Single Mom-ing It...

...for 2 weeks.  It might as well be an eternity, for real.

Since we've moved to "the big city" Charlie has stepped up his game around the house...and frankly, I have started bowing out of the "homemaker" game BIG TIME.

Let me paint you a picture of how bad it is.

I haven't done laundry since we moved here.  Okay, ONCE I put a load in and then Charlie unloaded it because I did it wrong and rewashed it.  I don't do laundry anymore.

I found a FAB-O app that lets me make an awesome schedule and grocery list (my special talent..lists and organizing) and then it connects to Charlie's phone and HE does all the shopping now.  Like, ALL of it.

I don't really do that much cleaning....Charlie on his days off gets a lot of it done as well.  Plus he has started cooking.

So basically I am used to doing nothing but my computer-based job all day.

And now my star homemaker-man is going away for a mancation with my dad for 2 looong weeks.  I am pretty sure we will run out of clothes, groceries and clean dishes while he is gone.  Plus I am relatively certain my sanity will have a very short expiration date.

I'm trying to psych myself into it, you know?  Pinning stuff about how to handle life as a single parent, scheduling work and kids and household stuff while not dying of exhaustion and hopefully getting workouts in still?  Impossible?  Probably. 

I give it three days before I m in bed 24/7 watching full seasons of Pretty Little Liar and teaching my kids to order Pizza online.

Anyone else taking bets?

Admitting I have a problem...

...with updating my blog.  Geez, what were you expecting?

I'd like to start out by acknowledging that it has been a little while since I updated this blog.

Like maybe a year.

Or two.

Or three.

Whatever.  As I scan the titles of my previous posts I realize not that much has changed.....I still love designer purses, I still WANT to be a morning person and from time to time the wheels of my life STILL fall off.

On we go.

We are adjusting to our new big city life.  We have relocated temporarily - (I think) to the big city of Starbucksland - for real, they must have built a zillion since I moved away the first time.

Charlie has a new gig with more regular hours which actually kind of sucks ONLY because I got WAY more sleep when he did shift work...I mean seriously.  The snoring is seriously out of control here.  I'm headed in for custom ear plugs and he is headed into the dentist and I hav  a glimmer of hope that one of these days I might get to sleep through the night again.  Maybe.

The lack of sleep and constantly being woken up almost reminding me of having a new baby.

Actually, Charlie and I have been joking about that lately.  In a "how terrible would that be" kind of way.  In that same joking way we made him an appointment with a special man-doctor next week to make sure we aren't ever laughing all the way to the delivery room and starting from scratch again.  NOT funny.

I'm loving my job with Big Fat Fitness (not the real name) but still kind of awesome, yeah?  I'm getting my workouts in as I am preparing for a half marathon in Jauary with my bestie Mandy.  We are headed to California to run along the coast.  Fabulous.  You know you have the RIGHT best friend when she calls you and asks you if you want to run a race in California.  And then emails you a boarding pass an hour later.  She is fabulous.

Travel is something I get to do lots of - I'm off again tomorrow to a gorgeous little city to visit with some Big Fat Fitness coworkers.  The best part of my job are these mini-momcations (I mean business trips) where I visit with adults all day, workout as long as I want and then either get room service or takeout sushi into my super peaceful and clean hotel room and watch a movie or TV show I never can  squeeze in at home.

Rough life, I know. ;)

Well if anyone is still out there now that we're caught up we can get into the better stuff later - I'm watching Monsters U with my little people tonight (please tell me I'm not the only mother who HATES watching kids shows.....)

If you're looking for a blog written by a supermom who LOVES being a mom more than anything on earth and eats, breathes and sleeps her children you're IN THE WRONG PLACE.

If you're a mom who is in the throws of motherhood, barely keeping head above water let alone trying to balance nutrition and exercise...Welcome.  That's what this blog is about.If you like realism, feel free to join me as I'm rounding the corner to middle age with a house full of mini-people, a job, a serious sweet tooth and a SERIOUS ANXIETY about being a fat frumpy mom.

Don't Get Me Wrong

I'm not a fat frumpy mom.  Not even close.  I think I might even still be borderline sexy..but I think that's what a lot of older women think as they strut down the street dressed COMPLETELY inappropriately for their age thinking they're super hot.

I work out a lot.  Like crazy.  Being healthy and everything is awesome, but I'm not gonna lie - my MAIN motivation is to look good.  Not only good, even.  Just BETTER than everyone I hang out with.  Kinda rude?  Maybe.  Honest?  Yep.

This looks fun....

Anyone in for tomorrow morning?

Oh, Monday.

Let me just make this very clear.  Usually I LOVE Mondays.  Actually, it's my favorite day of the week. Fresh starts, back on schedule and routines and a day back to the gym after a (usually) very calorie filled Sunday.

Today *started* out okay.  Usual early morning gym sess...but then the wheels fell off.  This morning was CRAZY and behind schedule...I still can't figure out why! And right as we were running out the door already late for school my STUPID loaner piece of crap car BROKE.

I've been without a vehicle for over a month...a family member borrowed my vehicle and hit a deer and the insurance company wrote it off.  Since then we've been waiting for Charlie's mechanic to get another vehicle fixed up for me to use and while we wait he let us borrow one of his vehicles.  And then Charlie goes out of town for a week and now it breaks down.  Awesome.

I hate it when mornings are stressful.  Growing up in a house full of kids mornings were usually pretty chaotic.  I usually do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen for my kids, but this morning was a write off and I've felt guilty about it all day long.

Luckily, things have turned around! :)  I went "into town" with my favorite person on earth - my Gram.  I got a ton of groceries and when I came home my uncle had fixed my vehicle. Phew.  A relief.  Now I can wait for my kids to get home with a house full of snacks and some Timbits for for dessert.  I can still make this happen! :)

Monday might have won this morning...but the rest of the day is MINE! :)

The BEST salad!

Yes, I took a picture of the menu...lame, I know, but I really wanted to try to make it again later.  It was FABULOUS!

I had an excellent weekend.  Granted, to most it wouldn't sound very fun, but I loved it!

J coming home was awesome...he was VERY different though.....mostly good different.  Hopefully he will loosen up a little bit in the coming weeks.

The rest of the weekend was spent with THIS GIRL.

Ray Ray.  We had a great time doing 1000 Calorie sessions at the gym, eating sushi and just relaxing around.  We also did a bit of shopping and she helped me pick out a super cute sweater that I never would have even THOUGHT about looking at and I LOVE IT!

Miss B. got to go to her cousin's birthday party and had a fabulous time.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of jealous of what a great mom my SIL is sometimes....I don't think ONE of my kids got a birthday party this year.  Yah, I kind of suck.  Oh well...maybe 2012 will be my year. LOL!

I've been really using MY FITNESS PAL to count every calorie and track all of my workouts....I have a goal weight I want to be by my BIG milestone birthday.

It doesn't seem to be working.

But I'll keep going.  It's only been a couple of weeks.

I've learned over the years that my REALY WEAKNESS is these:

When I'm craving a treat, this is the only things that will really work....I will try lots of other things but I won't be satisfied until I get one of these.

With that said....I probably shouldn't have bought THREE BAGS of THESE:

Deadly. I love that I talk about salads and peanut butter cups in the same post.

Have a fabulous, FREEZING Sunday! :)

Uncle J...

I love all of my siblings....but there are a couple that I share and extra special bond with.

Like J.

And J. will be home from his adventure away TOMORROW.  I am so excited I can't even stand it.

I just know I will BAWL because I already do, even just THINKING about seeing him again.

Purse Love

...and, really, what's NOT to love???

I have been to visit this beauty not once, not twice but THREE TIMES this week at a local store...( I KNOW!  Something cute here in Mo Town?  What gives?!?!?!)  A friend of mine picked up a similar one in a different color and I was instantly in love and vowed to get one of my own.

Sadly, (or happily?) I have been doing AWESOME on our family budget and my jars are currently bare. :(  I helped a friend pick out a bag today at the same store while visiting my beauty and promised myself I would send my hubby, Charlie, in to get me that bag before it was long gone.  The sooner the better. A girl needs this kind of thing to ease the pain of turning 30 in three weeks.....

IMAGINE my absolute delight when my friend who bought my lovely purse's sister at the store today showed up after school with an EARLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT for me!!!!

My new favorite accessory!  Thanks Macie! :)

Now I just need a vehicle so I won't have to be stuck at home all day.  I've got to get out on the town with this lovely bag on my shoulder! :)

You Can Take the Girl....

Out of the city, but you can't always take the city out of the girl!

The second I heard that the red Starbucks cups were out I just had to make a trip to my nearest city and order my old favorite...a Nonfat Peppermint Hot Chocolate, extra Hot with light whip.

It always tastes better in a Christmas cup.......

Kind of in love....

With THIS:

What an AWESOME TOOL!  I will obviously ALWAYS be loyal to my beloved Weight Watchers, but it's fun to change it up sometimes and this is ALMOST the same thing!

PLUS it has the added benefit of being FREE!  The one thing that's always bothered me about Weight Watchers is how expensive it is.  I feel like they really take advantage of desperate people in sad situations.  They used to pay me ABSOLUTE peanuts to be a Weight Watchers leader and tell me that people didn’t do it for the money, they did it to help people.

Well….SOMEONE was making a PILE of money off of that…and it wasn’t me.

Back to My Fitness Pal.  I love doing it online and I love the added benefit of having it as a free app on my phone.  Super convenient.  My Sassy Sis and I text each other our journals at the end of the day.  She is super strict and her journal always looks WAY better than mine!   

Give it a try…even for a day or two!  It’s awesome to see your daily intake grow with exercise too.  Last night I was DYING for hot chocolate so I made myself go and earn 150 calories on the treadmill first.  Didn’t even take that long!

Let me know how you do! :)

Who's With Me?

Wanna Be Morning Person

About two weeks ago I made a seriously life altering decision.  I am going to be a morning person.

I know,  right?

A good friend of mine has been getting up BEFORE 6 every morning to hit up the local gym.  Sheer madness, in my mind.

Well as a few extra pounds have crept on over the course of the last few months since my whittle down for the infomercial I decided I needed to do SOMETHING so I agreed to start hitting up the local gym EARLY with her.

I might kind of love it.

No word of a lie.

It is SUCH a relief to get my workout out of the way so early and be ready to hit the morning action hard when I get home from my workout to get the kids out the door.  Having a time change thrown into the middle of things made things MUCH easier, let me tell you.

As I've moved away from the big city and my teaching load has been lightened SUBSTANTIALLY I've noticed my fitness level hit the basement.  I always have good intentions to get my workout down but as the day goes on, my motivation diminishes.  Now I have one less thing on my to do list every day.

So I do 45-60 minutes of cardio every morning to start my day.  These old knees are STILL giving me trouble so I mix it up on either the bike or the elliptical and then throw in a Body Pump 3 times a week after the kids go to school, plus my teaching, which is anywhere from 1-3 mornings a week.

I seriously HATE cardio machines.  I feel like the time goes so slow and I get so bored! I've been downloading Jillian Michael's podcasts onto my ipod to listen to and texting my sassy sister RayRay to pass the time.  Then there's also taking pictures of myself sweating to prove I was actually there at 6:07am....

You're going to notice my on a MASSIVE health and fitness kick over the next few weeks.  I want to look AWESOME when I hit my milestone birthday in 3 weeks.....it will help me feel less traumatized.

I hope.

Barf.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE dealing with sick kids?

Seriously.  Who doesn't?

How about sick kids who throw up ALL over MY BED, throw pillows, shams, duvet, quilts AND curtains that happen to be behind the bed....roll out of the bed THROUGH the vomit and then wander around the house looking for me shedding bits of half digested chicken McNuggets out of their hair and off their clothes?

SUPER Awesome.

Can I just add that is SO much more fun when it happens in the middle of the night, takes three hours to clean up and THEN they barf all over their own bed and themselves AGAIN?  I always wanted to dig through boxes looking for baby quilts for my kids to sleep on because I have 27-fling-boogied ALL my extra bedding - thanks flylady!

WAIT WAIT!

It gets better.

Today I also had to make the 1 hour drive to teach fitness classes for my BFGM (Big Fat Gym Morning) like I always do at the absolute crack of dawn on Thursdays.  So on NO sleep, smelling suspiciously like barf and looking KIND OF like the dogs breakfast I dragged my sorry butt to the gym to teach BODYPUMP and BODYATTACK.

Thanks goodness this time tomorrow I will be on vacation in a nice warm place by a pool...

FYI - as I was googling clip art and maybe a funny cartoon to go with this post all I came across was pictures of moms snuggling and tucking in sick kids and making forts in the living room for them to hang out in while they were sick.  

Um, whoops?