Get MOOving

I hate to admit this, but I have to put Moo on an exercise plan. since we moved from our two-level condo our puppy-of-a-cat has been gaining weight. Between the stairs and regular play sessions, he wasn’t as big as he is now. He’s a big cat and he is a lazy one. I also want to make sure he is a happy one.

Baby A and I went to the pet store where he picked out fishing toys for Moo. I thought that having A. pick out the toys when make it easy to teach him how to play with his kitty companion. Not even. My son thinks these toys are his.

So, in the evening after A. goes to bed, Moo and I play. Sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for 20 minutes; hopefully we can work up to an hour a day (that’s what baby and I need). Either way, I’m bonding with my little boy before there was little boy. I forgot how much I enjoyed playing with Moo. Glad that we’re doing it again.

The Beauty of Schedules

I have never been a strict schedule kind of girl. I’m not sure why. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person. I believe in being on time, but when it comes to me (and even Baby A) our daily events happen around certain times.

During Baby A’s first year, I had a schedule to go to the gym. I would wake up at 4 AM on most weekdays to workout and shower. On the weekends, I would sleep in and, if I went, it was a bonus. This schedule helped me lose 50 of the 60 pounds I gained when pregnant.

When we moved to Los Angeles we didn’t join a gym right away. I decided I would get up early and head to the track for my workouts. Weather, work and waking up got in the way of that plan. Even after joining the gym, morning workouts have proven to be difficult. But now, I have a schedule.

It allows me to go to the gym two weekdays and on the weekends. It gives me a plan. It alleviates the self-imposed guilt I have when I leave Baby A with M. It gives me the balance I need and have difficulty requesting. It’s a beautiful thing.

That Was Easy

Today was an easy day. No time outs. No being a chew toy. No throwing up hands up in defeat. It’s been a while since my day hasn’t been filled with toddler drama. Could it be that my sleep-deprived child is finally mellowing out?

Probably not. But at the end of today, I don’t feel beat down by the pressures of motherhood. And for that, I am truly grateful. I realize that tomorrow is a new day—one that could very well feel like the difficult old ones I have been experiencing. Right now, that doesn’t matter because tonight I’m going to sleep with my shoulders lowered and my jaw relaxed. *Sigh*

It’s Official…For Now

As I write this in the soft glow of the white lights on the once Christmas tree, now holiday tree, I’m happy that we decided to not take it down. Instead so relinquishing it to the back porch wrapped in plastic, we have decided to keep it up. Not only does it deliver a soft glow to our lamp-less, furniture-bare living room, but it should make each holiday more festive. I’ll be decorating it for Valentine’s Day, the spring equinox, Easter, summer solstice, Fourth of July, etc.

Just doing this has made 2010 already more happy.

My Trusty Pad

This is all I need. Photo from net_efekt

If it isn’t written down, forget it. It won’t get done. I live by my to-do list. It keeps me focused in a I-don’t-need-to-think-about-what-needs-to-be-done way, because everything is written on my trusty pad.

Without my pad, my days would be chaos. I wander around the house doing things halfway and then get distracted by Baby A or something else I see that I should do, only to come back to the first thing a half hour later and say, “Oh, yeah. That’s what I was doing.” Instead, my time sans child has purpose and is productive.

Without my pad, I would go to Trader Joe’s, CVS, Ralphs, Whole Foods, and even, the farmer’s market and walk away without whatever it was that drove me to go there in the first place.

Without my pad, I won’t have a growing list of books that I want to read, websites that I want to check out, or songs that I want to download.

And without my pad, article ideas, leads, and blog posts that come to me in the strangest places would get lost in the ether of my brain, possibly forever.

Day Off

I didn’t work yesterday. This isn’t a huge thing because since Baby A was born there have been many days that I haven’t done any work. The difference yesterday was that I made a conscious decision not to. After filing an article in the morning I decided to stay away from the computer. I needed the break. My love/hate relationship with my laptop was becoming more hate than love. I’m glad that I did it because today I am able to sit down with my money maker and be happy to do so.

Have you taken some real time off lately?

I Challenge You to a Week of Thanks

The countdown to the biggest day of gratitude of the year, Thanksgiving, begins today. And I am throwing down the gauntlet. I challenge you to be thankful for something each day until Turkey Day. Here’s why:

• People who are grateful are more content and hopeful, according to Robert Emmons, PhD, professor of psychology at University of California at Davis and author of Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier.
• Thankful people recover faster from illness.
• Gracious people handle chronic stress better.

So for the next seven days blog, tweet, write or tell others why you’re thankful. (You can leave comments here all week). Consider it a warm up for the big day.

Sometimes You Need To Be Distracted

Reality isn’t my friend right now. G.’s illness is taking it’s toll mentally and physically. I tend to look for things that take me away. The latest version of Bejeweled Blitz can make an hour (or two) disappear. Top Chef and Project Runaway provides a bit of entertainment. But for total escapism, I look to ELLE magazine. I’ve had two month’s worth of issues piled up and over the past two weeks I have leisurely flipped through their pages. Each ad and each editorial page makes me fantasize that I’m wearing these items and living the life that was Before-Baby-A. And that is okay, we don’t always have to deal with the right here and now.

The New Work Week

Last Friday I planned my whole day around going to the DMV. Silly me! It and many other state and city agencies are closed on Fridays because of budget concerns. And it isn’t only the state and the City of Los Angeles who are doing this. Friends that I used to work with took a 10 percent cut in their salaries and as a result, the company instituted work-at-home half-day Fridays. Cutting the work week down makes me wonder: Could this recession make us finally slow down?

Before becoming a freelance writer, I used to work early mornings, late nights, and weekends. I wanted to get ahead. When I was laid off, my workaholic tendencies didn’t wane—I had a business to grow. But then, my writing business was where I wanted it and I started listening to the natural flows of my creativity. The result was: I only worked half days on Wednesdays and eventually I stopped going to the computer on weekends. In essence, I had a three-day weekend.

I think many of us dream of such a weekend, now it’s happening. While the economic toll is sad, it may just do wonders for our collective mental state. Imagine having more time to develop relationships, interests or hobbies. Imagine having time to get through the never ending to-do lists and finish with time to enjoy the weekend. Imagine resting and perfecting the act of doing nothing. Sounds like a great new work week to me.

Sometimes You Just Need to Say Something

I’m not the most communicative person in the world. Strange, I know. When it comes to writing about health, fitness, nutrition or just my day, my head composes like a fiend until I can reach a keyboard or a notebook. When I worked as an editor, I had no problem giving directions. (In fact, I was told I was too direct.) But when it comes to expressing what I what, I’m silent. I tend not to speak up and, in some cases, I let things stew inside. Over time these things wear on me and I get fatigued, sick, even a bit depressed. I reached that point again, but this time I said something. I expressed my self. And for the first time in a while, I woke up this morning feeling rested. I can’t remember the last time that happened.