Category: Misc

Our weekend started early because Matt's mom flew in on Thursday evening for a visit. Here's a sampling of what went down … We:

• went to Apex center to get a workout in on Friday
• had a lovely dinner with my family
• took naps almost everyday
• checked out the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Museum of Art
• found that Ben did not really cooperate but Tabby LOVED IT (the King Tut exhibit that is)
• tried out a couple of new recipes: Butternut Squash & Bacon Quiche and Spinach Dip with Bacon from the latest issue of Everyday Food
• went for a measly 2 mile run
• got to go to a couple of shops we hardly ever get to visit
• traded in Halloween Candy for kids' meals
• visited Bass Pro and bought two gallons of peanut oil plus 3 types of injectable marinate for next weekend
• pushed the kids to their absolute limits
• turned back the clocks and further goofed up everyone's sleep schedule
• absolutely exhausted ourselves

Matt's mom left last night and though we enjoyed our visit, we are all very ready to get back to regularly scheduled life … now!

It is a grey kinda day here in the Mile High City. We are super spoiled with over 300 days of sunshine a year (woot!). I don't really enjoy the grey days but it does kind of match my mood. I am not depressed or anything like that, but I'm just sort of BLAH. Ennui as they say.

I have tons and tons on my to do list, so much so that I'm completely overwhelmed by it and am having trouble getting started on ANYTHING. I don't like feeling overwhelmed and I like even less to get nothing done. I know what I need to do. It's just like running .. put one foot in front of the other over and over and pretty soon you've run 13 miles. Or that's the theory.

Speaking of running, I am still doing it, even with quite a bit of consistency. I've been concentrating on some speed work to try and improve my times, but I am feeling some malaise here as well. My next race is the Turkey Trot, just 4 miles and nothing at all scheduled after that. I run races because they give me direction and goals and purpose and right now I am short of those things. I need to find another half marathon to sign up for very soon, even if it's months away.

I've also hit a lull in cooking. We have been so incredibly busy lately that I've just been relying on the super easy things that I know by heart: fried rice, spaghetti, burritos, grilled cheese, etc. I'm quite bored of it all now but I can't seem to get off my arse and make some new and interesting things. That will be a personal goal for this weekend, especially on Saturday. Matt's mom is in town and we have not big plans that night, so we can enjoy a nice meal together.

Honestly just writing about it and having a plan of action improves my mood. I also think I might need a mug of hot chocolate. I haven't had one yet this fall. Hope you're not in a mid-week slump!

Raise your hand if you blinked and October was over. Glad I'm not alone. The crazy Halloween Season is over and I'm sure before I can say turkey, we'll be in the throes of the crazy Holiday Season.

Things are relatively calm for the next few weeks and I want to keep it that way, but as always, there are some things on the horizon:
• Christmas Shopping! We've got to get our butts in gear since the Nashvillians (as I affectionately refer to our TN family) will be here on Dec 7 to celebrate Christmas with us. I want to be 90% done before the end of the month if possible. It's a tall order.
• Tiling projects: we still need to caulk and set the toilet in the kids' bathroom and then we've got to knock out the project all over again in our own bathroom. We'd really like this done before Dec as well.
• Wood floors: we've got to schedule our wood floor installation so that it can happen when we go out of town next year.
• To do list: I have an incredibly long list of neglected projects. I've got to get some of them done, things like sending out baby gifts and working on our investment portfolio.
• Swimming: Tabby is starting swim lessons at the end of the month. She'll be going 2x/week for 3 weeks. It seemed like a good idea at the time … but the good thing is that her lessons are at our gym so I get to workout too and they're the same time as Zumba even.

It's Thursday and nearing month end, which means of course that I'm updating my hyper-active OCD budget. What? Doesn't everyone do that on the last Thursday of the month?? I'm constantly amazed at how much we can spend on food. Sure, it's obvious that going out to eat adds up, but we spend a TON on groceries. I won't even quote you a number because I'm slightly embarrassed by it.

I've read a lot over the years about couponing and how people just save TONS with it. But most of the time when I see what they buy, I look at the loot and go “Yea, but that's not what I buy.” I would say that at least 80% of what comes into our house is a whole food and I do not see a lot in the way of coupons for broccoli and quinoa.

I try not to get too irritated about it. I know Americans spend way less of our income on groceries than most other industrialized nations. Beyond that, I'm not going to eat crap just because it's cheap. Cheap crap is still crap. But it doesn't make my salad greens and apples any cheaper.

Enough about my ridiculous grocery budget. We have another jam-packed weekend. I'm sure that surprises no one. But one thing on our agenda is a little boy's birthday party. He's in Tabby's class and I'm sure he's very nice and all but we don't know him or anything. So why are we going? Mainly because his mom cornered me at school this morning and I felt bad. She said no one had agreed to come. Were we coming? Err… sure. Guilt. It's not a pretty thing.

But what I'm terribly excited to do is go with one of my besties to Canvas and Cocktails. That's right I get to paint AND DRINK! Woot! Not only that but it's my first girl's night out with this particular friend in … I hardly remember how long. I'm so so so excited!! The guys will be staying with the kids carving pumpkins and eating pizza and such and having their own good time. Yay!

As I wrote at Monkey Bars yesterday, it's been a bit chaotic at our house. Note to self: this always happens when WE'RE NEVER AT HOME.

Anyhow, this morning I saw a post at one of my favorite blogs (that I should act upon more often instead of just reading), Unclutterer. They asked, “Without getting up from your chair, do you know exactly where …”

• your keys are?
• your 2009 tax documents are?
• your car’s registration is? (If you own a car.)
• your winter gloves are?
• your social security card is?
• your flashlight is?
• your phone charger is?

I can proudly say that I know where each and every one of those things are. Without a doubt, more crap needs to leave my house. Without a doubt, there are areas of my house that are a freaking mess. Without a doubt, I could do better. But I do think that I have handled the really important stuff … and frankly, having fun is a lot more … fun. I doubt I'll ever regret not cleaning out my closet. But spending time with friends and family? That's a must.

First things first. I'm happy to announce that I am sharing some parenting stories on a brand new (and super fabulous) parenting blog called From the Monkey Bars, started by my bloggy friend, C of Kid Things.net. She wanted a place for parents to share their stories and takes on parenting topics in a fun and friendly way and she's created this great site. She wants contributors too, so if you're interested, pop over there and share your stories too! It's a lot of fun. My first two stories are up there, one about the challenges of parenting and one about getting dinner on the table … hope you'll check them out! I will be posting 1x or 2x/week from now on. Enjoy!

In other news, we've hardly been home this week. As I related, my SIL is in town and we've been up to all sorts of fun things in the evening. Tuesday we went to the pumpkin patch. Yesterday we did the sewing class (loads of fun!) and tonight we're heading out for some pub quiz fun with The Geeks Who Drink. Of course it doesn't stop there and we've got yet another jam-packed weekend. Someday I'll get back to things like cooking … and exercise. Soon.