Not a Great Day

Today was not a great day. Xander is teething big time. I ate like crap. The house is a mess. The Yule tree is getting destroyed. I haven't set any of my Spark goals. I'm feeling disorganized and discouraged.

Xander has five molars coming in at once... three on his left and two on his right. It is making him very irritable and he is not sleeping. We have tried everything from teething gel to teething rings to icy fruit. We have even risked serious bites to rub his achy gums. I've given Tylenol with no effect. I've eased the gassiness it's causing with gripe water... but the gas comes back with diarrhea in tow. I hope, for the sanity of all of us, that those little buggers cut through soon.

Pots and pans have become the latest thing in toys in our household. It wouldn't be quite so bad, but Xander seems to favor anything and everything glass. I want to allow him to play, express himself, and be creative... I'd just like him to do it without leaving shards of glass all over and making my kitchen look like we were looted! It is testing my patience. I get a bit OCD about the house sometimes and the mess is making me want to scream.

Speaking of messes... the tree. The cats and the kid seem to think it is there to amuse them. They pull the ornaments off and play with them. The bat at the branches. Pandora likes to hide in it, Selune likes to sleep under it, and Xander likes to play peek-a-boo from behind it. The tree skirt has had hairballs puked up on it, dirty diapers leaked on it, and leaky sippy cups spilled on it. I don't think the poor thing is going to survive to Yule.

I've been reading The Spark and have reached the point where you need to begin writing down your goals. I have no idea what I want those goals to be. I feel like I should have more and bigger goals, but it's hard enough to think day to day!

My short-term goals:

1. Lose 10 more pounds before the holiday gatherings the week of Christmas.
2. Get the birthday thank-yous out... they're a month overdue.
3. Write up and send out Yule cards.
4. Finish another lesson in my bridal consulting course.
5. Finish Cody's pink socks in time for gift exchange.

I should have been sleeping by now... back to the gym tomorrow. Mom and I are moving on to stage two of our workout schedule. We'll be moving from one set of 15 reps to two sets of 12 reps. I'm hoping we have enough time to get in the same amount of cardio.

Black Friday

Yesterday was a pleasant evening at Mom's. It was ourselves, Mom and Grandma... everyone else had other plans... but I think that is largely the reason for it being so nice.

As always, there was too much food and it was very yummy. Amazingly, though, I didn't over-eat! It may have helped me that I finally got back into a pair of jeans that hadn't fit for several months. When I ate they got a bit snug, so it encouraged me to forgo the second helping.

We're right back to our workouts today, but we're going a little later than usual. Ross is home to watch Xander, so we aren't limited to the time the daycare is open. I'm hoping to get in a little extra cardio to make up for yesterday and maybe explore a few new machines for future reference.

Ross and I had considered going out for the Black Friday sales, but opted to stay home once we looked at the sales ads. We were not really feeling inspired for gift ideas for Xander. We are planning on getting family board games for each of our siblings families and that is hard to do when you are being rushed by other shoppers... I didn't really do my research ahead of time. The parents are probably getting digital photo keychains. Best Buy had a great sale on them, so it cost less than we originally budgeted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A very happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you have many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my beautiful family, our health, our home, and our continued prosperity.

Feeling Accomplished

I'm feeling very accomplished today and it's only halfway through. It was my cardio day at the gym and I burned 750 calories between the treadmill, elliptical and bicycle. I could have gone longer, but I ran out of daycare time for Xander... it's an hour and a half limit.

Black and Silver Yule Tree

The ornaments for our Yule tree arrived while we were at the gym... black and silver on a white tree. They were even nicer in person than they looked online. I debated waiting until tomorrow to put them on the tree and take a nap, but decided to just go for it. I'm glad I did... I got over the tired feeling I get after a workout and ended up finishing the tree (so pretty!), folding the rest of the laundry, dusting, vacuuming, doing dishes, and washing windows.

I've think I have earned the time to kick back until Xander wakes from his nap.

Aunt Again!

My New Niece

My new niece, Kali, was born yesterday morning. She looks like a tiny little female version of Jason. She has his lips, his nose and his eyelashes. Jason's genetics are definitely strong, because I didn't see a bit of Angel in her.

I was shocked to find out she weighed a whole 7 pounds and 8 ounces... even Angel thought she should be re-weighed! She's so tiny and only 20 inches long, so that little girl must be storing rocks in her little bottom.

A Little Jealous

Xander got pretty jealous when I held her. He was already tired and cranky because he hasn't been feeling well. Kali's crying was making him nervous, too. I sat on the floor to hold her, so that Xander could come and see her. At first he tried to "pet" her like he does the cats... which is more like patting hard. When I told him he couldn't do that and had to touch nice, he went to my free arm and curled up against me. Mom ended up needing to take Kali away because Xander kept pressing harder and harder against me.

It was all a bit awkward with Angel and Jason, because we are very tentatively talking again. Within a few days after Matt and the girls had come to visit, the girls blabbed about it during an interrogation by Jason and Angel. They are denying Matt access to the girls... won't even let him call... as punishment for going behind their backs. I felt it necessary to contact them and voice my opinions. The more I hear and witness, the more I grow concerned about an abusive situation. Keeping the lines of communication open will make it easier to keep an eye on the situation... especially when Matt is being denied everything but his legally scheduled weekends with the girls.

As it stands, I still have no intention of attending their wedding reception in March. When a person you thought you were close to goes off and gets married secretly twice, it hurts and I refuse to cater to it. I won't participate in a farce.

At the Gym: Day Three

Today will be my third day at the gym. So far, things are going quite well. I've found that exercising in public does not bother me quite as much as I thought it would and I know it will get easier as I get smaller. The change in routine has already done some good... I'm down four pounds!

My back injury from last winter is going to cause a few problems until I get it built up. Mom was showing me how to use the crunch machine and I could only do four at a time, because my back muscles were pulling so painfully. It all radiates right from the spot that hit the step. If it doesn't get better after some more strengthening, I will have to have the doctor take another look at it.

I'm not a fan of the regular upright stationary bikes at the gym. My poor butt crack suffered more than anything, but the machine was also very jerky and awkward. Mom prefers them over the recumbent bikes. I told her that if we get on the bikes today and she sits by me, we'll have to sit where the uprights and recumbents meet, because I'm not doing that to my poor behind again!

I just need to locate a visual guide to the machines so I know what everything is called. I didn't go with the higher-cost gym package, so I really don't have a trainer to ask. You can ask for assistance from those on the floor, but they always seem like they have somewhere else to be right then. At least most of the machines have guides on them for use and explain the muscle groups that are targeted.

Golden!

Gold's Gym Member

Tomorrow night I am finally getting my gym membership. Mom wanted me to sign up with her ages ago. There were a few problems in our way.

Ross and I only have one car (and license... lol) between us and he takes it to work every day. Even if I had my license, it would hardly make sense for me to make the three hours' worth of commuting each day to drop Ross off and pick him up just to have the car. Most of the time I can get around pretty well just by walking where I need to go, but in winter or for longer distances a car is a must and I wait until Ross gets home. The gym is too far to walk unless I break a few laws walking on the highway.

Before I had Xander, Mom was more than willing to taxi me around. In fact it always worked so well for both of us that I never had much reason to get my license. It did cost me (and eventually Ross) a small fortune in repair and upkeep costs, though. There's a reason I always called Mom's truck "The Beast."

When Xander came along, the truck was no longer an option. Car seats are illegal in the front seat of a truck with an active airbag and there was no room for the car seat in the tiny rear seats. Rising gas prices and the constant problems with maintaining the truck didn't help matters either. Luckily she has an uncle in the car sales business. He and his father-in-law were able to give Mom an even trade on her truck for a car.

So, we have wheels again! Mom and I can get back to our old routine of shared upkeep and gas on one vehicle. She has been going to a Gold's Gym near where she lives and offered to come pick Xander and I up every weekday to go to the gym. She knows it will motivate her and I can hardy help but be motivated when she shows up at my door to drag me away. LOL

I look forward to having the chance to finally work out again. It has been a bit hard with Xander underfoot. I was taking walks every day with him in a stroller, but the weather has been cold and wet. If it were just me, I wouldn't mind... but I have a baby to keep healthy. I tried doing video, game console and elliptical workouts at home but Xander kept getting right under my feet or the elliptical. Waiting until he napped didn't work either. The noise of the machine or me jumping about would often wake him. At some point I found the only time I had to get anything done was while he slept and working out got pushed aside. The gym has daycare while I'm in the gym... I get to work out without Xander underfoot and he gets to socialize with the other kids. Win, win!

Now I just need to scrape together the funds for a new pair of athletic shoes (wore mine out walking), a replacement water bottle or two, and maybe a few extra t-shirts to work out in. A heart rate monitor would be pretty nice, too.