Feeling Special and our Favorite Thing

I love how some days I have absolutely nothing to say and then other days I am full to the brim of experiences to share.  Today is one of those days where I am full to the brim of really random things, but all things that happened since the last time we chatted.

First, let's talk about how I was too tired to do my PiYo workout this morning.  I'm not even sure it was tired, I just felt a bit burnt out.  So I didn't do it.  I kind of knew I wasn't going to do it yesterday night because I just felt to exhausted.  And not physically exhausted, more mentally exhausted.  And that can be just as bad - if not worse.  I figure I can do it tonight if I want to or I can do it tomorrow (since Fridays are rest days).  We'll see.  I don't think I'm giving up by any means, I just wanted a day off from the 4:15am wake-up call and the double days of PiYo and running.  I think I'll still run this afternoon, but we'll see how I feel.  I really wasn't feeling my run yesterday before I left, but then I felt really good on the run and thought about lots of things and worked other things out in my head, so I was really glad I went.

In other news, I had my goodbye party at work and it was AWESOME!!!  They worked so hard on it and it was so fabulous.  They made me this Good Luck bulletin:

Isn't it fabulous!!  The little skeleton is saying "Kattrina calls the shots" and those are all pictures of me with a nursing hat on.  The cake was amazing too - it was lemon cream.  And my co-worker put the prescription meds on the cake (M&Ms).  Those little pieces of paper are for people to write me a "prescriptions" for school and the future.  The notes were so sweet that I actually shed some tears.  I really love my co-workers - they not only do amazing work every day, but they are truly amazing people.  My one co-worker made me a condom necklace (since I work in HIV prevention):

Complete with a female condom that matches my shirt.  Of course, none of these condoms are usable, since they all had holes punched into them!  The room was decorated with nursing stuff (like a kid's medical kit!) and condom streamers.  And there was also a slide show of a bunch of photos of me over the years - 7 years - from numerous events, trainings, and staff fun.  Here's a picture of me from our 2008 Award Ceremony with my good friend from high school (she didn't work with me, she just came to hang out).

And here is our 2008 Wine Tasting, with the same friend from high school and another good friend from Peace Corps. 

I would show you other photos but a lot of the people in the photos are related to work and I don't have photo releases for them.  But here are some of my adorable co-workers from the party!

I'm gonna miss them all so much!!!  In addition to the wonderful party (it was an Italian potluck - think pasta, chicken parm, meatballs, bread, salad, cookies, Bundt cake, and other yumminess), they also gave me a HUGE gift card to Amazon.com so I could buy some nursing supplies and books and other odds and ends.  It was so generous and helped out so much.  Yes, I already spent every last penny.  I bought two pairs of scrubs, two undershirts, a pair of nursing shoes, a stethoscope, three books, and a filing cabinet (not really school related but I really need something to keep my files, loan documents, work documents, etc. organized - right now they are in piles in the kitchen).  It felt so great to buy it though, now I'm almost ready for school.  I ordered this backpack:

I couldn't decide if the pink color made it look childish, but I really like it and didn't want the obligatory black/gray/blue backpack.  So, pink it is!

So, that was my party.  I hope everyone has the chance to work at a place as great as my current job.  Obviously, I did my fair share of complaining, but even when I complained, I knew how lucky I was.  The party really made me feel special and like I had made a real contribution to the organization and the community we serve.  Oh, and I bought my boss/supervisor a gift too:

It's a tie with microscopic images of the HIV virus (gold and silver circles)!  I loved it and was so excited to give it to him!!  I think he was really surprised and said he was planning on wearing it to a wedding he's going to in September.  I told him it is a conversation starter and that he can use it to bring up HIV prevention whenever he's out at events - and he can be reminded of me and the six years we spent working on HIV prevention together.  It was a bit pricey and I was hesitant to buy it at first, but I'm SO glad I got it because it was nice to give something back.

Ok - enough party talk!

Yesterday I met a friend and her daughter at the nature center and we went and threw rocks into the river again!

This time I put Evan in his bathing suit and shoes that dried easily.  He was really excited to go and hang out and hike again.  It took him a while to warm up because my friend and her daughter were with us and he gets all weird when we hang out with other people that he doesn't know that well (although we hang out with them a LOT).

We spent about an hour and half there - walking in the water, throwing rocks, hiking, picking up sticks, picking up rocks, jumping on stumps, etc.  I'm gonna be really sad once summer and the warm weather is gone.  I'm not quite ready to spend six months inside again.  Plus, Evan is still in 18 month clothes and all his winter clothes are size 2T!

And a fun Throwback Thursday pic from 2002 (I think!):

One year for Christmas my father bought me a week long trip to Costa Rica for a yoga retreat.  The girl with me was the yoga instructor - my Dad and I always went to her studio in DC when I was in college and she ran the retreat in Costa Rica.  It was SO fun!!  We did so much yoga but also got to go zip lining, white water rafting, and a lot of fun other things.  This year she's leading a yoga retreat in Italy!!!  Hint hint Dad....haha!

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Do you like your job?  What is the best thing about it?

Have you ever gone on a yoga retreat?  What's your favorite yoga pose??

  -- My favorite pose is Pigeon Pose!

Family time is the best

This weekend was kind of a blur.  I just spent about 4 minutes trying to think of what I did this weekend.  My parents drove through down on their way home and pretty much their visit is dominating my memory.  I'm sure something else happened over the weekend, but I just remember hanging out with them.

They arrived on Saturday and we met them at the Italian restaurant I used to work out when I was a kid.  It's delicious but it was a crazy dinner because we met my sister's family there too.  So, picture a nice Italian restaurant with four adults (my parents, my BIL, and me - my sister was working and my hubs was at the Ravens game) and a 5 years old, 3 year old, almost 2 year old, and a 1 year old.  It went surprisingly well!  No cups were spilled, no food was flung across the restaurant, and only one child cried the entire time.  Success.

Before my parents arrived on Saturday I went to the grocery store and coached golf.  I amazingly spent less than $100 at the grocery store!!!  Except on Friday we went to Costco and spent $145...so I'm not sure if that's really a success.  On Friday we also went to the playground and for a four mile run.  Normal stuff.

On Sunday I woke up and Evan and I ran to my sister's house.  We were promised pancakes for breakfast but then when we arrived (five miles later), they had changed their minds and there were no pancakes.  :-)  We had oatmeal instead.  It was kind of chilly out and I wore capris instead of shorts.

Ok, so it was a bad choice because it was like 65 degrees so 2 minutes into my run I was really hot.  I even put Evan in pants and long sleeves. 

I'm not sure why I was thinking it was so cold!  It ended up being a beautiful day.  Notice how Evan insisted on bringing his golf club and a ball to my sister's.  He actually held on to both of those the entire stroller ride.  We went up to the golf course to watch my nieces in their golf classes and Evan played golf in the grass the entire hour.  He really does love his golf.

He also loves his Mimi and Papa.  He work up Sunday morning and the first thing he said was "Mas (more)  Mimi Papa".  Yup, before he even opened is eyes.  And my dad bought him a new John Deere tractor for his birthday and he happily played with that all day too.  He loves his tractors.

We just hung out all day chatting, playing Jewelry Store (my mom got stuck playing that with the girls), cooking, and eating.  Good times.

I brought my camera to take pics of Evan with his grandparents but then I snapped those two pictures above and the camera battery died.  Nice.

Have a great Monday!!!  It's my last week of work - I'm gonna soak it all up!

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Favorite food to eat for breakfast?

Grocery shopping: love or hate?
  -- I LOVE grocery shopping.  If I had a plethora of money it'd become my hobby!

Rocks in the water

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because I was at an orientation for school.  It was fun getting to meet some new people and hearing more about what my schedule will be like and stuff.  The schedule does not look fun.  At all. I met and hung out mostly with two girls who happened to be twenty.  That makes me 14 years older than them.  I could practically be there mother.  Nice thought, huh.  It was fine though.  I guess all thrown together we are similar enough since we are all going to nursing school.  I did meet another girl who has three step-kids, but only on the weekends.  

This past weekend the weather was beautiful so I tried to get outside.  Evan and I went for a run and then met a friend from TNT for coffee and a walk to the playground. I hadn't seen her since the winter and then I barely got to catch up with her so it was really great spending the afternoon chatting.  I had to walk to the coffee place because the hubs was golfing and I thought I would have time to get a four mile run in before we were supposed to meet...but I forgot to account for the fact that I run much slower with the BOB so I ended up being 15 minutes late.  Yikes.  I felt badly.  I really need to work on my punctuality.  At one point Evan was playing at the playground and pointed at her and said bye-bye.  I don't think he was thrilled about sharing my attention.  

Saturday was the normal golf and grocery shopping.  Nothing too exciting.  I didn't get a chance to do my PiYo workout because Evan was really clingy and fussy and wouldn't let me leave the bed (I noticed that he has his two canine teeth pushing through so that would explain that).  I surprised myself by coming home from golf, putting Evan down for a nap, and then breaking out the PiYo Sweat DVD.  Usually I am not motivated to do anything in the middle of the day but I actually got it done.  Score!

On Sunday we went to breakfast with the other golf coach I work with. She had watched Evan on Thursday so we wanted to thank her.  Evan was a hoot on breakfast and kept stacking the creamers and then knocking them down.  It was hilarious...until one burst open and drenched the hubs in creamer.  Haha!  After breakfast we ran to the outlet mall to look for scrubs for me.  It turned into a disaster.  I tried some scrubs on and that was fine but then I made the mistake of letting Evan ride one of those little rides that you pay a quarter for (or 3 since this one was $0.75) and he decided he wanted to ride every single one.  Of course he could only ride the one (because there was no way I was going to let him ride all of them) so then he threw a Disney-style fit.  It was huge.  And it reminded me of why we shouldn't go places that are over stimulating and have too many things catered to little guys.  We barey made it out alive.  Evan proceeded to cry the entire way home until about 5 minutes before we got home.  I quickly put him to bed. 

When he woke up, in a better mood, we decided to go throw rocks in the river.  His favorite thing!  Although I didn't feel badly about not letting him ride the rides, I did want to take him somewhere where he could do whatever he wanted and fully enjoy himself.  Even the hubs decided to come and we had SO much fun.

Ivan was less into the hiking and kept asking where the river was, but Evan and I forced him to be patient so Evan could pick up every rock he found and jump on the tree stumps.

 His hand is blurry because he was waving it so ferociously telling me which stump I should stand on.

We finally made it to the water and the hubs gave Evan a lesson on how to throw rocks into the river.

Then the hubs got really into it and took his shoes off so they could walk across the river together to the "beach" on the other side.

They were really cute together walking through the water and throwing rocks.  Evan eventually decided to sit down in the river so he got all wet, but oh well.  Then it was my turn.

I forced Ivan to take pictures of me so that I had some memory of Evan and me throwing rocks.  Usually it is me taking all the pictures and there are only selfies of me.

Evan wanted to walk down the river, which was a bit painful barefoot because it was all rocks and no sand.  I survived though.  Then we started on our way back and "raced" back to the car.  Evan ran the entire way again, with Ivan chasing behind him yelling to be careful and not fall.  The hubs hates seeing Evan in pain and is always telling him to be careful.  It's funny actually...I just figure Evan will fall every once in a while and survive.

Then Evan found a big stick and took it back to the car, but we made him leave it there.

Overall, it was super fun!  I am really hoping that Evan develops a love of the outdoors...especially a love that is bigger than his love of iPad games and indoor mall rides.  :-)

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Other moms out there - how do you deal with temptations like rides and food when you are out and about?

Favorite time to exercise?  Morning, mid-day, night?
     - I prefer to run in the evening, but I tend to get it done more often if I schedule it in the morning.

My Stitch Fix

First, I have to confess.  Today I didn't dry my hair OR put any makeup on.  And last night I was finished all my stuff at 10:03pm but the hubs had already gone to bed and the quiet house was so enticing that I stayed up until 10:45pm reading.  Guilty.  I was going to at least put makeup on but totally forgot until Evan was already awake and there was no time.

So, did I tell you I jumped on the Stitch Fix (affiliate link) bandwagon? I can't remember and since I'm on the bus with no internet, I can't find out.  I will just assume that I didn't.  I have felt like I needed some new clothes for a while.  I haven't really bought anything new since before I got pregnant.  After I had Evan I kept waiting for the baby weight to fall off and then never got around to buying much.  I bought a few summer clothes last year, but I got them on sale and after I washed them they all morphed into odd shapes.  I guess that's what happens to cheap clothes.  I swear cheap clothes in the past used to hold up better, but these days it seems a waste to even try to save money and buy cheaply because I end up giving everything away.

Enter Stitch Fix.  In case you haven't heard, Stitch Fix is an online shopping experience.  You sign up, answer a bunch of questions about your body type and style, and someone picks out clothes for you and sends them on their way.  You get about five items (it can be a mix of tops, bottoms, dresses, and accessories), you try them on, and you keep what you like and mail back what you don't.  The items are a bit pricier than I would usually buy (average price is about $60 a piece), but they are all great quality and hopefully won't ruin the first time I wash them.  Plus it can be a slow process - I can buy one or two items a month rather than 5 in one shopping trip from the same store.  You can also buy your entire Fix and then you get 20% off your entire purchase, but I don't think I'll be spending $200 anytime soon.  You never know though - my co-worker loved her entire Fix and bought everything the last time.

So I got my first Fix yesterday in the mail.  I was so excited because who doesn't love a package in the mail.  I had been warned about the first Fix because everyone I know had been disappointed.  They all say that the second Fix is much better.  That was pretty much true for me.  I wasn't really a fan of any of the things they picked out for me, but I ended up keeping one item since you pay $20 upfront to be styled.  This is what I got:

A black and white striped shirt.  For some reason it looks cuter in this photo than it did in person.  I wasn't a big fan and there was nothing special about it, especially for the price they wanted.  It's kind of baggy and long so it has to be tucked in, which kind of annoys me.

This one is a bit hard to see but it was a silky-type shirt with tulips on it.  It was cute but close to $70 so it wasn't cute enough for me to buy.  It was also baggy and needed to be tucked in (this was a theme - everything was baggy and needed to be tucked in).

This one I really disliked.  It was similar to jersey fabric and hung weird.  It made me look pregnant, which is never a good look.  The back was the worst.

It was this weird pattern that reminded me of a Native American-style mixed with large roses.  It was definitely not my style.

This is the one I decided to keep.  It's a nice fabric and would work for work and casual.  It's not the best color for my winter skin, but I will most likely wear a cardigan over it so it shouldn't matter too much.  It also needs to be tucked in, which annoys me, but it doesn't look to bad. 

I also got a pair of really cute black pants that fit great and were super comfy.  They didn't photograph well so I didn't take a picture.  They were $98 though and I felt like that was just too much for my sad budget.  The shirt I ended up getting was $48 but with the $20 I already spent it was $28.  Not too horrible.

So there you have it.  I didn't get any accessories, but I am fine with that.  I am excited to return these, make comments, and get my next fix next month.  I hear that the more detailed your comments the better your next fix is.  I really like how I can slowly increase my wardrobe without going on a spending spree and disliking half of what I bought a week later.  I made a Pinterst board with my styles which I hope will help them find the perfect outfits for me.

If you like this idea, feel free to use this link (or any of the links above) to sign up.  Just to be transparent, I get $25 if you sign up, so if you'd prefer to not do that, you can always just go to the website and sign up yourself.

What do you think?? Would you enjoy an online styling and shopping service?

Weekend Recaps and Good Morning

I think I went to bed close to 10 pm last night, a small miracle.  So I feel a smidgen less tired this morning.  Don't think that means I won't sleep in a few minutes, I just might be a but more coherent while writing this.  Except I just tried to spell writing with two t's in the last sentence (auto correct wouldn't let me though), so maybe I am less coherent than I think.

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday.  It was my niece's bday so my sister had to volunteer at her preschool, which meant the daycare was closed.  So I worked from home in the morning and then took the afternoon off.  You will be shocked to know what I did in the afternoon.  Put your seat belts on or you will be blown away!  I went for a run!!  I know, pretty monumental, right.  And not just a five minute run down the street...nope, I did a full 5.5 miles.  Amazing, right?!?!  I took two and a half months off completely and then last week I did a three mile run and a four mile run and then I managed to get a five and a half mile run in without falling over.  And it was hilly!  My legs were tired but I made it.  We'll see what I feel like today but hopefully I will recover.  I will admit my recovery fuel was not stellar...some chips and frozen yogurt...but I will try and work on that.  I have today off and then I will try and do four tomorrow.  I'm not sure it't the brightest idea to jump right into the middle of my training plan pretending that I have been running for the past few months, but I'm not sure what other options I have...the half marathon is a short five weeks away!

These past few weekends have been lots of fun but I was busy posting delayed holiday posts so I will tell you about them now.  Last weekend we actually did something fun and this weekend we didn't, but for some reason it was still a good weekend in my eyes.  Last weekend we FINALLY used our membership to the aquarium.  We got it for Evan's birthday because we thought it would be a fun activity to do in the winter but then with the move and the holidays we never made it downtown.  However last weekend we went with some friends and it was a lot of fun.  I'm not sure who liked it more, Evan or Ivan! 

It's hard to make us out but there we are in front of the Amazonian mangroves.  My parents and I actually went on a mangrove tour in Honduras and it was amazing, so this was fun to look at.  That tour seems like years ago, and actually it was seven and a half years ago so I guess it was years ago.

Our attempt at a family selfie

One of my favorite parts of the aquarium is the rainforest.  You get to walk through it and I think it's so fun.  I guess it might seem odd since it's not underwater, but I like it anyway.  We saw a sloth sitting on a tree which was fun, although I have seen a sloth in Costa Rica in the wild so this was a little less amazing.  Ivan wasn't a fan of the rainforest exhibit because it was hot and by the time we left the rainforest he was drenched in sweat.  I made him pose for one more family photo though.

His favorite thing was the sharks, of course.

We didn't see everything so we want to go back soon, maybe next weekend or the weekend after.  Since it's free with our membership all we pay for is parking.

This weekend we went shopping for some rugs to put in the house but were unsuccessful.  We ended up going to Kohl's and JCPenney's but Kohl's was way too expensive and JCPenney's didn't have many in the store, so we ended up buying one online.  We still need on to put in the dining room and kitchen because it's just too loud with the dog and Evan that we are afraid the neighbors will complain.  I wasn't willing to shell out $100 bucks so we only bought one, and the one we bought is for the living room.  We needed one to put in front of the couch so when Ivan puts his boots on he doesn't stain the carpet.  It's really annoying renting sometimes - you have to constantly think about what the place is going to look like when you move out...and dirt stains on the carpet can be a problem.

On Sunday we tried to go to church but failed miserably.  Evan is just so talkative that it was a nightmare.  Everyone kept giving us the Look and even though I tried to be strong and kept telling myself that the Catholic church is against abortion and birth control and that children are the future of the church and they should be welcome...Ivan still ended up spending 98% of the time in the hallway with him.  We may not go back for a while.  Then we went to Panera and ate chocolate chip bagels and coffee and played on the mall playground.  They have a little play area inside and during mall hours it is crazy with kids jumping wild and large kids (who are too big for the playground anyway) pushing the little kids, etc.  However, the mall hadn't opened yet so there were only a few other kids playing around.  Evan loved it.

We went to the playground by our house yesterday too and no one was there so Evan had a blast walking from one play thing to the next.

He loves these cars but there are two so you put him in one and then he points to the other.

So then you put him in that one and then he wants the other one.

And then he just wonders off (that's the dog's leash in the bottom of the photo, in case you were wondering). 

After my run we went and got Evan's haircut.  It's very cute.  We had the same woman who cuts Ivan's hair cut Evan's and she did a good job.  He was so well-behaved and just sat there the entire time...completely unlike church.  Then we headed to my sister's for cake and ice cream to celebrate my niece's birthday.

Now it's back to the bus and work.  And my nap!

So many things to tell you and the worst run ever

This may be a long post because I have so many things to update you on.  A lot has happened since we last "chatted" and since we are practically best friends I feel like I need to give you the full update.  Hold on to your seats people, it's gonna be a long ride.  But don't get too excited because I haven nothing of real importance to tell you.

First, what is this update with out a mention of Halloween?  I know I am late on this and should have posted on Friday with the rest of the blogger world, but I was swamped at work and by the time I finished all I wanted was to rest my eyes from the computer screen.  However, Evan was the cutest monster ever.  Don't you agree?  My niece was an adorable Angelina Ballerina and I went as myself, so don't make any comments about what my costume might have been.

Instagram: mapleandmud

I bought Evan's costume second hand and mainly because it looked nice and warm.  Figures it was practically 60 degrees that night, but he didn't seem to be too hot.  And yes, we had to go trick-or-treating with his Easter basket because I dropped the ball on a Halloween basket.  I also didn't have a Halloween shirt for him to wear that day either.  I am trying to keep on top of things but I obviously wasn't on top of everything.  We only got candy from a few houses because I didn't want piles of it waiting to be eaten by me.  So,  I had pretty much eaten all the candy by Friday...maybe I should have let him go to a few more houses!

This weekend was a blur of many things.  Saturday started out nice and slow because it was the first weekend with no First Tee!  No getting up at 6am to get ready for golf!  I wish I could say I was productive and did a ton of other things but no, Evan and I slept in.  We walked the dog and had some breakfast and took the morning slow.  Then when Ivan came home I went to take a shower...and read my Runner's World magazine for the first hour (no worries, the water wasn't running).  Ivan caught me though and he came to see why my shower was taking two hours!  Evan and I decided to do a little shopping and banking so the two of us headed out (Evan refused to nap so I gave up after 30 mins).  After the bank we went to my favorite baby consignment store.  I bought Evan the cutest clothes ever.  Seriously, so adorable.  I also got him some puzzles and a new sippy cup.  I then went next door to the upscale dog store for some glucosamine pills for Dolce.  He has a limp that won't go away and I think it is a bit or arthritis.  I had really wanted to buy myself a new pair of pants, but after shopping for toddler and doggie I decided to call it quits.

On the way home Evan fell asleep and when we got home Ivan was sleeping.  I put Evan in his crib and thought I'd make my favorite cookies, great pumpkin cookies, since everyone else was napping.  I have wanted to make these for a while but never found the time.  I put the flour and oats in the bowl and then realized I needed a cup of brown sugar and I only had a few tablespoons. So off to the store I went...all by myself.  Yay - party at the Giant.  When I got home Evan was awake though...so no cookies were made...until that night when he went to bed.  I think I started around 10pm - but the time was changing that night so I figured I could stay up extra late.  And it was worth it.  I love these cookies!!

My instagram: mapleandmud

Sunday was an even more productive and pumpkin day!!!

First, we came off daylight savings time, which is my favorite thing to do.  An extra hour in the day! My dream come true!  I thought I'd get an early run in since Evan would be up early, but I was mistaken.  Evan slept until 8:15am!  I got bored and actually folded and put away our large stack of clean clothes.  After Evan woke up, we headed out for a run.  The worst ever.  It was sunny and when I checked the weather I thought it said 55 degrees.  NO WAY!  I think that was the high, it was more like 46 degrees.  I bundled Evan up but I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt.

I can tell you, it was too cold for this outfit.  The second bad thing about my run?  It was WINDY.  So windy!  So I was extra cold.  Plus, the route I went on was kinda hilly and pushing the BOB through the wind, up hills, was ridiculously unfun.  At one point the wind was blowing the stroller sideways and I was having to use all my arm muscle (which, honestly, isn't much)  to keep the stroller on the path.  Then Evan's blanket blew away and I had to run and get it.  On a few of the hills where the wind was blowing directly into my face I felt like I was running in place.  It was one tough run.  It was also the longest run I've done with BOB - 5.5 miles.  I finished the run without walking though and feeling returned to my legs and arms eventually.  And the biggest accomplishment?  Evan didn't cry at all!!!  Usually he starts crying at about the 4 mile mark and I can stretch out another half mile or so, but he was content pointing to every tree for the entire run (and eating a smoothie I made him for the road).  Let's hope this run wasn't a preview of what my winter training runs are going to be!

After I got home, I hopped in the shower and off to church we went.  I bought Evan the cutest church outfit at the consignment store the day before and I was so excited to put him in it.

Sorry for the crappy iPad photo, but he wouldn't stand long enough and at a good enough angle, so this was all I got.  I thought it he looked pretty dapper.  After church we headed to brunch with some friends and then finally headed home.  Evan went down for a nap and I started to do some major cooking.  I made pollo guisado (a Honduran dish) for Ivan and then was going to make pumpkin muffins and spinach and quinoa patties for Evan...however, when I looked in the fridge there was only one egg left and I needed five.  So, quick change of plans.  I ended up making pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin soup for Evan.  I had found some canned pumpkin with BPA-free liners and bought a bunch, so I just happened to have all the ingredients for those two dishes.  I guess I was on a pumpkin roll or something - cookies, soup, and pancakes!  I then decided I had enough energy to organize all of Evan's clothes and pull the clothes that don't fit him anymore and put the larger and more wintery clothes in his dresser.  And then I actually stuffed his diapers!

But with all that cooking and organizing - I didn't do my two Chemistry assignments and I didn't clean the bathrooms....some things never change.

And this morning I woke up refreshed from the extra hour of sleep (don't worry, my body will adjust in a day and it won't feel so exciting anymore)!

Happy Monday!!!!

Broken buses and 10,000 ravioli

I drew this all by myself....

 Ugg, these past few days have been horrible with regards to commuting.  On Thursday my bus never showed up so I had to take the local (and got home at 7:15 rather than 6:30), on Friday the bus never showed AGAIN and I had to take the local and there was a huge accident and I didn't get home until 8:00pm (and keep in mind I leave the office at 5pm), and then this morning our morning bus broke down so I had to take the local.  Seriously bus company - service your buses!!!

Ok, I just had to complain about that for a second...as I sit here going to all the park and rides knowing I'm going to be 45 minutes late to work.

This weekend was super jam-packed.  I had my last day of First Tee.  The girls were actually sad and said they'd miss us.  That means A LOT because a lot of the girls don't love golf and they do it because their parents want them to...and then we spend 8 weeks trying to convince them that golf is a lot of fun and they should keep doing it.  So, it seems like we succeeded and most of them said they'd be back in the spring.  I will miss them and the golf season (and the extra paycheck!), but it will also be nice to have Saturday mornings free again.  And it's getting cold, so it is less fun golfing when it's 37* out like it was this past Saturday.

In the afternoon Evan and I took a trip down to DC to visit my co-worker and her new baby.  I LOVE babies and I really love tiny little newborns.  Her son was born just two weeks ago, so he was little little.  It was fun to see her, catch up, and hear her birth story.  After being pregnant I love hearing about other people's birth stories for some reason.  It's not something I ever thought about before, but now I'm always interested.  My plan had been to bring her some frozen food, but she didn't confirm until Friday night so I didn't have time to make anything.  I stopped by Panera and bought her a bunch of bagels instead, and I had already bought some granola and oatmeal a few weeks ago.  I felt like that was the nicest thing that people did for me when I had Evan - everyone came with food.  It was something that had never occurred to me and I appreciated it so much.  Keep that in mind!  If any one of your friends ever gives birth - head over with food, they will love you forever.

It's a good thing that I am not pregnant right now because I can tell you - Evan was NOT happy with me holding the baby.  He kept trying to crawl back into my lap and push the baby away.  Not in a mean way, but definitely in a jealous way.  I can totally see him being jealous of a new baby.  He played with his toys a bit but kept coming back and trying to crawl into my lap.  He does that when I hold my sister's daughter too.  He's definitely a momma's boy right now - he loves to cuddle with me and will climb into my lap and give me a kiss for no reason.  It's the most adorable thing in the world, but maybe it wouldn't be if I had another baby!

Later that night I picked up Ivan and we tried to go to Costco, but it was closed.  It was really annoying because Evan had fallen asleep in the car and then we woke him up to get him out - only to find out that Costco closes at 6pm!  On a Saturday!  Crazy sauce.  So we went to Target instead and spent a ton of money there.  On non-essential items - minus the dog food.  I HATE going to Target for that reason alone - I always find stupid stuff I don't need (and Ivan finds more) and then then next thing we know we are paying $80 when we only needed $13.00 dog food.  Frustration to the max (and yes, I did just say than and I know it sounds stupid, but I'm not erasing it).

Sunday was suppose to be a bit lazier, but it wasn't.  I got up early to go running with my sister and Evan - even though it was only 37* outside.  Freezing!  And I couldn't find our weather shield for Evan.

See that nice contraption that keeps Evan warm?  Where did it go?  I searched every box, closets, drawer, and cubby that it could possibly be and it is NO WHERE.  I have no clue what happened to it and it's driving me crazy because it's like $65 and I don't want to have to buy another one.  However, when it's cold and I force Evan to go for a run with me, I feel bad having the cold wind blow in his face.  He was fine yesterday though and only started fussing the last half mile, and never broke out into a full cry.  He did pitch one of his mittens overboard though and it's lost forever.  Sorry Mimi - it was one of the Mickey Mouse ones you made him last year.  It was a good run though.

That's me after the run in my running clothes.  Sorry, we don't have a great mirror to take good photos.  Also, I seem to have hurt my food somehow.  I'm not sure how, but it started hurting on Saturday and it's only gotten worse.  I wasn't even doing anything - just noticed this dull throb in my arch area and now it's so painful I can't walk normal.  I had to do a run-hop thing because it hurt to run and I am now hobbling all over the place.  I have no clue what could have happened and I am just praying that the pain disappears.  We'll see.  I'm thinking I probably shouldn't run on it until the pain goes away, even though running on it didn't make it worse.

We did finally go to Costco yesterday and spent a bunch of money on things we didn't need and some things we did.  I bought some Ravioli that I thought Evan would like, but he doesn't.  So, glad I have 10000 more raviolis for him.  And Ivan bought 32 Cokes.  Yup, I guess you can never have too much coke if your name is Ivan.  We also bought a HUGE bag of carrots that Ivan said he's going to help eat.  Ivan hates vegetables so I figured if he was going to eat a few carrots I'd buy them.  Of course we then had to make a quick trip to Giant to buy the rest of the food we didn't want 500 of or that Costco didn't carry organic of - like yogurt and eggs.

All in all the weekend was fun, but my main goal had been to study and that didn't happen much.  I started to study on Sunday afternoon while Evan was napping but then he woke up and was still tired and fell asleep on my chest for an hour.  So I watched Parenthood instead....

Family Fun Weekend

We finally did something different this weekend and it involved leaving the house.  Where did we go?  Does this give you a clue?

We went to the zoo!  We had been talking about going to the aquarium, since we became members, but it was supposed to be a nice weekend and the aquarium is all indoors.  So we decided to venture to the zoo instead. 

I had to pose sideways so you could see Evan...
I don't normally pose sideways for photos.

I still had golf in the morning so we didn't head out until the afternoon, but it was perfect.  The weather in the morning had been cool and cloudy so the zoo wasn't too crowded.  However, by the time we got there the sun was out and it was perfect weather.

I carried Evan in the Mai Tei the entire time and he loved it.  For some reason we are not stroller people when we go out.  I always take the stroller when we head out for a walk, but if we are going somewhere like the football game or shopping we just always carry him or put him in the baby carrier.  I'm not sure why.  But the baby carrier was the way to go here because it was easy for him to get close without having to maneuver the stroller between people.

He really loved brushing the goats.

They were so cute.  Ivan's favorite part was the farm exhibit, of course.  We ended up with a lot of pictures like this.

And this,

We saw a bunch of giraffes but since we were there so late we couldn't feed them.  They were still fun to,look at.  Ivan also really liked the penguins.  I'm not sure why but we stood and looked at them for along time.

They were eating, so it was fun to watch them scarf down fish.  At the end we had somehow missed the crocodile (Ivan's favorite animal) so we had to rush back to the chimp exhibit and fine the one lone crocodile in a tank.  We made it and on our way out we snapped a photo together (a rarity).

We had so much fun.  Ivan wants to go back next week, but at almost $18 a person to get in, I don't think we'll be going every week.

Sunday was a normal day, except I subbed for another First Tee coach so I had to work again.  Melissa and I went for a 4.5 mile run in the morning.  It felt nice because it was such a beautiful morning.  I then took at trip to the grocery store where I was able to keep our bill to close to $100.  Then I went to Costco and spent $60, so there goes that budget.  It was important that we buy 30 rolls of toilet paper, 900 baby wipes, and 32 cans of coke....

And the Ravens lost.  Boo.

But I made chicken soup and Evan has a new tooth.

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What did you do this weekend?

What's your favorite zoo animal?

 - Mine is the gorilla and chimps.  I love to watch them because they are so human like.  I also like the elephants.

Fill in the Blanks Friday

It's Friday and I felt like it was a good time to fill in some blanks.  Join Lauren at the little things we do if you want to fill in some blanks too!

1. When it comes to holiday shopping, I haven't even started.  I got my maternity time confused and went two weeks without a paycheck so I couldn't afford to buy anything.  And I mean nothing.  I got paid yesterday (thank goodness) and I went to make coffee this morning and we have no creamer and I went to make oatmeal and we have no milk.  Yikes!  So, we are doing ALL our shopping this weekend...
2. A few things on my Christmas list are new running shoes, a few new running shirts, and a few new pieces of clothes.  That's about it.  I don't really have too much on my list because I haven't really thought much about what I want.   Oh well - it's all about baby Evan now anyway, isn't it!
3. An intangible gift I'd like to receive is a peaceful ten hour car ride up to Vermont with the baby.  Yup, I really hope he behaves and doesn't scream the entire time.  Only time will tell!
4. My Christmas will be spent with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend.  I can't wait to see them and have Evan spend some time with them.  Plus my sister will be there and she's never met Evan so I'm so excited for her to finally meet him.  I can't WAIT to head up there!
5. My most favorite Christmas gift I ever received was....  Hmm, hard to narrow it down.  When I was little I remember being super excited to get Mall Madness.  Then one year I got a yoga retreat to Costa Rica.  I've gotten a lot of good presents in my lifetime, but the best things are spending the holidays with people I love. 
6. The best thing about the holidays is the holiday spirit.  I can't help be super happy during the holiday season.  I love my little tree at work, I love buying gifts for people, I love sending out holiday cards, I love stuffing stockings, I love all the parties and food, and I love heading up to Vermont.  I also love snow, so please snow a TON while I'm in Vermont.  I would appreciate it!

Have you finished your holiday shopping yet?

Are you sending out cards this year?
I feel like a lot of people I know have decided not to do cards this year and it makes me sad.  It is so fun getting cards in the mail and keeping in touch with people outside of Facebook.  Oh well - I refuse to give it up!