Wacky Wedneday

     Today has just been crazy....well, the whole week has been actually.  Monday was the whole jury duty debacle.  Again, don't get me wrong, I would be more than happy to help weigh in on the scales of justice (as long as they didnt' require me to actually get on one), but the case I could have been on, is slotted to last 5 weeks.  REALLY?!?!  I mean, due process should be allocated for more than just the accused.  Oh well, not my concern anymore.
     Yesterday for my b-day the girls at work wanted to go out to lunch to celebrate.  We had decided a while ago to go to a cute little Italian place not too far from the office so we could walk there and back and help burn off all the yummy treats we would consume at lunch.  Walked over there only to find that it was closed due to a gas leak.  Oh well, that means we got an even longer walk in as we had to hoof it somewhere else...so I got to have birthday Panera-did I mention that I went to Panera on Sunday?  Oh well (seems like a new mantra).
     My oldest had a riding lesson last night so the little one and I were on our own for most of the evening.  I had planned on trying out a new recipe for my birthday and was actually kind of excited about it only to have the whole fam say "You can't make your OWN birthday dinner," so instead I got to wait and have a late dinner with the fam and open my gift.  (Which by the way is a sweet new Vera Bradley case for my iPhone...it's beautiful so total score on that).
     Today has just been the icing on the proverbial (birthday) cake though.  When the weather is nice my cat likes to live the life of an indoor/outdoor cat.  He generally always comes in at night (at my insistence) because he is little and  don't want him to get hurt or skunked or anything.  Since I fall asleep early usually with the 3 year old, my hubs gets the cat indoors.  So at 530 this morning when the thunder started booming and the rain began to pour down, my hubby says the cat never came back in last night, so...I get up and scurry about in my jammies with an umbrella herding the cat back into the house in the rain.  Then I go back to bed for 20 minutes, wake up and realize I never laid my clothes out the night before.  This means stumbling around in the dark to try and find things so as to not wake my hubby back up or the three year old who has by now migrated to my bed.  I go to her room and find the nail clippers with the mini flashlight on them to help navigate my way through my drawers and closet so I can get dressed after my shower.
     Traffic was CRAZY, which is generally not the case when you are on the road at 645, and then once I got to work people here were nutty.  No one wanted to be at work, and then problem after problem just kept popping up.  I am hoping that the rain will cause soccer to b cancelled so that maybe just MAYBE I can have a calm night at home with the fam with no activities and no stress.  Maybe even get in a home workout. :)
     I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of what tomorrow holds.  But, once again, all I can say is Oh well.

How has your week been so far?  My main source of fitness this week seems to be my exercise in futility! :)

Monday Madness

My sweet 3 year old
 

Well, for starters this fine Monday morning...I can officially say I am the mom of a 3 year old.  She had the best weekend ever!  It was a busy one, but an amazing one!  We started off with a soccer game Friday night for my oldest and a thrown together party at the coach's house after with all the kids!  SO fun!  Saturday morning the birthday baby woke up singing "today is my party day" and helped me start on the decorations before dance class.  We had a Tinkerbell fairy extravaganza.

the cake...yummo!
 

some of the festive decor

Daddo and big sister did the table decor, made and hung some fabulous fairy posters, and had banners hung all around.  Birthday girl and I did balloons.  She has been talking about balloons since her sister's party a few weeks ago.  Did you know that there is a national helium shortage and you can't get helium right now?  We have our own tank and couldn't get it topped off due to the shortage.  We had just enough to make her happy.  Sad to think that this may be the last birthday with floating balloons.  I also made some balloon flowers (thank you Pinterest).   Had ANOTHER soccer game Saturday before the party too.  Crazy, busy day.

Sunday was the actual birthday and we celebrated by doing one of my most favorite fall activities...APPLE PICKING!  I love going to the orchard and picking fresh apples.  We even got a few raspberries this year as well.  What made the timing of this so perfect as well is that I have a friend who I have known for many years, and thanks to the world wide web, we have been able to re-connect over the past few years.  I have mentioned hr here many times before, it's my dear friend Kelly from No Thanks To Cake.  Kelly is having a wonderful family vacation right now before heading off to Fitbloggin 2012 and she asked me a few weeks ago to write a guest blog on her site.  I was THRILLED!  It is my first "guest blogger" experience and I certainly hope it won't be my last.  Anyways, I digress.  When I sat down to write my post for NTTC, I automatically went to my fav fall thing...the apples and birthdays!  I had a blast watching the kids climb and pick yesterday, and if you have an extra minute...check out my post, Seasons Change, To Cake today...and check out the whole site if you haven't yet.  It is Fabulous with a capital FAB! 

my wonderful family at the orchard...by far the best "pick" of the day

 



So that brings us to Monday!  Woke up feeling great after a great weekend with the fam...and started it with a 7am Zumba class.  This class was awesome!  I have taken Zumba classes before and they have left me feeling good, but not always like I had gotten the most from the workout.  Maybe because the classes were so large?  not really sure, but today there was only 6 of us and the instructor was the best one I've had yet.  After and hour I was feeling the burn and dripping with sweat.  I loved it!  It's been a while since I felt that challenged.  I am so excited to see what the other classes I'm scheduled to take are like.  I may mix it up a little more and take this instructors other Zumba class later in the week instead of Tai Chi...but haven't decided yet.  I'll keep you posted though for sure. 

So to recap, successful birthday weekend, apple picking, guest blogging, and great workout...what's missing this crazy Monday, well of course my Friend Making Monday update.  Here you go...and here's to an amazing week for all of us!  Can't wait to see what kind of updates I get on Friday for Feel Good Friday...I am already making my list. 

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Blog Stuff

1. Have you ever met anyone through your blog that led to an in-person friendship/relationship? Haven’t met anyone through the blog, but started mine off of the inspiration of someone I already knew.

2. Most bloggers have a specific niche. What would you discuss if it didn’t seem inappropriate on your blog? Certain family dynamics (in-laws and ex’s).

3. If you could meet three bloggers, who would they be? Not sure…I read a few daily…In have already met Kelly from No Thanks To Cake (have known her for MANY years), but would love a reunion!  I think it would be great to meet you Kenlie!  I love reading your blog!  I also wouldn’t mind a face to face with Gina at SkinnyTaste!

4. If you had to choose between Facebook or Twitter which one would you choose? Facebook…hands down.  I haven’t really delved into Twitter yet, so it’s still a foreign concept to me.

5. Do you vlog (video blog?) Not yet J

6. How many blogs do you read on an average day? Most days probably 2-3, sometimes more, sometimes less.  Depends on what is happening during the day.

7. What is the coolest thing that you’ve seen online recently? Another soccer mom I am friends with has a blog Joan Satow where she showcases her artwork, and recently she has posted some BEAUTIFUL pieces of our town.  I just love it!

8. If you gave your blog a new name what would it be? I’m not sure…that will take some pondering.

9. Have you ever attended a blog conference like Fitbloggin? If not, would you? I haven’t, but I think it would be fun to get out and connect IRL with other bloggers, and meet some of my faves!

10. In the past I have asked why you blog. Now I want to know why you read blogs? What do you take from it? Advice, support, ideas.  It’s a safe space where you can interact with people with common goals and not worry about distance or time zones. 

Have a great week everyone!!

 



Happy Birthday Big Girl!

     I can't believe today my big girl is 11!  Where has the time gone? She is growing into such a radiant and strong young woman.  I am proud to say that (outside of her picky palette) she is a picture of health and strength.  She is old enough now to see the up and down battle that her Dad and I have gone through.  She has seen us at our most fierce, and at out worst.  She has heard us complain about what we put into our mouths and bodies, she has seen us try and find the right workouts for each of us as individuals as well as workouts we could do as a couple or a family.  She has embraced some of our athletic tendencies (soccer) and has found some of her own (horseback riding) and has excelled at each. 

on the soccer field

 



     With her birthday of course came the birthday party.  We have made some amazing friends from her playing soccer.  Families that I know will be a part of our lives for years to come.  It's been so nice.  They have daughters Maddy's age as well as younger ones for Arden to play with.  We are all going through the same transitions age wise together, so for her birthday we had a big party with all the families and had the girls sleepover.  With birthday parties, comes food.  Cake, wings, dips, ice creams, chips, cake, cookies, doughnuts...you name it, and we seemed to have it at her party this weekend.  We also have a tendency to tip back one or two with our friends, which I know is a big factor in my overall weight struggle.  I am happy to report that I still got in a few intense workouts, and monitored my intake of junk food quite successfully.  I even managed to steer clear of all but 1 small glass of wine.   Success! 
     She had a great party.  I even got a spontaneous hug with a"Thanks mom, this party rocks" in front of her friends no less. 

 

Happy Birthday sweetie!  I love you!