Lent

 

It's the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, and as a Catholic, we are called upon to take these 40 days as a time of reflection, a time of sacrifice.  Many Catholics give up something.  As a child I used to give up candy, soda...and of course, on Easter, I would then consume large quantities of the same as soon as I could.  As a kid, my Dad always used to joke that he was going to give up hard drugs or smoking or homosexual affairs for Lent (Joking, of course).  In 4th grade, I made the mistake of telling my Sunday School teacher that I was giving up drinking and smoking.  She did not find it all that funny, ironically.  In hindsight, I think it's flipping hilarious.

 

 

T's giving up soda and chocolate milk for Lent.  Me?  I've chosen to not give up something but rather to "do" something for Lent.  To work on the betterment of my relationship with T. 

 

 

My friend, Jess, has spoken highly of "The Love Dare," a 40 day challenge based on Scripture and how to truly work on your relationship.  It's not just for marriages in crises.  Anyone could benefit from it in no matter what the stage of their relationship.  Every day you read a chapter and reflect on the challenge you are given.  I've been told that not all are easy, but I am up for it.  And I'm curious to see what these next 40 days will bring. 

 

 

What about you?  Are you doing anything special for this Lenten season?  If you don't celebrate it, what sacrifices would you make if challenged to do so?

       

One of those days....

Most people don't like Mondays, so it's fair to say I don't as well.  But yesterday?  Yesterday particularly sucked.  It was one of those days where you just think "you know, I should just turn this car around and head back home." 

 

 

It started off with a bang.  Midnight.   Aubrey crying.  It's her new thing...she cries for no reason in the middle of the night, sitting up, wanting us to go in there.  It's like here we are at step one all over again.  So needless to say, T and I weren't getting any sleep.  Sleep deprivation equals unreasonable arguing.  Both falling asleep mad.  Both waking up tired and irritated.  T was sick so he stayed home, and I had an appointment before I could head to work, so I hurried and got Aubrey ready to take with me, letting the daycare know we'd be late. 

 

 

So I get ready to leave.  And I know I'm not the world's best parker by any means, but apparently I parked rather crooked, and as I backed into the driveway, I drove right into T's beloved lawn.  Dammit.  Dirt all over the driveway and tire marks on the grass.  I make it just in time for my appointment, and we get out around 8:30.  I head to the daycare.  Pulling into the parking lot, I realize I forgot my badge to get in.  They have become quite strict with this since Newton, so I had to buzz in and identify myself before being let in.  I get to the classroom, and at this point it's already past breakfast but Aubrey hadn't eaten breakfast so I had to nicely request to the annoyed teacher that she feed her breakfast.  Then I realize I left my bottles for the day in the car.  I scramble out, get them, they buzz me in again, and then I forget to "sign" her in.  They normally charge for this, but I explained the situation when I got there to pick her up in the afternoon.  The ladies sympathized with me because they could tell I was flustered and clearly having a bad day.

 

 

Since I had gotten no sleep, I didn't really do much to get ready.  Hair pulled in a messy bun, wet, and not enough makeup to cover my dark circles.  So of course, someone points that out at work.  So I go to the restroom to do a little touch up, though honestly I'm not sure it makes a difference.  Through the course of the day, I manage to get a phone call from an employee I let go (awkward) and a resignation from a board member. Also, one of my employees tells me something I can't share, but needless to say though it's a good thing it'll be a little stressful for a few months.  Meaning I'll need to take on some more duties.   I barely get anything accomplished, even though I have about 50 (OK, being dramatic) grants due in March.  I rush out to get Miss Aubrey in time, and honestly, with the day I was having, I was lucky I remembered to get her.  Luckily when I got home, T had done so much around the house, cooking dinner, preparing shakes for the morning, fed Aubrey, let me exercise and poured me a glass of wine.  (Isn't he a keeper?) 

 

 

So needless to say, I'm ready for a redo.  It's Tuesday, and I'm working from home, getting ready to head downtown for an important meeting, and then run errands to get ready for Aubrey's big party this weekend.  Praying the rest of the week goes smoothly.  And I should probably try to avoid driving onto grass in the future.  Just sayin'.

   

Motivation Monday!

Dear God, how is it Monday already?  Not cool.  Oh well.  Back to the same old same old.  But...I'll try my best to keep myself motivated this week.  I definitely have some work deadlines looming, so this will be on busy week.  But I'm going to lean towards fitness for motivation this week.  I say this as I sit here on the couch stuffed beyond from a nice dinner with friends - I kind of went off the diet this weekend...wine, garlic bread, baked spaghetti, and apple pie.  Bad, Nain, bad.  Oh but it tasted so right.  But it is funny how I can't eat as much as I used to be able to.  I never got this ridiculously stuffed before.  But I feel like someone inflated a giant balloon inside me.


Anyway....I digress....


I did kind of deserve to go off the diet today (Sunday) because on Saturday I did run a 5k training run in preparation for the Mini-Marathon in May.  I am actually pretty proud of myself.  I ran it in 35:40, which is a 11:30 mile!  The biggest accomplishment of this is I ran the entire first mile.  It might not be a big deal to some but to me?  I was pumped.  So happy dance for Nain!  Our next training run is early March, and it is a 10k.  So I need to keep going.  Let's see how much I can run then.


It's so easy for me during the week to hit the snooze a few times and then be all "oh, it's too late to work out" so no.  I can't do that this week.  Must...get...up...So that's my motivation this week.  To keep going, keep training.  I can do this!  We did get a training schedule from a program we did through a running store in the area a few years ago, and from what I see on there, I'm not too far off.  So that's promising! 


So that's my motivation to keep myself going.  What's yours?  Write up a little post about it and link it up!  Let's stay motivated together!!!

Short fuse

 

 

I couldn't help myself this week but to participate in the Spin Cycle at Gretchen's this week.  This week's topic?  Pet Peeves.  For those of you who know me, you're probably laughing.  I have a bit of a....well...how do you say this?  Short fuse?  Lack of tolerance for anything annoying?  Yeah, that's me.

 

 

So, I thought...how do you handle this?  I think it might be best if I just list things that don't annoy me.  That list would be shorter.  But it wouldn't be as fun, so....these are not listed in any particular order:

 

 

1. People chewing loudly.
2. Crunching on ice.
3. Chewing noises in general.
4. Especially gum chewing.
5. Slurping
6. Gulping
7. Excessive sniffing
8. Men who wear way way too much cologne
9. Women who are older and try to dress like their teenage daughter
10. Dina Lohan
11. Kris Kardashian
12. oh wait, the entire Kardashian family in general
13. Add Kanye to that
14. People who drive the speed limit
15. People who ride my tail because I'm only going ten over the speed limit
16. (Sorry if any of you have these) but those stick figure families on the back of a car
17. People in Indiana who drive around with the Confederate flags on their car.  Seriously?  You live in Indiana.  And do you not know anything about American history?  Come on.
18. People who say garage, but it sounds like gararge.  Drives me nuts.
19. Repeating myself.
20. Seriously, I hate having to repeat myself.
21. Being underestimated because I'm young and female.  This happens a lot where I practice law.  Don't wake the snake, people.  I will and can cut you.
22. Dr. Oz
23. John Mayer
24. Douches
25.  Mr. Noodle on Elmo's World.  It's creepy and annoying that they keep asking him "hey, Mr. Noodle, how do you do this?" They correct him when he does it incorrectly.  Well, damn, kids, if you knew how to do it then why did you ask him in the first place.
26. Typing noises.  I'm annoying myself typing this right now.
27. People who don't know how to properly work a 4 way stop.
28. People who think Aubrey is all cute at church until she starts fussing.  Then they get all evil.
29. People who touch my kid.  Don't touch my kid.  I don't know what germs you have on you, and this kid has had pink eye and hand-foot-mouth.  I'm not playin', people.
30. Going grocery shopping on a weekend day.
31. Or really, going grocery shopping when I have to deal with people in general. 
32. Competition with kids - don't compare my kid with yours and make me feel like the world's worst mother.
33. People who come up to my daughter and ask how old HE is.  She's wearing pink, has a pink monkey, and a purple jacket. 
34. Wal-Mart or even having to walk into a Wal-Mart
35. My neighbor and his ridiculously loud douchey car. 
36. Ooh, I can't believe I forgot this - movies with animals in them that talk.  Not cartoon ones, but we're talking Air Bud or Dr. Doolittle.  I hate that crap.
37. Jewelry commercials at Christmas time.
38. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
39. When managers come up and bother you at restaurants right after the waiter has come to your table to see how the food tastes.  I don't need 20 people bothering me while I'm trying to eat.  Go away, please.
40. Lastly...people who talk on their cell phones in public bathrooms.

 

Like I said...no particular order for this list, and seriously, I'm not that hateful of a person.  I just get easily annoyed.  But this was fun!  So thanks, Gretchen!  That felt good getting that out and what not. But I'm sure I can come up with more.  Like Justin Bieber.  Or Miley Cyrus.

 

 

Okay, I need to stop.  Anyway, see what others have to share over at Gretchen's blog!  And have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 

     

Parents of the year

Interaction between T and I....and no, Aubrey doesn't repeat things just yet, thank God!

 

 

Aubrey, crawling on the floor, her diaper down a little bit so we can see her butt crack.

 

 

T:  "Aubrey!  I see your butt crack!  Ladies don't show their butt cracks!"

 

 

Me:  "No, Aubrey, ladies don't show their butt cracks."

 

 

T:  "Just whores."

 

 

Me:  "And you are not a whore."

 

 

T:  "No daughter of mine is going to be a whore!"  

 

 

Parents of the year here, let me tell you.  She gets tubes on Thursday so she will likely hear everything and when I say everything, I mean everything.  So...yeah.  That happened. 

             

Really? Already?

Hey, know what happens in 10 days?  This little girl turns 1!

 

Yep, one.  One year old.  Seriously?  But every time I turn around, there's something new.  She's growing up so much.  Reading and what not....

Crawling?   Yes, she's crawling.  Everywhere!  Poking holes in all of Mommy and Daddy's hard work at baby proofing.   She's in the living room playing with her toys, and we're in the kitchen making dinner...and she wants to see us?  What do I hear?  The pitter patter of little hands hitting the floor as she makes her way to the kitchen.  She's got places to go, man!  She's pulling herself up, too, so really we're just weeks away from the walking.  And when that happens?  God help us all.

Teething.  Oh, the teething.  Poor girl has like five teeth coming in on top and one on the bottom at the same time.  So this last weekend, she was a treat, if you know what I mean.  And she's taking to chewing on everything in site.  Apparently wooden end tables, too.  (Note the standing.)

 

 

So yeah, in ten days, she's one.  Absolute craziness.  I know people say the time flies, but they are seriously right, because it really has.  Well, not the long five months of sleep deprivation...but other than that?  Time has flown.

 

 

By the way, think positive thoughts this Thursday as Miss Aubrey gets tubes in her ears.  Surgery, and Mommy is nervous.  So positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

 

 

Now I better go check the rest of my furniture for bite marks.....

 

       

Motivation Monday

Another week, another Motivation Monday!  Struggling with the motivation this morning, which could be because of the winter blahs...who knows.  I did so well exercising this weekend, but this morning?  Getting out of my bed just wasn't happening.  Here's hoping (making sure) that that isn't a regular occurrence this week. 


So pretty cool thing I got last week - I am a "fan" of Premier Protein" on Facebook.  I love my protein bars with my smoothie first thing in the morning, and often, during the weekends, I'll have a protein shake as a lunch when I'm busy running around.  You'd be surprised at how low fat and filling these things are.  So I told them about the success I've had with weight loss, and look what I got!  One awesome care package with samples and everything!  Four protein shakes and six protein bars!  (Yes, this excites me...it's kind of sad the things that excite me these days, huh?)

 Anyway, the important part of consuming more protein has to do with my mini-marathon training, as well as working to change my body composition.  Now that I've reached my goal weight, it's key that I work on building muscle, replacing fat.  So this is one helpful push in that direction.

 

 

T and I are both training for the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon on May 4th, and as a part of this training, we've signed up for three training races - the first being this Saturday, a 5k.  The next one is a 10k in March and then a 15k in April.  Since I'm hoping to run some of the 13.1 miles in May, these races are important so I can build my endurance.  So far, I'm only able to really do 30 minute runs in the morning, so I'm hoping if the weather clears up every now and then, I can actually get outside and run outside.  Because running on the treadmill is a little easier than running on the road.  Stupid Indiana winters!

 

 

So my training is my motivation for this week.  I still have a ways off, and I know at the very least I can speed walk a mini-marathon.  But I really want to challenge myself more this time around.  So we shall see!

 

 

What's your motivation for the week?  If you should feel so inclined, write a post of your own, leaving a link to it here, and I'll add you to the post!