Sounds like fun 'eh? Big boy yesterday morning complained that his throat hurt and he had to throw up. I told him to go to the bathroom. He did, but nothing happened, so he came back, and threw up on the floor. I told him to go lie in bed and use the trash can. I cleaned up. Baby was NOT happy to be relegated to the crib or high chair.
Hubby came home from the gym. He told me we can't keep him in his room all day. So he threw a sheet on the couch. Then...big boy proceeded to throw up on the couch. (Which is why I didn't want him on there.)
Anyway, I went off to the store with the baby to get pedialyte and crackers and applesauce and gatorade, and went to work. Hubby stayed home all day (okay, he has totally made up for the two business trips).
Finally the puking stopped at around noon. Starting at around 2:30, big boy got tablespoons of water or pedialyte every 15 minutes. At 7 pm, he got 1/2 a cracker. At 8 pm, he got the other half. He seems to be better today, but will be kept home from school until tomorrow at least.
We've quarantined the kids, because the last thing I need is to have this thing spread. Big boy is on his little chair, or in his bed, or in the bathroom. Baby is allowed in our bedroom with his newly cleaned toys, his crib, and the high chair. I plan to keep them separated until at least Thursday, because apparently these viruses can live for 3 days.
Hubby did a ton of laundry yesterday, and I'm doing more today. He bleached everything. I bleached everything. I am using the Clorox wipes on the doorknobs, fridge, and light switches about 3x a day and will bleach everything at least 2x a day.
This may seem excessive, but big boy brought home a stomach virus when he was 11 months old. We didn't realize it until too late and we both got it. I was down and out for a week.
He's only had a stomach thing probably 4-5 times total in his 7 years. The first time and the time we caught it camping with our neighbors (no running water camping) were the only times we caught it too. So the quarantine, the obsessive hand washing, and the bleaching really does work. I am also really glad that we buy paper towels at Costco. These are the days you give up on your "environmental/green" side and use paper towels. If we make it to Friday with no spreading, I'll be happy.
The one good thing about the stomach virus, unlike respiratory illnesses, is that you really aren't contagious beforehand. When you start getting sick, that's when you are contagious. So you don't have to worry about who you were around 2 days ago. You DO have to be careful for the three days after.
So yesterday and today are full of Harry Potter. We are reading book 2 and watching the movies. Yesterday he watched movies 2, 3, 4. He's watching movie 5 today. Sucks to be missing the last week of school but he's not complaining.
Thus far he's had a bunch of applesauce, gatorade, and crackers today, so I think he's definitely on the mend. I'll probably see if he can handle some bread for lunch.
Wish us luck that it doesn't spread.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Some pictures
Wow! I've been meaning to post, and have been taking some pictures. But...not so much time. Husband traveled to Texas twice in 3 weeks. I made a frittata to eat while he was gone, and nachos for dinner when he got back. We went to a crawfish boil party yesterday (lotta work, I could lose a lot of weight on a crawfish only diet), and I made a big fruit salad and some banana chip bars for the party.
Tonight there is a potluck BBQ up the park. I guess it's been going on for years on Sunday nights (Monday on holiday Mondays). My hubby is "outdoored out" after a couple of parties. Plus, it's the worst allergy weekend of the year. Plus, there's ash coming down due to a fire over the mountain. Looks foggy but it's really red. So, I think I'm just going to cook up some skillet pasta and bread and green beans, and call it a night.
Tomorrow is Tuesday not Monday, and I have to remember that I am delivering dinner to my friend who just had twins!! Don't forget don't forget...
Farmer's market finds
Radish sandwiches for lunch
Beach day!
Tonight there is a potluck BBQ up the park. I guess it's been going on for years on Sunday nights (Monday on holiday Mondays). My hubby is "outdoored out" after a couple of parties. Plus, it's the worst allergy weekend of the year. Plus, there's ash coming down due to a fire over the mountain. Looks foggy but it's really red. So, I think I'm just going to cook up some skillet pasta and bread and green beans, and call it a night.
Tomorrow is Tuesday not Monday, and I have to remember that I am delivering dinner to my friend who just had twins!! Don't forget don't forget...
Farmer's market finds
Radish sandwiches for lunch
Fruit salad!
Beach day!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Pizza! and happy mothers day.
Yes I *have* been cooking around here. Perhaps...well, perhaps, because my spouse was in El Paso this week, a corn dog may have made it onto my son's plate one night. But the baby was going through a growth spurt and wasn't sleeping at all (why does he choose to do this when husband is out of town?) So I spent a crazy amount of time just feeding people this week. While the baby is fully weaned (as of a week ago, sniff), I still have to make up bottles and wash them.
I was feeling like pizza yesterday and boy was it yummy! Even though I'm still trying to lose weight, I eat pizza. But I only eat 1-2 slices. Yesterday it was two. My memory from weight watchers 11 years ago tells me that back then, I only ate one slice. So maybe I'll get there.
We got two bunches of baby leeks from the farm. I really didn't know what to do with them, so I sauteed them up for the pizza. It also has green olives and pepperoni. My child didn't much care for the leeks, but I thought it was great.
I've also been working on figuring out what to feed the baby. My new baby friends are far ahead of me when it comes to feeding the babies finger foods. I kinda remember with my older son that he was on jarred food for longer than most. It's just easier. But new baby is getting bored with the jarred food, and he can't live on formula and cheerios alone. He's 10 months old and has 8 teeth. Yesterday, we tried shredded cheese. He couldn't really pick it up. The next few foods I will introduce (we are still waiting 3-5 days between new foods) will be pasta (wheat), broccoli, and cantaloupe. He seems to just play with anything that doesn't "feel" right (anything but cheerios or puffs). But dang that kid will pick up ANY piece of crumb or fuzz or dirt from the floor and put it in his mouth. Ugh.
That's not all that's been on the menu. Last weekend (or was it two weekends ago?) I was hungry for salmon, so I baked up a Weight Watchers recipe - salmon with dijon and brown sugar (and dill). I also cooked up some pasta with greens and a cream sauce (we ate the leftovers twice for dinner).
The third picture you see here is white rice, stir fry vegetables (bag of frozen veg) and scrambled eggs. This is probably a Wednesday or Thursday night dinner (i.e., our CSA veg are gone).
I was feeling like pizza yesterday and boy was it yummy! Even though I'm still trying to lose weight, I eat pizza. But I only eat 1-2 slices. Yesterday it was two. My memory from weight watchers 11 years ago tells me that back then, I only ate one slice. So maybe I'll get there.
We got two bunches of baby leeks from the farm. I really didn't know what to do with them, so I sauteed them up for the pizza. It also has green olives and pepperoni. My child didn't much care for the leeks, but I thought it was great.
I've also been working on figuring out what to feed the baby. My new baby friends are far ahead of me when it comes to feeding the babies finger foods. I kinda remember with my older son that he was on jarred food for longer than most. It's just easier. But new baby is getting bored with the jarred food, and he can't live on formula and cheerios alone. He's 10 months old and has 8 teeth. Yesterday, we tried shredded cheese. He couldn't really pick it up. The next few foods I will introduce (we are still waiting 3-5 days between new foods) will be pasta (wheat), broccoli, and cantaloupe. He seems to just play with anything that doesn't "feel" right (anything but cheerios or puffs). But dang that kid will pick up ANY piece of crumb or fuzz or dirt from the floor and put it in his mouth. Ugh.
That's not all that's been on the menu. Last weekend (or was it two weekends ago?) I was hungry for salmon, so I baked up a Weight Watchers recipe - salmon with dijon and brown sugar (and dill). I also cooked up some pasta with greens and a cream sauce (we ate the leftovers twice for dinner).
The third picture you see here is white rice, stir fry vegetables (bag of frozen veg) and scrambled eggs. This is probably a Wednesday or Thursday night dinner (i.e., our CSA veg are gone).
And finally, Happy Mothers Day! I hope you have a good one! The boys are all still asleep. Not sure why I am awake at 5 am. I really didn't sleep well this week at ALL, so I should be catching up. I have no master plans for today, but I will leave you with a picture of what I bought myself for mothers day. I'm going to go make myself some coffee.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
On Weight and how Vanity Sizing is NOT your Friend
I've been thinking a lot about weight lately, as I continue to work on taking off the baby weight. I am still quite a few pounds over my goal weight. A few stats:
Highest Weight Ever (non-pregnancy): 182 in early 2002
Lowest Weight (in my memory): 123 in late 2002 (this is too skinny for my frame, I had problems sleeping because my hip bones would dig into the bed).
Personal Happy Weight: 130-135
Highest Healthy Weight by BMI: 139
Max Pregnancy Weight #1: 170.5
Max Pregnancy Weight #2: 188 (yikes! But it's not like I was stuffing my face and sitting on the couch. I worked out regularly and ate a healthy diet. My body just had a good memory for weight gain. Plus he was a summer baby and I was retaining a lot more water.)
Minimum weight post baby #2: 152 lbs (late October 2012)
Current weight: 162.8.
So...I have a ways to go to hit that goal. Quite a story up there in my stats. I expect most people who lose a lot of weight have quite the story to tell.
When I read about weight or go to message boards on the topic, there tend to be camps of people. There is the "I can't believe how fat people are so lazy!" camp and "I have a genetic weight problem!" camp. And while of course both are true for some people, you just cannot make generalizations like. As someone who has lost a significant amount of weight (twice, now working on #3), I can say a few things:
1. It's possible (for most people) to lose weight.
2. It's hard work (for most people) to lose weight.
3. Unless you continue to work at it, it's not permanent (for most people)
I even have found myself judging overweight people on occasion, but have to catch myself. Maybe that overweight person in front of me has already lost a bunch of weight. Maybe they are injured or have a health issue. And maybe they are fit! 66% of Americans are overweight or obese, myself included. AND that includes a lot of people I see at the gym working out.
What does this have to do with vanity sizing? Well, I have found myself having to buy a few items of clothing to get through the summer while I start longingly at my closet. I am contemplating doing the triathlon again, but that will certainly require a larger wetsuit if I do. I got to thinking about how hard it is to buy clothing when all of the stores use their own measurements (and how I don't have the patience for that!), how I cannot even find what I want on-line. Then I got all nerdy and decided to do some research on vanity sizing.
I dug up some old patterns on the internet for dress sizes. I decided to compare them over various years, then I decided to pull up the current sizing for a few different brands. That alone was annoying so I just settled on The Gap (mostly because my sister works there). See the chart, which is based on dress patterns (these are less likely to go through the vanity size changes than store clothing):
A few notes:
1. Our weight as females has been gonig up, pretty quickly.
2. If you pick a relatively "standard" size of 34 inch bust, 26.5 inch waist, 36 inch hip, our sizing has gone from 14-16 to 12, and these are DRESS sizes from PATTERNS. These have not changed like clothing in stores. I have a memory of making some of my own clothing in the 80's and making a size 16, which would be about 36-37 inch bust, 31 inch waist, 39-40 inch hip, which is about normal for me. (I'm no waif.)
3. If you look at that same size on the GAP chart, it's a size 4!! Now, it's a healthy weight and size, but a size 4!
4. Conversely, a GAP size 8 of 36.5 inch bust, 28 inch waist, 40 inch hips would have been a solid size 16 in the 1940's, a "medium" (and pretty much the smallest I've ever been as an adult. Post baby #2, pretty sure the waist won't go below a 30.)
5. A Gap Size 10 today (a normal size, right?) would have been "large" in the 1940's.
So, the vanity sizing is simply fooling us into thinking we are "healthy", when we aren't. Note I included the average height of females in the same chart. We have grown a couple of inches in that time, which can account for some weight (10-15 lbs) and some of the size increase. But that much? I am 5'2.5" tall, so right there close to the average. I have several very slender friends who cannot even find clothing because they were a size 4 in high school and now a 0 is too big.
I could go into why we've gained weight in another post. I probably won't. There are books dedicated to the topic: sedentary lifestyles, stress, the abundance of fattening food, fast food, fake food, cheap carbohydrates, saturated fat, HFCS, you name it. But honestly? My mother was overweight most of her life. My grandmother was obese, back when it was less common. There is certainly a tendency to gain weight in my family, even back before processed foods were the norm. Truth of the matter is, once you've been fat, it's harder to maintain a normal weight than for someone who was never overweight.
Highest Weight Ever (non-pregnancy): 182 in early 2002
Lowest Weight (in my memory): 123 in late 2002 (this is too skinny for my frame, I had problems sleeping because my hip bones would dig into the bed).
Personal Happy Weight: 130-135
Highest Healthy Weight by BMI: 139
Max Pregnancy Weight #1: 170.5
Max Pregnancy Weight #2: 188 (yikes! But it's not like I was stuffing my face and sitting on the couch. I worked out regularly and ate a healthy diet. My body just had a good memory for weight gain. Plus he was a summer baby and I was retaining a lot more water.)
Minimum weight post baby #2: 152 lbs (late October 2012)
Current weight: 162.8.
So...I have a ways to go to hit that goal. Quite a story up there in my stats. I expect most people who lose a lot of weight have quite the story to tell.
When I read about weight or go to message boards on the topic, there tend to be camps of people. There is the "I can't believe how fat people are so lazy!" camp and "I have a genetic weight problem!" camp. And while of course both are true for some people, you just cannot make generalizations like. As someone who has lost a significant amount of weight (twice, now working on #3), I can say a few things:
1. It's possible (for most people) to lose weight.
2. It's hard work (for most people) to lose weight.
3. Unless you continue to work at it, it's not permanent (for most people)
I even have found myself judging overweight people on occasion, but have to catch myself. Maybe that overweight person in front of me has already lost a bunch of weight. Maybe they are injured or have a health issue. And maybe they are fit! 66% of Americans are overweight or obese, myself included. AND that includes a lot of people I see at the gym working out.
What does this have to do with vanity sizing? Well, I have found myself having to buy a few items of clothing to get through the summer while I start longingly at my closet. I am contemplating doing the triathlon again, but that will certainly require a larger wetsuit if I do. I got to thinking about how hard it is to buy clothing when all of the stores use their own measurements (and how I don't have the patience for that!), how I cannot even find what I want on-line. Then I got all nerdy and decided to do some research on vanity sizing.
I dug up some old patterns on the internet for dress sizes. I decided to compare them over various years, then I decided to pull up the current sizing for a few different brands. That alone was annoying so I just settled on The Gap (mostly because my sister works there). See the chart, which is based on dress patterns (these are less likely to go through the vanity size changes than store clothing):
| Year | Avg height | Avg weight | Size | Bust | Waist | Hip | |
| 1940s | 5'2" | 134 | SM (10-12) | 28-30 | 24-25 | 31-33 | |
| MED (14-16) | 32-34 | 26.5-28 | 35-37 | ||||
| LG (16-18) | 36-38 | 30-32 | 39-41 | ||||
| 1960s | 5'3" | 140.2 | 12 | 32 | 25 | 34 | |
| 14 | 34 | 26 | 36 | ||||
| 16 | 36 | 28 | 38 | ||||
| 1980s | 5'3.7" | 145.4 | 8 | 31.5 | 24 | 33.5 | |
| 10 | 32.5 | 25 | 34.5 | ||||
| 12 | 34 | 26.5 | 36 | ||||
| 14 | 36 | 28 | 38 | ||||
| 16 | 38 | 30 | 40 | ||||
| 18 | 40 | 32 | 42 | ||||
| 20 | 42 | 34 | 44 | ||||
| 2000s | 5'4" | 164.3 | 4 | 29.5 | 22 | 31.5 | |
| 6 | 30.5 | 23 | 32.5 | ||||
| 8 | 31.5 | 24 | 33.5 | ||||
| 10 | 32.5 | 25 | 34.5 | ||||
| 12 | 34 | 26.5 | 36 | ||||
| 14 | 36 | 28 | 38 | GAP 8 top | |||
| 16 | 38 | 30 | 40 | GAP 8 bot | |||
| 18 | 40 | 32 | 42 | ||||
| 20 | 42 | 34 | 44 | ||||
| 2010s | 5'4.5" | 164.7 | same as 2000's | ||||
| 2012 | GAP | 4 | 34.5 | 26.5 | 37.5 | ||
A few notes:
1. Our weight as females has been gonig up, pretty quickly.
2. If you pick a relatively "standard" size of 34 inch bust, 26.5 inch waist, 36 inch hip, our sizing has gone from 14-16 to 12, and these are DRESS sizes from PATTERNS. These have not changed like clothing in stores. I have a memory of making some of my own clothing in the 80's and making a size 16, which would be about 36-37 inch bust, 31 inch waist, 39-40 inch hip, which is about normal for me. (I'm no waif.)
3. If you look at that same size on the GAP chart, it's a size 4!! Now, it's a healthy weight and size, but a size 4!
4. Conversely, a GAP size 8 of 36.5 inch bust, 28 inch waist, 40 inch hips would have been a solid size 16 in the 1940's, a "medium" (and pretty much the smallest I've ever been as an adult. Post baby #2, pretty sure the waist won't go below a 30.)
5. A Gap Size 10 today (a normal size, right?) would have been "large" in the 1940's.
So, the vanity sizing is simply fooling us into thinking we are "healthy", when we aren't. Note I included the average height of females in the same chart. We have grown a couple of inches in that time, which can account for some weight (10-15 lbs) and some of the size increase. But that much? I am 5'2.5" tall, so right there close to the average. I have several very slender friends who cannot even find clothing because they were a size 4 in high school and now a 0 is too big.
I could go into why we've gained weight in another post. I probably won't. There are books dedicated to the topic: sedentary lifestyles, stress, the abundance of fattening food, fast food, fake food, cheap carbohydrates, saturated fat, HFCS, you name it. But honestly? My mother was overweight most of her life. My grandmother was obese, back when it was less common. There is certainly a tendency to gain weight in my family, even back before processed foods were the norm. Truth of the matter is, once you've been fat, it's harder to maintain a normal weight than for someone who was never overweight.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Sleep! Glorious Sleep!
It's no secret to anyone who knows me around here that I've been having some sleep issues. When I'm pregnant, I get insomnia something awful. When I'm stressed, I simply cannot shut off my brain. The last few months have been particularly rough. The baby started teething at 7 months, and he's gotten 8 teeth in 10 weeks. My husband traveled one week, and the next week was the baby's surgery. With his surgery and medications, there was still no sleep.
A typical night involved waking at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 3:30, 4:00, 6:00. So I've been a complete wreck. I have, in desperation, gone to sleep on the floor of Nick's room (cold and hard and it didn't really work for me). Still the most sleep I got was a single 3 or 4 hour stretch, and that, only twice.
You see when I wake up, my brain starts thinking about work. And I cannot turn it off. We've had 4 major changes/ reorganizations in the last month, and most of them have not been in my favor (especially the most recent). That, which causes no sleep, makes mama cranky.
Yesterday was particularly bad. We have an entire team of people on vacation and they left without ensuring that all of their instructions were in order. So I ended up spending 4 hours at work figuring it out. On a Saturday. I missed lunch and I missed both workouts - the only day I've managed to get to the gym at all is on Saturday lately because of lack of sleep. I was PISSED. I'm feeling incredibly old, fat, and tired. I can't get the gym weekdays because I'm not sleeping. I haven't been able to run because of a knee issue and ankle issue, and I don't have time to go to the doctor.
But yesterday my husband moved the crib into Nick's room (now known as "the boys room"). I slept until 4:15 am! 6.5 straight hours! Then I slept another hour after using the bathroom. In fact, everyone slept great. The baby didn't even wake up. Maybe the medications were causing problems and waking him up. And just so you know, our house is so tiny that if he cries, you can hear him. The ONLY place where you wouldn't be able to hear him is if you are in the laundry room with the washer and dryer running.
Now I just need to get working on my diet. Losing weight while breastfeeding with a job and two kids is no joke. You see, I'm the chief cook in the house. I do the majority of grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking. That alone is a huge task. If I were only cooking for myself, I could meal plan, shop and cook easily.
But I have four people. Sure, one of them is a baby. I feel bad because I'm sure he's ready for more finger food. A lot of the babies his age are eating finger foods. But I really only have energy to go to the local organic store and buy Earth's Best baby food by the case.
So I have to plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the three of us. Packed lunches every day, meals every night. Enough fruit to last the week, enough veggies to last the week (no time to shop mid-week). I spend the vast majority of Saturday and Sunday shopping and cooking because there isn't time to do much during the week. I generally get home at 4:45 and dinner is at 6 pm. During that time I'm feeding the baby, trying to start dinner, and helping the first grader with his homework.
After all that, just making sure there is ample healthy food, the next level for weight loss is counting calories. Man, so that means entering all of my food into My Fitness Pal, including recipes (AFTER I've cooked it). Weighing and measuring. Planning everything that I will eat a day or two or three ahead. It works. But I don't have the energy for it when I'm not sleeping. Hopefully last night was not a fluke and I will be sleeping more and more.
Well, now I need to figure out what kind of exercise to get in today. Sundays, generally, there aren't many classes at the gym. I could walk. I could attempt a run. It's earth day, and the festival is 2 miles from my house, so maybe I'll head over there for a bit. The reorganization of the boys room means there are items to purge - clothes, toys, etc.
A typical night involved waking at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 3:30, 4:00, 6:00. So I've been a complete wreck. I have, in desperation, gone to sleep on the floor of Nick's room (cold and hard and it didn't really work for me). Still the most sleep I got was a single 3 or 4 hour stretch, and that, only twice.
You see when I wake up, my brain starts thinking about work. And I cannot turn it off. We've had 4 major changes/ reorganizations in the last month, and most of them have not been in my favor (especially the most recent). That, which causes no sleep, makes mama cranky.
Yesterday was particularly bad. We have an entire team of people on vacation and they left without ensuring that all of their instructions were in order. So I ended up spending 4 hours at work figuring it out. On a Saturday. I missed lunch and I missed both workouts - the only day I've managed to get to the gym at all is on Saturday lately because of lack of sleep. I was PISSED. I'm feeling incredibly old, fat, and tired. I can't get the gym weekdays because I'm not sleeping. I haven't been able to run because of a knee issue and ankle issue, and I don't have time to go to the doctor.
But yesterday my husband moved the crib into Nick's room (now known as "the boys room"). I slept until 4:15 am! 6.5 straight hours! Then I slept another hour after using the bathroom. In fact, everyone slept great. The baby didn't even wake up. Maybe the medications were causing problems and waking him up. And just so you know, our house is so tiny that if he cries, you can hear him. The ONLY place where you wouldn't be able to hear him is if you are in the laundry room with the washer and dryer running.
Now I just need to get working on my diet. Losing weight while breastfeeding with a job and two kids is no joke. You see, I'm the chief cook in the house. I do the majority of grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking. That alone is a huge task. If I were only cooking for myself, I could meal plan, shop and cook easily.
But I have four people. Sure, one of them is a baby. I feel bad because I'm sure he's ready for more finger food. A lot of the babies his age are eating finger foods. But I really only have energy to go to the local organic store and buy Earth's Best baby food by the case.
So I have to plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the three of us. Packed lunches every day, meals every night. Enough fruit to last the week, enough veggies to last the week (no time to shop mid-week). I spend the vast majority of Saturday and Sunday shopping and cooking because there isn't time to do much during the week. I generally get home at 4:45 and dinner is at 6 pm. During that time I'm feeding the baby, trying to start dinner, and helping the first grader with his homework.
After all that, just making sure there is ample healthy food, the next level for weight loss is counting calories. Man, so that means entering all of my food into My Fitness Pal, including recipes (AFTER I've cooked it). Weighing and measuring. Planning everything that I will eat a day or two or three ahead. It works. But I don't have the energy for it when I'm not sleeping. Hopefully last night was not a fluke and I will be sleeping more and more.
Well, now I need to figure out what kind of exercise to get in today. Sundays, generally, there aren't many classes at the gym. I could walk. I could attempt a run. It's earth day, and the festival is 2 miles from my house, so maybe I'll head over there for a bit. The reorganization of the boys room means there are items to purge - clothes, toys, etc.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
What we are eating this week...and some inspiration
You know, it's been a rough week. Heck, it's been a rough year and a half, if you want the truth of it. But this week it started to come to a head.
My 9 month old baby had surgery. Not of the life-threatening kind, but still general anethesia, 2.5 hour, drive to UCLA type surgery. And that is stressful, something I've been dreading for 9 months. He's recovering nicely, thank you.
I was planning on taking 2 weeks off for the recovery. You see, I didn't use all of my maternity leave. But apparently my company policy is to burn all of your PTO first, which means I cannot take two weeks unpaid and collect my state paid family leave. Great. So instead of focusing on my child's recovery, my husband and I are splitting the days, trying to get as much as we can get done completed in half days and nap times, on nights of little sleep.
Then I've heard wind of possible reorganizations at work, that don't make me happy, at all.
So it's been a bit of a rough time for me - working part time, two kids, nursing, trying to keep it all together. And I feel a bit like I've been neglecting myself for the sake of everyone else (and I have been).
While I lost 25 of the 50 baby pounds pretty quickly, I stalled. In fact, I lost 10 lbs my first month back at work. Then I got sick (twice), and fell off the wagon. Or more specifically, I focused more on sleep and less on meal planning, calorie counting, and exercising. I still exercised though.
Then cold and flu season came around. Come end of January, I stopped going to the gym completely for fear of germs. Oh, I walked a few days a week, but that was about it.
Fast forward to now, and not only have I stalled, I gained back about 5 pounds (maybe more, haven't been on the scale). It all came to a head this week with the stress of the surgery and the potential work changes. I spent yesterday afternoon and most of today depressed and feeling VERY sorry for myself.
So today, I worked out. We went for a family walk to the park (about 30 minutes). Then I came home and went to the gym. I did an hour of Zumba and an hour of yoga. And man, am I out of shape. Oh, I had enough energy and strength to do both workouts. But in bright lights and wearing yoga pants, there is no hiding the extra weight (that regular clothing can hide). But it did wonders for my mood. And the glass of red wine is helping too.
This week is another half-day week of baby recovery, so I'm not too worried about making up lunches ahead of time. My meals for the week include:
Black bean and chard soup with cornbread (tonight and Monday)
Arabic lentils and rice with carrots and kale chips (tomorrow)
Pressure cooker caponata to have with hummus (storebought)
Salads. I steamed some beets and chicken for the salads
When I lose my cooking mojo, there are places I look for inspiration. Lately, they have been:
My Bizzy Kitchen for just yummy recipes all around
The Prudent Homemaker (for frugal recipes from your pantry). This woman made dinner for 20 people for $5.50.
Notes from the Frugal Trenches (single adoptive mom of two older children, and she homeschools. Simple, healthy, frugal meals at their best)
100 Days of Real Food (her kids' lunches are awesome!)
My health mojo is being revitalized due to looking in the mirror, and due to reading Salt Sugar Fat. Yikes, processed food is the devil. I still eat some of it though.
This past week, I enjoyed some sandwiches and salads. We got 3 - THREE baskets of strawberries this week, so they found their way into a salad with some mandarins from our tree, avocado from a friend's tree, sliced almonds, and various greens from the CSA (baby lettuce, red lettuce, arugula, radicchio, frisee).
My 9 month old baby had surgery. Not of the life-threatening kind, but still general anethesia, 2.5 hour, drive to UCLA type surgery. And that is stressful, something I've been dreading for 9 months. He's recovering nicely, thank you.
I was planning on taking 2 weeks off for the recovery. You see, I didn't use all of my maternity leave. But apparently my company policy is to burn all of your PTO first, which means I cannot take two weeks unpaid and collect my state paid family leave. Great. So instead of focusing on my child's recovery, my husband and I are splitting the days, trying to get as much as we can get done completed in half days and nap times, on nights of little sleep.
Then I've heard wind of possible reorganizations at work, that don't make me happy, at all.
So it's been a bit of a rough time for me - working part time, two kids, nursing, trying to keep it all together. And I feel a bit like I've been neglecting myself for the sake of everyone else (and I have been).
While I lost 25 of the 50 baby pounds pretty quickly, I stalled. In fact, I lost 10 lbs my first month back at work. Then I got sick (twice), and fell off the wagon. Or more specifically, I focused more on sleep and less on meal planning, calorie counting, and exercising. I still exercised though.
Then cold and flu season came around. Come end of January, I stopped going to the gym completely for fear of germs. Oh, I walked a few days a week, but that was about it.
Fast forward to now, and not only have I stalled, I gained back about 5 pounds (maybe more, haven't been on the scale). It all came to a head this week with the stress of the surgery and the potential work changes. I spent yesterday afternoon and most of today depressed and feeling VERY sorry for myself.
So today, I worked out. We went for a family walk to the park (about 30 minutes). Then I came home and went to the gym. I did an hour of Zumba and an hour of yoga. And man, am I out of shape. Oh, I had enough energy and strength to do both workouts. But in bright lights and wearing yoga pants, there is no hiding the extra weight (that regular clothing can hide). But it did wonders for my mood. And the glass of red wine is helping too.
This week is another half-day week of baby recovery, so I'm not too worried about making up lunches ahead of time. My meals for the week include:
Black bean and chard soup with cornbread (tonight and Monday)
Arabic lentils and rice with carrots and kale chips (tomorrow)
Pressure cooker caponata to have with hummus (storebought)
Salads. I steamed some beets and chicken for the salads
When I lose my cooking mojo, there are places I look for inspiration. Lately, they have been:
My Bizzy Kitchen for just yummy recipes all around
The Prudent Homemaker (for frugal recipes from your pantry). This woman made dinner for 20 people for $5.50.
Notes from the Frugal Trenches (single adoptive mom of two older children, and she homeschools. Simple, healthy, frugal meals at their best)
100 Days of Real Food (her kids' lunches are awesome!)
My health mojo is being revitalized due to looking in the mirror, and due to reading Salt Sugar Fat. Yikes, processed food is the devil. I still eat some of it though.
This past week, I enjoyed some sandwiches and salads. We got 3 - THREE baskets of strawberries this week, so they found their way into a salad with some mandarins from our tree, avocado from a friend's tree, sliced almonds, and various greens from the CSA (baby lettuce, red lettuce, arugula, radicchio, frisee).
Sunday, April 7, 2013
You Can Put Anything in a Taco
So, guess what week it was?? Yes! Husband traveling week. Easter was chill- back in our pre-kid days, we would have big holiday dinners (particularly Thanksgiving, but also Christmas and occasionally Easter) and invite over friends. There always seemed to be a group of 20-something or early 30-something people with nothing to do.
Fast forward, and we're too tired for that. And we're not in our 30's anymore. And everyone has kids or their own plans.
So I bought a ham on sale and we cooked it. I didn't make a mass of sides, either. I bought some day-old rolls at the store and made a salad. I think. It was a week ago. It was probably a salad.
Then husband abandoned me for a few days with the boys. I decided to make tacos with the leftover ham.
The filling here is sauteed onion, diced ham, and some frozen chopped spinach. A little cheese. I topped it with Greek yogurt because our sour cream was old. It was still good.
We even had tacos this weekend too. Great, and really easy recipe from my neighbor.
In a crockpot:
Tri tip roast
Pour over a jar of salsa
Add some black beans (I used one can, probably would do 2 next time)
Cook all day on low
Very easy for this mama!
Fast forward, and we're too tired for that. And we're not in our 30's anymore. And everyone has kids or their own plans.
So I bought a ham on sale and we cooked it. I didn't make a mass of sides, either. I bought some day-old rolls at the store and made a salad. I think. It was a week ago. It was probably a salad.
Then husband abandoned me for a few days with the boys. I decided to make tacos with the leftover ham.
The filling here is sauteed onion, diced ham, and some frozen chopped spinach. A little cheese. I topped it with Greek yogurt because our sour cream was old. It was still good.
We even had tacos this weekend too. Great, and really easy recipe from my neighbor.
In a crockpot:
Tri tip roast
Pour over a jar of salsa
Add some black beans (I used one can, probably would do 2 next time)
Cook all day on low
Very easy for this mama!
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