Aaahhhh

Well, so far Logan and I have been enjoying a great first day home, just getting back to life as we knew it. Yes, I am a creature of habit, so this is especially nice for me. I loved seeing the new baby, and getting to go the elder little man’s big birthday bash, and getting to see grandma this past weekend (we were snowed in, so we had A LOT of quality visiting time!), but it is just SO nice to be home again. We missed daddy, puppy and cat so much. Logan is chasing Maddie in circles around the family room right now, giggling his head off. I think she missed us, too! I KNOW she missed Logan and all of his snack sharing…and yes, I just watched him hand the dog some goldfish crackers…I think she thinks she would have starved to death if we were done much longer!

But man, was the car trip home a hoot…. Well, I wanted to cry, but that’s in the past, so I can laugh now. I was in Indiana, and my eye was buggin me. I rubbed it a second (huge no-no with contacts, but what could I do?!), and, PLOOP, out the contact flew! Bear in mind, I am traveling at nearly 80 miles an hour, and all the sudden can’t see 4 inches in front of my face. I immediately turn on my hazards, and begin to pull onto the side of the road. I am feeling very gently for my tiny gas permeable contact…but can’t see, so it’s a losing battle. All the sudden, I see red and blue lights lighting up my car. Yes, an officer pulled over. He walks up to my car, and we have an in-depth discussion that I need to drive on, as I have pulled over at the crest of a hill, and I am going to get killed. I explain to the officer, about 5 times, that I have lost my contact, and can not see to drive. He says I must, no matter what. We go ’round and ’round. He then orders me to stay in the berm, and he will stay right behind me, but to pull forward a half mile. THAT was a scary drive! But I made it. Then he gets back out and stands guard while I search for my contact, while people are flying by at 70 miles an hour. Needless to say, I couldn’t find it, especially with his clear impatience at my situation. So I remove the other contact, and throw on the old glasses (which aren’t my new prescription of course…I never wear them, why spend the money? OH, RIGHT!!!).

I then call my optometrist, who can’t see me for a month. Then I call a friend’s place, who, if I can get there by 5:30, will see me today! So I haul…everything! After 2 hours of pedal to the metal (no other officers in sight, thank goodness!), I get there at 5:35, and the darling optometrist says of course she will see me. She worked with for an hour, got me into soft contacts (which I had no idea how to insert or remove!) so I have something to wear. She worked with me to cover the basics, while she ordered MY contacts. THANK YOU! She really was a saint! And I found a new place to go with better service, better prices, and great availability! Small wonders, I guess!

It took me a half hour to get those contacts out last night. I was near panic stage. Unbelievable how different soft and gas perm contacts are! Yikes! But my new ones should be here in a couple days, and I can manage with glasses for a couple days…just not out in public!

So, home is nice, and we are so glad to be here, chillin in the family room…man, how I missed the room with walls and baby gates!

Home at last!

Well, we are finally back home, and starting the unpacking process. While Logan is THRILLED to see daddy (he yelled DA at every truck the last 30 miles of our car trip!), I am just exhausted. Driving takes it out of me, and the unpacking is a downright nightmare. But a good chunk is done, and now I am going to crash. Hope the storm tonight doesn’t deposit a ton of snow…I am done with snow! Good night!

Crazy baby

The crazy baby from last week will hopefully take a little break…he busted out a tooth this morning! Whew, that was a rough one. He just popped out the tip, so we are still chewing on everything…and everyone! But usually once the tip peeks, we are on the mend.

Ready for bed, can barely keep my eyes open. But running has been going well, so the early mornings are worth it. Later!

Where did January go?

I can’t believe it’s February! Where did the entire month of January go? Can it really be gone already? Today is my grandpa’s birthday (Happy birthday, Bill!), and apparently the groundhog saw his shadow today, so more winter is on the way. Where ever did that odd tradition come from? I will have to read some more on that another time! But when I stepped outside while the little man was still (thankfully!) sleeping this morning, I was greeted with a nice snow cover on the ground. It truly wasn’t that cold, so it was a pretty nice run, except that I had to slow my pace to keep from falling down. I only fell once, which I was pretty pleased about, I am not gonna lie! And there were no cars around to even witness the graceful moment, yea!

Our time in Ohio is already going too quickly, and has been spent hanging out with the baby and his family. Good news, he sleeps all the time! At least when we are visiting! We’ve been getting the nursery put together and other assortments of fun times. But things are going well, and we are getting lots and lots done in the week together! And getting to just spend time together has been so nice, since we don’t get to visit nearly as often as we like. Well, off to work again…talk to you soon!

We are outtie!

Logan and I are heading back to Ohio tomorrow morning, to see a woman about a baby! Okay, that just sounds silly, but my best friend had her baby 2 weeks ago, and Logan and I are visiting! She and her hubby now have 2 cute little darlings, and hubby had to go back to work last week. So, I am hoping Logan is a good playmate for the older kiddo, and I am hoping to help mom and dad with food, organizing, laundry and such, since I can only imagine that 2 children are quite the challenge!  I am so looking forward to getting out of our house for a bit…stir crazy does not even begin to describe how I have been feeling the last 2 weeks!

Had the weekly weigh-in yesterday, and was terribly disappointed…UP a half pound! What? Ryan is giving me the old line of “it’s muscle, muscle weighs more than fat”, but all I am hearing is “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH”! Trying to just go with it for this week, as I know I’ve been killin’ it in the gym, 6 days in a row again! And sadly, since we’ll be on vaca this next week, who knows what the outcome might be next week! I am gonna try to get all my running in…little bro is (forcibly) willing to keep an ear out for Logan while I try to run in the mornings. Let’s all hope that goes well!

I also have more work to do, freelance-wise, so I am sadly forced to take my computer along for the week…but that means I might be able to maintain contact with the outside world via the web…so I might even be able to blog once or twice, depending on the week’s activities. So, hope you are enjoying your weekend, and talk to you again soon!

LLLOOONNNGGGGG week already

Holy camoly, the child is crazy! That’s all I can think right now! He’s turned into this terrible little beastie. Temper tantrums about everything (dropped toys, horse won’t rock sideways, the sky is blue, you get my point!). Everyone is telling me there is a full moon, and that might be contributing to his behavior. I, as usual, am leaning toward the teeth. The canines are white little dots, so I am thinking they may be working down, or something. It has to be SOMETHING, though, because if this is my darling child’s new behavior, I am shipping him off to the grandparents. I don’t even care which ones. They don’t even have to be his! At this point, it’s taking all the patience and power in my being not to just put him in his crib ALL day! He’s such a stinker! And he was a bratty man for daddy last night as well, and it’s continues this morning. Ug!

On a positive note (clinging to that!), had a great run this morning at the gym! And there is NO way I am going to hit 50 miles this month, with missing the first 8 days of the month. I am okay with that. Looking at my weekly totals, I know that the 50 miles is possible, if I have 4 weeks in which to complete that goal. So no worries, February will be rockin! And yes, I am clinging to that right now…it’s taking my mind off the screaming child…at least for a few minutes. Hope your week is running more smoothly than ours! Watch out, Ohio! We are coming next week, to visit with the crazy baby, and hopefully leave that behavior there. PLEASE!!!

Running Goals

I was reading some entries on Active.com, and there are several groups that are making a mileage goal for January. It kinda spoke to me, and I LOVE the idea! I am not sure what a reasonable goal is at this point. However, I have decided this is my year to run, since we are hoping to expand our family again (hope, hope!) next year sometime! So if ever the year for a crazy goal, I think this is it!

So, for January, I am aiming for 50 miles. I can’t quite figure out how to include my spinning in this (I am guessing we hit close to 20 miles in a ride, so that wouldn’t be quite fair!), so I am just going to include running, and my one day of elliptical (on my off-running day). I may have to adjust the monthly goal after this month, since I will officially be in half marathon training, but we’ll see. And no, I am not counting any walking I get to do with Logan…that’ll just be my icing on the cake (or a justification for a piece of cake, maybe…:-))

So, check on my pages to see how I’m doing…I may need to change the format to make it more user-friendly, but we’ll see! Oh, and I am updating my “projects page” as well!

So tired

Last night marked the end of a REALLY long week! I was just exhausted, yet have 3 more projects to complete in the next week…no time to take a break. And that is a daunting thought for me. I love me some weekend time with my boys, but I still needed a break. Since it was cold and foggy/misty all week, we hardly left the house at all. I think Logan and I needed a break from each other, too. Being stuck in the same yellow family room all week together was tough! So, I asked Ryan to take over for me…and oh, how he did!

I got to sleep in this morning (awesome!)…I think Ryan even heard Logan before me, which NEVER happens! So, he bound outta bed and took care of the little man…and I slept! It was marvelous. When I did finally emerge, breakfast was over and fun was happening…so I went on a run! After spending the rest of the morning and lunch together, little man took his awesome nap, while I worked and Ryan got in some video game time. Then, after nap time, Ryan took Logan to Planet Fun, an indoor play place with climbing stuff, slides, and all kinda toys! They had a blast, while I got to work on some card-making and catching up on gossip with my little bro. It was so weird and nice to not have a responsibility for a few hours. I really got to relax, even made myself a cup of hot cocoa (my first of the winter!).

I am a little bummed I missed some family fun time, but I really needed the break…and I think Logan needed to get away from me for a few minutes too. That little break made me realize how stinkin’ cute that kid is, and just how important he is to me and Ryan. And I think Ryan enjoyed hanging out with his boy…now that he can be separated from mommy, the possibilities are endless! And yes, I have registered for my first half marathon in Providence, Rhode Island in May, and Ryan is keeping Logan at home all weekend! THAT should make for an interesting weekend for us all! But that’s for another time. Good night!

On track

Well, I have been able to really keep my 6 days of workouts going, and it’s becoming a good habit. Thank goodness! I know the first week felt like torture, but now I am kinda used to getting up, getting to the gym, and getting home before the sun peeks. It’s a good feeling, AFTER it’s done!

And the scale was much nicer this week! I know I only said I would check in monthly, but the first week was awesome, so I just had to share…it’s motivation to keep going. I lost 4 pounds this week! And while I am not super stuck on the number (turns out I don’t like potato gnocchi, so no dinner last night – sure that helped the scale today!), any loss makes me happy…now I just need to remind myself of that in a couple weeks when I am struggling with that scale again! How was your week? I know Granny is in on my plan, so I am waiting for her update Monday (see, you shouldn’t tell me everything! Or maybe that will help you stay on track?). Hope you had a good week in all respects, and the weekend is enjoyable…I am SO looking forward to it, minus all the work I have to do (get to do? Counting my blessings!). Enjoy!

My little helper

Ryan and I have been noticing the back door keeps getting harder and harder to lock. Ryan was out of town today for work (yes, for one WHOLE day – get up at 3 am to catch the flight, still not home yet at 9 pm, poor man). And since he wasn’t home for dinner, I was off the hook for cooking, as Logan is my partner in crime for pizza! So, with all the free time this afternoon, I decided today was the day to replace the lock on the back door. We went to the store this morning to pick out a lock. The man who keys the locks to fit your existing key wasn’t in until this afternoon, so I had to leave the key and come back later to pick it up. No biggie.

We made it back about 4:45 to get the lock and my key, then hit the gym so I could run (Logan freakin’ loves the kids gym there…I think he’d move in if I promised to visit!). And after that, we came home, threw a pizza in the oven, then hung out in the family room. I decided after dinner to tackle the lock. Can I just tell you this was not my best idea? Have you ever met a 16 month old child who wasn’t completely fascinated with screwdrivers, door handles, power drills, and the like? He was hilarious! So, I brought one tool into the family room at a time, so I didn’t have to worry about Logan nabbing them and running (took me 4 minutes to get that door handle back! He loves being chased!). Every time I would take a part off the old lock or door frame, he would come over with one of his new Handy Manny tools (thanks, grandma and grandpa!) and try to help. After the door knob was removed and we could see through the hole, I had to chase that silly plastic screwdriver about 6 times outside! He was so proud of himself, and I couldn’t stop laughing and enjoying this fun moment. After a half an hour with no progress and lots of giggling on both our parts, it was sadly time for bed – his, not mine. After putting him to bed, I was able to get back to the lock…and got it finished up in 10 minutes! Not too shabby. And now we have a new lock that is smooth and easy to use. Yea, go mommy. And Logan and I had a great time installing it. Fun night!