Some thoughts...

for the last couple days of the month and year from Whole Living's December issue.  I was going through some piles of paper on my cluttered desk today and found this.  Good things to remember and practice.

Holiday rush around

It's been a busy week with Christmas being only 3 days away!  It's also almost time to bid adieu to 2011. 

My daughter and I have been having fun starting some new family holiday traditions.  Things like making our own decorations, to baking cookies and listening to some Christmas favorites.  My daughter's favorite Christmas songs this year are "O Santa" from Mariah Carey, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and of course, "Jingle Bells".  

Christmas seems to be very different for her this year than it was last year.  She definitely can comprehend more about what is going on and seems to be so excited about Christmas and all it has to offer.  Of course, I'm trying my best to make sure she knows Christmas is not just simply about the presents, decorations, Christmas music and Santa Claus though, but more about the birth of Jesus Christ.  It's definitely a challenge to find some sort of balance in the world today, but I just keep trying.  I want her to have presents, but not expect them or take it for granted.  I also want her to be able to just enjoy the simple things in life instead of having to be hyperstimulated by all the chaos this world has to offer to kids nowadays.  Sigh...it's definitely a challenge, but it's a challenge that I signed up to take on!  

We are having my parents and my brother over on Christmas Eve and I've been running around the house like a madwoman trying to clean, organize and declutter all the while trying to keep the little one out of trouble.  I still have tons of stuff I need to get rid of somehow, whether it be donating, tossing or selling.  The list of things to do just never seems to end!  I shutter to think of what our house is going to look like when I go back to work full time (God willing).  It's a lot of work keeping up the house, taking care of the little one and trying to do things that I need/want to do on my own.      

Between all this running around I've been trying not to be too busy as to miss a workout.  It's during these hectic times that I value my workouts even more.  Alongside my P90x workouts this week, I've had the chance to head on out for a run twice this week.  My (running) training has been anything but consistent lately.  So far I've only logged about 7.5 miles this week, so I'm hoping to put in at least 8+ miles on Saturday morning.  I'm trying to fight the fatigue that I've been feeling for the second week now.  My mind has been trying to push my body to do more, but my body just does not seem to want to cooperate this week.  Maybe it's because it's just that time of the month or so it's supposed to be, or I'm deathly afraid of the cold, or I just want to stay in my warm bed.  It's just been so cold lately!   

To fend off the cold, tonight I'm loving my thick flannel shirt from J Crew.  I also bought a matching one for my daughter.  Who cares if it's from the boys' department.  (Shhh!!!)  We can rock em'!  I just love plaid!  Now I'm thinking I need to get a pair of plaid running shorts.  

My week so far

Once a month, I get the dreadful feeling of not wanting to workout.  I ALWAYS want to workout!  It's a battle between body and mind on how to get each other to cooperate during that time of the month.  I am just tired this week in general because I did not have a "rest day" last week.  Aside from how I'm feeling, I'm eating like junk this week.  Ok, maybe not THAT bad, but in comparison to my normal days, it's junk!

Yoga was on my P90X schedule today.  I ended up not wanting to do any working out at all.  Mentally, I just wasn't into it.  It's hard to allow myself to take a break here and there, but I guess it really is needed.

I've been debating whether or not I should buy the next P90X2 workout.  I know, I know, I haven't even finished my 90 days of my P90X workout yet.  Ok, maybe I will wait.  One thing at a time.  

What do the rest of my workout week look like?  I'm debating between the Legs and back workout or kenpo tomorrow and then Saturday I need to put in some miles.  I have the Nike+ Womens' Half marathon coming up in January and the Napa Marathon in March.  Since the Nike Womens' Half marathon back in October, I haven't been running nearly as much as I had been.  I couldn't figure out why I mentally had lost my love of running for a few months, but I got back into loving it probably by the end of November.  The longest run I've had since then has only been 10 miles.  So I'm feeling ok about running a half marathon soon, but in order for me to feel ready for the Marathon in March, I need to start increasing my mileage.

On another note...I've been consumed with a DIY project all day today.  Since my daughter woke up this morning until she napped and woke up from her nap, all I did was work on a play kitchen that I am making for her.  I have been working on building her this play kitchen from all cardboard I've collected and things around the house.  I spent the morning cutting cardboard, reinforcing joints and brainstorming on what's next.  Before lunch I dragged my daughter to Michael's to pick up some more glue, paint, fasteners and a glue gun.  After a hard day's labor of love,  here's what I ended up with:

 

It's amazing what a little paint can do!  I'm almost there.  We need handles for the doors, one more shelf put in and then any final touches.  I've been trying to hide it form her until maybe Christmas, but I have a feeling that might end up being a difficult task.  Right now, it's titter tottering on a pile of clothes in my closet.

Jumping right in

I've been itching to start a blog for quite some time now.  I'm not actually sure why it has taken me so long to actually do so.  Perhaps part of the procrastination was due to fear.  Fear of not knowing what the heck I was doing, fear of not knowing what I would write about, fear of the commitment...who knows?!?!

Anyway, today marks the fourth month of joblessness for me.  Don't get me wrong though, that's not to say that I am not busy.  With a to do list out-the-door and a very active two year old running around at home, I am not sitting by the door twiddling my thumbs.  I started my job search back in October and have had some leads here and there, but today I received my first "I'll pass" rejection notification from the first company I met with.  It's probably for the best anyway and at least I'm getting interviewing experience (trying to look at the bright side of things).  I never really had much experience with interviewing in the past.  I would say that the jobs I had before were acquired more so because of the people that I knew and their recommendations of me.  Thank God for them huh?

This bit of news today almost feels like it was the catalyst that thrust me into actually starting my blog finally.  What the heck?  What do I have to lose?  If I don't try, I will never know right?

So, I'll have at it...Stay tuned!  I'm off to P90X.  Plyometrics is calling my name today.