Yard Work

Ryan tackled mowing the lawn this morning while I tackled my plants out front. Here's a before and after shot. With all the rain we have had, my plants are growing at an insane rate.

Balancing and a Little Treading Water

So far, I am balancing the exercise thing. I worked out two days in a row, then took the rest day per the program, and continued my exercise tonight. To truly stay balanced, I need to get my butt out of bed early and do tomorrow's exercise before work since tomorrow night I have a happy hour to go to. So far, I have also stuck to my limit of two drinks a night (if any). Tonight I might break the rule by one (depends on how my computer adventure goes).

As for the work / life balance...well, I am doing ok. I could do a little better but I haven't completely gone lopsided. I would say the dieting front has stayed pretty consistant. No treats and I am sticking to my one soda a day. I did splurge today and got an iced coffee which is probably 10 times worse than a candy bar (I should probably find out how bad it really was to either accept it or deter future splurges).

I mentioned I am treading water and that's the work front. We have been super busy with a lot of high priority projects. To top it off, I lost my work badge yesterday and had to get a new one today. It wasn't that big of a deal but it stunk because I had to coordinate arriving at work with others so I could get in today and I had some personal pride in the fact my badge was one of the few "first issued" ones still in commission. Then my computer gave me the warning of "low free disk space" last evening. I nursed it along by transfering a couple files last night but am tackling the larger move tonight. I hope it works because my new computer will probably take 2-3 weeks to arrive. Again, it's a weird pride thing. I am one of the few nursing along an old version and people always wonder how I still have this computer.

Time to pay bills and begin my back up process. Wish me luck. I have avoided this for years and it might be painful. I hope it goes smoothly.

Balance

The word "balance" has come up quite frequently in the last couple days. Here is my new outlook on balance and what I will be evening out.

1) Balancing work and personal time
2) Balancing my fat *ss with my new exercise routine
3) Balancing my diet
4) Balancing my liquor consumption with other healthy drinks

None of these four forms of balance are going to be easy for me. Especially when it comes to walking with balance after working out tonight. I am going to have some super sore muscles tomorrow.

Poop Story

Miller has had a horrible diaper rash this past week. One of the ladies at work said I should let him play "naked" to air it out. You know where this is going.

We played for over half an hour today after breakfast and no normal poo routine. He had a wet diaper so when I changed that, I thought, what the heck. So I put him sans-diaper on the floor in his bedroom. He rolled his truck to me, I rolled it back. It bounced off of his hands. Hmm...let's try again. Same thing. Then the smile broke, he turned to chase his truck, and there it was. A giant turd on the floor. Of course there was a trail and a couple prints on the floor where I tried to set him before he grabbed his own poo. I avoided the hand grab but his truck did have a poopy tire.

The funny thing is I knew this was going to happen. I am just glad it was a normal poop and it was while I was watching him. Otherwise I am afraid he would have eaten it or smeared it everywhere.

Line Chef I Am Not

I spent that last 3 hours prepping food for Jess's baby shower tomorrow. The sad thing is nothing is really that gourmet. I am a slow prepper when it comes to chopping, measuring, and mixing. It's a good thing I am not a line chef. Chef Ramsey would have booted me in the first 10 minutes of his show.

To spare myself the anxiety of baking a cake and having it turn out like dog poo; I broke down and bought one from Publix. I will let you know how it tastes tomorrow. It looks pretty!

Tomorrow morning will be a cleaning frenzy and putting the last minute touches on presents and game prep. I think I have everything in order. After tomorrow's shower, it's relaxing time until Monday when I must tackle some long looming chores.

Oh, and I promise I will send pictures of our trip to MN and then some from this weekend. Work was too insane this week to have much Erin time once I got home.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Forget the flowers and candy, Miller got me a salt water fish tank! The best part of it is that it was Jon and Shannon's old one so it arrived at my house with a starter kit and lots of advice from Jon. (He tried to tell Ryan the ins and outs but Ryan didn't listen.) I can't wait to find out the details and get a couple fish. Tonight I have been watching the coral and crabs get situated.

I also bought myself a new emerald ring when in Bemidji. I have been trying to find a ring I liked for quite some time. I found a setting I liked and asked the jeweler to beef it up. A couple days later, they shipped my new ring with my sister (she was here visiting). I love the work they do. They probably love my shopping style-browse, ask 2 questions, finalize deal. I bet I didn't take more than 5 minutes to make my decision.

Now, I just need to finish being productive. Miller's birthday invites: complete. Jess's shower menu: complete. Shopping list: almost complete.

Lake Bemidji

I have been working some long days and slacking on the blogging and picture sending but here's some to tide you over.

This is us at Diamond Point Park looking out over Lake Bemidji. Surprisingly, it wasn't still frozen. We spoke to Ryan's parents this morning and they had SNOW last night. F that. I can't believe it's the middle of May and it was snowing. I will never complain about our 90 degree weather ever again.

We Survived

We survived our trip to MN and back. I have a ton of pictures to post but have been working too many hours to get it done. Vacations stink for that fact alone; catching back up at work. Yuck. Here's one to tide you over. Miller at Diamond Point Park on the swings. He loves his swings and this one had a lake front view just like at home. Man he's spoiled.

PS-this was the day we left and it did have sunshine but it was still cold. Notice the layers and coat!

We Made It!

Yesterday we headed for the airport at 10:30am ET and finally arrived in Bemidji around 9:45pm CT. It was a long day but Miller did a great time as a first time flyer. He was restless but tons of treats helped curb the fussiness. He didn't cry during take off or landing. We didn't need any of our backup items (no bottle-didn't want it, no pacifier-has a thumb).

After hours of Dad laptime and some of Mom's, the carseat was an oasis for him. He quickly fell asleep in the car. We stopped for dinner and he chowed down all his food. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's, he was ready to crawl and exercise those legs of his.

This morning he was walking all over the place behind a choo choo train (walking toy). He's out with Dad and Grandpa getting shown off to the locals. I am on a conference call. I have cleaned my hotmail inbox out and am in 2006 emails now. I would say that's a productive chore I have been longing to get to and never could prioritize the need. Today presented the perfect time to tackle it.

Pre-trip Work

It's the night before our big trip to MN. It will include Miller's first plane ride, Miller's first meeting of Great Grandma Froyd, and I am sure something else that will be a first. We are eager to see everyone.

The one bummer about a traveling vacation is the prep work. I have been picking up the house, doing last minute laundry, started packing, etc. Tomorrow morning will be all the rushed last minute details and then off to the airport. Wish us luck as I pray Miller will sit on our laps well and not be too loud to our neighbors on the plane.

Details to follow after we arrive safely.

Miller's First Hybrid

No, don't worry, I haven't given up my desire for a gas guzzling SUV. I fully intend to perform my due diligence (neglegance) on the ecosystem in the near future. I must contribute to the demise of our pristine ecosphere. In the meantime, we went green by getting Miller a cart to ride behind my bike!

I am battling the virus monster on the computer tonight and it won't let me download my pictures. Once I do I will post pictures of Miller in his sweet new ride. One thing I know for sure, I am out of shape. My thighs were quivering like Ryan at a scary movie. I have a lot of green riding to do to get in shape but with Fatty McGee adding resistance, it shouldn't take long at all.

Almost Back to Normal

Miller is acting and looking like he did prior to the cold and rash. He's a bundle of energy. The only signs of his illness are a lingering snotty nose and his lack of desire to eat us out of house and home. Since he technically hasn't lost any weight, I am not worried.

This morning we went to Target (found a great deal on a spring coat for our trip to MN this week), a new shirt for church, some t-shirts, and a new pair of shoes. We also went to Sam's Club and purchases diapers, veggies, and TP for the adults in the house. I know, how exciting.

I am going to put in a couple hours worth of work and then maybe venture back to Target. They have some cute clothes and I need to freshen the wardrobe. Other than that, same ol' same ol' at our house this weekend.

Day After

Miller looked much better this morning and drank 5 oz of formula on his own. He ate his fruit so there was no need to syringe him more fluids. Overall, the rash looked better and he was in better spirits. He went to bed good but woke up at 11pm. We had some whiskey, some cuddling/rock time and he's back asleep. I need to rub whiskey on my gums every night before bed.