Pretty woman, walking down the street....
So today is the last weekday of my two-week vacation. Where did it go?
I ran more errands than you even want to know. I can't even remember them all. We went to Canada for 4 days, which was awesome. (Tip: do NOT go to the duty-free store unless you are a serious drinker. Saving $5 on a bottle of rum and a box of chocolate is NOT worth the extra hour and a half wait afterward when they put you in purgatory the re-entry line.)
I remember having all of these BIG ideas for this summer, while Taylor was at camp and I had "all that time alone". I was going to possibly rent a horse ,maybe take belly dancing lessons, do drop-in yoga, finish a couple of quilts....and not a single one of those things even got started, much less finished.
It was especially important to me that this week, my last week off, I do something for myself. Taylor ended up being home with me after camp was ended early (craaaaaaap).
So I decided that for this week, I was going to scrap my usual standards and let the masses howl if they will. I have not been cooking 3 nutritious, homemade, organic meals from scratch every single day. I have not been been concerned that the house might fall apart if I take a nap. I have not been fretting about damaging my child's psyche if I tell her no, I will not entertain you right now - I am in the middle of something else.
I am most proud of the fact that I walked every single day this week. A lot of you know that after the surgery I had a year and a half ago(!) that things just don't get put back together the way they used to be. My body had enough time to heal, I've got a clean bill of health from the doctors, and in the meantime......it decided to do a little rearranging, remodeling, and apparently a few additions while I wasn't paying attention. Ugh. I did not want the body edition of While You Were Out.
The harsh reality is that by age 30-35 and up, exercise becomes your ONLY option. It used to be that I could eat one less Snickers bar a day (cutting back from 4 to 3) and drop 10 pounds in 2 weeks. Now, it's more like: Bitch, you could never eat another candy bar again in your LIFE and your ass will not look one iota different. So get moving.
All right, all right. No amount of fat, carb, sugar, wheat, or dairy reduction did a thing.
What really pisses me off about myself sometimes is that I cannot apply my same logic that I use successfully in other areas to exercise. I can make a budget and stick to it, chipping away debt and saving a little at a time to meet my goals. I can go all Seven Habits on your ass in a heartbeat. I completed a 4-year degree in 3, one class at a time. But exercise? MENTAL BLOCK! I refuse to accept the reality that you have to start with one step, and a little is better than nothing...and that all those little things eventually add up. 99% of the time, if I can get myself out of the house by saying "I know you're tired, but at least do one lap around the block, then you can come in" - I end up getting my endorphins going and doing the full program. Why do I forget this, every single day almost? I have exercise alzheimer's. Frustrating. Never mind that I get out there, and I absolutely love it. I'm moving, listening to music, looking at the gorgeous gardens, smelling all the smells, letting my mind wander and enjoying getting lost in my imagination.....I could be gone half the day if my knees would hold out. Still, every time, I have to force myself out that door.
So fine, Someone call the mom police, because I let the world fend for themselves for a little bit. Healthy women make healthy moms and wives.