On the Second Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me...

...new books! 

While I love visiting with family and sharing gifts, I am grateful when after all of the celebrations we can just relax. On the second day of Christmas the weather way icky and we were tired so we stayed in our jammies all day long.  And we read.  Just read. The kids received new books in their stockings this year and they were happy to read them.  The kids loved receiving new books and I think this will have to be a tradition we continue with our kids. I love having children who love to read.  

Mr. Bananas is reading his new "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book set.
Buggy is reading her new Ramona book from the Ramona series.

Daddy and Boogie snuggling on the couch reading the first book in the Rise of the Guardians series

Boogie reading to himself while Hubby napped

My view from my end of the couch. Boogie was in this position for over an hour. 

Barefoot Runnin'

Now, I wouldn't call myself a runner. I have terrible form, I'm overweight, I become that really unhealthy-looking red color that makes people worry, and I am S-L-O-W.  However, in a weird way I love the feeling I get after a run. That runner's high coursing through me. I feel like I can conquer anything after a run...even if I'm red-faced and super sweaty.

I recently finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  My brother-in-law suggested it to me after I had to bail out of running a 5-mile race with him because of a wicked (small according to the doctor) heel spur and a horrible case of plantar fasciitis.  I gotta tell you, I'm hooked (on the book, not the injuries).  If you are into running and you haven't tried barefoot running, or if you're wondering why you have a variety of injuries due to running, READ THIS BOOK!

I have spent the last two months spinning so that I can keep up my cardio while waiting for my foot to heal.  In the meantime I have been missing my runs, which is ironic because when I'm running, I'm wishing that I could stop and give up.  One of the things that came to light is that I have been running to lose the baby weight, I wasn't necessarily running because I enjoyed it. I don't enjoy it because I hurt. My knees hurt, I can barely get out of bed some mornings because my knees hurt so much, and my feet hurt, etc., etc. I want to enjoy my run. Again, I love finishing a run and feeling like I've conquered the world.  However, If I run because I find it enjoyable, then I would not only lose the baby weight, I'd get rid of the "I just want to be done" feeling.

In reading the book I found out that our bodies were built for running. That our shoes actually prevent us from running the way we were meant to run. According to the local running store I'm an over pronator who needs a stability shoe. (Read: I'm too fat to run in good form. Yes, in my research as to why I have injuries, my tendency to over pronate, and the kind of shoe that will work for me, I found out that really, I'm an overweight runner. And I am. I'm probably a good 20 pounds overweight and only 5 of those pounds can be attributed to the last of the baby weight).  Anyhow, in reading Born to Run, I realized I can be a better runner, enjoy running, and have less injury if I learn how to run they way we are supposed to run.

My husband thinks they look like alien feet :)

So what did I do? I joined the barefoot running revolution. This past weekend I bought my first pair of Vibram 5 Fingers (V5F) running shoes and I am so excited. It is a completely different approach to running. I have to unlearn the last 34 years of running.  I have to go S-L-O-W in order to strengthen my feet. It's kind of hard to do since all I want to do is run, run, run. It is highly recommended to make the transition slowly between "traditional" running shoes and running barefoot.  Follow the Vibram 5 Fingers training plan.  It's good to start how this way. With coming back from an injury I thought it would be a good time to learn how to run barefoot. So here I go. I'll keep you up to date on my progress. So far I've just been walking around the house in my V5F getting used to wearing them and I've been running in my backyard completely barefoot with nothing but the soles of my feet touching the dewey grass. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time.   If you wear V5F or are a barefoot runner, let me know what you think. I'd love to read your comments and learn from you.

Happy Trails!

Kind. Smart. Important.

Two weeks ago a friend of mine and I went to see The Help.  If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, do so. It was a great movie.  The Help is the story of an aspiring author who decides to write a book from the African American Maid's point of view in the 1960's.  The characters were inspiring.  I appreciated their stories, their frustrations, their challenges, and their successes.

One of the things that struck me from the get go was what one of the maids (Aibileen) says to her little charge.  She started her morning routine with telling the little girl: "You are kind. You are smart. You are important."

Of all the messages shared by the movie, this is one that hit home.  (Again, it goes back to my love language of affirmation.)  But isn't Aibileen's message to Mae Mobley also a reflection of how "The Help" is viewed by their employers?  That They aren't smart or important? Isn't it interesting that Aibileen tells the little girl that she is kind first?  To be kind is the most important trait?

How often are we told something positive about us? How often do we share something positive about another person?  As a mother I want my children to know that I love and appreciate them. I want them to know that I'll always be there for them and that they are never a burden to me. Granted, there are days that I become frustrated and there are days that I wish I had a little "me" time. I think that's normal. There's never a day that I wish I was working.  But I know that if I was working outside the home, I would be wishing that I could be home with my kids every single day.

I decided to follow Aibileen's cue and tell my kids that they are "kind, smart, and important." I've also decided to add, "God loves you and so does Mommy and Daddy."  How's that for affirmation?

Wha? Did you say size 8?

I've been on this weight loss journey FOREVER!  However, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake off the baby weight from my first baby who is now four.  I would work out hard and not see any difference and become very frustrated.  I also love reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. She has one character, Lulu who cracks me up. She's always described as a larger than life woman.  I always laughed when I read about how she squeezes her large body in her spandex outfits...until one day the author listed the character's size/weight and I realized that was me! Not the squeezing into spandex part, but the large part. OMG I was Lulu!  I realized right then and there that I had to do something about my weight.

Before I became pregnant with Buggy I convinced my husband to let me spend the extra money and try Nutrisystem. Working full-time I wasn't able to make it to the gym very much but I was able to use the Nutrisystem meal plan. I lost 2-3 pant sizes and was within 10 pounds of making it to my pre-baby weight. However, it still meant that I was a big girl. Just slightly less big.  It also meant that I was tied to the NS meals and didn't know if I could lose the weight if I went off the program.

When I became pregnant with baby #2, gained 45 pounds during my pregnancy and had to start all over again. However, I walked everyday the last 3 months of my pregnancy and I think that is why I lost more weight initially than I had when I had my son.  I still had 15 lbs. to go before I hit my pre-pregnancy weight with Baby #2. But I hit the "wall" and couldn't do it. I was at the gym everyday. I was taking classes. I was doing everything right or so I thought. In chatting with one of the trainers, she told me that she noticed I was having trouble and lectured me about my eating habits. She was absolutely right and I had to hear it. She recommended that I go to a site that helped me to count my calories and determine what I was eating. It was basically an on-line calorie counter. I did and I have since lost 22 pounds and 3 pant sizes since November.

I've stalled a couple of times, got back to it and have started losing again. My goal is to be at least 1 lb. below my pre-pregnancy weight with baby #1 before trying for baby #3, be healthier, NOT to be diagnosed with diabetes, to be able to keep up with my kids, and run races.   Being a SAHM I just can't afford the pricey programs. Using The Daily Plate I've been able to watch my calories, type in gym routines and see how many calories I've burned, and keep on track with my weight loss. So far so good! I'm not quite where I want to be. According to the BMI I need to lose another 17-20 pounds to be at a healthy weight.  Which I will do eventually.  But at least I know that I can do it!

Last week I ran 5-miles outside for a practice run for this week's race. It's amazing what good shoes, an asthma inhaler, and losing 20+ pounds will do for your run. In practice I've already shaved about 8 minutes from last year's race time. I hope I can do it on Saturday :)  Wish me luck!

I Need a Better System!

As you saw from some of my pictures in my series "A Week in the Life" you saw parts of my messy house. I had commented at least twice that I need a better system. I do, I really do!!!  Several years ago I bought the "The Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life." I currently cannot find that book, ironic, huh? So obviously I haven't organized my life.  I'm always a work in progress. The sad thing is that I'm better than I was 10-15 years ago.

I recently bought the book "The House that Cleans Itself." I'm always on the lookout for ways to be better organized and to find a better system. I also subscribe to the blog, Organizing Your Way.  I love the blogger's philosophy of helping you find ways that work for you! The blogger also happens to be the mom of 4 little girls, so I feel like I can relate (although I only have two!). 

The house has been driving me nuts, although it's really not that bad. But there are things out of place everywhere!  I hate when people come by unexpectedly and they see the chaos of my house.  So I'm determined to clean up and declutter!!!! Especially declutter!

The first step in the book was to do a flow chart of your home just to figure out all the areas in your house. The second part was to find your HomeBase Zone. The area that drives you the nuttiest. The place that makes you stressed out because it's not neat. It's also the place that gives you the most calm when it is clear, neat, and organized.  For me it's my kitchen counter next to my printer. It's the catchall for all things that come in the door: mail, school notes, receipts, new purchases, etc.  When we have a big family gathering it's the place that stresses out me and the Hubby.  I usually throw everything into a bin and shove it underneath the counter.  It's so nice when it's clear...but I know that all the crap is still lurking underneath.

After dinner last night, Hubby took the kids out to run errands. Unbeknownst to him I decided to start decluttering. Poor guy. I've included my work in progress. I managed to fill up at least two large boxes worth of stuff, most of which I'm sure I can throw away or find a new home for in their proper place.

I managed to clean off the countertop. There were cookbooks that I'm deciding what I should do with them. I've decided to pick and choose the ones that I definitely use and I'm going to give away the others.

This is what has been accumulating in the bottom cabinet underneath the printer. Yikes!

More stuff to sort, throw away, and donate.

This is the beautiful sight that greeted me this morning! Yay!  Only the essentials on the counter: the charging station, my labeler (which I can now fit into one of the many empty drawers and something I'm using all the time, now!), my router, my printer, a jar for writing utensils, my coupon holder, and my receipt). The coupon and receipt holders are left on top and in sight so that I remember to put coupons and receipts in there right away when I get home.  

By no means am I done with this area of the kitchen. Remember I have go through the two boxes of stuff. That's the hard part. I think I'm going to follow a "Clean Sweep" model and give myself 30 minutes to sort the boxes and decide what to do with the stuff I have.  Everything else is pitch or donate. Anybody need a cookbook?

Move Over, Edvard Munch, W. J. is on the Scene

The other day my son and I walked into his bedroom to get him ready for his nap.  The scene that greeted me were huge beautiful crayon swirls on his walls next to his bed.  I think my jaw hit the ground. My son gave a nervous giggle and started jumping up and down. As my eyes traveled from one circle to another, I gasped. It was then that my son realized how bad it really was and just started crying. I think I gasped five separate times: 2 large circles, drawings on his dinosaur poster, crayon decorations on his border, and then the lines below the border.

My son's reaction was the wide open mouthed wail, red face, and he kept trying to shut my lips, because my mouth was still open in shock.  Because he was standing on his bed, my head was around chest height, he grabbed my head and pressed it to his chest begging me to not talk. Mind you, I hadn't said a word.  It was comical, the whole head to the chest thing was right out of a movie.  He just wailed pathetically.  I have to admit it took all I had to not laugh at him.  I know a little Magic Eraser will help take the crayon off the wall, at least I hope it does!

When I finally spoke I asked him when he did it. He said he couldn't remember. Since we were at a birthday party the day before and he didn't come home until the evening and he was fast asleep when he was placed in his bed we think he worked on his mural sometime the next morning or when he was supposed to be napping.  I told him he had to tell his father and he just melted.  Unbeknownst to him I knew that my husband would laugh and think it's great. He's been wondering why William hasn't attempted it yet.  Please know that my husband is very creative and is an artist himself (in his spare time).   I'm sure that he spent many a day as a young boy drawing where he wasn't supposed to.

I put on my best disappointed face and told him to get into bed for his nap.  He asked for his favorite stuffed animal, Chester, who was downstairs. I told him that I wasn't going to get it, but he was welcome to get it himself. My son wailed and flung the comforter over his head as he burrowed deep under the covers.  Again, I did not forbid him having Chester, but I wasn't going to get it for him. I think the guilt over the crayon mural made my son stay put.

Throughout this whole ordeal I never once raised my voice. I may have used a stern voice, but no yelling involved.  His punishment was to tell his father, clean the walls (which we'll do later this week), and no video games until the walls are clean. He's really into video games right now I thought this would add a little oomph to the punishment.  After his "quiet time" (because he didn't take a nap) he did ask if I was going to send him away and asked to where I was sending him. For the record, I never told him that I would send him away.

I found that the shocked face along with dramatic gasps was more effective than raising my voice and yelling at my son.  Thank you, thank you. As my SIL (sister-in-law) wrote on my FB status:  "It sounds like he has a well developed guilt complex, your disappointment and helping in the clean up may be punishment enough."  Ahhh, yes the guilt complex. Well-honed from learning it from my Asian mother. Guilt was an effective tool in punishing me and to this day I often feel guilty for doing something or not doing something.  I'm a sucker and you can almost get me to do just about anything because I will feel guilty if I don't.  Asian guilt is quite the tool.

I'm also reading a book: Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation.  It's a tongue-in-cheek book written by comedian Elizabeth Beckwith about child rearing and is not to be taken seriously...sort of. HA!  It was given to me by a friend who's brother gave it to her saying this was how they were raised. She passed it on to me knowing a little bit about my background. It's funny, because it's true ;)

ps: I noticed the other day that my son's mural really looked more like Munch's work instead of Dali, Picasso, or Van Gogh. I noticed that one of the swirls, when looking at it from a certain angle, looked like a long head, with wide eyes and mouth, kind of like "The Scream" (is that right?) by Munch. You think he is trying to tell me something?