Spring... at least in my mind

Spring has not sprung. Its a frigid 29 degrees right now. I have been a baby and not been running like I should because I want the warm weather to show up. The big problem with this is that I'm planning on running a 5K on Saturday. Oh well...

In an effort to think Spring we made an impulse purchase today at the store. You see, this will be our third summer in our house. Last year I had planned on planting a cute little vegetable garden but was gigantic at 6 and 7 months pregnant. I had no ambition to grow anything (well...other than a baby). So today at the store I declared that this would be the year.

We picked out our seeds...


Prepared the starter trays...


Sowed the seeds and labeled the trays...


Walked outside to show you the beds where the seedlings will eventually end up...


Avoided the winter pile up of dog poop...


Patted myself for a job well-done...

And then I realized I maybe shouldn't have started all of those seeds already. Only the tomatoes and peppers said they needed to be started on the instructions.

Oh well. We'll see what happens.

Meal-times = Pathetic

Meal-times in our house are usually fast - as in fast food or take-out. I would say that we eat out (on average) 3 or 4 times a week. Oh I'm ashamed to admit that. I want to be better about meals, I truly do. I like to use working full-time as my excuse and my 35 minute long commute factors into it too - I also like to pretend that I can't cook because I need to work out or get ahead on stuff for grad-school.

Honestly though, I just need to stop making excuses and start cooking more. I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey so I signed up for the program he supports E-mealz. I signed up probably a month ago and printed out the plan (recipes and shopping list) but then never went to the grocery store.

This weekend we printed out our weekly plan and ate our first E-meal on Saturday. It was Chicken Salad with grapes and pecans. I left out the pecans (I'm not a fan of nuts), needless to say my Hubby was not excited about the grapes.

I wouldn't call Meal #1 a total strikeout but we probably won't be eating it again. Tonight we're trying Skillet Hamburgers (sounds like sloppy joes to me) and it sounds like it will be good except the suggested sides are uncooked broccoli and celery sticks (I'll never get Hubby to go for that).

So the moral of this story is that I need to be more organized and hopefully E-mealz will help with that. We'll see...

Spring has sprung!

I took my first run in a skirt today and the verdict is that I loved it! The weather was a lovely 55 degrees and everything was going great...

Until Little Man decided he'd had enough of our jogging stroller - total meltdown. It wasn't pretty, tears and boogers everywhere! The end result was Mr Hubs coming to rescue us with the truck.

Do you take your little one with you when running? What do you do when a meltdown presents itself? Run through with a screaming kid or give it up?


-Here's some crocuses from our flower bed. Happy Spring and Happy St. Patty's Day!



11m41s today :/
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Confessions #2

If you read my post yesterday, you'll know that we're having a hard time adjusting to becoming a family of three. Running helps me keep my cool, it gives me the quiet alone time that I need so badly. Running clears my head.

Needless to say, I haven't run on a regular basis yet.

Last Saturday (after a terrible week - one death in the family and one death of a friend so close they should be family, heartbreaking layoffs at work and a teething 7 month old) I lost my $h!t. I was late for the funeral ceremony, couldn't find my black heels, and nervous about the funeral.

While I was rushing out the door I shouted to my Main Man, "The (breast)milk is thawing in the sink but you'll have to wash a bottle." To which I'm almost certain he replied, "I'm not washing any TRucking bottles." (except he didn't say trucking!) He claims that's not at all what he said but regardless of the situation...I flipped.

Let's just say my flip flops quickly left my feet, the keys ended up under the couch and my iPhone landed on the couch! I ended up sobbing because I was so mad at my Hubbie and so frustrated with myself and that I lost my cool.

What's the moral of my story?  

#1 - I need to run more.
#2 - I need to get my poop in a group. My online friend, Michelle, has her poop in a group - she's very zen! Check her blog out - seemommywork.wordpress.com/

Confessions #1

Going from a newly married couple (2 years anyway) to a family of three is hard work.  I envy anyone that can tell you they made the transition easily. There are all types of new arguments things to hash out discuss.

Some of our disagreements discussions center around:

• Who will change the poopy diaper?
• Who gets to help with bathtime?
• Who will warm up his food?
• Is Daddy expected to attend doctor's appointments? Which ones? 
• Who will use a sick day because Little Man is teething and miserable?
• Who will tell Grandma that Pooh is not cool?
• Who will do the dishes? If I'm watching the baby, I obviously can't...
• What time can you watch him so I can go running?
• Can't you turn that stupid movie off and focus on him?!
• When will get to have Mommy/Daddy alone time?
• Can't we please upgrade to a bigger car?
• What do you mean you can't get a bottle ready? I'm already 10 minutes late and I can't do it. You just do...

The battles seem endless and we've never had such a hard time getting along. Heck, we have a hard time remembering to be nice to one another most days.

One of my closest friends confessed to me that she wasn't sure she and her husband would make it after they had their beautiful baby girl.  She filled me in on how hard that first year was.

It really is. This has been the hardest 7 months of my life, but its getting easier. Not easy - easier - it will never be easy.  As I'm trying to type this post we're arguing - over if my blog writing is more important than Daddy's shower or not.


Did I mention that we argue so much my sister has expressed concern that we might divorce? Divorce hasn't crossed my mind though.  We'll work through this, it will make us stronger as a couple and better parents for our Little Man.  It took a long time to grow a baby and I don't expect to adjust instantly.


How did you adjust to your new life as a family of three? How did you decided who would do each job? Any tips you can offer are truly appreciated! We're a work in progress.

6 at 6 (o'clock that is...)

6 Reasons Why I Want to Run a Marathon

6. Running gives me an excuse to buy cool running clothes and nice sneakers with minimal guilt (and I suffer from a lot of guilt - read about mommy guilt here).

5. I want to be a member of the cool mommies that run club!

4. I have 10 pounds of weight to lose to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.

3. I would like size 6 jeans to make an appearance in my life again.

2. It gives me an excuse to treat myself to a little alone time - and if you're a mom who says she doesn't appreciate alone time you're also a liar.

Reason #1. I want to prove to myself - my jiggly, stretchmarked, no-longer athletic self, that I can still be an athlete.

Boilermaker

It's official - my running buddy and I are registered for the Utica Boilermaker 15K road race! :)  Ya-whoo! 

Anyone have a great 15K training program to recommend?

Reality Check...

As I mentioned in my last post - I run with my mom. The nice thing about running with my mom is that I have someone else to focus on, I also get to take it easy and enjoy the movement while not worrying about pace. The fact is that I can imagine myself as some sort of big shot runner without actually having to deliver.

Yesterday was the first time that I've run by myself and kept track of pace. I went for a little over 3 miles and averaged 11min 33sec per mile - not exactly big shot runner pace.

Time to turn up the heat I'd say!

March run - 3 mile

Well I finished the first run of my year a few hours ago. It was a great run - tons of support from the crowd, free delicious food, and free Saranac beer at the after-party (not that I could cash-in on that too much, I haven't had a drink since finding out I was pregnant with Little Man 16 months ago)!

My time - 42 minutes 12 seconds. Not the best in terms if speed but I haven't ran regularly since November. My running partner for this (and every) race I've run so far is my mom. She spends the entire race worrying that she's holding me back and telling me to take off and run at my own pace. Truthfully I probably could shave some time off my pace if I didn't run with my mom but I like hanging back with her. She's my running buddy.

Last week while talking about December race (43 min 30 sec), someone said "You might as well walk at that pace." Ok, maybe we could walk faster than what we ran but we choose not to. Mom does her best to run as much as she can. She's pushing herself now more than she ever has. I'm proud of my mom for just being out there and I'm grateful to have someone to pass the miles with even if we're going slow.

The best thing about running with my mom - she knows we'll get better. Our next race is in April and she's already making plans to train so we can nab a better pace.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Run Like a Mother

This weekend we took a much needed trip to Barnes and Noble (well...much needed for me - Hubs would much rather have stopped at the tool section in Sears). Anyway - I was checking out the books in the running section. I've been looking for a good running book online but much prefer browsing in real-life. There's just something about being able to touch the book.

The book that I found is called Run Like a Mother and I love it so far! What really snagged my attention was the little phrase underneath the title (not sure what the official term is) "How to Get Moving - and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity". This book seemed perfect for me. I'm in the winter rut and can't seem to dig myself out of it. I did wake up bright and early one morning two weeks ago but am facing my first 3 mile race of the year this Saturday (and I haven't trained - yikes!!!)

In any event - I love this book and have been grabbing it every chance I get to plow through a few more pages while Little Man naps or spends quality time with his daddy. The running mamas that wrote this book also have a blog so scoot on over to check it out - runlikeamotherbook.com/

That's all for now - wish me luck on Saturday because I'm going to need it. :)