Running Wild

What do you do on a lovely spring day with a little boy who is obsessed with football?

You take him to a college football field and let him run wild.

I even managed to catch the football a couple of times. This little boy is sure teaching me to love running around outside.

Meal Planning Gone Awry aka How I Saved My House From Explosion

Meal planning didn't go exactly as planned this week because my mother-effing stove is broken.


Come on, my cooking isn't that bad.

On Thursday morning I thought I smelled gas coming from the stove and the oven had been making a really loud bang during preheating. The husband couldn't smell anything and thought I was crazy. I didn't listen to him and called the gas company. It turned out to be a defective valve. When I was preheating the oven the gas would just pool and then ignite (a delayed ignition). So basically, I saved the house from blowing up and I was totally right and the husband was wrong. Win! Except that now I can't use my stove.

However, no stove means going out to dinner which is definitely a win. The husband doesn't really care to have his picture taken in restaurants. But he's so cute, I can't help it.

Shit got real with Leo for a minute or two. Homeboy started dropping all the forks on the floor and I thought he was going to chuck his sippy cup across the restaurant. Luckily he calmed down when the fettuccine alfredo arrived. Which he proceed to smear all over himself. I think a couple of noodles made it in his mouth.

We are hoping to get the stove fixed this weekend or else I'll be planning a week of cooking in the microwave and the crock pot. Or maybe we will just eat out every night. Maybe we don't really need that thing fixed after all.

Working It Out

Once again I find myself trying to commit to working out. So far I'm on week #2 of keeping my commitment. We all know how hard it is to fit in workouts when you are a mom, particularly a working mom. The one good thing about daylight savings time is that it makes it so much easier to get out and take a walk after work. I'm trying to do two walks after work per week.



I know that two walks a week doesn't sound like much but at least I'm moving around. Getting everyone out of the house for a walk is giant hassle. I've got to get collars and leashes on two bulldogs, change out of my work clothes, get Leo in the stroller. Then we walk around the block and I have to go back home to drop off the bulldogs who have joint problems and can only walk a short distance. Then I head out again to walk the hills around my house. I only walk for about 20 minutes but pushing a 30 pound toddler up a hill in a giant ass stroller is actually quite a workout. Luckily Leo loves going for the walks and seeing all the cars and such.

Today I was at Target doing my ritual "I just got paid, I must buy all the things" trip and I picked up the 30 day shred dvd. I know I'm kinda late to the Jillian Michaels thing but the dvd was $10 and the workouts are only 20 minutes long. As soon as Leo hit they hay, the husband and I were in front of the tv shredding it out. Holy crap it is hard. I'm not sure I can do this every day for 30 days but damnit I'm going to try! I am already so flipping sore. I can't believe I used to do hour long kick boxing and spin classes. I'm so sore that wine doesn't even sound good. What have you done to me Jillian???

My workout goals are simple - lose 10 pounds and be able to wear cute, trendy shorts during my trip to New York this May. By blogging my workouts I'm hoping to make myself accountable. We shall see what happens in May. I'll either be rocking my shorts or covering my ass with a full circle skirt.

All About Leo

Sometimes, when I'm bored at work, I will go through my old blog posts and look at pictures of an itty bity Leo. I always wish that I had written more about Leo, posted more pictures, memoralized cute little things about him. I have pretty much failed at keeping a baby book so this blog is all I have written about him. In order to remedy this lack of information about Leo, I'm dedicating this post to him. This is probably only interesting to me but I'll be grateful for it on a slow day at work.

Leo is just over 20 months and seeing him become his own person is simply breath-taking. He is so opinionated. Every night we pick out books to read and he simply must pick out all his own books. If I pick out the book, he says "nooo" and shakes his head.

He loves to pretend to make food and then pretend to eat it. Or have me eat it. Or feed Scout. I wish he were as excited about eating real food as he is about eating pretend food.

He loves to play dress up with glasses, hats, mommy and daddy's shoes. He imitates our actions. He'll flip upside down and pretend to blow dry his hair like mommy. If daddy is laying in bed with his feet up, so is Leo.

Leo's current play things are mega-blocks, trains, little people, and books. Oh my, this little one loves his books. It makes my nerdy heart so happy to see him pick out a book, ask us to read it, and sit quietly while we read it.

Leo loves him some football. He wakes up asking for football. Thank goodness the husband has all the good Michigan games dvr'd. Leo always wants to know where his football is and often goes to sleep with a football or two in his crib.

Leo can be quiet and cautious in new environments. He doesn't get upset, but he you can see him taking the scene all in and planning how he is going to incorporate himself. Once he warms up, he's all in and ready to rumble.

Of course, Leo loves the bullies. He gives Frank kisses (which is kind of gross) and he is always trying to hug them. He also tries to pick them up while repeatedly saying "bath." I agree, they are pretty smelly and in need of a bath.

I could go on and on all night but I need to get to bed at some point. Don't you feel better that you know all about my little man?

Proust Questionnaire.

Today I had the honor of fulfilling my civic duty via jury duty. I was actually very excited, I've never had jury duty before. I was quite disappointed after sitting in a courtroom all day and not even making it into the box to be questioned by the judge and lawyers. I had the perfect answers all planned out!

We had a ridiculously long lunch so I wandered around and found a super cute little restaurant. I stopped at a newsstand and grabbed a Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair and Vogue were my absolute favorite magazines in the pre-Leo era. I loved looking at the glossy ads, reading about the latest fashion lines, the book reviews, and interviews. I was a little disappointed that I was too tired and too disconnected to even make it through one full article in Vanity Fair today.

But I was still able to enjoy one of my favorite things about Vanity Fair, the Proust Questionnaire at the end of the magazine. Every issue of Vanity Fair includes a Proust Questionnaire answered by a celebrity or some noteworthy figure. I've always wanted to answer these questions and since I'm am dangerously uninspired for blog topics here I go:

What is your idea of perfect happiness:

Feeling balanced and accomplished in everything that I pursue.

What is your greatest fear:

That somehow Leo grows up to be a mean person. I want so bad for him to be caring and compassionate.

What is your favorite journey:

Motherhood.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Perfectionism. Is that a virtue? I don't know but it seems like no good comes of striving to be perfect.

On what occasion do you lie?

When what I have to say will hurt someone's feelings and saying it serves no purpose.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

My weight.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

"Like." "That's bullshit."

What is your greatest regret?

That I was not truer to myself when I was younger.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

What: books. Who: my husband and Leo.

When and where were you happiest?

The road trip that my Husband and I took after the taking the bar. We went up the coast of California. I felt like I could do anything at the point. The stress of being a grown-up had not hit yet.

Which talent would you like to have?

To be able to sing.

What is your current state of mind?

Overwhelmed.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

To stop comparing myself and my situation to others.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

I would make them be more open with each other.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Passing the California state bar. (Gasp! My greatest achievement is not giving birth. I'm such a bad mother! But seriously I worked at passing the bar, giving birth is all biological and there were drugs involved.)

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

A cat.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

A dog.

What is your most treasured possession?

Probably my cell phone, which is so so sad.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Not having friends or someone to confide in.

Where would you like to live?

In a house with a yard that is close to my office!

What is your most marked characteristic?

I'd like to think it is my ability to look at a situation objectively.

What do you value in your friends?

Honesty and loyalty.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Working moms who do it all and share their secrets to success and manage to raise children who are not axe murderers.

What are your favorite names?

Catherine, Robert, Frank.

What is it that you most dislike?

Dishonesty.

How would you like to die?

As a very very old woman.

What is your motto?

I don't really have one. My motto for breastfeeding was "stay committed, be flexible," which I think can be adapted to many aspects of life.

If you made it this far, congratulations and thanks! I'd love to see others answer this questionnaire. I think it poses some pretty thought provoking questions.

Things I Learned This Weekend

- If you give a toddler a bowl of yogurt and a spoon the toddler will use said spoon to paint his hair with the aforementioned yogurt.

- Mani/pedi dates with good friends need to occur more frequently. Related, if you come home and change a diaper you will ruin your manicure.

- Sometimes you ugly cry in the mall. And not because you saw an "I love the 90s" t-shirt in a store and it made you feel ridiculously old.

- When your husband is going to be out of town for the week your grocery bill is reduced by about $30. This means you can spend $30 on funky colors of nail polish because pinterest told you to. And then you can fix your messed up manicure.

- It is really hard to find a reasonably priced, canvas messenger bag. I've been looking for months.

- Champagne and pizza make playdates even better.

- Goats don't mind a little pet but they do not care to be hugged.

- Weekends need to be longer. Just call me Captain Obvious.