Food to Feed a New Family

A family in our church just recently had a baby and so I wanted to bring food for the family.  I remember how much we ate out when we first had Munchkie.  The thought of prepping, cooking and then cleaning was too much to think about.  Now whenever I can I like to bring food to families with new babies.  It's hard enough to survive through the extreme sleep exhaustion let alone eat well.  I'm sure there are super moms out there that can hold it all together, but I sure am not one of them.

Thanks to Pinterest for almost all of my great ideas these days.  I saw this super cute idea a while back and kept it in the back of my mind to create.  Unfortunately I apparently didn't have my memory card in my camera when I took a bunch of pictures, so they were lost.  But how genius is it to make divided plates out of ice cube trays.  This family that we brought food to had a higher need for lunch meals more than evening meals, so I thought of what Munchkie would love for lunch.  I also know that to eat healthy takes prep and how difficult it would be to do that prep for two toddlers while caring for a new

 baby.  So these ice cube trays have cut up veggies and fruit, cheddar bunnies, small pieces of cheese and yogurt covered raisins.  I used Glad Press'n'Seal to seal the tops, when it is lunch time, the kids can just grab a tray, pull the top off and have a quick, easy, kid friendly lunch.
I obviously couldn't forget the parents, so I brought containers of precut veggies, hummus and some pita from the Lebanese store down the street.  I figured that these were foods that could be eaten with one hand if the other needed to be holding a baby.

I also threw in some soups that I had already made and a loaf of bread from the bakery down the street.  I'm not exactly sure how the family felt about the food and if it worked out for them, but I thought that I would have loved having some easy to grab healthy options.

I think that this will be my new go to meal options for new families.

Munchkie and Mommy Monday

I am very slowly adjusting to city life.  I can get where I need to by bus or by subway.  I'm learning to walk to the Family Dollar down the street or popping into a CVS I pass by instead of hopping in my car and going to Target.  I love the convenience of being able to walk most places.  I love that we're hardly ever filling our car with gas.

However, I do not like the fact that I have to wake up at 5:15am and leave the house by ten til six.  Or that IF I get off my twelve and a half hour shift on time I can hope to be home by 8:30pm.  I do not like that these days are long and tiring.  I feel like I have to spend a day recovering from them, which to me defeats the purpose of working only three days a week.

So on my days off, I try to give myself at least one recoop day.  We are paying for Munchkie to go to daycare five days a week, but I keep her home with me at least one day each week.  We need our time together.  Time to do fun things and spend time together.  Today started off a little rough, I had a hard time pulling myself together, but once I was up and going, we made the most of our day.

 We walked to the neighborhood square, mailed some packages at the post office.  Then we picked up some pull ups for big girls at night and stopped at the little ice cream shop.  There's a crate full of games in the corner to play while you're eating your ice cream, homemade soup or fresh lobster roll.

 We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and headed home, with a little hand in the box of cereal to help erase the phrase "I hun-gee Mommy"

 Apparently I wore her out.  I arrived home and this is what I found.  Hand still in the box.

 I had to go in and wake her up after a three hour nap.  Then we went for a walk, bus ride and two subways to meet Munchkie's Daddy after school.

 Watching out the window is so much fun!  Especially when there are sailboats out on the river we're crossing. 

 My plan was to arrive downtown, take a picture of a recipe in a cookbook at Barnes and Noble, pick up Munchkie's Daddy and head home.  Well, it took us almost two hours to get downtown.  There was a really cute little table set up in the kids section with scrap paper and crayons, so we sat and colored for a little bit. 

 And the apple must not have lasted too long because the phrase "I hun-gee Mom" returned.  So we ended up walking to a nearby Chipotle to fill those empty tummies.

 And we couldn't pass up the ice cream store we went by.......

this one had a cow on it

 While eating her apple cider ice cream Munchkie says: This ice cream tastes like a mountain.

What does that mean?!?!?

Apparently I had been taking too many pictures today.  Munchkie says "Smile Mama!  I taking your picture!"

That's Some Stellar Parenting

I have felt like a stellar mother this week (insert dripping sarcasm here).  I am in no way a morning person and thankfully this job has eased me into the early morning thing with each morning of work being an hour earlier.  However, it kills me that I live a ten to fifteen minute drive from the hospital and yet, it takes me over an hour to get to work using the public transportation system.  The other morning I woke up at the still-night-hour of 5:45 to get ready to be at work by 8am. Munchkie's Daddy had his first presentation of the school year and was a nervous wreck.  I noticed that he wasn't in bed with me and when I went into the living room he was just lying down on the couch.  I told him to go to bed.  What good would he be at a presentation if he got next to no sleep, and the hour or so that he got was on the couch?  After sending him to bed, I rushed around trying to get ready.  As I was trying to get out of the door, a little face was smiling at me over a baby gate.  That sweet little face says to me, "Look Mama!  I wake up!"  Oh no!  Why?!?  Why did she have to wake up so early?!?!  I whispered to her, "Mama has to go to work, play in your room for a little while so Daddy can sleep."  Next thing I knew there was crying, no she didn't want to do that.  She wanted to be with Mama.  Naturally.  So I did what every good mother running out the door does.  I poured a bowl of cereal, filled a sippy cup with milk and turned PBS on, leaving the door to Munchkie's Daddy opened and raced out the door.  I was slightly late to work, but so were other new people, so I didn't feel so bad about that.  However, all morning I was a complete mess about running out the door like that.  Besides the fact that I don't really like that I am leaving my daughter most days with what feels like a stranger who's name I know, mornings like this make it extremely difficult to walk through the door and away from her. 

Today, I was scheduled to work for twelve hours, the shift that I will be working.  Somehow we got very lucky and they decided to cut our training a little short today, so I was home shortly after seven.  Normally I will be getting home around 8:30.  This means that I will be gone from before 6:00am until around 8:30am.  If I work two days in a row, I will not see Munchkie for those two days.  At all.  Oh, this is a very difficult realization.  While life in a city has so many advantages at times, being able to walk down to a market, having a huge aquarium or park nearby and having access to a very reliable public transportation system, it also means that it takes a while to get anywhere.  I just don't know how I will be able to handle this.  I love my family and my family comes first in everything.  Not being able to see Munchkie, hear about her day, talk to her or even get a hug is going to be extremely difficult.  I guess that it will be a learning experience for all of us. 

We will have to learn how to make the time we do have together incredible.  This makes it very difficult to want to do necessary things around the house.  I feel like even reading the mail is taking time away from spending time with Munchkie.  Right now I am writing this quickly, since she just went to bed and I need to do the same.  I cannot bring myself to set my alarm clock for any earlier than 5am, so I have one alarm set for 5am and another "no really, wake up now" alarm set for 5:15am.  Hopefully by the time I come home tomorrow, I will still be functioning enough to make Saturday a wonderful together time day.  Each day home has to count, has to make up for those days that the time spent together is only moments, if any. 

These few and far between times together, along with racing out the door leaving a crying child behind and not being able to provide more than a bowl of cold, dry cereal, does not make me feel like a good mother at all.  I don't know how other mothers do it.  I just don't.

New Home: Financial Makeover

With our recent move we've decided to do a huge overhaul on our finances.  Munchkie's Daddy is starting his doctorate program and is receiving a living stipend for the first time, small as it may be, and it's a huge help.  We have watched our friends all buy houses, and it kills me (and Munchkie's Daddy too I think) to continue throwing money away on rent.  We are currently living in this ridiculously tiny apartment so that we can save money on rent since this area is unbelievably expensive.  We both read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and are going to begin to aggressively attacking our debt.  Hopefully at the end of Munchkie's Daddy's five year stent, we're going to be ahead a little bit and will be able to buy a roof over our heads instead of giving that money to someone else.

My good friend over at Our Tiny House recently posted about her family's plan to be frugal.  She stays at home with her super cute little girl and shares how they make it work on one income. 

Our Tiny House- My Frugal Family

I have always admired her thriftiness and creativity.  She's amazing at finding hidden treasures at garage sales and thrift stores, getting great deals everywhere she goes.  That combined with her organization and financial structure make her the epitome of frugal.  For example, her she talks about disciplined they are "First off, I keep track of every penny we spend, where it goes, what it was spent on. This way, at the end of the month, we can see where we went right, where we went wrong, and what we have."  She also gives an example of the things that she and her mother have found thrifting and garage saleing and it's incredible!  Click on that link above and read her plan, and I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.

New Home: My New Neighborhood

I've been trying to explore a little bit of the area.  I haven't been too great at getting out, but I love the area that we are living in.  We are just outside the city enough to feel more like a neighborhood.  I feel very safe and it's great to be able to walk to dinner, ride our bikes to the subway station or play out in the yard with the neighbor girl.  We have been to the farmer's market both Saturdays that we have been here and the fresh produce selection is great.  Yesterday they had music for the kids and the week before a craft table set up for kids.  This week, we saw a little guy that Munchkie goes to daycare with and his mom, we stopped to chat and found out that they are kind of on the same path we are and live just a few streets away from us.  I was then getting a cup of coffee at a coffee shop on a bike (yes, on a bike) and made a comment to a woman standing next to me.  Next thing I know, we found a connection via a mom website we both belong to and they welcomed us to the area. 

Tonight we went to a church that we have been looking forward to attending and we really enjoyed it.  We met several families around our age and a teacher said to me that there was another new couple she had just met that was living in the same neighborhood we were. It turns out that this couple lives on our street just a couple blocks away.  To top that, he graduated the same master's program that Munchkie's Daddy did (and the same year) and they have a mutual friend.  They moved here at the beginning of the summer (from the same town we just moved from) and told us such great tips about the area.  Where to buy meat, which little store has the best produce, etc.  It feels wonderful to make connections and even to find tips about the area.  I am beginning to believe that this truly was a good move for us and I hope to continue to explore and find great things in our area. 

The transition to this new area is such a different transition than the previous one we made three years ago.  The culture shock that we experienced moving from the Midwest to the Northeast was something we didn't expect.  I have been bracing myself for months to be prepared for another culture shock, but instead of have been shocked by how friendly and helpful everyone we have encountered has been.  We have already met more people in the couple weeks we have lived here than we did in months of our previous move.  Previously every single relationship that I had was a result of my work, and here I haven't even started working and already have made connections.  This is amazing to me. 

The downside to living in this area I have found is that Target is not very convenient to get to and Walmart is a ridiculous drive.  While this is kind of devastating, it will probably be good for our bank account.  Not making frequent trips to these stores will help me realize what's really important.  I won't be buying unnecessary things that catch my eye and maybe I can even spend the wasted time wandering the aisles being more productive in my life or even doing something like riding my bike to improve my physical fitness, or lack thereof.

Here is a little view of my new neighborhood.

The main street that we live off of has a beautiful view of the city.

The farmer's market on the town green. Plenty of tents set up with everything from fresh pastries to every kind of tomato possible to stone ground chocolates made right here.

Making a maraca at the kid's craft table with Munchkie's Mimi.

All of the amazing things we purchased at the farmer's market.  Fresh produce that we enjoyed every bite of.  Just look at the variety of tomatoes!

This restaurant caught my eye the first time we came through the area.  It has open windows, small tables and an interesting menu.  We could hardly pull Munchkie away from the window to eat her food, she loved feeling the wind blowing on her face as she watched the cars go by.  My lemon and ricotta cheese pancakes were wonderful and Munchkie had fresh squeezed orange juice for the first time.  She was so confused, she would take a drink and say "this an orange mommy?" and I would say, "yes, it's orange juice."  She was say ok and take another sip, then again say "this is an orange."  She didn't realize that orange juice was actually supposed to taste just like an orange.

We found this indoor playground when we went to check out the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  Another mom said that it was really good for those days when the kids can't play outside.  A big open space with lots of things for the kids to play with, and free wifi for the parents.

  

We saw these birds all lined up on the roof of the house next door, just hanging out.

 

We went to a restaurant down the road from us that specialized in southern cooking.  Munchkie's menu/coloring page said "Selections For Future World Leaders, Humanitarians and Rock N Rollers"

This is our church, it starts in the evening, which is perfect for us since we aren't morning people.  Tonight they had a bbq afterwords and we were able to meet quite a few people in the church. 

 This beautiful pond in a public garden is right in the middle of the city.

 I love this contrast, beautiful green grass, with a carousel and a park, surrounded by skyscrapers.

New Home: Living Room/Dining Room/Study

Yes, this is quite the combo room.  One of the reasons why it is the last rooms to be posted.  There were several projects that I had planned and I did finish some of them, enough to post pics at least.  Here are the before and afters.

Before

After

 Welcome to my living room.  Taken from the doorway.  The gray rug was the inspiration for the room.

 From the corner that the TV is in.

 From the couch.

From the dining room area.

 This is our bookshelf/TV stand.  I saw a picture on Pinterest where they used glass jars as picture frames and I loved it.

 I saved glass jars for a while until I had different sizes and shapes, then I took my favorite pictures and had them printed in black and white.

 I planned on using more mirrors to help the room appear larger, but for now, these are the mirrors that I have.  This is also my attempt at a arrangement with flowers and sticks.

 Our couch with our decorative wall.  We found this curtain at Ikea and then today we bought molding at Lowe's, spray painted it black and cut it to form a frame around the curtain. 

 This was something that my aunt gave us shortly after Munchkie was born and I love it.

 Welcome to my "Dining Room."  The table was a coffee table that we cut the legs off of.  We bought new legs for a few dollars and spray painted them black.  I found one chair for $4.99 at Habitat for Humanity's Restore and painted that black.  For now Munchkie's Daddy and I are using stools while we look for cheap, sturdy and perfect for us chairs to complete our set.

 I saw a while back this super cute idea where someone used old lightbulbs, hung them and put flowers inside of them.  I didn't have any lightbulbs, but I did have old spice jars.  So I decided to use those.  I put a couple faux rose petals in each one and then found some twigs outside.

 Welcome to Chris's "study."  I found two bifold doors, again at Habitat for Humanity's Restore, spray painted them gray today and Munchkie's Daddy hinged them together.  I think that we need one more set of doors to fully cover his desk so that I don't have to see the piles of books.

There's enough room for him, although he doesn't necessarily agree.  He calls it his dungeon.  

So there is our multipurpose room.  I still have several projects that I hope to complete in the near future, but it is definitely livable.  Although this room has a lot going on in it, I still feel like there is plenty of room and we feel good spending time in it.  If you notice, one thing that is not present in this room- toys.  We have a new rule, toys stay in your room.  I really like this rule.

Time Off

I'm starting to get a little depressed.  I was so excited to have a month off of work during our move and now that month is rapidly coming to a close.  I had such high hopes to explore the area and spend time with Munchkie but I have been dwelling on the fact that I have to go back to work soon.  I think that since Munchkie has started her childcare, I am spending my days alone and it makes me sad.  I am here with time off so that I can spend it with her.  But instead, I am home, and she is under the care of someone else. 

I know that she is having a lot of fun and talks about all of the kids that she plays with.  I know that she needs the interaction with other kids and the time away from family to learn in other ways.  However, I also know that I like to spend time with Munchkie.   I think she's getting tired of my "lovin" but she still gives me hugs and kisses when I ask.  We also have been snuggling on the couch when she gets home. 

I'm hoping that by writing out my fears here, I can get past them and get my behind into gear.  I have just over a week left of my time off and I need to make the most of it instead of dwelling on the time that I don't have off.  I need to stick to my room a day organization and do things like make it to the DMV to get a new license.  Hopefully tomorrow's post will have pictures of my completed bedroom.

Auction for a Beautiful Baby

I just learned about this beautiful little baby who went to heaven this week.  She died of liver failure and her parents are asking for people to consider becoming an organ donor.  They are also holding an auction to help raise money to cover all the medical expenses.

They have some really neat things for auction and you could get some really cool finds while helping out another family.  Whether you need to get a gift for someone, or just want it for yourself, check out these options.


http://rubyjanetaylor.blogspot.com/

Lake Superior Rock Mirror

Several years ago when I was in between second and third grades we met my family at the lake house in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  While on that trip we decided to go to the log slide at Lake Superior and my grandfather told us of these amazingly smooth rocks that we could collect.  So my grandparents sent us down the extremely steep log slide with our plastic grocery bags to collect rocks and the agreement they would  meet us "right around that corner."  Well my mom, her two sisters, my two cousins, my very young brother and myself reached that corner and realized that the stretch of beach kept going.  And going.  And going.  For six miles.  Keep in mind that we kids were collecting rocks in plastic bags- so you can imagine how well those bags held up.  Hours later we finally met my grandparents with each of our approximately 13 pounds of rocks that the adults were carrying in their shirts.

Needless to say, we have been talking about this trip for years.  This year we went back to that same stretch of beach and to the log slide. I saw these amazing rocks that I just saw as the perfect rocks for some kind of craft.  Initially I thought that I would make a side table, but changed my mind and decided that since mirrors will be essential to making our small apartment appear larger, a mirror would be a better use of the rocks.

I have to say that I am very happy with the results.  It definitely doesn't look professional, but for having done something like this for the first time, I can't complain.  The best part about it is that every time I look at it I will be flooded with all kinds of memories.

To make this mirror I found a mirror at Goodwill for $3.99 with a simple while frame.  Then I bought styrofoam poster board that I created a two inch frame to cover the wooden frame with.  I then cut (and by I cut, I really mean that Munchkie's Daddy cut) strips to frame the outside and inside with.  Then filled the "trough" with plaster of paris and dropped the rocks in.  I had laid out the rocks ahead of time, flipped them over onto a piece of cardboard to put back in the same spot.  But that didn't work at all.  I ended up just putting them in however I could get them to fit.  At the end, I painted all of the visible styrofoam board an ash gray color.  It's still slightly undone, but I was just so proud of it that I had to share.

Successful Saturday

I had one of those fantastically successful and productive Saturdays.  The ones that don't stress you out, but the ones that you go to bed and think, oh now that is how I like to spend my day. 

We started off by going to the super cute coffee shop and walking to the farmer's market.  At the farmer's market we found all kinds of goodies.  I just love the farmer's market so much.  I must have walked up and down the aisle at least 5 times surveying each booth's wares.  The first purchase I made was a little jar of eczema cream for poor Munchkie's face.  She started with these patches of eczema this summer and I was so excited to find something natural to try on them.  We are planning on making some tomato sauce with the tomatoes and basil to freeze and slightly replenish our frozen sauce.  The kale will make great kale chips for some healthy snacks and the peppers never made it past the raw stage because we snack on them like apples.  The delicious yellow honey tomatoes.  Oh they're gone.  Have been since an hour after we got home.  Now that is what a tomato is supposed to taste like!

 On the way from the coffee shop to the farmer's market we passed by a tag sale that had a few items that caught our eye.  The first was a dog kennel.  Both of our dogs' kennels were in bad shape and we recently bought a new one at Walmart for one of them, but couldn't handle paying the price for a second kennel.  The kennel at the tag sale was much better quality than the cheapest ones at Walmart and she accepted our offer of $5.  Amazing!  As we were walking away we both stopped and saw this trunk.  Oh my goodness.  We both turned and looked at each other and said, "I've always wanted a trunk."  The seller finally accepted our offer of $21 after some negotiating.  I can not wait to fix it up a little bit.  What perfect storage!  It's not too big and can hold all kinds of things inside of it.  With a little refinishing, paint and new hardware, I think this can be a very beautiful piece that will find the perfect place in our new home.  I was so excited after this find that I wanted to go look at some things for our new apartment.  We went to Ikea to get some ideas on making small spaces work.  Then  I went to JoAnn Fabrics to look at a few things, Home Depot for paint samples and found a great deal on a mirror at Goodwill for another project.  I really enjoyed the time with my family, but also a few hours by myself meandering through stores thinking and creating in my head.

The perfect ending for our day was a date night after Munchkie went to bed.  We had wanted to spend one last date night out while we still had people around us that we knew.  Unfortunately our plans slightly fell through and so we spent the date night in our own living room with Munchkie sound asleep upstairs.  Some Thai take out, a few candles and a movie really made it feel like a date night.  We had a good time together talking and enjoying each other's company without thinking about all the things that needed to be done around the house.  We were able to truly focus on each other.  I look forward to date nights and believe that they are an essential part in a healthy relationship.  Even though we spend quite a few nights together in our living room, it's completely different when you have a mindset of sharing a date night together.  You are able to mentally push all other things aside and truly focus your energy and attention towards the person you love.  It makes a huge difference to feel special and loved as you do during these times.


And so, after a movie, dinner, creative thinking trip, tag sale, farmer's market and coffee shop I had an incredibly productive and perfect day. 

Serve With Extra Love

I got this email and first thought that you can't go wrong with Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, and then when I read the accompanying story I was in tears by the end. 

"All she wanted was for us to make pie and share it with someone we love."

Wow.

It makes me want to make a pie tonight.  If only Munchkie's Daddy would appreciate the gesture (he's not a sweets kind of person and probably wouldn't eat it anyway). I will find someone to make pie for. You never know how long your loved ones are in your life.  Cherish each moment.  And "serve with extra love."

For Jennie & Mikey- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

In Jennie's Kitchen:
For Mikey 

And if you aren't already crying-
One Last Dance  

There's An App For That

We recently switched cell phone companies and thanks to an amazing deal, were able to join the world of wireless at your fingertips.  I love being able to send off an email when I think of something I want to tell someone.  I love being able to respond quickly to an email.  I love being in a store, remembering something in the circular that I wanted, bringing it up on my phone, showing the employee who then finds the item for me.  But most of all, I love having apps on my phone.

Right now my favorite is a game for Munchkie.  It is so great, she wants to play with it all day long.  The app is called "Where's Mommy?" and it's description is "The Photo Game You Create."  What you do is take pictures of anything you want, ad it to the app and then record your voice saying "Where is <fill in the blank>."  Then for the game the screen has twelve pictures on it and your voice gives the commands.  The child then taps the corresponding picture and this continues until all twelve items have been found.  I spent most of the morning taking pictures of everything I could find around the house, from food to toys to shapes to animals.

I have a doctor's appointment on Friday, during nap time in which she has to come with me.  I am hoping that she likes the app so much that it will keep her occupied and happy for the length of the appointment.  I think I will soon become one of those moms who can't imagine life without her phone.  It keeps our lives together with the calender, updates all my contacts from my email account, keeps me linked to the wireless world AND entertains my child.  You can't beat that!

The Trio of Moving

We have been so busy lately, making trips all over.  We have made the two hour trip to our soon-to-be-new home several times and this past weekend we went to visit Munchkie's Daddy's family, a five hour car ride to both visit and bring stuff for storage.  It is very stressful planning yet another move, especially when you don't really know anyone in the area.

The three essentials for moving as a family are

• A place to live
• A job
• Childcare

These are all so intertwined that if you don't have one of the trio, you can't have the others.  Without a job, you can't afford a place to live.  But if you don't have childcare, you can't work, and if you don't have a place to live, you can't find a new job.  Oh it's all so stressful!  We have successfully found all three!  I can not even begin to express what a relief this is. 

Now, the prepping for the moving must start.  We are moving into an even smaller apartment so the downsizing has begun.  It seems that with each move we have made, we have moved into yet an even smaller place.  So each time we have downsized a little bit more than the previous time.  We are sorting through all of our belongings and deciding which ones are essential.  I love this.  I love organizing, cleaning out and getting rid of stuff.  However, I also like to find things we "just have to have."  So now I need to sort through all of this "have to have" stuff and decide if it's worth it to move it out of this house, up three flights of winding stairs and then back out again in one to two years.  If that isn't motivation to minimize, I don't know what is!

We also would like to make sure that the things in our house are eventually all very good quality things.  While everything is workable right now, the fact that we talk about if such and such piece will make it through a couple more moves, makes it automatically on my "let's not take it with us" list.  We also talk about each one and say, will we still want that in five years when we hopefully have an actual house to live in?  If it's questionable, away it goes.  It's just not worth it to keep moving all of this stuff that we aren't going to want at the end of our moves.

When we made our last halfway across the country move I also got really excited to do the sorting and organizing, starting months ahead of time.  But then when it came down to the days before the move, I got completely burnt out (probably didn't help that I was ending my first trimester of pregnancy) and just could not do anymore.  I am trying to pace myself this time so that I don't get tired of it by the end, but also not wait until the last days either.  We are making a list with photos of all the things that we will be eliminating and I plan on having a Name-Your-Price Facebook tag sale.  Our plan is to get rid of stuff, and maybe even make a little bit of money off of it. 

I'm really interested to see how this turns out.  Now that we have the basic essentials of the move figured out, and have begun the sorting process I am already designing the rooms in my head and figuring out how to arrange the furniture.  I think that finally, I feel like this is real, everything has fallen into place and we are really getting ready to start over yet again.

MY Mama Never Said There'd Be Days Like This!

Well, at least if my mom did tell me there would be days like these, I didn't listen to her.  To start, I am writing this at 2:09 am.  I worked Friday night through Wednesday night with Monday night "off", which means that I spent at least part of the day sleeping for work, working or sleeping from work, Friday through Thursday and spent over 63 out of 133 hours at work.  Ugh!  Today I intentionally only allowed myself a few hours sleep in the hopes that I would be able to sleep tonight.  Nice try!

While working so much there was absolutely no way that I could even fathom thinking up, making and cleaning up after a meal.  I have never been so thankful for Chipotle in all of my life.  I was able to "provide" a meal that was full of veggies, beans, and meat free of hormones or antibiotics.  It was a delicious meal that fed us that night, then Munchkie and Munchkie's Daddy the next day for lunch as well.

I just don't ever think that I realized how tired a person could be.  Emotionally and physically.  All this work, prep for traveling to the in-laws this weekend, more work, traveling 17 hours to the family lakehouse, more work and then moving is a lot for one little family to handle!  I just never expected my life to be like this.  So busy all of the time that I can barely keep my head on straight, let alone do things that are enjoyable.  On Tuesday when I woke up I took Munchkie to daycare, Munchkie's Daddy to work, came home, got a quick work out in, showered, dashed off to the dentist, came home, tried to sleep for a couple hours, got my dinner and Munchkie's lunch ready for the next day, laid her outfit out, while trying to have some quality time with the family at the same time as I was getting ready for work.  Whew!

So how is it, that after this exhausting week I cannot fall asleep?  How is this possible?  Probably a lot of it has to do with the fact that when my head hits the pillow it starts running like crazy.  Making lists for the store, making lists of things to pack for this weekend, making lists of things to pack for two weeks from now, figuring out what days I can get all of the laundry done, plotting out a Word document of all the things we need to measure at the new apartment next week, who I need to call to catch up with and meals I can put together or bring with me to keep eating healthy during these busy times.

Throughout this I am finding it even more important to deliberately spend time with my family.  Something I thought just happened.  I never realized that you have to specifically set aside time to spend with those you live with.  Through all of this we are trying to make time to get a little movement in together.  This actually works out beautifully, we go walking on paths by our house laughing, talking and playing together.  We look for animals and identify different sounds we hear.  Then we sit on the rock and watch for boats to go by before heading back watching out for rocks and roots.  Taking this time in the quiet, peaceful outdoors has really showed me how great it is to spend time moving as a family, it makes those busy times just melt away for a little while.