It's complicated
I have a monster project at work due shortly. I will be juggling my way across the finish line. terrier_girl is only semi-functional with her pregnancy, and taking care of V puts her up to and often past her limit. I punted much of the work until now to make sure that I could help her though her PhD, and now I'm not finding the time I hoped to have. I blame no one but myself for my terrible planning, but it's put my stress level to the roof. We're pulling in the Grandmas for another round of help. Hopefully Terrier will perk up soon. I had a round of terrible dreams last week due to all this that made me stop and focus on what's really important. But it's only meditation that calms me enough to sleep at night.
I had thought I was completely off my food plan last week, eating way too much food on the go. Come to find out, I've always been of my food plan, which involves eating nothing but about 12 simple foods. Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon. I've got a wife with a finicky tummy and a little girl that both need different things, often on short notice. No way I'm adding my own restrictions to that mess. Besides, my supposed meal plan doesn't have near enough calcium for me.* So I'm just going back to a straight up calorie restriction and moderate exercise plan. I'm adopting the "No white carbs" rule as a shorthand and eliminating easy sugar. But frankly, its up to V and I to eat whatever I make Terrier that she decides she can't stomach. The good news is that even after cheating madly last week, I still lost a pound. Here's to more of that.
I finally got the dog out a few times. Sunday to some friends. Monday out to the park in the beautiful weather. He's started to look at me like he loves me again, rather than lying in the hall staring at me forlornly. Yesterday the trail in the woods was covered in thick slushy snow, so I strapped on my trax and got to jog a bit yesterday. Today my legs are yelling at me, but I'm stretching regularly and hoping to get to go back and do some more soon, after the surface softens up some.
Last night V and I took a quick trip to the store to get a new stroller. Our old one is great: strong and smooth, but bulky. It doesn't actually fit in the trunk of the car. And Terrier isn't confident about driving the van and can't carry V without exhausting herself. So now we have an umbrella stroller. On the way out of the store, it was cold and blustery, with a few fat raindrops. V studies the sky for a moment and then begins babbling something. I asked, "Honey, are you saying "I'm freezing?"" Her face lit up and started singing the whole song that we learned in her music class, complete with fake sneezes.
I'm freezing. I'm freezing. I hope I don't start sneezing. Achoo! Achoo!
We sang it together most of the ride home. The other part she laughed uproariously to Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me! Terrier found the story just as adorable as I did.
Over the past week or so, V's made the jump from words to sentences. She's also picked up a few new sounds, but can't quite fit them into words yet. For example she can say "Fffffffffff". But if I try to get to to say "Ffffffffffffffun" she always gets out "Fffffffffff-gun".
So in short. I'm stressed. I'm managing it. I love my family. And I miss my fully-functional mate.
Off to fix my printer software for the umpteenth time so I can actually get some work done.
* Calcium is critical in the regulation of several neurotransmitters, including those related to depression. If I go for a few days without enough calcium, I get several warning signs, then my mood seems to plummet. So I keep stocked up on cheese, milk, and yogurt.
I had thought I was completely off my food plan last week, eating way too much food on the go. Come to find out, I've always been of my food plan, which involves eating nothing but about 12 simple foods. Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon. I've got a wife with a finicky tummy and a little girl that both need different things, often on short notice. No way I'm adding my own restrictions to that mess. Besides, my supposed meal plan doesn't have near enough calcium for me.* So I'm just going back to a straight up calorie restriction and moderate exercise plan. I'm adopting the "No white carbs" rule as a shorthand and eliminating easy sugar. But frankly, its up to V and I to eat whatever I make Terrier that she decides she can't stomach. The good news is that even after cheating madly last week, I still lost a pound. Here's to more of that.
I finally got the dog out a few times. Sunday to some friends. Monday out to the park in the beautiful weather. He's started to look at me like he loves me again, rather than lying in the hall staring at me forlornly. Yesterday the trail in the woods was covered in thick slushy snow, so I strapped on my trax and got to jog a bit yesterday. Today my legs are yelling at me, but I'm stretching regularly and hoping to get to go back and do some more soon, after the surface softens up some.
Last night V and I took a quick trip to the store to get a new stroller. Our old one is great: strong and smooth, but bulky. It doesn't actually fit in the trunk of the car. And Terrier isn't confident about driving the van and can't carry V without exhausting herself. So now we have an umbrella stroller. On the way out of the store, it was cold and blustery, with a few fat raindrops. V studies the sky for a moment and then begins babbling something. I asked, "Honey, are you saying "I'm freezing?"" Her face lit up and started singing the whole song that we learned in her music class, complete with fake sneezes.
I'm freezing. I'm freezing. I hope I don't start sneezing. Achoo! Achoo!
We sang it together most of the ride home. The other part she laughed uproariously to Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me! Terrier found the story just as adorable as I did.
Over the past week or so, V's made the jump from words to sentences. She's also picked up a few new sounds, but can't quite fit them into words yet. For example she can say "Fffffffffff". But if I try to get to to say "Ffffffffffffffun" she always gets out "Fffffffffff-gun".
So in short. I'm stressed. I'm managing it. I love my family. And I miss my fully-functional mate.
Off to fix my printer software for the umpteenth time so I can actually get some work done.
* Calcium is critical in the regulation of several neurotransmitters, including those related to depression. If I go for a few days without enough calcium, I get several warning signs, then my mood seems to plummet. So I keep stocked up on cheese, milk, and yogurt.