)
And for July 4: Bud Heat Wave 5 Miler (not stroller friendly)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Goal Review
Goals for the Year:
Lose 12 pounds in 2012. Weight on 1/1 was 138.8. Weight 4/1 was 133.8. Weight on 5/1 was 133.2. Back in the right direction, baby!
Read at least 12 books (other than to my child) in 2012. 2 books (Book 2 and 3 of Game of Thrones series) read in March, bringing the grand total to 8.
Race 12 times in 2012. None this month. Holding at 1. Need to get on this!
And I have one other secret 12 goal. 1 more to add, making it 5.
Goals for April:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals. Check.
Get the diet back under control. Period. April 1 was a bad day. April 7 will be a bad day. There is no need for any other bad days this month. Period. This was a big, resounding win for me. I didn't drop a lot of weight, but I've been eating very cleanly since Easter. I only ate out twice when work required it, and I made smart selections each time. I tracked calories for a week to get back on track. And I've been focusing on smart eating and cooking at home. Yay, me!
Get back on my bike. Outside, trainer, wherever! Mountain bike is set up and ready to go. Road bike is set up on trainer and ready to go!
Financial goals: get the moms off the accounts (both forms mailed, waiting for responses), balance/consolidate (endured painful run-around for trying to move my IRA to company account, will try again this month), get AD's POD accounts into P's name (one down, two to go), come up with a plan for AD's accounts and at least partially implement it (have a plan, but no implementation because the accounts are tied to safe-deposit boxes, so we have to keep them open for now), taxes (done, and the lovely refund is already received).
Goals for May:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.
Food... have fun for my birthday, then go moderate for the rest of the month.
May is the month of the bike. I need to spend A LOT of time on my bike.
Also, May is the month of consistency on the run. 3x per week. Period.
Race this month. Damnit.
Financial goals: get the moms off the accounts, balance/consolidate, get AD's POD accounts into P's name, get P into direct deposit.
Lose 12 pounds in 2012. Weight on 1/1 was 138.8. Weight 4/1 was 133.8. Weight on 5/1 was 133.2. Back in the right direction, baby!
Read at least 12 books (other than to my child) in 2012. 2 books (Book 2 and 3 of Game of Thrones series) read in March, bringing the grand total to 8.
Race 12 times in 2012. None this month. Holding at 1. Need to get on this!
And I have one other secret 12 goal. 1 more to add, making it 5.
Goals for April:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals. Check.
Get the diet back under control. Period. April 1 was a bad day. April 7 will be a bad day. There is no need for any other bad days this month. Period. This was a big, resounding win for me. I didn't drop a lot of weight, but I've been eating very cleanly since Easter. I only ate out twice when work required it, and I made smart selections each time. I tracked calories for a week to get back on track. And I've been focusing on smart eating and cooking at home. Yay, me!
Get back on my bike. Outside, trainer, wherever! Mountain bike is set up and ready to go. Road bike is set up on trainer and ready to go!
Financial goals: get the moms off the accounts (both forms mailed, waiting for responses), balance/consolidate (endured painful run-around for trying to move my IRA to company account, will try again this month), get AD's POD accounts into P's name (one down, two to go), come up with a plan for AD's accounts and at least partially implement it (have a plan, but no implementation because the accounts are tied to safe-deposit boxes, so we have to keep them open for now), taxes (done, and the lovely refund is already received).
Goals for May:
Continued progress towards 2012 goals.
Food... have fun for my birthday, then go moderate for the rest of the month.
May is the month of the bike. I need to spend A LOT of time on my bike.
Also, May is the month of consistency on the run. 3x per week. Period.
Race this month. Damnit.
Financial goals: get the moms off the accounts, balance/consolidate, get AD's POD accounts into P's name, get P into direct deposit.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Weekend Update
So this weekend started off crappily, I'm not gonna lie.
Z was scheduled for her 18 month check-up on Friday, and shots were involved, so I anticipated that end-of-Friday and most-of-Saturday would be suck. What I didn't anticipate was the the other baby in the house, the man-baby, would also be sick. He stayed home from work on Friday.
I cleaned most of Friday. I cleaned off the DVR, and I cleaned all over the house with a focus on cleaning off surfaces so that MY MAID can do her good and thorough work on Tuesday! I struggled but mostly succeeded in not being bitter that Preston wasn't helping much. He was sick, after all.
We went to pick up the Z early from daycare for her appointment. Note to future self: 15 minutes from daycare to doctor. She ate an ENTIRE BOX of fiddlesticks throughout the waiting and the appointment. I brought them thinking to treat her after her shots, but she was honestly done with most of them before the Dr. even showed up. She weighed 24 lbs (40%, up from 20% at a year), was 33 inches tall (90%, up from 40% at a year), and I don't remember the number for her head, but it was 97% (up from like 80% at a year)!! My little bug is turning in to a tall smart skinny bug!
Doctor said she is way ahead of the curve on all targets. She said she doesn't even ask if they use pronouns (much less correctly) until they are 2! And over 100 words at 14 months is off the charts.
And then they gave her shots. Sad face.
And it was weird, it was kind of like she immediately felt bad. I got her stopped crying, and we went out to the waiting room for the 15 minute wait for no allergic reactions, and she just collapsed against me like she was exhausted. And by the time we got home, she was almost immediately fussy.
And the fussy carried over into Saturday.
We actually were ALL running a fever on Saturday. Every last sick one of us. Not my best parenting day, but we let Z have a LOT of access to the iPad on Saturday. Because when she plays with the iPad, she doesn't fuss. (Zombie babies don't fuss.)
Nevertheless, we made a few little trips to preserve our (adult) sanity. Grocery store in the morning. And we were perking up just a bit in the evening, so we ran up to Zales Outlet (because I asked to get some of my broken jewelry fixed for my birthday) and Old Navy. Old Navy was mostly a bust: P got 2 jeans and I got a pair of shorts, but I was sad because I picked up 10ish things that I thought were cute, but nothing was cute ON me. Sigh. That little outing was a little too much, so we headed home, ate leftovers, and crashed.
Sunday the baby woke happy, thank goodness! It was a normal day of cleaning, a little cooking (but not a big cooking day, certainly). We took a walk in the morning, and a longer walk to the park in the evening.
And because Monday morning is still a little weekendish in my mind: got up this morning 2 hours before the butt crack of dawn. Jumped up quickly so as not to lose my nerve, but still dawdled enough to hit the road at my normal time. Ran 4 loops in 35:30, which looking back at my logs isn't fast, but the first 3 were in 26:30, which is fast. Weird. It was hot, maybe 75 with 90% humidity. Nasty. When I got back Preston freaked out about my red-purple face which looked like I had put a crazy mask on.
Z was scheduled for her 18 month check-up on Friday, and shots were involved, so I anticipated that end-of-Friday and most-of-Saturday would be suck. What I didn't anticipate was the the other baby in the house, the man-baby, would also be sick. He stayed home from work on Friday.
I cleaned most of Friday. I cleaned off the DVR, and I cleaned all over the house with a focus on cleaning off surfaces so that MY MAID can do her good and thorough work on Tuesday! I struggled but mostly succeeded in not being bitter that Preston wasn't helping much. He was sick, after all.
We went to pick up the Z early from daycare for her appointment. Note to future self: 15 minutes from daycare to doctor. She ate an ENTIRE BOX of fiddlesticks throughout the waiting and the appointment. I brought them thinking to treat her after her shots, but she was honestly done with most of them before the Dr. even showed up. She weighed 24 lbs (40%, up from 20% at a year), was 33 inches tall (90%, up from 40% at a year), and I don't remember the number for her head, but it was 97% (up from like 80% at a year)!! My little bug is turning in to a tall smart skinny bug!
Doctor said she is way ahead of the curve on all targets. She said she doesn't even ask if they use pronouns (much less correctly) until they are 2! And over 100 words at 14 months is off the charts.
And then they gave her shots. Sad face.
And it was weird, it was kind of like she immediately felt bad. I got her stopped crying, and we went out to the waiting room for the 15 minute wait for no allergic reactions, and she just collapsed against me like she was exhausted. And by the time we got home, she was almost immediately fussy.
And the fussy carried over into Saturday.
We actually were ALL running a fever on Saturday. Every last sick one of us. Not my best parenting day, but we let Z have a LOT of access to the iPad on Saturday. Because when she plays with the iPad, she doesn't fuss. (Zombie babies don't fuss.)
Nevertheless, we made a few little trips to preserve our (adult) sanity. Grocery store in the morning. And we were perking up just a bit in the evening, so we ran up to Zales Outlet (because I asked to get some of my broken jewelry fixed for my birthday) and Old Navy. Old Navy was mostly a bust: P got 2 jeans and I got a pair of shorts, but I was sad because I picked up 10ish things that I thought were cute, but nothing was cute ON me. Sigh. That little outing was a little too much, so we headed home, ate leftovers, and crashed.
Sunday the baby woke happy, thank goodness! It was a normal day of cleaning, a little cooking (but not a big cooking day, certainly). We took a walk in the morning, and a longer walk to the park in the evening.
 |
| She calls it a seal the first time, every time, but she knows it is a whale. |
 |
| RUNNING down the driveway. |
 |
| "Hi Mr. Turtle, what are you doing? He's walking. Bye bye Mr. Turtle, see you later!" |
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I hired a maid!
And I am so excited!
They start Tuesday, so this weekend I won't clean clean anything. Instead I'll be trying to de-clutter so I can get the most out of their cleaning services. The first time they do a deep "spring" cleaning where they clean all the things. Pretty sure they'll be in my house all day. I'm so excited I can barely sit still! I've got visions dancing around my head where I actually am able to keep up with the laundry, the cooking, the dishwashing, the filing/mail, and where Preston keeps up with the trash and catboxes because we don't have to worry about mopping, vacuuming, toilet cleaning, dusting, counter-washing, etc. And even more idyllic visions where when we get a box from my mom or from AD's house, we ACTUALLY OPEN IT AND PUT THE STUFF AWAY (or throw it away) instead of just adding it to the giant stack of boxes in the living room. You know, because we have time to do stuff like that! Because I have a maid!
I'm so excited!!!
They start Tuesday, so this weekend I won't clean clean anything. Instead I'll be trying to de-clutter so I can get the most out of their cleaning services. The first time they do a deep "spring" cleaning where they clean all the things. Pretty sure they'll be in my house all day. I'm so excited I can barely sit still! I've got visions dancing around my head where I actually am able to keep up with the laundry, the cooking, the dishwashing, the filing/mail, and where Preston keeps up with the trash and catboxes because we don't have to worry about mopping, vacuuming, toilet cleaning, dusting, counter-washing, etc. And even more idyllic visions where when we get a box from my mom or from AD's house, we ACTUALLY OPEN IT AND PUT THE STUFF AWAY (or throw it away) instead of just adding it to the giant stack of boxes in the living room. You know, because we have time to do stuff like that! Because I have a maid!
I'm so excited!!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Women
"Almost all employed women in heterosexual relationships live in households where the division of labor is grossly and visibly inequitable... The imbalance exists among all groups of women who live with men, incuding professional women. Married women who work for pay average about thirty-three hours of housework per week -- about two-thirds of the total household work. Married men who are employed do fourteen to eighteen hours of housework a week." -- Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide by Linda Babcock and Sara Lashever.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Ugh
Dear blogger,
WTF???
Sincerely,
Amber
And on to the post.
Last week was TLA Annual Conference. I went to sessions and got ideas and it was generally good. I once again did not do the Fun Run, because I couldn't make it downtown in time after I dropped the Z off. Someday I'm going to DO THAT RUN again. And I'm going to be fast and badass. I got Judy Blume's and Orson Scott Card's autographs. I screwed that up, though - note for next year: bring my own hardback books. The publishers are morons who only provide paperbacks. And often not the beloved title that induced you to stand in line forever. Ugh! I volunteered for a committee, good girl. Hopefully something will come out of it this time. Every year my boss wants me to apply for this leadership honor thing, and every year I turn her down because I don't have the service to back up an application. So I've set out to get a service record. Because I'm a professional. Or something.
TLA always leaves me exhausted. Friday afterwards I just went home and "worked really hard" at clearing off the DVR. It was great.
After that, though, well... I was in a total funk this weekend. I'm not gonna lie. Saturday the baby was fussy and so was I.
You know, I hate the condition of my house. Hate it. I really need help and feel like I'm not ever going to be able to dig myself out from under the pile. You know, we make so much trash, but somehow there is *always* more stuff coming in than going out. I kind of lost it, and I think Preston is on board with us getting a maid, now.
Having a little one changes everything, you know? I always hate being in a funk, but I feel even shittier about it when I know it is bleeding over into my interactions with my kid. But then I feel even funkier. What a vicious cycle.
WTF???
Sincerely,
Amber
And on to the post.
Last week was TLA Annual Conference. I went to sessions and got ideas and it was generally good. I once again did not do the Fun Run, because I couldn't make it downtown in time after I dropped the Z off. Someday I'm going to DO THAT RUN again. And I'm going to be fast and badass. I got Judy Blume's and Orson Scott Card's autographs. I screwed that up, though - note for next year: bring my own hardback books. The publishers are morons who only provide paperbacks. And often not the beloved title that induced you to stand in line forever. Ugh! I volunteered for a committee, good girl. Hopefully something will come out of it this time. Every year my boss wants me to apply for this leadership honor thing, and every year I turn her down because I don't have the service to back up an application. So I've set out to get a service record. Because I'm a professional. Or something.
TLA always leaves me exhausted. Friday afterwards I just went home and "worked really hard" at clearing off the DVR. It was great.
After that, though, well... I was in a total funk this weekend. I'm not gonna lie. Saturday the baby was fussy and so was I.
You know, I hate the condition of my house. Hate it. I really need help and feel like I'm not ever going to be able to dig myself out from under the pile. You know, we make so much trash, but somehow there is *always* more stuff coming in than going out. I kind of lost it, and I think Preston is on board with us getting a maid, now.
Having a little one changes everything, you know? I always hate being in a funk, but I feel even shittier about it when I know it is bleeding over into my interactions with my kid. But then I feel even funkier. What a vicious cycle.
Monday, April 16, 2012
On Homes
So Preston will be inheriting AD's home.
This brings up the question: what are we going to do with it? 2 options, as I see it: sell it or rent it out. (It is in a great location, but it smaller and older than our current house, so we don't want to live there. Though it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that we'd eventually tear it down and build on that lot. That is common in that neighborhood.)
I always figured we'd rent it. It is paid for, in a desirable neighborhood with a great school, and we've always been vaguely interested in the landlording business. I figure if we're going to try it, there's no better time.
Then Preston went to talk to his (CPA, lawyer) best friend, who advised him to sell it. Thinks we'd lose money, or at best, break even. This really freaked us out.
So we're still on the fence. In the meantime, since Mr. CPA, Esquire caused us to re-think, we've been trying to figure out what we'd do with the money if we sold it. One of the options is to take that money, sell our own house, and upgrade to a newer, better house in the same neighborhood. They just happen to be building a new subdivision very close by, so yesterday we drove over.
Nice houses. They cost more than we could ever afford... if we didn't sell AD's house.
There's even one that is currently being built, and for sale. So I went online to the builder's website to look at the floorplan.
Oh. My. God.
This house is *perfect*. Perfect y'all. Freaking perfect. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a 2 car garage extended so we could get cars AND tools inside. Walk in closets. A walk in pantry. Open floorplan. Porches. A study. Oh my god, I want this house. Like yesterday. Wow. Wow, do I want that house!
And therein lies the danger of thinking too much. (Or rather, getting ahead of yourself. We are probably a year away from being able to buy. Unless AD's house sold quickly. (In this market, ha!))
This brings up the question: what are we going to do with it? 2 options, as I see it: sell it or rent it out. (It is in a great location, but it smaller and older than our current house, so we don't want to live there. Though it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that we'd eventually tear it down and build on that lot. That is common in that neighborhood.)
I always figured we'd rent it. It is paid for, in a desirable neighborhood with a great school, and we've always been vaguely interested in the landlording business. I figure if we're going to try it, there's no better time.
Then Preston went to talk to his (CPA, lawyer) best friend, who advised him to sell it. Thinks we'd lose money, or at best, break even. This really freaked us out.
So we're still on the fence. In the meantime, since Mr. CPA, Esquire caused us to re-think, we've been trying to figure out what we'd do with the money if we sold it. One of the options is to take that money, sell our own house, and upgrade to a newer, better house in the same neighborhood. They just happen to be building a new subdivision very close by, so yesterday we drove over.
Nice houses. They cost more than we could ever afford... if we didn't sell AD's house.
There's even one that is currently being built, and for sale. So I went online to the builder's website to look at the floorplan.
Oh. My. God.
This house is *perfect*. Perfect y'all. Freaking perfect. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a 2 car garage extended so we could get cars AND tools inside. Walk in closets. A walk in pantry. Open floorplan. Porches. A study. Oh my god, I want this house. Like yesterday. Wow. Wow, do I want that house!
And therein lies the danger of thinking too much. (Or rather, getting ahead of yourself. We are probably a year away from being able to buy. Unless AD's house sold quickly. (In this market, ha!))
Friday, April 13, 2012
Hurt Myself. (Again)
Yesterday morning was one of those mornings where you really don't want to get out of bed. You are so deeply asleep when the alarm goes off at 4 that you really want to just turn over.
But I've turned over a new leaf, and after Easter's gluttony was over I promised myself that I'd get back on track with my diet and exercise.
So I dragged myself out of bed. I procrastinated as long as possible, but finally hit the road only 5 minutes late, wearing my new shoes for only the second time. I walked my typical quarterish mile warm-up, and broke into a (slow) run. About half a mile later, I felt a pain in my right butt. It actually felt kind of like the sciatica I had when I was preggo - a shooting nerve pain - but it was originating in my butt and radiating down my hamstring. I immediately started walking and turned for home.
I've been taking ibuprofen and I foam rolled last night, but I'm still feeling a lingering, almost burning knotted sensation in my hamstring, maybe 6 inches above my knee.
This. BLOWS.
But I've turned over a new leaf, and after Easter's gluttony was over I promised myself that I'd get back on track with my diet and exercise.
So I dragged myself out of bed. I procrastinated as long as possible, but finally hit the road only 5 minutes late, wearing my new shoes for only the second time. I walked my typical quarterish mile warm-up, and broke into a (slow) run. About half a mile later, I felt a pain in my right butt. It actually felt kind of like the sciatica I had when I was preggo - a shooting nerve pain - but it was originating in my butt and radiating down my hamstring. I immediately started walking and turned for home.
I've been taking ibuprofen and I foam rolled last night, but I'm still feeling a lingering, almost burning knotted sensation in my hamstring, maybe 6 inches above my knee.
This. BLOWS.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)