Here’s a little secret about me - I can’t wait til February.  Every year I think February is the month that I take back control of my life.  Being in the business that I am (elves), the holidays are overwhelmingly busy.  It’s stressful.  And it doesn’t stop in January.  There’s always a week long ski trip, both boys birthdays, elf taxes, back to school and back to teaching a new semester for me.  It’s too much.  This year I had to add on getting new tenants for our rental condo and Winter Formal. 

So, as I look back on the month I wonder how it all got done.  I wonder if I did my best.  I wonder if anyone else in my family even realizes how much I struggle with keeping all the balls in the air.  Of course, I know my BFFs are completely aware of my struggle.  Thank God for girlfriends.  Sometimes life seems so busy.  During January, I always feel that I throw everything up in the air and watch how it falls.

Here’s my own report card:

ski trip - big success

back to school - still not quite in the swing of homework but almost

boys’ birthdays - filled with memories

elf taxes - completed and getting postmarked today (last possible day to avoid penalties)

teaching - lesson plans are a mess.  Uh oh!

condo - rented to new tenants.  Cleaning crew and carpet cleaners are there right now to ensure a sparkling condo by February 1st.

Winter Formal - tux ordered, corsage ordered, dinner reservations made, tickets purchased

It always comes together in the end.  I’ve decided I need a wife.  Someone who helps me with every little detail without ever having to ask.  Hmmmm, where do I get one of those?

Well, I guess you could say that I finished my list.  OK, I didn’t really finish it…but I did make progress in every area.  My 6 item list (and there can only be 6 items according to my self-help book) included:

gym, blog, clean house, deliver pillows, make focaccia bread and bake cookies. 

Here’s what really happened:

I was successful at going to the gym, blogging and making focaccia bread…but then trouble set in.  I had decisions to make - BIG DECISIONS, like my youngest son wants to make cookies with me and my oldest son wants banana bread.  What to do, what to do???  It’s been too hot to make cookies after school, so I guess I’m going to make banana bread.  That means I can’t officially cross cookies off the list…or can I?????  Next, I did a cursory clean of the house; meaning I spent about 15 moving “stuff” from room to room.  Is that enough to cross this off the list….maybe just cross off clean but not house.   Finally, drop off fabric to Joyce for pillows.  Well, I moved the fabric into the car but never made it to her house.  I didn’t even as much as call her to tell her I was coming.  Hmmmm.  This one’s tough.  I really need to see this one to fruition as I’ve been sitting on this project for months.  I had a plan, then I changed the plan, then I changed back to the original plan only to realize I didn’t have enough material to recover the entire set of pillows on the outdoor furniture, then I went on vacation, then I misplaced the material…  Same story - different topic!  When does it end?  It’s still in my car!

I’ll try again tomorrow with a new list!  There’s always tomorrow!

Today’s Do-able To Do List

I don’t know about you but I’m having a hard time with the kids back at school and it’s not because I long for more time with my angels.  No, it’s because I can’t seem to fall back into my own productive routine.  Being the Queen of Self-Help books, I completely understand the A#1 rule - make a list.  The problem is that I can’t motivate myself to stick to the list.  Everyday I seem to keep myself busy doing stuff, unproductive stuff.  I’m beginning to understand why teachers don’t give homework right away.  I get it!  Mommies need a little time to ease back into their personal routines as well.  I’m not going to hold myself accountable until after Back To School Night either.  The problem is that Back To School Night was last Thursday!

While the boys were home during the summer, I would allow myself the excuse that I would complete a task or worry about something when they went back to school.  I constantly reminded myself that it was my job (as it is every summer) to provide them with “the best summer ever.”  I feel personal pressure that they have lots of exciting things to write about when they’re given the annual writing assignment of How I Spent My Summer Break.  I couldn’t bear to imagine that they would write something boring and mundane while all the other children sailed the seven seas, backpacked across Europe, climbed the highest mountain, etc.  (Clearly you can see that I have issues that I’m compensating for regarding my own unplanned, unorchestrated, un-thought-out childhood summers.)  However, all good mommy intentions aside, I’m beginning to think that was my excuse for not having a plan, sticking to a schedule, getting ANYTHING done during the entire summer. 

Well, they’ve been back to school and all I can seem to accomplish is going to the gym, showering and eating lunch.  And since I’m being honest, oftentimes I don’t shower.  My friends are the same way so it’s become acceptable to smell.  It’s almost as if I’m paralyzed by my unproductiveness!  I’m walking around my house pondering which project should be started ASAP.  I start a little something and before I know it, it’s time to pick up the boys.  I have memories of being so together last school year.  What happened?

I’ve decided that today will be the beginning of something different.  I’m going to catch up on my blog, actually finish cleaning the house, tackle the outdoor pillow project (a little late seeing as summer is almost over), make a wonderful dinner, and bake warm freshly baked chocolate chip cookies when the boys come home from school.  Do you think I can do it?  It’s just five items on my six item list.  I can still put the gym on my list.  I’m a Type A personality.  I’m goal oriented.  I love a challenge…To be continued…

There aren’t many details that I remember from my sorority days.  I’m not a detail person when it comes to memories.  I wouldn’t have made a good BOY for many reasons, but for one reason in particular - I don’t remember every line from every movie so that I can easily recite them later to my buddies.  What I do remember is having lots of fun.  I loved living in a house of girls.  I loved the sisterhood of it all.  I am so lucky to be able to look back at my life so far and remember fun and laughter.  So while I don’t remember many details, there is one thing that I remember about my days in the sorority.  Well, actually it’s two lines from a song that we sang during Rush Week - Make New Friends, But Keep the Old Ones, Some are Silver and the other Gold!

For some reason, that song keeps running through my head tonight.  Here’s what I know for sure - I couldn’t live without my girlfriends, and I never want to try!  I love them all for so many different reasons.  They all bring something very special to my life.  But the ones I cherish the most are the ones who always bring me up, even when I don’t see the light.  These are the friends who know our deepest darkest feelings and secrets and love us anyway.  We all have these friends.  The friends that know us so well.  The ones that tell it like it is, but have a special way of delivering their heartfelt message that it doesn’t hurt our feelings.  That very message delivered by any other human on the face of this earth would put us on the defensive and turn us into UFC Champs.

 Today, I was bummed.  I won’t even go into the reason, but naturally, I picked up the phone and called a friend.  This is the friend that will answer her phone no matter what she’s doing just because she sees my name on her caller ID.  After I spill my story, she calmly assesses me, my words, my situation and gives me the cold hard facts.  Somehow she makes it all better.  And I’d do exactly the same for her.  While I realize we are girls and we will “discuss” the situation 10,000 more times because it’s never really over, I love her for all she is and all she gives to me.  While I really do love and cherish my husband, she’s the one that I want to give the other half of my Best Friend Broken Heart Necklace to. 

But it’s not just her that I love and need - it’s all my BFFs that fill my life with happiness.  I just hope that I do the same for them.  I just hope that they feel as loved and understood as I do.  They’re all so amazing and I aspire to give them everything they have ever given to me. 

I’ve been a gym rat my entire adult life so I consider myself an expert someone who’s seen their fair share of instructors and classes.  I’ve been through high impact, step, spin, Pilates and yoga…but this instructor rises high above all others.

Her look is part of the trick.  She’s a tiny, petite, tan, cute, blond, soft-spoken and fully clothed girl.  She’s hiding her inner powerhouse under those clothes and I am so on to her now!  Who knew the torture I was about to endure?  Who knew I would wake up in pain for the next 3 days?  She was almost like a pitbull in a Yorkshire terrior costume.  (BTW, I’m not a dog lover.) 

As usual, I walk into class to meet my friend, J, who’s always punctual.  She has our “stuff” all set up.  I look lovingly at the spin class that’s about to begin in the studio next door and a small tear rolls down my face, but I realize that I must stand firmly planted in this class.  I need to build muscle.  I’m a weakling!  I’ve read that muscles begin wasting away as you age.  (It’s a good thing I’m not aging or I’d really be concerned.)

 So class begins slowly.  A nice easy warm up.  Nothing unusual.  But then, hell froze over and we were in plank.  While plank is not easy for me in the first place, it’s really not easy to hold it while jumping our feet together (in and out), and then going right elbow, left elbow, right hand, left hand, and then balancing on the bosu ball and rocking left to right.  Yes, you heard me - all while in plank.  Just when we thought it was over, she told us to do another set and then ANOTHER SET.  Really?  I kidd you not!!!!  And here’s the thing - she was doing it with us just to prove that it could be done.

 The class didn’t end there.  Oh no!  That was just the first 15 minutes of torture.  We still had 45 minutes more and she wasn’t even breaking a sweat!  I think in some countries this is illegal!  After this we had to jump onto a platform, jump over six steps (jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump) and then do some crazy overhead press squat combo.  This girl doesn’t stop.  I wanted to run into the corner and cry. 

 I did look out the window on several occasions and wish I was in the psycho cycle class.  Cycle class is for babies compared to this.  How was I going to walk out of here without anyone noticing?  How was I going to walk down the steps to my car?  How was I going to make dinner?  How was I going to survive this?  Quite simply - I made a pact with myself.  As soon as my body looks like Lynette’s, I’m going to quit the gym and save myself $75/month.  I’m giving myself until Labor Day to lose 5 pounds and have a fraction of the definition she has.  I’ll keep you posted.

And then to make matters worse, she has two kids, ages 2 & 3.  Sometimes life isn’t fair!