However lovingly they like to play “lifting weights” in the garage with me, they are really not that interested in how I do, they are more interested in creating their own games, recovering from ridiculous incidents of allergy/infected feet, not getting shots, going on airplanes, and just generally being kids. There are days that include 6+ hours of work, a kick a** hard workout when I just don’t want to play with them…I’d rather curl up in my comfy chair and take a nap! But the days when they are this young are limited and pass quickly. I look back on super cute photos of them and I want those days back!
So, today, when you get cranky with your kids, just remember, they will only by this YOUNG once.

On another note:
Mother’s Day is coming up very soon….have any gift requests, I’m looking for ideas?!

Which one do you love the most?!

So, moms, if you could change one superficial thing about your appearance what would it be?  Or, could I rephrase that with how could we improve our appearance through nutrition, healthy living, good sleep, and a happy personality?

Being an over 40 mom now, I’m beginning to see value in healthy skincare and would love to see a reduction of wrinkles, fine lines and under eye circles on my face.  Yes, I want to fight the aging process!

Who wants to look old?  We all (or at least I do) work really hard at the physical and nutrition part, but spend little to no time on skincare.

Who does?

If you invest in healthy skincare products, what do you use?  Anybody had any chemical peels, laser treatments, skincare procedures done on yourself that you’d recommend to others?

Also, I love the girl time in the chair where I have 1.5 hours to chat with a girl on things that I don’t normally have time or energy to talk about.  Being a mommy doesn’t allow for lots of uninterrupted chat time.

Except, husband and boys don’t seem to appreciate my new hairdo and leave me with comments like “that color makes you look like a teenager”, or “your bangs look very banggggggy…”, or mom, did you get your hair done, “yes”, it looks “flippy” and he makes the motion of a fish.  Husband (yes, I love you) is famous for his particular type of comment, such as ________________(says nothing and walks out the door)!

I almost always like how I look when I leave the salon.  I also enjoy a compliment when I get home, anybody else?!

Back in 2008, when my knee blew up on a downhill run in training for a downhill marathon, I’ve known that my hips were my problem. They continue to be my problem. Last year, I was off squatting and dead lifting for more than six months before a chiropractor took an ex-ray of my back only to explain to me that basically I have a “muted hip”. Meaning that they DO NO MOVE. When my bones go on (my very technical term) “lock down”, I immediately will have muscular pains/knots in my a**/give me some ice now kind of pain. Lately I’ve been running back to the chiropractor a minimum of 2x a week! Holy Crap…that’s too much.

So, my complaint lately has been to the chiropractor, “well, you can’t fix me” and his comment is “well you’re over-training” and my comment back to him is, “no, sir I’m not”. There is something related to my muscles that are pulling me out of alignment!!

Guess what?! Nobody has identified which muscles that they are for me that are not doing their job, but, what I can tell you is that the front of my body is ENTIRELY TOO TIGHT in comparison to the back of my body.

What does that mean exactly? You know when you go to yoga class and you know you can’t do certain things—hello, backbends–because you are just too tight, you can’t do them, therefor you don’t even try to do them….I could go on and on. Bottom line, I neglect the crap that I suck at (full wheel, camel pose, bow pose) because I can’t do them.



Now, thanks to Network Fitness’ kindness and generosity in teaching me how to be MOBILE in my tight spots, I at least know what to do! Note above photo of my “mobility tools”..A $9 PVC pipe from Lowe’s, a $1 LaCrosse ball from Amazon.com, a $10 foam roller from the local running store and the cream of the crop, the “bumpy roller” obtained from Network Fitness for a ridiculous sum of money. However, what I’ve learned has been invaluable to teaching me how to be more flexible and release the tight areas of my body.

Learn from me, if you suck at something, figure out how to improve the situation. The only thing that can occur from super tightness is injury.

So, my carpet smells like puke, my laundry is unfolded and I have two kids home today one whose obviously been puking and the other one whose kind of lost without his brothers creative energies to direct him.   In addition, there are dishes to wash, bills to pay, rooms to clean and bathrooms to scrub…and I still need to write here on this blog, workout and find things to keep me happy like reading!  It’s a weekend so that means that I have two days to work on all of the above and still be a mommy!  Usually what happens is that I wake up, workout, and then (it feels like running on a treadmill) but I run around my house attempting to multitask doing a little here and a little there but never really finishing a job…Argh.  My head is spinning.

How the heck do you balance it all?!

How am I going to remain sane? How does anybody remain sane with this stuff? All moms juggle the same things I am- and many probably have their children in extra curricular activities as well.   Yesterday, my kid wanted pizza for lunch and I couldn’t even remember to check off “pizza” on the sign in sheet!

If I were a superhero, I could just snap my fingers and get everything done all the time no problem, however, I’m just a regular mommy trying to squeeze it all in (all the time).  I realize that maybe I could  just give up a few responsibilities to others or do less, but then what?!

And to add to this nonsense, I’ve been asked to participate in the CrossFit Open again this year.  Just like adding more stress to the already chaotic life!  “Just do it for fun this year…set new goals and use it to judge where you should be next year!”

Thoughts, comments and suggestions welcome!

Anyone, have any suggestions?

Flirty Aprons for Mothers and Daughters.

And for the boys, so, far, all I’ve found is on Etsy.

Today is Cyber Monday. It will likely be the biggest online shopping day ever. Cyber Monday was created by the National Retail Federation in 2005 to focus media and public attention on online shopping. But Cyber Monday, and the culture of consumption it reflects, puts the economy of natural systems that support all life firmly in the red. We’re now using the resources of one-and-a-half planets on our one and only planet.

Because Patagonia wants to be in business for a good long time – and leave a world inhabitable for our kids – we want to do the opposite of every other business today. We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.

Environmental bankruptcy, as with corporate bankruptcy, can happen very slowly, then all of a sudden. This is what we face unless we slow down, then reverse the damage. We’re running short on fresh water, topsoil, fisheries, wetlands – all our planet’s natural systems and resources that support business, and life, including our own.

The environmental cost of everything we make is astonishing. Consider the R2® Jacket shown, one of our best sellers. To make it required 135 liters of water, enough to meet the daily needs (three glasses a day) of 45 people. Its journey from its origin as 60% recycled polyester to our Reno warehouse generated nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, 24 times the weight of the finished product. This jacket left behind, on its way to Reno, two-thirds its weight in waste.

And this is a 60% recycled polyester jacket, knit and sewn to a high standard; it is exceptionally durable, so you won’t have to replace it as often. And when it comes to the end of its useful life we’ll take it back to recycle into a product of equal value. But, as is true of all the things we can make and you can buy, this jacket comes with an environmental cost higher than its price.

There is much to be done and plenty for us all to do. Don’t buy what you don’t need. Think twice before you buy anything. Go to patagonia.com/CommonThreads, take the Common Threads Initiative pledge and join us in the fifth “R,” to reimagine a world where we take only what nature can replace.

Take the pledge

Taken directly from an email from Patagonia.