Redemption Feels So Good

Today I am redeemed as a mom. I was really on the ball! After work yesterday I stopped at CVS to get my kids some much needed supplies for school:index cards for my daughter's speech class, a lock for her gym class, and a new foler for my son's backpack :) Following that milestone, without my daughter having to remind a zillion times, I forked over the cash she needed for her gym uniform and I gave my son the cash he needed for his little Valentine's Day dance. I was early on the latter. It's not even due until next Friday. Like I said, I was on the ball! Yes, I rock!

Single Mommy Meltdown

This has been a morning that I just fell like crying. As me and the kids are getting ready in the morning, my son shows me that his backpack is empty--AGAIN. I say, "Where is your pencil box?" "I don't know," he responds carelessly. I sigh heavily following that expected response. What kind of mother was I, allowing my Kindergardener to go to school without his supplies. All I could think of was what my son's teacher was going to think of me because, naturally, the 5yr old is blameless.

Then on the way to school, with the empty backpack on my mind, I start thinking about my daughter having to stay after school until 6pm for Flag Corp practice. She attends school across the street from my job, which is 25 minutes from home, right? I get off work at 4PM. It would simply be insane for me to drive 25 minutes to get to my son only to have to drive back in approximately 60 minutes to be back in time to pick my daughter up. I couldn't help but consider not letting her participate on this team, but I knew that wouldn't be fair to her. So what that means is that 3 days per week I have to stay at work for an extra 2 hrs, twiddling my thumbs until she gets out of school.

For a split second I almost put in a phone call to my kids' father to see what assistance he could be, but I knew it was useless. In times like these, he always uses the same excuse he always does--he has to work. As if I don't, right?. But I'm always the one who has 100% of the responsibility of our children. I've been doing it for so long that it usually doesn't phase me--just an everyday part of my life. However, every now and then--like today--when my imperfections shine through, I feel so overwhelmed, but I know God has my back and won't let me mess up too much.

Workout Review

Okay, I took an extended weekend away from my exercise program. But on Tuesday, I got back to it. I was gungho about using my new Walk at Home Fitness video. So as soon as I got home, after I got my son started on his homework, of course, I popped the DVD in and got busy. What I love about this video is that it's progressional from 1 mile to 5 miles. Now, as I'm no beginner when it comes to fitness, I'd be doing myself a disservice if I only did a mile, so for starting out I completed 2 miles. The plan will be to increase 1 mile each month. That should get some of these newly formed rolls off of me.

The workout was great! I felt so accomplished. Afterwards, I ate a small bowl of spaghetti (unfortunately not with whole grain noodles, but I'm working on that). The problem came when it was time to go to bed. For the life of me, I could NOT sleep! And the longer I stayed up, the more hungry I became. Luckily, I didn't have any BAD food in the house or I would've been toast!

I've experienced this in the past and will modify my workout and diet. I'm sure the problem is that I didn't have a lot on my stomach before the workout so that's why I got hungry as the night went on. I'll fix that on the next go-round.

Working It Out in the New Year

Like most of America, I have made a New Year's resolution to shed some pounds in 2010. For me, however, this is a LIFETIME resolution--it has been for the last several years. But, I'm doing different for this year. I'm creating a workout plan more condusive to my lifestyle. Unlike two years ago both of my children are in school, the youngest being in Kindergarten so I can no longer hit the gym 3-4 days a week. Well, the last couple of weeks I got hip to the Exercise TV channel on my AT&T U-verse and I found my new best friend--Walk for Fitness! I absolutely love this routine. Basically, it's low impact aerobics with an emphasis on walking in place. I can definitely handle that. So much so that I've committed to doing the exercise no less than 4 days a week. And to make some use of my gym membership that expires at the end of the year, ideally, I'd like to hit the gym at least once a week, if not only just to enjoy the steam room and sauna.

I can't wait to see the pounds start dropping off!