Running for Life

On January 23, 2012 (my 26th birthday to be exact) I was having a debate with one of my girlfriends as to how much I weigh. I told her that I weigh 175 pounds. She said I was crazy and she didn't believe it for a second. So I decided to prove myself....went to the supermarket and hopped on the scale to send her a photo of the results.

WHOA! What happened to 175? Now I am tipping the scales at 186. Where in the hell did that 11 pounds come from?

You would think that this would have given me some motivation, right? Nah. I didn't get to be a buck eighty six by being what you would call motivated. When I met my husband 8 years ago, I weighed in at 106 and wore a size 0 pants. Ten pounds a year doesn't sound like much...but stack up the better part of a decade, and I've almost doubled myself.

I joined karate with my husband and middle daughter, not as a means to lose weight, but just to have something to do as a family. Our son had been training for several months and loved it, so we all decided to give it a shot. Much to my surprise, my jeans kept getting looser...and looser...and looser...and it didn't take long before I found myself digging in the back of my closet for an old pair of jeans that were small enough.

NOW I've got my motivation. Once it starts coming off, you just want to keep going and going. Couple weeks ago, I was having a horrible day and there was no karate class, so I couldn't go beat the shit out of some poor innocent person to release my frustrations...so I did something I've never done before. Strapped on a pair of running shoes and hit the bricks...literally.

I probably ran less than 50 yards before I felt like I was going to die. So I started walking...caught my breath and pounded the pavement some more.

I've been doing this every night since then, and now I'm up to a quarter mile before my lungs threaten to explode.

Weighed in this morning at 175....and i'm down 4 pants sizes. So I reckon I'll just keep on going and see where it leads. And, I guess I'll start blogging my results. I want to track this progress, and hold myself accountable...even though I have exactly zero readers. lol

A day in the life of a career mom...

So I've been reading a lot of stories from SAHM's, about what their daily routines are like, and what they have to put up with on a daily basis. Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT taking anything away from a good, devoted SAHM and housewife. It is a job that I would never want to do. Now, I'm not talking about the sahm that plops their kid in front of the tv and then sits on the computer all day...that's easy enough, and damaging to the kid. I'm talking about the sahm that spends time with her kids, gets them involved in things, cleans the house, cooks, takes care of the family budget...etc...those ladies, my hat is off to you, because I could not spend my whole day with kids and no adult interaction. At least I don't think I could

But...all that being said, I think a lot of times the good career mom gets kind of swept under the rug. Granted, we aren't cooped up in the house with the kids, alone, all day everyday...but, we do have to attempt to cram all of the housewife/mom duties into a 3 hour window, and still manage to somehow spend some quality time with the family.

So, after reading a really interesting blog this morning on the daily routine of a sahm with two babies...I thought I would chronicle a day in the life of Liza.

4:30 AM - alarm goes of. Effing shoot me, please. Anyone who speaks to me for the next hour will die. There is no question or room for negotiating here, that is a fact. And no, that wasn't a typo, I get up at 4:30 every morning. Except for the weekends, when I afford myself the luxury of sleeping until 6.

I make a pot of coffee and settle in for my daily bible reading/devotion. This is why I get up so early...I have learned over the past 7 years that sacrificing the half hour of sleep so that I can have a little quiet time before I awaken the demons is the only thing that keeps me sane. Complete daily reading, and first cup of coffee...jump on the laptop and see if there are any bills that need to be paid.

5:00 AM - pour second coffee and make my way down the kids corridor of the house. Wake up the high schooler, and remind her (again) that we are leaving at 6:15. If I do not leave at 6:15 sharp, I am late for work. Jump in the shower (take coffee with me). Throw on bathrobe.

5:30 AM - back down the kids hallway - wake up the middle schooler and elementary schooler. One the way back, peek in high schooler's bedroom, she is staring blankly at the wall, and has not even begun dressing herself. Ask what she's doing. Response "i don't have any clean pants." I don't give a crap. You're 16, you should know to do your own laundry. Wear dirty pants for all I care, but I am leaving in 45 mintues, so you better get moving.

Back to my bedroom. Attempt to find my own clothes for the day, only to realize that I too, have no clean pants. Feel like a major schmuck for popping of at the 16 year old about being responsible and doing laundry. Thankfully I have a dress clean. It's a dressy dress and way too formal for the construction office that I work in, but hey, it'll have to do.

5:50 - realize that I haven't heard any noise coming from "Kid Row"...back down the hallway. High schooler is taking her sweet time flat ironing her hair. Remind her that I am leaving in 25 minutes, and she is no where near ready to go. Middle schooler is in the shower...high five for not being asked twice (today)....elementary schooler got out of bed, walked over to the door, turn out the lights and climbed back in bed. Effing great. Yell at him, he jumps up, starts searching for clothes. Guess who else doesn't have clean pants?

Back to my room...this time I AM going to get my make up on, I swear. Walking to my bathroom, step in dog crap (barefoot) because if you didn't notice earlier, through this entire 4 hours, i have completely forgotten to take him out. Back in the shower I go. Jump out, hurriedly throw on some mineral powder and mascara. There is nothing that's getting done with the hair today.

Back to H.S. bedroom...now it's 6:10...remind her AGAIN that i'm leaving in 5 minutes.

M.S. decides to tell me, now, when i'm about the head out the door for work, that she has afterschool band practice this afternoon, so she won't be able to catch the bus home. How exactly am I to arrange transportation when I have to be at work, and was given no prior notice? I'll figure it out. Scurrying to throw my lunch in a bag, locate my car keys and cell phone. Realize that i locked my keys in my bedroom. It's ok though...i've done this so many times that the middle schooler has become a pro a picking the lock. Holler for her, she has the door open in 45 seconds or less.

Now it's 6:17...no big deal...2 mintues late is totally acceptable. The boss is always at least 5 min late, so he doesn't even know when the rest of us are a tad behind schedule. But wait, where is that dang teenager at? Oh, still straightening her hair, feet are not dressed and doesn't have a clue where her bookbag is? Of course.

Yelling commences.

6:30 - FINALLY leave the house. Kid has shoes in hand, and can't find student id, which means she has to sit in detention all day. At this point, I could give a crap less.

Arrive at work 15 minutes late. Boss rolls eyes, shakes head and says that 15 min is coming out of my lunch break...again...thank God he doesn't fire people for tardiness.

7 AM - 5 PM....ahhhhh...I can breathe. Working is easy compared to mom life.

except for the 11:00 phone call from the elementary school...apparently I've forgotten to send lunch money the past 2 weeks in a row and the boy is $10 in the hole. Huh...embarrassing, but no prob, I'll catch it up tomorrow, just please feed my kid today.

Annnnd the 4:00 phone call from the house...apparently I also forgot to pay the water bill. ooops. That's ok, call and pay, reconnected, extra $40 for reconnect charge that we can't afford, but it's taken care of.

Get home at 5:30....greeted at the door with everyone trying to tell me 5,000 things at once. One kid has a research project due TOMORROW which requires art supplies, a bulletin board and internet access (we have none of the above.) The other kid has a note in his agenda regarding the fact that I haven't signed it all week.

Where is the third kid?

Oh shit...after school practice? Did I arrange for anyone to pick her up? Run frantically out the door, sobbing the whole way to her school. I am such a failure. I can't remember to send my kid lunch money. I can't remember to pay the bills...and most of all, I can't remember my kid period.

OK Mom...compose yourself...tears off, apologetic smile on. Thankfully this kid is easy going, gets in the car laughing and informs me that I SO owe her a DQ ice cream cone for forgetting her (again). Agreed...

Get home, husband is asking where supper's at. Try to scrounge something together, while throwing in a load of laundry so that the entire house doesn't wear dirty pants two days in a row. Sign agenda and write note of apology for not realizing it had been a week since I had done it.

By now it's 8:00...get one kid in shower. Another doing clean up from dinner. Last one reminds me of that research project she told me about 3 hours ago. SHIT. Mad dash out the door to Walmart. This will end in staying up til midnight helping kid get project done.

Get kids to bed. Forget to switch laundry from washer to dryer. We still get to wear dirty pants the next day. Sit down and reassess what other bills are due immediately so we don't get any more disconnects. Remember that I have a Mary Kay class the next day and need to prepare. Make lists of various things for that.

Finish out the day with another scripture, and fall face first into the bed around 11:30 - 12. Nauseated at the idea that I have to get up and do this again in 4 more hours.

oh, and forget to send lunch money for the kid that is 2 weeks behind.

I'm sure there is more...but this is just ONE routine day in the life...

So this is blogging huh?

I just write stuff...and wonder if anyone reads it.

Cool.

I'm a bit behind the times I supposed. Considering it is currently April 8, 2010 and we just had internet installed in our home yesterday. A tad old fashioned I'm afraid, but I rather enjoy it. I don't want my kids to grow up thinking that life revolves around computers and tv. There is so much more out there. So much to do and see, and learn!

I guess I also get my fill of the computer at work, since I sit behind one 12 hours out of the day. But alas, here I am, at home and on the computer once again. Today I blame it on work...I somehow managed to download some serious Malware to my office computer, and it won't let me do ANYTHING! So, like the dedicated (ha) employee that I am, I brought a few projects home that need drawings done. Figured while I was sitting here, I'd see what kind of trouble I can get into! :)

I wonder who reads these things? Anyone? Everyone?

I'm currently almost done knitting my very first successful sock. I won't call it a success until I'm finished with it...but considering I've never been able to figure out the damn heel thing before, I am quite proud of myself. I've finally learned how to juggle all those stinkin double pointed needles. I recently discovered that there is a yarn store just around the corner from my house. I'd love to go check it out, but my checkbook cringes every time I even think about knitting supplies! I think I'm going to go see if they offer any classes. I'm doing fairly well on the self teaching...it's just that I get kind of tired of having to try the same project over and over until I finally figure out what in the world the pattern is talking about. The abbreviations confuse me, and I just honestly don't have much knowledge on the techniques...but I AM learning.

Then again, maybe there is a greater sense of accomplishment attached to the idea of teaching myself, and actually mastering this stuff on my own than i would have if I attended a class? Who knows.

I am too much my father's daughter in that regard I'm afraid...not a huge fan of being told what to do. I like to solve problems on my own...the lessons are ingrained much deeper that way. I do fear getting bored with knitting though...i love it so much, I am terrified that someday I will not enjoy it anymore. this is also a trait passed down from my grandmother to my father, and my father to me...we have the collective attention span of a gnat. I pour my heart and soul into learning a new craft or skill...then once I have it mastered, I no longer have any desire to do that particular activity anymore, and it's on to learning something different.

Maybe this won't happen with knitting? Grammie has been a knitter for decades and hasn't lost the touch for it yet...but she sure does have a lot of unfinished projects around!

I suppose being like my Gram isnt a negative thing...she's different, but a kind of different that I wouldn't mind being. She is miserable yet loving, mean yet caring...she loses interest in things easily, but is the most talented person I know.

And don't forget...her house is "Clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be happy."

That *might* just be the most influential thing anyone has said to me in my life, ever.