The past few weeks have been crazy with midterms, a sick child, travel, and the general day-to-day chores and activities. I'm also a little sleep deprived, which makes everything a little more dramatic than it really is. After admitting to myself last night that I am overwhelmed, I've decided I need to make some changes. Nothing too big, but I need some daily 'me' time.
Realizing that I cannot add a extra hour or two to the day and not wanting to sacrifice too much sleep, I'm going to start small. Each evening after dinner and before bed, I'm going to set aside 15 minutes of 'me' time. During this time I am not allowed to do homework, write a to do list, do chores, or get things ready for the next day. This 15 minutes is about doing something I want to do. FOR ME. For instance, I have several crochet projects waiting to be finished. I also have a new book sitting around (My Own Country - a Diane Rehm recommendation).
This morning I spent nearly a full hour sitting in the living room crocheting a baby hat. It was such an enjoyable time. And the hat is nearly halfway finished. It felt so good to do something that I wanted to do. And to have a halfway finished hat to show for the time is icing on the cake.
Hopefully a little bit of 'me' time will go a long way to improving my mental health and well-being.
In the same vain, I'm aiming to get out for at least four runs each week. This means I might be out running at 8pm or 5am, but I'm going to get my runs in. I feel so much better when I have exercised each day (or every other day).
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. ~Ferris Bueller
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
JELLYBEAN SNOB
I love sugary candies --- NERDS, gummy fish, sweattarts, jellybeans, you name it. Jellybeans are probably my favorite candy. I love them, but only a few select brands. I don't like any jelly bean that tastes like anise. I like the fruity flavored jellybeans and I am VERY particular about which ones I will eat.Smuckers (the jelly makers) Jellybeans, which are so hard to come by, are the best jellybeans I have ever had. Seriously, they are so good. They used to be easy to find year-round. A few years back I could only find them around Easter time. And, now, well... I cannot find them anywhere. Target doesn't even carry them. I am really bummed. I look forward to Smuckers Jellybeans this time of year. I'm not giving up hope and am going to check the local CVS over the weekend to see if they carry the Smuckers brand.
My second favorite brand of jellybeans is Starburst. They were easy to come by at the Target and were on sale for $2 a bag. I'm enjoying some right now as a pre-dinner snack. Thankfully, Starburst Jellybeans are vegan (according to The Vegan Lunch Box). I say this because I'm nearly finished eating a full bowl of them and didn't even think to look at the ingredients to be sure they do not contain dairy or eggs.
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Tonight: we are going to watch the final episode of Top Chef. I still do not know who wins. I'm hoping it is either Carla or Hosea. And I'm really hopeful that Fabio will win fan-favorite. I've loved him from the moment he exclaimed, "This is Top Chef; not Top Scallop." He's adorable!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A MILE LONG
That is how long my TO DO list is these days. Honestly, the second on item gets checked off (and, yes, I do put little square boxes next to each item so I can put a check-mark inside of it after the item is finished) another item is added. I'm starting to wonder... why there are not 27 hours in a day? can I really pull off being a student, mom, wife, and marathon trainee? can I really survive another hour, day, week, MONTH on so little sleep? will it ever get easier? will my life ever make sense again?
All those questions aside, things are great. The baby is getting ready to turn SIX MONTHS OLD. She's sitting up with support, sucking down the rice cereal a couple of times a day, playing in her bumper-jumper with a huge smile on her face, and quickly out growing all of her cute infant clothes. We made our first TWO trips to the ER last weekend... we thought she might be coming down with her second UTI. We talked to the pediatrician and she told us to go to the hospital just in case. We went and found out she didn't have another infection. Thank goodness. However, something wasn't right and we were instructed to bring her back if she spiked a fever or started showing other signs of an infection. We were home from the hospital for less than a few hours when she spiked a fever of nearly 104. Scary stuff. Her little legs got all red and blotchy and she wanted nothing but to be held. We went back to the ER, were seen by a wonderful resident (Dr. Dave), and given a diagnosis of viral infection. Less than 12 hours later her fever was gone and she seems to be back to her normal self. I spend Thursdays and Fridays at home with her and am so enjoying our time together. Today is definitely an inside day because of the rain and cool temperatures.
School is in full swing now... I started a new seven-week course on Monday. It's an advanced biostatistics course focusing on methods for microbiology. As I was sitting in class yesterday (learning about statistics from incomplete randomized block trials), I couldn't help but wonder how I got to this point in my life. I'm taking 800-level statistics course (two this semester) and loving it. The classes are kicking my butt and causing my brain to spin, but I'm loving it. I cannot wait to put all of my knowledge to good use (yes, some day in the future I'll have to get a job!).
D and I are proud to announce/reveal our new blog OUR WEEKLY MENU. We spend a fair amount of time each week planning menus, creating recipes (D does this), experimenting, organizing, and talking about food. So we've decided to put our menus, recipes, grocery lists, and other food thoughts on the web. It's been a lot of fun working on a blog together and we hope that it will be as useful to others as it is fun for us.
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To Do today: reading, reading, and more reading. I have a chapter on controlling for random effects in a longitudinal analysis to read and two books on public health and GIS to get through. I'll be curled up in the living room with a pen, highlighter, and strong cup of coffee for most of the day.
Marathon training: the NYC marathon is seven months and one week away. Yesterday I mapped out a rough training schedule for myself. I'm not able to get as many runs in a week as I'd like right now, but am hoping the weather will improve and the little one will be strong enough to sit in the running stroller soon.
Marathon attire: I bought myself a really cute running skirt at Lucy to wear during the marathon. Nothing like cute clothes to help me get motivated.
All those questions aside, things are great. The baby is getting ready to turn SIX MONTHS OLD. She's sitting up with support, sucking down the rice cereal a couple of times a day, playing in her bumper-jumper with a huge smile on her face, and quickly out growing all of her cute infant clothes. We made our first TWO trips to the ER last weekend... we thought she might be coming down with her second UTI. We talked to the pediatrician and she told us to go to the hospital just in case. We went and found out she didn't have another infection. Thank goodness. However, something wasn't right and we were instructed to bring her back if she spiked a fever or started showing other signs of an infection. We were home from the hospital for less than a few hours when she spiked a fever of nearly 104. Scary stuff. Her little legs got all red and blotchy and she wanted nothing but to be held. We went back to the ER, were seen by a wonderful resident (Dr. Dave), and given a diagnosis of viral infection. Less than 12 hours later her fever was gone and she seems to be back to her normal self. I spend Thursdays and Fridays at home with her and am so enjoying our time together. Today is definitely an inside day because of the rain and cool temperatures.
School is in full swing now... I started a new seven-week course on Monday. It's an advanced biostatistics course focusing on methods for microbiology. As I was sitting in class yesterday (learning about statistics from incomplete randomized block trials), I couldn't help but wonder how I got to this point in my life. I'm taking 800-level statistics course (two this semester) and loving it. The classes are kicking my butt and causing my brain to spin, but I'm loving it. I cannot wait to put all of my knowledge to good use (yes, some day in the future I'll have to get a job!).
D and I are proud to announce/reveal our new blog OUR WEEKLY MENU. We spend a fair amount of time each week planning menus, creating recipes (D does this), experimenting, organizing, and talking about food. So we've decided to put our menus, recipes, grocery lists, and other food thoughts on the web. It's been a lot of fun working on a blog together and we hope that it will be as useful to others as it is fun for us.
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To Do today: reading, reading, and more reading. I have a chapter on controlling for random effects in a longitudinal analysis to read and two books on public health and GIS to get through. I'll be curled up in the living room with a pen, highlighter, and strong cup of coffee for most of the day.
Marathon training: the NYC marathon is seven months and one week away. Yesterday I mapped out a rough training schedule for myself. I'm not able to get as many runs in a week as I'd like right now, but am hoping the weather will improve and the little one will be strong enough to sit in the running stroller soon.
Marathon attire: I bought myself a really cute running skirt at Lucy to wear during the marathon. Nothing like cute clothes to help me get motivated.
Monday, March 2, 2009
CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE
(Yes... another blog about wines.)
One of the best wedding gift we were given was a case of wine. Chateauneuf-du-Pape. D's brother gave us the wine with specific instructions to drink a bottle on special anniversaries. We are supposed to watch and reflect on how both the wine and our relationship age. What a great gift! Love it when creative and generous people buy something not on your registry. We were truly touched and surprised by this gift.
We have chosen to open a bottle on our first, third, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth anniversaries. This means that we recently enjoyed our second bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This time around the wine tasted very peppery. It is a wine that we truly enjoyed. And we can only hope that it'll get better with age. I vaguely remember that we thought the first bottle (which we drank in 2007) was very fruity. Unfortunately, I don't think we wrote down our reflections about our first bottle of wine. So there will be no comparisons made between bottles one and two. However, stay tuned for our reflections after we open bottle number three in February of 2011.
One of the best wedding gift we were given was a case of wine. Chateauneuf-du-Pape. D's brother gave us the wine with specific instructions to drink a bottle on special anniversaries. We are supposed to watch and reflect on how both the wine and our relationship age. What a great gift! Love it when creative and generous people buy something not on your registry. We were truly touched and surprised by this gift.
We have chosen to open a bottle on our first, third, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth anniversaries. This means that we recently enjoyed our second bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This time around the wine tasted very peppery. It is a wine that we truly enjoyed. And we can only hope that it'll get better with age. I vaguely remember that we thought the first bottle (which we drank in 2007) was very fruity. Unfortunately, I don't think we wrote down our reflections about our first bottle of wine. So there will be no comparisons made between bottles one and two. However, stay tuned for our reflections after we open bottle number three in February of 2011.
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