Laughter is the Best Medicine

Ben working late hours during tax season does have one benefit, and that's that I get to spend more time with my girlfriends without the nagging, guilty feeling I usually have when I go out on a ladies' night and leave Ben at home to be tied up and gagged by our children. That being said, last night I had another opportunity to revive my sanity by seeing Parenting 101: The Musical at the Kimmel Center... the first musical I've ever seen there. What a gorgeous building! I remember being inside of it when I worked at Ecolab, because they used to be one of my accounts, but it was first time being inside for pleasure. If you have children, you would find this musical to be absolutely hysterical. Now I'm a person that tends to laugh at everything, but honestly, I haven't laughed like that in a while. (ladies' nights excluded because I laugh a ton at those) Basically the show was about parenthood starting with labor pains and ending with empty nesters. Of course, we missed the first 25 minutes because it took me forever to get the kids ready to get ready for bed, but that was like the perfect introduction into what the whole show was about.... the trials and tribulations of parenthood. Each skit used a well known pop song or show tune to perfectly compliment different situations parents go through on a daily basis, like the loss of a family pet, siblings fighting, older siblings ruining Santa Claus for their younger siblings, sex (and the lack there of), moms being supermoms, dads overreacting at their kids' sporting games, the list goes on and on. Now, we were the youngest people in the audience, but I would definitely recommend for parents of all ages... I know Ben would have liked it had he been able to go. I might even go again with him, that's how good it was! If you have a chance to check it out, I would go for it.... you will laugh your ass off, the cast (only 4 people) is truly gifted and I guarantee you will have a great time. The theater it's in is small, so it's very intimate and there's not a bad seat in the house.

If I had to pick one of my favorite skits (and this is really hard because a lot of them are so funny) I would have to say it's a tie between "My children are kung fu fighting" (a brother and sister going at it) and the skit where the dad is having so much difficulty putting his kids' toys together... I can't remember the song it went to, though. It just reminded me of when I took 2 hours to put together Nathan's Kinex roller-coaster for Christmas, only to have it torn down within 2 days. Hahahaha.

Save a Horse

Me & my seasoned line dancing girlfriends

It is with great excitement to announce that I tried line dancing for the first time last night. I was a little skeptical being that I really am not a fan of country music, but I have to say I had a great time! I didn't even need as much booze as I thought I would. =] A few observations:

1. I have never in my life seen old people move the way I saw them move last night. These people danced circles around me (literally). One old guy even used his cane as his partner.

2. Line dancing must produce sensations of self confidence because I have never witnessed so many men prancing around like they were on 'Dancing With the Stars'. That, coupled with the cowboy boot stomping and cowboy hats, and I was in sheer people watching heaven.

3. Line dancing also causes women of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities to bust out in sporadic outbursts of choreography at any given time.... how do they ALL know the dances to EVERY song? It was slightly creepy and intriguing at the same time.

3. People named Vicki are super cool. The woman teaching the lessons was named Vicki and she was a little spit fire and funny as hell. Obviously takes after her namesake counterpart. Thankfully she broke things down for us newbies and had them play the songs at a snail's pace so that I could keep up without rolling an ankle. I knew I wore ankle boots for a reason.

Well, I did get the frequent flyer line dancer card, so I guess I will be attending again. I need to practice beforehand, so the old folks don't show me up! It sure beat sitting on my tukus watching the boob tube while my hubby was at work!

Cristin & Johanna, and the old peeps breakin it down in the background.

Back in Action ... Finally

I finally feel compelled to write a new blog entry after all these months of running around and not being able to collect my thoughts long enough to write anything that would be remotely interesting. Not much has changed in the sense that I still can not collect my thoughts, but I will try to focus on this as long as my kids give me a good half an hour of me time... Ollie is asleep and Nathan is semi interested in TV at the moment, so, here goes nothing...

Last year I went on a huge running kick, starting with training for the Broad Street Run (10 miles), my first 5K in April and ending in August with the LiveStrong run, which was very emotional for me. After that run, I wanted to take some time off to enjoy myself and that subsequently turned into enjoying myself for 4 months! We all know how much we love "enjoying" ourselves during the month of December... I think I consumed 4 dozen cookies alone in the weekend following my Holiday Cookie exchange! All that time off left me feeling blah, blah, and more blah, and disappointed in myself that all my hard work was down the drain.

Well, I finally motivated myself to get off of my tukus and shelp the boys and I back over the ever so lovely LA Fitness, that was exactly one month ago on January 4th. Looking back at my training for the past 4 weeks, I can't believe how much a difference even a month makes! I have so much more energy and feel much better about myself, which is so important when you're a mom! Only mothers know about the unconditional selflessness that goes into raising children and we can all admit that at one point or another in our post children lives, we are feeling bad about "letting ourselves go" or just not feeling as beautiful as we did prior to having kids. Well, I have the answer, ladies... get your rear in gear! It works wonders for the self esteem, mood, sleep... I could go on and on. I hope I can stay this motivated till May 2nd for my 2nd Broad Street Run!!

In addition to me loving on the endorphin producing side effects of exercise, I have been eating a lot better, too. I still don't find the time to actually sit down and eat a meal in peace, but at least I am not reaching for the chips and cookies. Which brings me to my latest random adventure... Shakeology. This stuff is supposedly so good, it makes you feel super energized after one shake and is HEALTHY, like eating a huge salad, but in a shake. I know, I know, it seems like a gimmick, and of course, I would fall for it, but let me give it a try first before I start catching any slack... it does come with a 30 day money back guarantee, even if the bag is empty and I say I don't like it... hmmm... sounds like a plan.

OK, I am off my exercise high horse. I have a few moms that I know that are looking for something to help jump start them to get back in shape. The Broad Street Run is my motivation. Unfortunately for a lot of people, they were shut out because it sold out in 5 days! Hell, there are so many people doing the race, you could seriously still run it, unofficially. ;) If you need a pep talk, come see me. I won't charge ya, I swear. :)

Excitement times 10.

view from the marina

the hotel's pool and beach access across the street!

YAY! In a little over 2 weeks, my husband and neglected best friend will finally be getting away for the honeymoon we never had. I can't even begin to describe how absolutely excited I am for this get-away as the ever so taxing (haha) dreadful, depressing, time known as tax season is looming in the not-so-distant future. How wonderful it will be to wake up to the sound of nothing. Oh, how I/We NEED this. This will be the first time since we got married that we have gone away for multiple nights in a row and a plane ride away. I know I am going to miss those little faces, but in the meantime I can drown my sadness away while laying in the sun on the sandy beaches of Treasure Island, Florida. Sorry if I am making you jealous!!

In other news, the hubs and I went to our first Eagles game in two years last night. Holy crap, it was freezing. It's hard to believe that 2 weeks ago, I was cursing the warm, humid weather for bringing back the ants in our kitchen. Ben and I played it safe and decided not to tailgate and lo and behold, I made it through the whole game without taking a nap, lol. Yeaaa, tailgating is not my best friend. I'm just happy the Eagles won, and I got to spend more uninterrupted time with my hubby... too much rushing around and missing each other reeks havoc on a relationship. Wow, and I just realized that Ben and I will be celebrating our "original" anniversary on November 25th... in sunny Florida, to boot. Lucky number 7 years together!

In the meantime, I just have to keep trekking along. Nathan was sick with croup last week, Ollie is getting sick currently, and I can only hope that Ben and I do not get sick next. The rest of the year is going to fly by now... Nathan is going to be 4 soon (omg) and Christmas is only 6 weeks and 5 days away... ahhh! I hope this year we can make it up to NYC to see the tree. OK, I'm rambling now. Off to go clean this mess of a house. Peace!

Drawing a blank.

It's amazing how fleeting my mind can be sometimes. It's been a week since my last post and I know I have had a lot of things on my mind since then, but absolutely nothing is coming to mind right now. That's what happens to me when I find a lull in my day. I am so used to the hustle bustle of everyday living, that when I actually find a moment of solitude and quiet, I have no idea what to do with it. I know I shouldn't be wasting precious time on the computer, and I know I have a million things that need to get done around the house... dishes, laundry, cleaning, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes it seems never ending. I'm not complaining by any means, I am blessed to be able to work at night and be able to stay home with my children, it just seems that life as a mother has infinite demands and a mother's work is literally... never done. It can be quite overwhelming at times, and even with all of the help I receive from family and friends, I still feel like I am not doing enough. What is with this mommy guilt and why is it so hard to shake? Is it just a woman thing? I wonder if Dads feel the same way, too. As mothers, why is it so hard to understand that sometimes we need help and can not do it all? Are we our own worst enemies? The weirdest thing about this whole day is that it hasn't even been a stressful day for me at all.... most days I am SO ready to go to work at night and punch out my mommy time card for the day, but today, for the first time in a while, hasn't been overly stressful, but yet I still feel a certain way and like I should be doing more. Maybe it's just me and my over-achieving attitude, when will I just learn to relax? I think I need a relaxing vacation where all I am allowed to do is lay there in the sun... I'd probably get bored, though, lol. Ben's right, I am never satisfied. ;)

Oy.

Today I was in the mood to torture myself so I did a few things that sane mothers do not normally do. I took the kids to Best Buy, (too obvious) the park after a rainfall, (mud city) and last but not least, flu shots around nap time. The power cord broke to the precious lifesaver known as a dual screen DVD player, so silly me thought I could run in and out of the "Blue Store" as Nathan calls it. Not only did they not sell the cord, the kids ran a muck amongst the children's DVDs and wanted everything from "100 Episodes of Sponge Bob"to the latest box series of Max and Ruby. You really can not rationalize anymore with an almost 4 year old, because instead of just believing everything I say, Nathan rationalizes right back at me and tells me that he knows the DVD player is broken, but that I'm going to fix it. "That's why we're here, Mom," he tells me. Duh, Mom. Anyway, I almost made it out of there without spending a small fortune, but the damn machines with the crappy plastic toys and sugar-filled candies beckoned right outside the doors, and of course the kids wanted in on that. Even Ollie started yelling at the top of his lungs, "Money, Mom! Money!" Hey, at least I can get away with only spending 50 cents and them being happy about it, right?

On to the next tortuous activity for the day... playing at the park after it rained last night! Yay! I should have just thrown them in a mud puddle and called it a day. After an hour of running around like little drunken maniacs, I finally lured them back in the car with promises of more candy and headed back home to get changes of clothes.

After I literally wrestled them into clean clothes (they love to be naked for some reason), we met Ben for lunch. We ate our weekly pizza fill at King of Pizza.... yum! The kids were hungry after rolling around in all that dirt. I guess I'll get used to it eventually, but I really need a clean ally in our house.... at least Blue (our fish) isn't too messy.

After lunch I took the kids to the Dr. for Ollie's 2 year check up. I can't think of anything more stressful than taking two rambunctious boys to the Dr. during nap time and having to wait a half an hour before being seen. It irritates me because I figured it would be slow at that time and it was, but yet it still took that long?! Don't they know I forgot to take my Xanax this morning and I'm feeling very edgy? Can't they hear my kids pummeling each other with those throat sticks? If I had to say, "Don't touch that" one more time I was going to lose the last marble I had held onto so far today. Ugh. Yes, they nearly tore the roof off that room while we waited. Ollie is in the 50% for both height and weight, 34.5 inches and 28 pounds. Nathan, in comparison, was 33.25 inches and 26 pounds when he was two, so not that much of a difference. Both the kids got their flu shots, but Nathan was the only one that cried. I hate shots, I can't even look when they are getting them! :( We have to go back in a month to get the booster shots, more fun awaits!

The gist of the rest of the day was.... kids refused to nap, Mommy had a slight breakdown, Ben comes home from work to the house looking like a hurricane went through it, and Ollie monster finally being defeated and falling asleep on the floor at 5:30. Guess who's waking up with the chickens tomorrow?

Oy.

Happy Birthday Oliver Francis

Oliver Francis Goldwasser

Ollie's 1st birthday

Ollie's 2nd Birthday (Ben hasn't changed a bit, lol)

Two years ago I had just pushed a 7 lb 7oz. bowling ball out of a ... well, you know the rest. I still can't believe I did it all without pain medicine, but I like to think the morphine drip that wore off right before my water broke did the trick. If you want to read about Ollie's crazy birth story you can find it here on Myspace. Remember Myspace? God, I feel like it's an old re-run that you come across every now and again, like TGIF from back in the day.

Anyway, back to what I was saying... yesterday was Oliver's birthday and what better way to celebrate than to press our luck and take the boys out to lunch, right smack dab in the middle of a lunch hour surrounded by businessmen in expensive looking suits. Sorry about that spaghetti sauce stain, buddy! Nah, the kids were actually on their best behavior for once, and I think I have found the secret to eating in "peace" and not having to scarf down a meal in three bites.... (drum roll, please) bringing them out to eat when they are actually hungry and having their meals come out the same time as ours! Seems easy enough, right?! How long have we been parents now? For the most part, we've only tried going out to dinner, the kids are usually tired and cranky and dinner has never been big for Nathan, he's still picky and since I usually don't get to feed the kids dinner since I'm at work, I'm sure he doesn't eat much at that time. Ollie has always been a great eater, but yesterday he didn't eat breakfast, so he was really hungry at lunch, which made him sit still for once, instead of climbing the booth. Plus, we have always made the mistake of ordering the kids food first, but I notice that whenever we do that, by the time our food comes, they have finished eating, and are on to more important things, like opening sugar packets all over the table, and smearing food on the floor. So, dinner at a restaurant for us usually ends up in cold leftovers reheated at home, and a buzz from the wine we consumed without any food in our stomachs. So, yay for us having an "ah-ha!" moment... only took us a few years.

I was lucky enough to get off of work at the last minute, so we took the kids to one of their favorite places, Bounce U around 6, worked up a sweat bouncing away there, then went to Peace-a Pizza for dinner. Peace-a Pizza is a really cute concept, and they have a play area for kids, which always helps parents, who like I said earlier, have a hard time eating in public with their kids. The only recommendation I have for them is: make better pizza! My kids love pizza and would eat it night and day, but they hardly touched their's last night. They have tons of gourmet pizza slices which look good, and believe me, I'm like a pizza connoisseur, I am not a fan of their pizza, it's too doughy and doesn't taste like much. Peace-a pizza, if you are reading... step it up a notch, I will bring you lots of pizza eating kiddie business if you do!

Oliver is not impressed with whatever WHYY program I just put on for him, and is instead climbing behind me on the computer chair and jumping off repeatedly while yelling toddler obscenities. I better go, maybe I will get another blog post in before the end of the year, at this rate. Have a great day, everyone!