The Great Spring Cleaning Is Underway

Here's hoping I can keep Mr F on track (it has been a challenge).

"Please tell me you are not going to waste a whole bunch of timing doing that." Mrs F says to Mr F upon catching him culling the magazines by his desk.

"I think this will make a big difference." Mr F replies.

"You have got to be kidding me. That would make a big difference." Mrs F says as she points to the HUGE pile (a 6 x 6 foot disaster area) of art supplies and toys not 2 feet away from him.

"Please use your time wisely." Mrs F implores.

Excuse My Absence

But in addition to attending Kid's "Earth Day" creek cleanup (Holy poison ivy!), then getting Baby's lunch, and then walking back to get Kid (in the blazing sun along the street with ABSOLUTELY NO SHADE TREES) and then back home again (someone give me a freaking medal for not melting into the ground or yelling at Kid despite her incessant need to pull back on the stroller while I try and push Baby... adding about one million tons of resistance)....

I am also tackling this space...

Which is covered in dust and pollen... hmm... didn't think about that when we left all this stuff out over the winter.


Oh by the way for those of you curious about Mr F's magazine cover... you can see it HERE... it's the blue May 2009 cover shown in the left upper hand corner.

Also Kid was featured modeling a tutu in that issue (I will get you a picture!) and the store owner loved her so much they want her to model more of their stuff... um... Kid is THRILLED. Her verbatim response when I told her was to gasp and ask "Am I famous?". Yes my dear... famous just like your mother is... in our own heads.

Exercise Like Rich People

In an effort to increase our activity I decided to bring the kids back to The Biltmore. Weather permitting my goal is to bring the girls here after school twice a week. Our typical visit is an hour and a half to two hours of constant (and enjoyable) walking (and in Kid's case running). Our annual passes have more than paid for themselves... I really underestimated all the property had to offer. They have beautiful gardens, lawns and trails and you really have free reign to use them as you see fit. I think this in addition to our now daily walks home from school fit a pretty good level of exercise into Kid's life without feeling like we're trying to "do something". I think the key for us is finding something that we would do anyway and just doing it more. Once school is out in another month (MONTH!!!!) I'll have a lot more time and energy to devote to choosing fun physically active outings and adventures.

In the meantime we'll just pretend we're Vanderbilts.




I love this series of pictures... I think they're hilarious... it looks like she's training for something.
What can I say?... those large open spaces just make kids want to RUN.

I spent the majority of the day getting my own workout...


Thankfully it wasn't all up hill...

I'd Like To Pass It Along

Is there anyone in a financial bind who could use GIRL summer clothes size 18 months (or thereabouts)?

As I have mentioned before (and I'm sure you have gleaned based on her personality) Baby wears clothes. I have plenty of play quality clothes (if you don't mind the occasional stain here and there) that I'd be happy to pass on to someone in need of them.

Let me know.

I've got things that range from 12-18, 18, and 18-24 from last spring & summer.

I Heart New York

Well the long awaited trip review...

The trip was great, we saw friends and family and really made the most of our journey. The kids did remarkably well (thank you DVD player).

The trip also gave Mr F and I a lot of time to talk. When else do you get 12 straights hours of undivided attention and adult conversation (minus the times I had to hurl myself over the front seat and dangle my body down like a contortionist to reach the missing... markers, pacies, snacks, water, etc... while instructing Mr F to please not hit anything)?!? We were able to talk about where we want to be and how we think we can get there... our 5 year plan if you will. As much as moving to Asheville has been harder (more disappointing really) than we expected it has also given us a lot of valuable insight into what we are looking for as a family.

While I would like very much to move back to NY... more now that we've been back (Mr F too although with more reservations)... that is my dream (although it did look like it was quickly becoming Kid's dream) and not my families best chance at a successful, thriving, life... so.... with a big ol' gulp I guess I'm swallowing that one for now.

I was wondering (and nervous) if NY would still live up to my idealized rememberances. It did. I was worried that things would have changed too much and I wouldn't feel that I belonged. They hadn't. I felt completely at home and at peace with myself walking down the busy streets of Manhattan. If you haven't had the experience of living in different places it's hard to describe... but some places feel better than others. Since moving out of the city I often feel like I am an impostor... in small towns, on vacation, at the store, in the country, in the mountains... like I just don't know exactly how to *be* where I am... NY, for whatever reason, is the only place I've ever been where I don't feel that way.

However... there is the financial reality. And it doesn't allow for us to live that life. Not now anyway.

Our trip brought up lots of other things too (stay tuned for that) one of them was unexpected...
Somewhat of an appreciation for Asheville...

Emphasis on somewhat.


Oh and Mr F decided to drive the kids up and visit his parents. Let that sink in.

Good Question

"Do you know who the children of the Earth are?" Kid asks from the back seat.

"Animals?" I reply.

"Animals and us." Kid corrected.

"Humans are animals." I say.

"Yeah I know." Kid says.

After a moments pause Kid adds...

"If we are animals how come foxes can't drive?"

Dear Days Inn

When we found out your rooms in Christiansburg, Virginia were $75 (before the outrageous state taxes) I was kind of expecting a little something more than this...
(self explanatory)
(drain that seeped water continuously... and the faucet and shower head poured out rusty water... which was nice as it HIT MY FACE)
(mold on shower curtain)
(not our trash on the floor)
(unfortunately I didn't notice this hair ball until after I'd used the towel)
(the door had a huge crack... never mind the disgusting wall)

Not only was this room subpar... it was FUCKING DISGUSTING.

P.S. No one in our party has long brown hair.

P.P.S. The picture of the bottom of the door shows the sizeable crack (about 1/2") between the door and the door frame... that can't be economical... or safe.

This Week The Plan

Last week was great. We had a really good time and maxed out our route to visit with as many people as possible. More on the trip (cause I know you're all riveted ;) later... for now I'm focusing on getting back on track.

#1 We left the house in a pretty clean state... but... you'd never know it now. It is like the car contents (and we were packed to the gills) has exploded all over the floor. It's a bit overwhelming... and somewhat dangerous.

#2 I am getting back on track with the weight loss/fitness goals. And yes after the trip I have weight loss goals. It's ridiculous that I gained that much. But it really was the push I needed to get back to 100% on doing what I need to do. It's funny how much easier it is for me to stay focused now that I have further to go.

#3 Laundry.


This week...

Menu:

Sunday - Tomato & Meatball Soup

Monday - Salmon Noodle Casserole (did I tell you I've changed this recipe to be organic... and it's better?), mixed veg

Tuesday - Fried rice w/ broccoli & seared tilapia

Wednesday - ? (still need to go to the store... I'll update tomorrow)

Thursday -?

Friday - Pizza & Salad

Saturday - ?


Kid's lunches:
For those of you that actually enjoyed this feature... I've stream lined our lunches and it is almost always leftover dinner, fruit, hard boiled egg or smoked salmon & milk. When we make dinner Baby usually eats a half portion and the other half is the perfect lunch portion for Kid. We have a small Thermos brand hot lunch carafe... we just heat it up and put it in and it's still hot at lunch. It's made lunch prep a lot faster. Yes it helps that Kid actually likes dinner food. ;)

P.S. Do you all give your kids 2% milk or do you think I should get skim or 1/2 % ? Mr F would have a cow if he came home to skim milk (bwahahaha).


Errands & Chores:

I really just need to PICK UP THE DAMN HOUSE... it's going to take all week.

Oh and the lawn looks like an undulating field... and so... maybe I'll try and mow it.


Diet & Exercise:
I am seriously sticking to actually weighing and measuring my portions. I'm shooting for around 1650 calories. AND working out for 60 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY this week. AND I'm walking to get Kid from school and to do our little errands.


Requests:
Please let me know if you are in need of some extra positive thoughts, energy, prayers (or whatever you call it) this week.

Wow

People, I am really touched by everyone's responses to yesterday's post. I was really nervous to talk about it and thought it might be a "hot button" issue. Once again I am amazed at how thoughtful, honest, sensitive and sincere my readers are. Really... what a great community!

I Guess I'm Going There

I've been debating talking about this for awhile... but for whatever reason I have some anxiety about doing so. I think people think that discussing your kids and their weight is taboo... and to do so is to be a psychopathic abusive mother who is obsessed with thinness. So let me just put out there that that is NOT what is going on here.

I recently took Kid to the doctor and they assessed her percentiles again. This is the 4th time she's fallen just above healthy weight with her BMI. The first time that happened I was outraged at the doctors for labeling her.... but three and half years later I'm wondering if we are doing her a disservice by not changing our lifestyle. We've been kind of letting things go for the last couple of years in regards to her weight and just taking a wait and see approach...but as Kid gets older the more I do worry (not about her weight) about our lack of physical activity and our modeling some pretty bad behaviors regarding exercise (or in Mr F's case lack there of) and love of baked goods.

At this point you'll have to watch the video to know what's going on. But Mr F and I spent a lot of time trying to think of ways we can encourage more physical activity without breaking the bank.

I'm still processing how to address this... stay tuned.

Game On

I just stepped on the scale after our 8 day trip and discovered I'd gained a WHOPPING 5 + pounds.

I know what you are thinking "Give it a week and it'll bounce back... you're probably dehydrated"


It could be that...

or...

it could be that I ate an entire bin of animal crackers on Saturday...

1/2 a pound of Reese's Pieces eggs yesterday...

drank my beloved soda by the gallon.


I'm just sayin' I kind of lost control with all of the mindless hours in the car.

But I'm not feeling overwhelmed by this. Sure it's the most I've weighed in over a year and a half... but I've kind of needed something like this to happen to push me. I kind of needed a challenge.

So thank you ridiculous car trip weight gain.

We're Home

More to come. For now we are in that dazed... glad to be back... yet... disgruntled to get back to regular life mode.

I'm off for milk.

And the damn dog.