Empty buses and half marathon training

It's a bit empty these days with the Federal government closed.  I'm not sure how noticeable it is in the rest of the country, but here in DC it is extra quiet.  I can't imagine how scary it must be to not be getting paid because bills are still due and food must still be bought, but I will say that the commute is nice.  The roads are a bit less crowded when the majority of workers are on a forced vacation.  Let's hope they pass the budget soon though.  And it is a bit difficult explaining ridiculous things like a government shutdown to my husband.  No matter how I explain it, it doesn't make sense to him...why? Because it's stupid and doesn't make sense in real life either.

As I mentioned before, Monday was the start of my half marathon training.  Except I didn't start because I was too busy at work.  I did start on Tuesday though.  I ran a short distance of 3 miles.  I'm not sure what it was but it was hard.  I've run three miles many times and I've run more than that on the weekends with my sister pushing the jogger, but something about running during lunch downtown made it hard.  I didn't stop to walk (although I really wanted to) but I did slow down a lot in my last mile, and not just because it was uphill.  I'm not sure what made the run so hard...the unexpected heat, lack of water, exhaustion? Could have been any of those.  I persevered though and finished.  Not sure how long it took me since I don't run with a watch, but I don't think it was too slow.  I am going again today.  And hopefully a coworker is joining me.

Talking about water, Evan loves my Camelback water bottle and can actually drink out of it.

The bottle's almost as big as him!  

Yesterday I needed to get some studying done, so Ivan took Evan on a long walk in the backpack.  It's funny because Evan must love that backpack because when he sees it on the floor he get really excited and yesterday (because he was tired) he cried until we put him in it.  Then he was super happy.  So, they went on a walk and Evan loved it.

I was glad to get a few minutes to study for my lab quiz.  I have a test next week so the study will have to be on all weekend.

And can I mention how excited I am that NCIS is back on.  And the Voice.  Last year at this time I was on maternity leave and life was a blur with lots of TV.  Now I can't even handle one TV show, but I'm determined to see NCIS, especially since one of the characters is leaving the show and being replaced with someone else.  I wish Parenthood would go on Amazon Prime so I could watch it for free!  I love that show too!

Ok, I'm falling asleep so toodles!

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Training for any races these days?

What's your favorite fall show?

A Birthday Weekend!

Before I get into the birthday celebration, I want to cry about the fact that it is dark and a bit chilly at the bus stop these days.  I hate to admit it but I think fall is coming, and after that...winter.  How did summer go so fast??  I only made it to the pool once.  We only BBQed once.  Sad how fast time goes.

And talking about time flying...how is my baby one year old already???  I cannot believe that an entire year has already gone by.  To relive the moment, I read through all my birth story posts (here, here, and here) and hubs and I walked through his birth day in memories.  It is still crazy to think it was a year ago that he was born.  It seems both a lifetime ago and yesterday that it happened.  I have to say, Evan came into this world and stole our hearts.  I love every minute I spend with him.  

We didn't have a huge birthday party for him.  It was hard to resist societal pressure to not go overboard and have a huge party with invitations, decorations, gift bags, games, etc.  There are so many cute ideas and themes and so many other people go all out for their kids' birthdays that a few times I felt a bit neglectful.  However, instead of a party I wanted to spend the money on family pictures.  I wanted to have a nice memory and I thought family photos would be a great idea.  I think it was.  The photographer was amazing and she did such a fantastic job getting Evan to smile and pay attention.  I can't wait to get the pics back (don't worry, I'll post a few here).

My parents did come down to celebrate Evan's first birthday, so that was super fun and the best present ever.  They came on Thursday night, so we pretty much spent the entire weekend at my sister's house.  I took Friday off so that I could spend some time with my birthday boy.  We headed over to my sister's and hung out there all day.  We made Evan's birthday cake and played around with the kids.

How do you like my rainbow cake!!!

He's eating so fast you can't see his hand...he loves cake, just like his momma!

My friend Andrea came over with her two kids in the afternoon for cake.  After Evan was born she came over ever week for my entire maternity leave.  Her visits were a life saver.  She really helped me out and answered so many of my questions and made me feel so relaxed.  So, I really wanted her to come celebrate Evan's first birthday.  We opened some presents and hung out and then headed to my brother's in law football game.

Evan loves his new truck!

On Saturday I had The First Tee in the morning (new fall season - lots of new girls) and then we hung out at my sister's again.  Yesterday morning my sister and I had a 5k race.  

Before the race - hanging out!

It was my first 5k in years...like over ten years!  We signed up and then I happily realized that my parents were in town and could easily watch the kiddos while my sister and I ran.  Perfect!  I had been hoping to PR in the race but never really got a chance to train much.  I had only been running once a week for a month and before that I had probably run 5 times in the previous three months.  Definitely nothing to brag about.  However, I think I did pretty well.  I ran it in under 25 minutes, which was exciting for me.  So maybe not a PR, but not a snail walk either.

That was pretty much the weekend.  Today's my husbands bday and I have nothing for him.  It's sad.  I have to run out today and see what I can find.  It's hard having two birthdays in one weekend - hard on me and hard on the bank!  Plus, Ivan usually has the car these days so it's extra hard for me to get somewhere to buy something.

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Are you ready for the fall?

What did you do this weekend?

The Return to Work

Ok, I know it's been a long time since I posted.  The last few weeks of maternity leave flew by and I was busy spending as much time with baby Evan as possible.  I still can't believe he's three months old and I am back at work.  Boo.

Loving the bumbo!

Returning to work was hard and easy at the same time.  My sister was watching him when I first went back and since I knew she loved him and would take good care of him, I wasn't super worried dropping him off.  However, I was still sad.  It is hard thinking that he is going to grow up with someone else watching him and taking care of him.  I didn't have a baby so someone else could raise him.  Unfortunately we don't have enough money for me to stay home (and I make most of the money anyway, so I would definitely not be the one staying home), but I would do it in a minute if we did.

Going back to work wasn't quite so bad though.  I like my work and I like the people I work with, so it could be worse.  The minute I got back in line at the bus stop, it felt like I had never left.  I turned the lights on in my office and it was like nothing changed.  I slipped back into work mode super easily and the only adjustment is the fact that I have to pump all the time.  Other than that, it felt like I had never left and that nothing had changed.

My first week back was a bit stressful, I admit.  I had to get a presentation done to present at a legal conference in Chicago and then I had to fly out to Chicago on Thursday to present it.  And while I was there, my sister went into labor and gave birth to a little girl 30 minutes before I got off the plane.  And then I had a site visit by the CDC for my grant on Friday morning.  Yikes!  It was hard enough getting up at 4:30am to go to work, let alone flying to Chicago and back in one day, and preparing for site visits and presentations.  It all worked out though and I recovered on the weekend.

This is what I wanted to do, but Evan beat me to it!

I did relax a bit on Saturday, but then spent Sunday cooking and cleaning.  I made Creamy Chicken Soup and Oven Baked Chimichangas for my sister (so she has some food for those first few days after giving birth) and then Sopa de Frijoles for my husband.  Then I put our Christmas tree up (it's super tiny, a mere 2ft tall) and our holiday decorations (an advent calendar my mom made us and two stockings).  I also did a load of lights, darks, towels, baby clothes, and diapers.  Lots of laundry!!!

And now the weekend is over and the work week is about to start again.

Who wouldn't want to spend all day with me???

And Evan gets to spend the days with his father, since my sister isn't watching him right now.  I'm jealous!

Fill in the Blanks Friday

It's about time I did another Fill in the Blanks Friday.  Are you breathing a sigh of relief that I'm not posting another baby post!  I guess the baby takes up my entire life these days so it's hard to think of things to post that don't have something to do with Maple Baby.  And well, I love him to pieces.  But it's time for a little Fill in the Blanks Friday with Lauren at the little things we do.

1. One thing I plan on doing to relax this weekend is going for a walk.  I'm not sure that that is relaxing these days though because I'm always worried that Maple Baby is going to have a breakdown.  Pretty much nothing is relaxing these days except nursing.  Why nursing?  Because Maple Baby loves to eat so I know that when it's feeding time, he's gonna be really happy.
   
2. A big pet peeve of mine is the fact that they have put so many commercials on FIOS Video on Demand.  I know, I know - my biggest pet peeve is related to TV.  However, I watch a lot of TV these days and I really get annoyed that when I'm trying to watch a VOD show there are so many commercials in it and you aren't allowed to fast forward. 
   
3. I am really loving my maternity leave.  I love spending every minute with Maple Baby, not having to get up at 4:45am for work (although I get up at a similar time to nurse), and spending more time with my husband. 
   
4. The rain is here for the day.  It actually poured and poured last night (I was up feeding Evan) and this morning but for now it has stopped.  It's suppose to continue raining all day though.  It's cozy being at home, watching the rain, and reading a book (ok, so I'm not doing that - I'm watching TV).
   
5. My favorite girly indulgence is trying on wedding dresses.  Ok, so I only did it once but it was so fun. 
   
   
6. A song I always get stuck in my head is If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands.  One of Evan's toys has the music to that song so I find myself singing it all the time.  Before that, I had that Whistle song in my head all the time.  I find that song completely inappropriate but so catchy.
   
7. The best cure for stress is a good run.  I haven't been running in forever and I am hoping to get my first run in today.  We'll see if I can find time it between nursing Evan and avoiding the pouring rain.  I'm sure I can't go far but I am craving the sound of my feet hitting the pavement.

I guess that's it folks.  I can't believe it's Friday already.  The days fly by and I feel like I blink and it's Friday again.  Have a great weekend!!

Goodbye Office!

Friday was my last day going to work, until December.  Crazy to think about.  I am still working from home this week (not today, since it's a holiday), but I won't get to see anyone.  And I won't actually be in DC.  It feels so weird, to be honest.  I realize I could be sitting in my house for another three weeks before the baby comes, but I just didn't want to risk it.  I commute an hour and twenty minutes to work in the morning and an hour and 45 minutes home - and the idea of being in labor while on the bus or so far from home wasn't very appealing.  It is much more comfortable at home.

I will miss my office though.

A view of my office - with my alley window - do you see how close
the people across the alley are!

Here's a view of my office from the door.  It looks super neat and tidy but I snapped these pictures on my way out the door so I had cleaned it up before I left.  The mess that I was working on came with me (so I can finish it up at home) and then I put everything else away so that it didn't look like a disaster zone for the next three months.  It doesn't always look like a disaster zone, but occassionally the papers pile up and get scattered everywhere.  Check out the photos on the wall - those are little cow photos my mom took.  I brought them to work because I spend more time there than at home, but for the next three months I guess that won't be true.

Another view of the office

Here's the side view.  And yes, I do have stuffed animals on my desk.  They give my office a bit of character.  I have one of the funnest decorated offices in the building, I'm sure.  I just figured I spend so much time here that I wanted it to be as comfy and homey as possible.  So I have a ton of photos and knicknacks that remind me of all the people I love and the things I care for right at my fingertips.  I just got this new office in January, so I'm quite happy with it.  My last office was really big but the front part was used to store boxes and files so it was a bit crazy in there. This office is smaller but it's all mine and I like it much better.  Plus, it has a window - a hot commodity in any office building!

Ok - that about it.  I guess this post is pretty appropriate since it's Labor Day and this is where I normally labor.  In the next few weeks I'll be laboring in a completely different way though!  Haha - I can't tell you how many people have made that joke - about how funny it would be if I went into labor on Labor Day.  Yeah, I don't think it's gonna happen, but we still have today!

Hope your weekend has been going well and you're enjoying your extra day off (if you're lucky enough to get it)!