The honeymoon is over.

So the newness of the working out has faded, shall we say. I’ve made it a whole month. I am still going, but each visit to the gym is a little harder to psyche myself up for. When I get caught up in something new, it takes priority over everything else. Then when the newness wears off, I look around and finally see all the things that I’ve been neglecting. Ooops! So then my new priority become fixing the symptoms that have cropped up during the latest period of neglect. It’s a cycle of endless catchup-itis. Such is my life. ;-)

The struggle is learning to achieve balance with all my jobs, hobbies, and projects. So my new goal for the gym is 3 times a week. That is close to what I was doing, however, I have to cut the workout to 1 hour maximum. Too many things suffer when I spend longer than that amount of time. This will free up more time to blog, declutter and organize. I will lose more inches in the long term if I stay on the plan, than if I give it my all for 6 weeks and then dropout completely.

So that is where I am. Working out is a lifestyle not a short-term obsession. It is just something that needs to be done, so that a long healthy life is ahead of me.

I’ve got a new helper.

I’ve raised my kids to be pretty self-sufficient around the kitchen, well sort of. It usually works out well. The girls have been making their own breakfasts for years. Our kid friendly dishes are stored in a low cabinet for them to access with ease. Like many families, we work our dishwasher hard. At least once a day, we run it. I’ve gotten to the point that I loathe loading and unloading it. It is just too much sometimes. I want to hide in the corner and rock. Or, I can have my kids unload it, and then I can carry about my day like a normal person. That its until my third child has begun helping. I didn’t mind thinking of him unloading his cups and bowls. How cute, I thought. He is going to grow up to be a real catch.

Well, I just witnessed him helping. And I feel like I could use an adult beverage. It is 5:00 somewhere, right? He was super motivated and loving his new role as a kitchen crew member. He was pulling my china dinner plates out of the dishwasher rack and heading toward the granite counter top with them in tow. The girls didn’t seem very surprised at this sight. Well, I’ve now explained the rules on “to what degree” a toddler can help and I think I may have to stick around just to make sure my guidelines are followed. Maybe I should just unload it myself. I don’t like where this is going.

Waste not, want not.

We are coming down to the wire. The departure date is right around the corner. You know what that means. It means that we are having some strange meals. Lunch is served. You will be enjoying a leftover tropical chicken and rice hot dish. It is accompanied with a cooked egg and watermelon. For dessert, a piece of banana bread. Can I bring you some more watermelon or another egg?

Today I decided to make an appointment for my boy. He has been congested for a month. Mother of the Year, I know, I know. Seriously, he’s been happy, eating, sleeping, playing hockey, scaling tall buildings, etc. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a sinus or ear infection. No one needs a male toddler, sporting an ear infection, sitting next to you on a plane. His ears have always checked out fine on these appointments. This was not the case today. He has an ear infection in his right ear. She said it was probably slowly building up and he would have become miserable soon.

We live in an amazing country where we can call and get a same day appointment, drop off and pick up a prescription, and shop for anything we may need in a matter of a couple hours. Granted, they were a couple of hours I didn’t have to spare, but non-the-less, still a fantastic place to call home. The problem is that I couldn’t refuse the $.88 strawberries. So now I have two more quarts of produce that I have to get in the bellies of my crew. I can only imagine that our last remaining meals will become a little more creative, shall we say. One thing for sure, we will be exceeding the RDA in vitamin C.

Time flies.

Recently, my 10 year old was going through her big box of artwork and memorabilia that is stored under her bed. She was tearful about how cute she used to be and how old she was now. I asked her to imagine how old I felt, having a 10 year old. I told her about how I can remember back when I was in kindergarten. She seemed impressed. I guess it is similar to when my mom said to me, “Talk to me when your baby turns 40!.” Of course, she wasn’t referring to me. It is official, when looking back, no matter your age, time really does fly.

Having a little boy is quite different than how I remember things being when the girls were little. He wakes up, yelling and pointing with amazement “Ball! Vroom, vroom! Hockey!” He goes to bed, yelling “Moon! Dog! Ball!” Did I mention the climbing? We were watching a very girlie movie tonight. A field of flowers, where fairies live, is about to be destroyed by a bunch of big tractors and trucks. My boy’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the construction vehicles. “Wow,” he said in awe. The movie just became worth watching! Let’s just say that he has a passion for life. He is on the go and he loves life! We need to remember our passions that really light our fire, and not let the daily grind snuff out all sparks. You know, the endless laundry loads, the dishwasher full of clean dishes while the sink is full of dirty dishes, the dust bunny reunion in the back hall, please tell me I don’t need to continue.

Looking back 10, 20, 50 years down the road, hopefully we will look back and have so many unique experiences and memories. I hope that dishes and laundry do not make the cut into the Top 100 Exciting Moments of My Life. This blog is sure to remind me that there is life outside of chores and duties. I am blessed to have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those around me. I better get cracking, time is ticking.

How early is too early?

This is a question that I occasionally ponder. I’ve been known, once or twice in slow years, to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Shhhh. Shh. Quiet down, people! I haven’t had this conundrum for some time, due to the addition of our third child. It is such a double standard that the stores flaunt their trees before we say “Trick or Treat....Thank You...Happy Halloween.” Seriously, if you’re not having anyone over for Thanksgiving, it’s a victimless crime. And if you are, just don’t turn on the Christmas lights.

I present this question in light of packing for vacation. The intensity of my love for “early” packing is matched only by that of my hatred for unpacking. With the pull-back in the economy and the introduction of fees for checked bags, my propensity for early packing has been intensified. I believe that with all the laundry that I have to process for a family of 5, coupled with the fact that we have soooooooo many clothes, a week early probably wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. If only I could wait that long.

Each and every item has been scrutinized, washed, folded, and in some cases ironed. My 7 year old recently asked, “What is that called?” “Honey, that is an ironing board,” I whispered. I’m not expecting a nomination for Mother of the Year for that one. This year on our 10 day family trip, we are not checking bags. Our toddler flies free as a lap child (pray for me), so we all have to absorb his belongings. I love a good challenge. I don’t watch Survivor on TV, but I imagine this is what it is like. It is all about strategy. My 10 year old is buckling down to finish the fourth Harry Potter book. She knows she can’t bring two Harry Potter books.

Anyone who has ever moved knows that when it comes down to the wire, moving day, and you think you have only about an hour of work left, in reality it is about 6-12 hours of stress-filled chaos. I guess I’m compensating for that last hellish hour. I’m not crazy. It is a form of self-love.

Today is the day.

So, I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while. Well, I actually set up the account about a year ago, and then never posted anything, because I wanted it to be perfect. Anyone ever been there? I actually had to change the age of my kids, and add a year to my marriage. Seriously, it's shocking how fast time flies. Well, over this past year, I've had so many experiences that would have been wonderful to share(optimistic thinking), or at least write down so that I can remember them (probably the case). Today, after being inspired by a blog, Smallnotebook.org, I've decided that today is the day. We are in the middle of summer vacation. It seems to be that our mission each day is that we "try" to rip the house apart each day. We are very successful on this mission. During this first paragraph alone, I have been interrupted about 10 times. Apparently, I am going to learn to be a very patient person.

I suffer from a case of perfectionistic procrastination, of course I made that term up. I've heard it is a common affliction. I have an email box that only catches my attention once it is at the 1000+ emails level. So, I did something new. I did some quick mass deletions of junk email, and got the level to be about 500, or so. Then, I moved over all the old emails and put them in a folder called "old email inbox". Now, I am happy to say that my current inbox has only 16 emails. I enjoy reading, deleting, and actually managing the inbox. Who knew??? I was constantly punishing myself with the old inbox. I had read, once, that you should begin as you wish to go with current photos. Our tendency to get photos organized is put off when we have years of photos stacked up waiting and making us feel guilty.

I'm going to go pick up the pieces that fell, while typing my first post to my very own blog. My kids have reached their limit. I also need a refill on my coffee. I literally have my leg extended, trying to keep the 20 month old boy from climbing the computer tower. Oh yeah, my time is up!