The Things You Do to Get Things Done

Okay, to say the least, it has been a very crazy day!  I started the day getting stuck in traffic for an hour (thank you 695), five minutes late to my 8:30 meeting that I was running (thank you team for being understanding) and then it was off and running.  I was lucky to get lunch in, came back from a 2 hour meeting to 50 emails that I had to answer...all I wanted to do was go home!  Which I did, thirty minutes later than I was supposed to. And, since husband sails on Wednesday night, I had to get it all done by myself....which usually is not bad except, at almost 21 months old, we would rather run around naked after bath time than put our pjs on.  Well, as you can probably guess, I am not in the mood to read a book naked or play hide and go seek naked for fear that I would probably be cleaning up some mess on the floor.  So, what do I do....Munchy the stuffed Monkey was in the crib; we have to put Munchy to "nite nite" every night and cover him with a blanket... TaDa - Munchy should have to wear a diaper too!  So, in an effort to keep my sanity, I went crazy and now, both Munchy and my son are in their diapers and I am sitting on my sofa with my feet propped up, at least until the dryer gets done and I have to go and change out the laundry...

Time for Myself

Okay, so I know that I am no busier than any other mother out there, but, I must say (and speak up if you are the same way), I feel I have no time for myself.  I know most of the time, i do it to myself.  If I am not cooking dinner or washing the clothes, then I see something that needs to be picked up and put away or cleaned or something.  For example, Sunday morning after a wonderful Father's Day breakfast, the kids were watching a movie, husband had to go check on something for work, the house was quiet...but did I sit down?  No, I decided that I need to oil my dining room table AND polish my silver.  Then, I decided that I should sort through some baby clothes and put them downstairs and wash three loads of clothes, etc, etc, etc.  I think you get the picture.  So this weekend (drum roll please) I actually made an appointment to get my hair done and my eyebrows waxed!  While that may not seem like a big deal to most of you, it's a huge deal for me, because I am walking away from my motherly, wifely duties, if only for a few hours, and tending to myself and no one else.  Yea, me.  Now if only I could find the time to fit the exercise routine into the schedule (yes, I am still working on that! Baby steps.....)

Is the American Dream Still Alive?

So we get up in the morning, go to work and get paid, clip coupons and check for deals to save money; instead of buying the designer new clothes, we shop at the outlets and Old Navy - all in an effort to save enough money to buy a house in a nice neighborhood with good schools.  And I'm not looking for a HUGE house - there are few things on my "want" list and I don't think they are unrealistic.  I want an open kitchen and a master suite.  An open kitchen because I want to be able to have the kids in the kitchen with me while I cook and a master suite because yes, Mommy needs privacy sometimes!  Other than that - I'll take three or four bedrooms, modest yard, garage (or not)....here's the problem - Unless you have someone giving you the money, you sell another house, you have no other expenses or you are just independently wealthy, it is almost impossible to come up with a 20% down payment plus closing costs in an area that to buy something decent is going to cost over 400,000.  So how do you make the American Dream a reality?

Exercise?

So, in my quest to simplify my life, I have decided that I need to find an extra hour in every day to exercise.  I came to this conclusion yesterday while I was standing at the pool in my new bathing suit, thinking I should be feeling great, yet I felt a little jiggly!!  I am so proud of myself for losing the weight that I gained while I was pregnant (yea me!); I'm not proud of myself for not firming up the way I wanted to.  Before baby, I had envisioned getting home from work every day, putting on my sneakers and going for walk or a run with the baby in the stroller; now, I am lucky to get home from work, get everyone fed and in their PJs before bedtime - by the time I get it all done, I am too tired to lift my head off the couch, much less go for a run.  "Run" is no longer in this mom's vocabulary....But it's summer time now and I want to be that "hot" mom at the pool that all the other mom's look at with envy, wishing they could have my body.  Or that my husband looks at with the look in his eye that says, "Yep, that's my wife."  So, I am going to try to get this body in motion and get in shape - I'll let you know if I make it farther than the end of the driveway!

Bully in the First Grade

How do you teach your first grader that violence is never the answer?  Who would have thought that you would even have to worry about it at this age?  Just when you think everything is going good, wham!  Another problem arises!  (Isn't that always the case?)  There is a child in my son's first grade class that could possibly be classified as a bully.  We have been told about this kid pushing my son and other kids around.  Well, of course we have the standard answer, "Ignore him.  If it's a problem, tell the teacher."  We even talked to the teacher about it during parent-teacher conferences.  Then the other day, we get a phone call saying that our son's buddy in class got beat up by this so-called bully.  Beat up - in the first grade!  Who has ever heard of this kind of stuff?  Maybe it's the bubble I live in, but seriously, they are too young to be faced with this kind of stuff.  But our boy, realizing that something wasn't right, went and got the teacher.  That took a lot of guts to do that, and we are so proud of him.  So, apparently, talking with your children IS the answer.  Tell your kids that violence is never the answer.  Tell your kids that it's okay to walk away and it's okay to get the teacher.  Bullying and violence in schools has got to stop and it's got to stop now!

What is wrong with people?

I am a nice person - yes, I can be very intense when I am working on a project and my personality can be a bit strong when I know something can be done and I am told no - but overall, I am a very nice person.  As I walk to the sign-in sheet in the morning, I speak to everyone I see.  I say good morning, even say "How are you?" if the opportunity presents itself.  I am in no way obligated to speak, it's just what I do.  So, why would someone tell management that I don't speak to them in passing?  Not everyone I say good morning to speaks back, most don't even acknowledge me, but I continue on my way, hoping that my good morning might brighten just some one's day....but I am not running to my management saying, "I said good morning to so and so this morning and they didn't say good morning back."  I thought that I had graduated from high school and entered the real world, but apparently we never actually leave that world.  No matter how old we are, how many years we have under our belts, we will still be faced with the behind the back "drama" that we tell everyone we don't do!  If they ever do a "Real Housewives of Annapolis" sign me up because I live the life every day!!!

Mother's Day

So, yesterday was my second official mother's day.  Aaahh, I get to sleep in, do nothing all day and have my husband spoil me - right?  Wrong!!  Due to the overeating of my son on Saturday evening, my husband and I were washing sheets at 11:00 pm and ended up falling asleep on the sofa, to which I woke up at 6:00 am (on the only day that I am given a hall pass to sleep as late as I want) and quietly turned on the tv and watched the new episode of Ruby (I can't help it, I am addicted to reality television).  An hour and a half later, the baby woke up; my husband, who had gone into my stepson's bedroom in the middle of the night, came running out and down the hall to get the baby so Mommy doesn't wake up...too late, Mommy already awake, getting baby out of his crib.  Snuggling back into bed with "little bit,"waiting for my husband to come back with a little bit of milk for the hungry one, my son looks at me and says, "Hap Mommy" and I melt.  All of a sudden I don't remember the incident from the night before or the temper tantrum last Wednesday because I put the wagon away.  All I could think of was how lucky I am to be able to be called "Mommy" and to have this wonderful, precious one look up at me and know that I will always be there for him despite the moments that my perfectionist world would rather not acknowledge.  I think this could be the best mother's day EVER!!  Hap Mommy to all the mothers out there!