A Friday "Cheer Up" Post

I’ve been in a hard-core slump this week for some reason, and I’ve totally felt like that limp wind-up doll from that Pristiq commercial. I was even sitting at my desk yesterday bent forward, head on my wristrest, looking just like that doll {I was stretching my back, not imitating the doll.}.

From Google Image Search

Basically, I’m just having a hard time getting my heart to catch up with my head. I know I have SO much to be happy and thankful for, but the sadness in my heart is often paralyzing, and then I feel like a schmuck for having a wonderful life but still feeling sad when there are so many others dealing with things that are so much worse. I’m sure it will shake off and pass soon, but for now this is what I live with.

It’s also been such a heavy, sad and confusing newsweek - my heart and thoughts go out to everyone affected in every which way and in every place this week. What a reminder that life is so fragile and precious; nothing is guaranteed – not our safety, not our freedom {scary thought!}.

From Pinterest

 In light of this, and because it’s Friday and the “end is in sight” for this week, I’ve composed a list of things that make me happy:

1.       Hearing my husband and son play together while I cook and/or clean up dinner.

2.       Making dinners that my boys actually like {a rarity in our house – a cook, I am not!}.

3.       Warm, perfect spring days filled with bright green leaves, fresh-cut-grass smell, and endless Carolina-blue skies and sunshine.  It’s hard to be down with such perfection surrounding you!

4.     Admiring my cleaned-out flower beds and the flowers that Valentino and I planted together last weekend.

5.       The intense happiness and excitement Valentino gets from taking packages to the Post Office. I’m currently selling a lot of stuff on ebay, which means we make weekly trips – he loves every second of it {probably because right now, his favorite thing to do is play “delivery man”}.

6.       Iced coffee! I’m going to make Pioneer Woman’s recipe this weekend. I made it last year {or the year before?} and I think I remember it turning out decent… I’m going to give it a whirl again, to save some $ and time in the mornings.

7.       Super sore muscles. I’ve been getting out there more – running, lifting, and doing workouts in our “gym” {aka: garage}. My hamstrings and hips are still worked over from a killer leg workout I did on Wednesday night (thanks Fitnessista! )… I’ve also cut out the nighttime snacking and I’ve been super conscientious about what I eat. A few pounds down, many more to go! By the way, I will be treating myself to a hair chop-off once I reach a certain goal. I’m really over having this super-long hair and I desperately want my hair {okay, and BODY!} to look like this:

Pinterest via johannarogersrff.blogspot.com

 

8.       Valentino’s Rainbow Tea – the preschool is putting on a little “show” for us today {the kids will be singing songs about springtime and the colors of the rainbow, then they are serving rainbow-themed refreshments afterwards}. Valentino has a small speaking part, and he is totally geeked about it. He and I assembled rainbow fruit skewers {strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, red grapes} to share with the kids and their parents.

"Mom, we're like real chefs putting these together for people to eat!"
{Idea via Pinterest - OF COURSE!}

 

Side note: If you’ve seen “This is 40,” do you have the urge to say “fruits” like the Indian doctor all the time, too? I pretty much can’t say “fruit” without wanting to say it his way… I’m a nut.

9.       Lunchtime walks {minus the silkworms}. Bright, refreshing moments for me during long, seemingly never-ending days.

 

Here's to a restorative, happy, and relaxing weekend! Please take your time, Monday.

Today I am thankful.

Things I’m thankful for lately:

1.       Warmer weather – hallelujah! Although, as mentioned in my previous post, I am not *physically* ready for it yet! It is nice to get out in the mornings for a run, or at lunchtime for a walk. I’ve been trying to be outside as much as possible. I’m pretty sure I was sick so much this past winter from the lack of sun and fresh air {not to mention the stress!}.

2.       An amazing husband who is also a stellar dad – he’s always been great with Valentino, but lately I’ve been very pre-occupied with side projects in the evening, so he’s been keeping the boy occupied with bike rides, bike tricks in the street, and other fun projects. Even when the man is exhausted after his very physically-demanding job, he gets out there with our son. My heart is so full of love when I hear them together J

3.      Being mostly done with vehicle maintenance that has been looming for the past few months… I hated knowing that we needed new tires {so. much. $$!!) and some other normal maintenance things. Car maintenance is an annoying necessity, and I’m glad to have the big $ stuff done and off my mind. Plus, my new tires are snazzy! Big thanks to the aforementioned super-husband for spending one of his days off getting most of this done!

4.       New paint in my kitchen! The transformation is pretty amazing, and I’m so glad it’s {almost} done. The original, builder-white paint was filthy and BLAH. Pictures and details soon!

 

Painting is dangerous business!
{He was headed out with Super Daddy to ride bikes}

 

Since I last posted...

Life has been CRAZY. Truly, a rollercoaster of ups and downs, with little in-between.

All of this has happened since the end of November:

On my 29th birthday in December, I announced to family and close friends that I was pregnant and expecting a baby in July.

• We celebrated Christmas, then rang in the New Year with high hopes and expectations for 2013.

• After realizing that we would need to put our kids in public school, we firmly decided it was time to move into an area supported by better schools, so we found a new place to live.

• Valentino found out he was going to be a big brother at my 12-week screening ultrasound, where we all got to see the healthy, growing baby.

• We took a road trip to Disney World and spent 5 days there with Vic's brother's family.

• Vic and I caught a horrible cold/virus that had us literally laid-up in bed for four days.

• At 15 weeks, I went to my Ob/Gyn to be checked out for the aforementioned cold and found out that I had experienced a "missed miscarriage" - our baby had died, but I never knew {I had no symptoms}.

• I was "put under" for my first ever surgical procedure, and spent a week on leave from work.

• Less than two weeks later, we moved into our new house over the course of a long weekend.

Like I said - CRAZY. I plan to post about each of these experiences at some point. Right now, we're still working on settling in to our new house {which we love!} and getting life back to normal. Overindulging during the pregnancy {and the holidays!} and the "grief gain" has left me with extra weight that I've started to work off, which I'll be writing about as well.

All in all, however - I'm feeling better and like I'm getting to a better place. Vic and I have had some great discussions about our family and what the future holds, and we feel content with our choices. I know the future is bright for us!

Needless to say, I have quite a bit to write about - now I have to find {MAKE!} the time.

I'm still here...

Someday I will return to this little blog... I just need to muster up the time and energy to do so. I have been motivated 0% to blog, even though I have much to blog about.

Someday soon...!

Falling off the bloggin' wagon

I've been pretty terrible about keeping up with this thing lately, mostly due to not knowing what to write. I've been severely in a rut as of late - feeling really tired and uninspired - so my gym-going has been really pathetic. I think I went twice last week :( boo.

I'll focus on the positive:

1. I've been much better about cooking meals for us and taking care of my household chores - this has really been a relief. I've even had a few moments to think "hmm... what should I do now?" Amazing. Yet, I wonder if there's a correlation between more housework and less getting up early for the gym... hmm... ;-)

2. I had a part in a presentation for our biggest client, and I was very nervous about it. Luckily when we got there, it was a lot more laid-back than I expected and I was able to relax and present without talking way too fast with a bright red face. So very glad that is over!

3. I worked from home on Friday, in my pajamas. GLORIOUS. As a bonus, this has felt like a long weekend.

4. Speaking of long weekend, I'm stoked to only have to work 3 days this week! And for pretty much the rest of the year, all of my weeks will be short in one way or another. Score!



5. I had a girl's night out on Friday - we met up for a quick dinner then saw Twilight {LOL - channeling our inner 15-year old!}. It was awesome to get out with other moms and laugh and see a chick flick.

6. I'm looking forward to our Thanksgiving - we're be headed up to Maryland to Vic's brother's family. Valentino always has a great time with his cousins {ages 8 and 12}, and it's always nice to spend time with my BIL and SIL.

So there are some good things that have happened this past week. I'm looking forward to a productive, health-ful pre-Thanksgiving week!

Random Friday Thoughts... I've returned!

Life {mostly work} has been crazy since my last update, so I just haven't felt inspired to type up a post after having sat all day inside, behind a computer. Sorry for my *loyal* followers... all few of you :-)

What has gone on since my last post? Nothing out of the ordinary... here are the highlights:

• September came and went. The weather was nice here, but very wet. We cursed the rain, especially when it happened on a Saturday.
• I spent a lot of time in the pool and didn't go to the gym to do anything else (but I did run outside at least once/week).
• We went to Bug Fest and SparkCon in DT Raleigh, and to an open house at a fire station.

Rickshaw ride during BugFest

Firepuppy at the Stony Hill Fire Station open house
{PS: I need one!}

• Valentino got a go-cart, and it's hilarious.

Random thoughts on this Friday:

1. Why would someone swim laps wearing a snorkel? It doesn't make sense to me and it's cheating. Plus I don't like when said snorkel is pointed in my direction and I get a blast of your exhalation. Ew.
2. My mind has been very consumed with political thoughts lately, and I've wanted to seriously lash out at some people w/opposing views who are in my FB feed... this morning, I decided I was going to ignore it all for today and focus on positivity and not let their ignorance words get to me.
3. I really want to clean/organize/purge junk from my house.
4. I'm obsessed with coconut oil, ever since reading that it {like ACV} is a wonder-cure for everything from fatigue to better hair to weight loss. I'm going to start using it more and consuming it in smoothies and oats to cash in on the benefits! {PS: Both Vic and I have experienced wonder-curing from ACV in the past few weeks. That stuff is the shizz.}

One thing to think about:
How do you feel about homeschooling? Be frank. You think homeschool kids are freaks? Or do you {like me} wish the option had been available to you when you were in school {not having to deal w/getting up super early and school busses, no boring classes w/crap you don't care about, bullies, cliques, not fitting in/having all the "cool" stuff, peer pressure, BS curriculum, etc.}?