Don't let them win

I'm officially declaring this week Positivity Week.

The weather has really started to turn around in much of the Northern Hemisphere. It's time to shake off the winter grumpiness and effect some positivity in our lives.

Things to be positive about:
1. You're alive!
2. You have Internet access!
3. You can change your mood right now, and possibly someone else's, for the better!

Things you can do:
1. Compliment someone. Send someone an email, SMS, Twitter, or leave a comment on their blog. Or use your mouth. Tell them how much you appreciate them. No need to write a novel, just tell them in a few words.
2. Write a positive affirmation (Google it) on a sticky note and put it on your monitor. Better yet, put one on someone else's monitor.
3. Wish a stranger on the street a good day.
4. Buy a coffee for the person in line behind you at the coffee shop.
5. Smile for no reason at all.

DO IT! Happy Positivity Week!

Good News Monday

...because this DST is making everyone cranky.  I'm keepin' things positive for once.

• This evil cold/Death Plague is finally on the upswing.
• Tomorrow's my birthday.
• Wednesday is St. Patty's Day and I took the day off.  I'll be with my MNRG homies in the St. Paul parade and then I'll be hanging out with Husband and his brother afterward.  Then home to our annual Irish feast!
• I'm giving blood on Thursday and that always puts me in a good mood.
• The weather in Minneapolis has been beautiful!  We took a long walk yesterday and we had to unzip our hoodies.
• Apart from the 2 AM intestinal distress it caused (silly PPC, you're still lactose intolerant), I had some really great ginger ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery during our walk.
• I'm so stoked to make Lily's birthday cake.  THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID "STOKED".
• Crazy Bread tomorrow!  Hot damn I love me some Crazy Bread.

Someday I'll try a full dose just for fun

I was home sick yesterday because I felt like absolute crap on a stick dipped in more crap.  My throat felt like I was swallowing razor blades and needles.  My head felt like it was going to float right off my body.  Then later in the evening the aches and pains started.  Ugh.

My throat is still raw today and my voice is in and out but at least I don't feel like I'm tripping balls anymore.  I think I drank about a gallon of ginger tea yesterday, no joke.

I took half a dose of Sominex and went to sleep at 8:00.  You know what's messed up?  Hearing Wall-E in the background when you're in a sleeping pill haze.  Those robotic voices aren't so cute when you're half cocked.  Sominex also makes everything I hear seem to be REALLY LOUD so I'm grateful that when I slurred at Husband to turn the TV down he actually turned it off and went to sleep.

I kept waking up all night long, as I am wont to do anyway, because evidently my body thinks that sleep is overrated these days.  Mostly I kept waking up because the dog was creeping further and further up the bed and trying to actually sleep on my pillow.  Again, not what you want to experience when you're high on Sominex and exhausted.

Let's see if I make it through the day.

Foodie Tuesday: Not On Your Life

Look at this.  Just look at it.

This picture has been living on our camera for a while.  This is something that my husband actually ate.  This is: haggis, eggs, and garlic mashed potatoes on toast.

I opted out of this one.

The beginning of the end

Dear body,

I haven't officially turned 30 yet, so could you please hold off on the random and unexplainable aches and pains for another week?

Love,
Me

Last week's exercise report

Last week was a total failure.

Monday: lazy and sore
Tuesday: lazy
Wednesday: HIIT 60/120 x5
Thursday: jogged 1 mile
Friday: sore!

My knee and ankle were KILLING ME all week. 

It is a new week.  Time to start cracking down.  I'm going to start going to derby practice this week too.

Probably never

I am on the precipice of thirty. 

I have a house, a husband, a child, a dog, three vehicles, and a career.

At what point am I supposed to start feeling like an adult?  Because I still feel like I'm somewhere in the vicinity of fourteen.

Mama Thursday: Week 49 - Holy crap it's birthday month

Lily is almost one.

We've kept her alive for almost one whole year!  With very few bumps and bruises!  If she was a peach she would be moved to the bargain bin and NOT the compost!

I have received validation from the daycare lady that she is, in fact, Very Very Smart.  It's not only her parents and her grandma saying these things anymore.

She scribbled with chalk the other day.  Chalk!  We're excited about chalk scribbles!

She is also extremely good at sharing.  She shares her toys with the other daycare kids.  She shares her toys with me.  She shares her Cheerios with me and the dog (she LOVES this).  I'm excited to not have the selfish child at school in the future.

I sorta kinda have a plan for her birthday.  Sort of.  I am way less stressed about it than before because Lily's birthday is exactly one day after my niece's.  Lily's birthday falls on a Monday so we can't do anything that day because she still goes to sleep at 6:00 PM and there's just no keeping her awake past that.  She's very stubborn about her beauty rest.  So Mama has been stressed about taking the thunder out of my niece's birthday but it turns out that it's no big deal anyway.

Then there's the problem of where the heck we are going to have this shindig.  Our house holds maybe four other adults besides ourselves.  We need to provide food and shelter for potentially 22 humans.  That's only immediate family.  The location needs to be neutral so there's no weirdness on either family side.  I have an idea for this that is actually cheap and doesn't involve overpriced crappy food or animatronic creatures.  It doesn't need to be an all-day affair, just a couple of hours, some grub, and a very cute baby in a very cute tutu.

My birthday is also this month, two weeks before Lily's.  That's a whole other thing.

I need a list

…that tells me, moment to moment, what I need to be doing at all times.  My mind is mush and it's difficult to do little more than stare at my keyboard today.

The Friday training report

All those weight loss/exercise people tell you that in order to accomplish your goals you should make your progress public to keep yourself in check.

Monday: jogged 2 miles
Tuesday: I think I jogged 2 miles
Wednesday: skated 45 minutes
Thursday: pliometrics, lifted weights (upper body), HIIT 60/120 x3
Friday: Too sore.

I'm going to try and skate on Sunday.  I forgot how much it works your inner thighs.  Today I'm walking like I rode a clydesdale cross-country, or at least I feel like I am.

So the plan is to go back to derby.  I'm going to skate the remainder of the season to see if I can even physically do it anymore.  The thing that was stopping me before is my body feeling like it's tearing itself apart.  Since the pregnancy I've had problems with pretty much every joint on the right side of my body. 

There is also a plan to run a 5K in April.  I'm feeling confident now that I'm jogging 2 miles at a time.