Ask Me Anything: All your imaginary questions answered!
So, I’m about to reach a milestone here at Hot Breakfast. And not one I’m particularly proud of.
I’m about to go almost 2 weeks without writing a post.
Yes, I have plenty of excuses: the kids are out of school, we went on vacation, I was sick, Pat was home last week for a little “staycation” before starting his new job today.
It’s not that I haven’t thought about writing. In fact, the longer I go without finishing a post, the more I think about it. And the bigger and scarier and seemingly more impossible it becomes.
But it’s time to get back on the horse.
I have many new things I want to tell you about, but I thought I’d start by updating you on some things I’ve written about over the last few months.
Here are some imaginary FAQs and their answers. If you have any real questions on anything I’ve posted about over the last few months (or anything else), please feel free to leave them in the comments.
1. Are you still eating “clean”?
Uhhh….not really. Between my sister’s visit at the beginning of May and my birthday at the end of the month, I did plenty of “celebratory” eating. And some stress eating. And some friend-brought-me-a-box-of-donuts-just-because eating.
Hello, lover.
That said, I really believe in those “clean eating” guidelines I made for myself – no refined sugar/flour,no processed foods, less caffeine and alcohol – and I’m going to try to get back into the groove with that this month.
My biggest challenge? I still need a good but easy veggie burger recipe (I found a good one, but it’s incredible time-consuming). Bread is a thing, too. I found a local baker who makes bread that fits my plan, but I have a hard time paying the money for it when I’m making like 25 peanut butter sandwiches a week.
2. How did your April fitness challenge go?
Actually, it went pretty well. I didn’t exercise every day, but setting the goal motivated me to work out 5-6 days/week. I got in a good routine of running 3x/week, yoga 2x/week, and weights 1x/week.
It’s going to be tricky keeping this up in the summer. I hate running in the heat, and it will be harder to get to the gym with Rory home all the time. But at least April and May gave me time to establish some good habits, and I’m going to do my best to keep them going.
As for the diastasis portion of the challenge…I wish I could tell you that I’ve diligently been pulsing my core muscles all the way to a flat belly. But that wouldn’t be true. And in fairness to myself, that wouldn’t really be possible.
I did the Fit2Be videos for the first couple weeks, but then I got lazy. I would like to think I’m applying the principles I’ve learned from them (though the videos and the Facebook group that goes with membership) in my other activities. I’ve specifically tried to modify my yoga practice to not make the muscle separation worse. But there are some things that are just unavoidable. Like lifting Rory. It is like hoisting a wriggling sack of piglets every time that kid yells “Carry you, Mommy!”
Pat says “I think it looks better!” but I’m pretty sure he’s being nice or I’m sucking in every time he looks at me.
3. How are your cute running shoes working out?
Oh, right. Those. I had to return them after two runs. Too small, too narrow. I sucked it up and went back to wide. The new pair has less support, so instead of obsessing about how they look, I obsess about how my forefoot is hitting the pavement and how my knees feel after four miles. On the plus side, these are cheaper than the first pair, so I’m just going to stick with them until they – or my knees – wear out.
4. What happened to those Happiness Commandments?
Right….where did I stop? Five? I got through these:
2) Get sweaty
5) Books > TV
And aside from #3 (which I’m actually going to revisit this month) and, lately, #1, I’ve actually followed most of these. And honestly? Five seems like enough for one year. I’ll keep working on the rest.
5. How’s life without cable?
Awesome. We really don’t miss it at all.
Well, I miss not getting to watch the latest seasons of Mad Men and Louie. We’ll pay if we have to. But in the meantime, there are plenty of other good things to watch.
You know what would make it even better? If we worked out an arrangement with our neighbors in which we trade our Netflix DVDs for their HBO Go password. I’m not saying we would do that, because of course we wouldn’t, but if we did, we would be so happy to be all caught up on Game of Thrones AND to get to watch that funny new show Silicon Valley. And our neighbors would probably really like getting to watch Homeland. If we did that. Which we wouldn’t, of course.
6. What are your plans for summer?
Last night, we brainstormed the “Dillon Family Fun-in-the-Sun Summer 2014 To-Do List.” We currently have a list of 21 things, and admit it’s as much of a “to-eat” list as a “to-do” list.
I’ll also be taking the boys to see family and friends in Illinois and Wisconsin, and, fingers crossed, we will get to the beach for a few days.
Other than that, Noah will be going to quite a few camps. In the meantime, I’ll be finding new things to do with Rory and hopefully introducing him to potty training and the concept of communicating in ways other than blood-curdling screams. Seriously, you guys, these screams.
7. What’s the best present you got for your birthday?
Would you believe me if I said this vintage Dwyane Wade beer koozie?
Because it’s true.
8. Are you finally getting used to staying home with the kids?
As a matter of fact, I – oh wait, Rory is up from his nap and screaming from the crib. More on this one later.
Want to help me with my writer’s block? Or uncover one of my many deep dark secrets? Looking for parenting advice from someone who is undoubtedly worse at it than you? Then ask me anything in the comments section below.
