Back to Running and Treadmill Bingo

November 30, 2018November 27, 2018 / Amy / 2 Comments

I recently mentioned that I need to procrastinate more effectively, and I’ve been doing better at that! I read a book, Wonder, and started two others. And, I’m almost completely done with Holiday shopping (!!!). I’ve also been attempting to post more often.

And, last but not least, I started running again! I thought my first post baby run was going to feel momentous (it did after Mr. Toddler) and also terrible. But turns out it was pretty uneventful. I walked to warm up, then ran until I felt uncomfortable, then walked, then repeated until I hit 30 minutes. I read while running, which was the best part I think. Overall I feel pretty ‘meh’ about the whole running thing right now.

Where are my sneakers??

That is, until I came up with the idea for TREADMILL BINGO!!

As part of my procrastinate better resolution, I created this totally awesome Bingo board with 24 different runs and a free space. When I get Bingo, I get a reward! (Yes, I am a child.)

Rewards:

First Horizontal Line – Starbucks drink
First Vertical Line – Starbucks drink
First Diagonal Line – Starbucks drink
Four Corners – Starbucks drink and Breakfast Sandwich
X – Starbucks drink and Breakfast Sandwich
Full Card – New Running Apparel!

Rules:

I have two months: December and January
Only one space can be marked off per run
To complete any “wear X, Y, Z” space, normal running shoes are allowed
I cannot purchase Starbucks for any other reason (However, I can use rewards to get free drinks)

Pretty, simple, right? Feel free to join me! (Please join me, it will be so fun!!) And if you do, feel free to make modifications to the Bingo card.

Flashback Friday:

Check out this post from November 30th, 2013 (5 years ago!) 2013 Holiday Running Streak – Day 3

A Day In the Life (2): the maternity leave edition

November 26, 2018November 25, 2018 / Amy / 2 Comments

I LOVE love love reading day in the life posts. If you’re reading this, please make one for me to read. 🙂

My last (and only) day in the life post is here (and here…I was long winded). I’m pretty jazzed that I’ve managed to get this post done because I really wanted a day in the life post from while I’ve been on maternity leave.

3:52 AM: Miss Newborn is fussing/making noises. She’s currently sleeping in our room, so even though this isn’t a full out cry it wakes me up. I get up 4 times to deescalate, then at 5:20 AM I wash up, get a bottle feed Miss Newborn.

By 6:17 AM, Miss NB is done eating, and I go change her and get her dressed. Mr. Husband has gotten Mr. Toddler up and washed up, and I help him get dressed. Then we all go downstairs for Mr. Toddler to eat. We read a few books before he and Mr. Husband head out the door to daycare and work. I boil some water to sterilize a bunch of teethers that belonged to Mr. Toddler. I also go through a box of baby toys and pick out some to keep and some to give away. While doing all this I take breaks to play with Miss NB.

By 7:18 Miss NB is ready for a nap, we pop upstairs and I quickly change her crib sheet, swaddle her, and put her down. She falls asleep by herself almost instantly (it’s magical when this happens). While she sleeps, I give our bookshelves a once over and pull out some to donate, I start collecting laundry, and straighten up.

Miss NB starts stirring at 8 AM, I try to settle her while doing upstairs chores. She never gets solidly back to sleep though, so I change her diaper and set her up on a blanket next to me while I attempt to fold some diaper laundry. She wants to be held though, so not much gets folded.

8:51 AM: Miss NB has a bottle while I watch Season 1 of America’s Next Top Model on Amazon Prime (can you believe this was 15 years ago??). Her bottle is interrupted by a diaper change. I take advantage of the trip upstairs to start a load of laundry, before heading back down and finishing her bottle. After eating, Miss NB falls asleep on me.

I love when Miss NB falls asleep on me, and I let her sleep there for a while before I put her down so I can grab something to eat. By 11:15 I’m eating and Miss NB starts to wake up. She’s not fussing, which is key, because I’ve knocked over my drink and need to clean it up. (This is the second time I’ve done this in a very short period, and it needs to stop.) I straighten up around the house after cleaning the floor and things are looking pretty good by 12:30 when I take Miss NB up for a diaper change and something to eat.

By 1 PM, she’s done eating and in a good mood, so I put her in her chair and empty the dishwasher, load it up, do the dishes, and make formula. I take breaks to play with her a bit here and there and have her do some tummy time.

By 2:30 the dish chores are done. I promised myself a snack of banana bread once I finish, but Miss NB is fussing, so I take her upstairs instead to change her diaper and attempt a nap in her crib. She is not having it, but while up there I put clothes away, get dressed, make our bed, and fold diapers. I normally do these things in the morning, but that didn’t happen today for some reason.

I give up the nap attempt at 3:20, and finally eat my slice of banana bread while holding Miss NB, and then I feed her (formula, not banana bread).

Once she’s done eating, I put her down in the swing and open some boxes that were delivered earlier in the day. Mr. Husband arrives home shortly after 4 and we chat a bit about our days before I leave at 4:40 to pick up Mr. Toddler from daycare.

We get home at 5:10 and do our normal routine of hand washing, having a snack, and playing before dinner. Tonight we read books and draw. Then we eat mac and cheese and sausages for dinner, do the dishes, and have a little dance party. Mr. Toddler LOVES doing the dishes with me these days. It’s a tad stressful (water everywhere, 2.5 year old handling breakables), but he has a blast and then the dishes are done, so I can’t complain too much.

At 6:20 it’s time to start Mr. Toddler’s bedtime routine, so we go upstairs for his bath. Mr. Husband is on bath duty and Miss NB has fallen asleep so I fold some laundry during bath time. Then we do PJs, read books, sing some songs, and say goodnight to Mr. Toddler right around 7 PM.

I take a shower and Mr. Husband feeds Miss NB when she wakes up. She’s not super interested in eating apparently so once I’m out of the shower, we give her a bath, get her PJs on and then I give her some more to eat.

By 8:30, she’s asleep in the swing and I eat as many snacks as possible before going up to bed at 9:10 PM.

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And, that’s the end because tonight, Miss NB sleeps until 2-something! I get a good solid chunk of sleep! 🙂 Ready to do it all over again.

I Need to Procrastinate Better

November 12, 2018 / Amy / 4 Comments

After my last post, I honestly thought I was going to be able to get back into the blogging habit…wrong again! I’m not sure why, but I’m eternally hopeful that I’ll start posting regularly again. I really enjoyed having the blog back when I was posting often, so that has motivated me to keep it and to keep trying to get back to it.

The same goes for running. It’s been quite a while since I’ve run consistently, (or at all) but I enjoyed it so much when I did that I am confident I’ll get back into it again. A lot of my hobbies are like this right now, actually: reading, knitting, playing board games. Honestly, a lot of this stuff took a backseat when Mr. Toddler was born. I’ll pick something up again from time to time and then drop it again. Right now, I’m in the habit of mindlessly scrolling my phone and binge watching TV when I have a free minute. I’m either exhausted or literally have only a couple minutes free. It’s hard to get into a book if you can’t even read an entire paragraph in a sitting. It’s hard not to screw up a knitting project when you have to stop in the middle of a row. And, it’s tough to get anywhere with running if you barely have time to lace up your shoes (or find them…it’s been THAT long)….you get the idea.

BUT I’d say that my main problem is that the times that I feel like doing any of these things rarely line up with when I have the time to do them. And there really is nothing I can do about that. What I NEED to do is make more of an effort to do something when I don’t feel like it, and just trust that I’ll enjoy it.

I also have the issue that I have so many things that I SHOULD be doing that I feel like I can’t pick up a book or project. However it’s easy to procrastinate doing something I should with an episode of something on Netflix. Then I end up not doing an activity I enjoy but also not getting X, Y, or Z done. It makes NO SENSE! I really should procrastinate more efficiently. 🙂

Miss Newborn is stirring now, and I’m working on borrowed time, so I guess I better wrap this up. I know that if I try to save it and come back, I’ll hate everything I’ve written and delete it.

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