On Motivation and Motherhood

We go to the gym almost every day during the week. I've never been this dedicated to working out in my life. The truth is, I feel better than ever before. Also, sort of sad but true...my motivation behind going to the gym every day: free childcare.

A few days ago, as I bounced into the gym, Jack on my hip and Anna running furiously toward the childcare area, Sarah, the sweet lady who works behind the desk, beamed at me and said, "I'm so amazed at how dedicated you are to coming to workout everyday! That's awesome". What I didn't tell sweet Sarah is that I have other motivators besides the feel-good feeling of working out. Getting us out of the house and to the gym has been a wondrous improvement to our afternoons. When the "witching hour" approaches (naps are done, daddy won't be home for another few hours and boredom/insanity ensues) we now pack up and head to the gym. The kids love it and I get to feel very indulgent for an hour or so. You have no idea how great it feels to dump off my kids, walk around carrying only a water bottle and my ear buds, then get on the treadmill, turn on Oprah on my personal tv and zone out. No one is there, yanking at my pants leg; no one is asking for applesauce or screaming at the top of their lungs. It's really and truly the most awesome thing ever. Also great is the Powerflex class that I take a couple of times a week. It's an hour-long weight training class, set to music--and it will tear you up (in a good way, I think!). I really like having someone telling me what to do and how long to do it, instead of me flailing about blindly in the gym by myself. Also great, is getting to listen to current pop music during the class. I now know (and can appreciate) Lady Gaga's music and really enjoy hearing music other than "D-d-d-d-d-ora! D-d-d-d-d-ora! Dora, Dora, Dora, the explorer (EXPLORER!)...".

As a result of my steadfast dedication to the gym (ergo, getting rid of my kids for a little while each day) I had to go and buy new pants--a size smaller--and my body is no longer screaming at me. My body is working better than it has before, I'm being much more kind and gentle to it and life seems, somehow brighter.

The 3rd Birthday Festivus

Anna had an action-packed 3rd birthday yesterday! Kevin took the day off from work and the weather here was gorgeous (highs in the mid-70s and sunny!) so we celebrated Anna all day!

First up was lunch at McDonald's then a trip to the Museum of Natural Science, which included a visit to the dinosaurs and the butterfly pavilion.



After a brief cat nap at home, part deux of the festivus began with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's and then finished up at home with gift-opening and some cake (which she picked out herself. I tried to steer her toward the pretty cakes with balloons and butterflies on them, but our girl was dead-set on a football cake. To say that her father was proud would be the understatement of the year).

It was a really fun day! Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Happy Birthday, Anna!

...and, bam! Here we are, 3 years old!

It's sad because it's true

This came home with Anna from school today. I hope that her teachers don't think that she's stupid because, at our house, this is completely true.

*In case I failed to mention it, our wall oven bit the dust last month, so we've been doing without an oven while we navigate a partial kitchen remodel.

Two Things I've learned in Step Aerobics Class

1. Soft-spoken instructors with a speech impediment, do not good aerobics instructors make. "To the WIGHT, to the THENTER, to the LEFT, now WEPEAT!"

2. If you're a woman and you're wearing very thin, school-bus yellow spandex bike shorts to class and you get sweaty, when you bend over to touch your toes and stretch, the people behind you will be able to see every blessed thing that God gave you "down there". If I'd have had a stick long enough, I could've given her a Pap smear. Sorry, but it's true.

My Problem With Facebook

I have a Facebook "friend" who has to be the most boring Facebook user on the planet. And, don't worry, dear readers--It's not you, you, you or you that I'm referring to. I seriously get a kick out of her status updates because they're just that boring. Here are a few examples:

Borina McDullstein is...reading a book

Borina McDullstein is...finished reading a book

Borina McDullstein is...doing laundry

Borina McDullstein is...I wonder how much rain we'll get

Now, don't get me wrong--Borina is a very, very sweet person. Granted, I haven't seen her in 20 years but the thing is, her status updates are probably a true reflection of who she is, and what her life is like. I really shouldn't make fun because, if I was to update my status on a thrice-daily basis, it would look like this:

Jenny is...changing another poopy diaper!

Jenny is...wishing that she could go to Target right now

Jenny is...watching Yo Gabba Gabba on tv

Jenny is...ready for her husband to get home


I don't understand the constant status updating on Facebook...especially if you don't have anything of value to say. It's like naval-gazing to the extreme.

I have another Facebook "friend" who uses the worst grammar and, (what appears to be) intentional misspellings I've ever seen, to update her statuses. It's like nails on a chalk board to me:

Annoying Misspellingsaren'tcuteington is...gots to hate it when u don't know whether not to turn the windshield wipers on or off!! Can't even have them on INT..what ever that stands for?? Ughhhh frustrating

Ok, I just cut and pasted that status update directly from this person's wall because I couldn't even bear to re-type it. And, um...INT stands for intermittent--just for future reference, sweetheart.

I have many, many more beefs with Facebook, primary among them is how weird it is when someone who I haven't seen in 21 years randomly appears in one of my dreams. When I first wake up from a dream like that, I'm all, "HUH?" and then I realize it's from seeing them on Facebook and knowing, from a status update, I'm sure, that they're having meatloaf and green beans for dinner. It's not normal to know minute details of a long-past acquaintance on a daily basis, is all I'm saying.

So, you're probably asking yourself, "Then why do you even use Facebook?". Good question. The answer to that is because I'm nosy. The end.

A return to blogging

Oh...hi. Are you still here? It's been awhile, hasn't it?

I'm just coming off of a blissful yet productive, 3 days at home alone. Kevin took the kids to visit his parents for a few days last week and I spent my time cleaning out and organizing as many cabinets and closets as I could manage. I Freecycled my head off and even sold something on Craigslist. I also was able to watch 2 movies in 12 hours. Considering that Netflix is currently taking me to the cleaners because, even with my minimum membership plan, it's all I can do to get through one movie every 2 months, I decided to use some of my free time to catch up on my Netflix rentals. I watched "Julie & Julia." and loved it. Meryl Streep portrayed Julia Child so adorably...I hope that she was that cute in real life because I'm smitten with her now, based solely on Streep's portrayal of her. Then, on Friday night, I actually went to the movies with a friend. We saw "It's Complicated." I loved this movie as well. I love Alec Baldwin. I'm about 99.9% sure that he's a completely putrid asshole in real life, but there's just something about him that I like. He cracks me up on 30 Rock and he didn't disappoint in "It's Complicated". He plays a skeevy ex husband in the movie, but I found him to be so endearing...which is hard to pull off: Skeevy, yet endearing. And again, Meryl Streep was awesome.

In other news, a certain little girl in this house is about to turn 3 years old on Friday. This whole month, I've felt overwhelmed with the reality of how old she's getting. Seeing her in panties has gobsmacked me completely. (Creepy, pervert, blog-readers, BE GONE) She's not a baby anymore. She has long, skinny legs and has inherited her father's lack-of-butt, which is very obvious without a bulky diaper. She's insisted over and over again that, for her birthday party, she doesn't want all of her friends there--only her best friend. I'm afraid this means that she's inherited my anti-social(ism? ness?).

The YMCA is still working out well for us. I've become addicted to the "Powerflex" class and really hope that it will snap my body right into shape...and it better, 'cause some of the things that we do in there hurt like an SOB.

Oh, and here's an interesting little thing that happened to me the other night:

A little backstory--

I have an old, chewed up bookmark that I use. The only time I have to read is in bed, at night. Last week sometime, my bookmark got misplaced, undoubtedly somewhere in our sheets/comforter, since I was reading in bed. This is not uncommon and the bookmark typically turns up the next morning, when I'm making the bed. Well, my bookmark never turned up. No biggie. I've been making do without it.

So, the other night, I started a new library book. I was watching tv while I was reading in bed, so there was lots of putting the book down on my chest, while I checked out what was happening on tv, then picking the book back up to begin reading again...lather, rinse, repeat. After I turned off the light and was fumbling around in the covers for the remote, to turn off the tv, I saw something sitting on top of the covers that I didn't recognize. I turned the light back on to get a better look and it was a bookmark. Not my old bookmark, but a different one. On one side was the "Serenity Prayer" and on the opposite side was a quote from St. Francis (who, as far as saints go, has always been my favorite--being the "patron saint of small animals") about angels and how, even though you can't see them and don't always feel them, they're always with you, guiding you. Obviously, this bookmark fell out of my library book and belonged to a past library cardholder, but it sort of struck me and makes me wonder a little....it seems as though this bookmark came into my life, just when I needed it.


The weather here today looks like it's going to be great. Highs in the mid to upper 70's. My favorite flip flops are on my feet, the birds are chirping and I'm sporting some pre, PRE-pregnancy capri pants today (no comments, please on IF it's wise to wear pants from 2006...even though I CAN). Things are good here. How are you?

Resolve

I don't typically make New Year's resolutions just because it seems like you can resolve to change your life anytime you want...not just for a 3 week period in January. So, to properly buck the system, I began my resolution in November. I resolved to be kinder and gentler to my body. This includes getting a lot of the processed foods out of my life (which is tricky, seeing as though I have a toddler who could eat her weight in processed foods). I'm also taking vitamins everyday and, my favorite part of the resolution: I joined our neighborhood YMCA.

Back in our child-free years, we belonged to the YMCA in Downtown Houston. It was ok. I mean, it did the trick, but it wasn't the kind of place where I felt comfortable, you know...sitting on the toilets or anything. But, the Y in our neighborhood is beautiful! It's newly-remodeled and the childcare there is great. The first time that I took Anna with me to stay in the childwatch room, while I worked out, she didn't want to leave when it was time to go home. I had to bribe her out to the car (bribing her with processed foods, in fact).

When I first started thinking about joining a gym, the idea of childcare at the gym never entered into my mind. I'd already planned to just go to the gym when Kevin was home to watch the kids. Well, discovering what a great childcare center the Y has, has totally changed my life. I have no excuses not to go workout now. It's also a great place to take the kids when the weather is bad. The pool will be great to use this Summer as well.

It feels so great to workout again. Even if I just go and spend 30 minutes on a treadmill, I feel more motivated. I've always found that, when I'm actively working out and taking care of my body, I'm more motivated in other parts of my life as well. I've also started a yoga class, which is awesome. Having an hour to myself, in a quiet room, totally focusing on myself is, well foreign mainly, but also luxurious.

We've had some other resolutions come to fruition around here. Paramount among them is the fact that Anna is now potty-trained. We spent the New Years weekend sequestered at home, diligently working on it. She embraced it fairly quickly and has done wonderfully. I'm in no position to write a book on how to potty train, but the things that we did that really helped are as follows:

• Like clockwork, every hour, take the child in the bathroom, sit and try. This helped Anna to recognize the feeling of it "coming".
• Candy reward: Yep, not my finest parenting tactic, but if Anna was promised an M&M, she was much more likely to sit a little longer and try a little harder to push something--anything--out.
• A sticker chart: We had an Elmo potty training book that came with a sticker chart to attach to the bathroom wall. Every time Anna successfully went to the potty, she got to put a sticker on her chart. While the candy was her primary motivation, the stickers were an added bonus and the chart provided a nice visual for her, of her successes.

Now onto Jack's resolutions. He cut both of his top teeth over the New Year and now has a shockingly, toddler-esque grin. He's also sleeping like a champ. The sleep training that I referred to in the last post has helped immensely. I started putting him down awake for his daytime naps. We have a routine, wherein we go in his room and say "night night" to the neighbors from his bedroom window, shut the curtain then read a couple of books. Then, I put him in his bed. It's very seldom that he lays down without a fight, but his crying is fairly minimal. The best thing about this is that now, he's learned to self-soothe and I think this has helped him in the middle of the night. Also, since I'm the one deciding when naptime and bedtime is, we're able to keep him on a schedule.

Now, to reward you for sitting through all of my self-important mumbo jumbo about healthy-living and awesome parenting skills, here's a picture of Jack reading his latest favorite book before bed. This was also Anna's favorite book at about this age.