SMUDGING

Wow. I did not realize I have not posted anything in the "New Year." It is easy to not post as much when you do not have a computer at home and you are not running as much (aka not really having a reason to post). However, I should post something as this is supposed to be a "new" and "better" year right?

The Friday before New Years started off great. I was able to get in 6 miles on my old bike trail route before picking up the girls at daycare. It is the one time during the week that I get a little "me time" and I love it.

Happy to see Momma!

New Years Eve day I was home for a bit and then had to go to work at my part-time/once in a while job. It had been a while since I've seen the crew. Despite a horrendous game, it was fun to see the old gang again. I was able to make it home by 9:00 pm and just in time to say good night to the Peanut before ringing in the New Year with Vans.

New Years Day started off with a nice 8 mile run for me on some fire road trails near my house. I even busted out my new trail shoes because I miss wearing trail shoes (they weren't necessary for the terrain but it was nice to wear them).

Brooks Adrenaline ASR - heaven!

Right after our incident, a good friend of mine sent me a present to help change the recent string of bad luck we have had lately. She told me that we needed to get the "bad ju-ju" out of our house and so she purchased me a "smudge" so that we could smudge our house and chase out the bad ju-ju. Hey, I was game. Sure it sounded bizarre but at that point we really couldn't say no because things just kept getting worse and worse in our house.

Vans and I waited until January 1st, New Years Day to smudge. We figured it was a good way to welcome the New Year.

Smuding the house!

The Peanut enjoyed smudging with me.

I can see why the bad ju-ju goes away ... the smell of the smudge was terrible! It is basically bound up sage but when lit ... holy heaven it stank up our house something awful! We eventually had to open the windows and turn on the house fan to get the smell out! Bad ju-ju be gone!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing some fun things like fooling around on the Peanut's new art easel from Santa ... I have to say, she's quite talented for a 3 year old ...

Santa ...and a few other people

She drew me, Vans (complete with mohawk) and herself

on a skateboard with Squeaker "sleeping" above us

We all had Monday off. Vans got in a nice mountain bike ride while I rearranged furniture in our house trying to make our upstairs more functional. Later we ventured to Costco. This is how we roll at Costco ... using our jogging stroller ....

Squeaker's socks make her look like that scene in The Wizard of Oz!

Needless to say, back to work on Tuesday and life's been a struggle since then. Tuesday resulted in no workouts for me because the Peanut had evening swim lessons. Wednesday I got motivated (and Squeaker slept well) and I lifted some weights in the morning and then ran 3.5 hilly miles with my running partner after work.

Unfortunately, Squeaker was up all night last night which resulted in me sleeping with her in a recliner chair from midnight to 5:30 am when I had to get ready for work. Not fun and it also meant no morning workout as planned. If I want to get anything in tonight (which should be my TRX) I will have to do it when both girls are asleep tonight ... after 8:30 pm. I don't enjoy that but things are kind of crazy right now and I need to relieve some stress.

Despite high hopes for this New Year ... there is an ugly situation that I am currently dealing with on a daily basis. I am kind of just waiting for something to erupt or explode but never knowing when it might happen or if it will happen. I am just trying to take it day by day.

I am trying to have a better attitude about my commute as well but on days when I have just a few hours of sleep, miss a workout and feel like I am being tugged in a million directions it is hard. I honestly regret our move and oddly enough, Vans has found peace with it ... although Vans can workout at lunch, Vans doesn't have to commute as far, Vans doesn't have to feed Squeaker all night long ... but Vans does have to hear me and deal with me. He's a great help and a great Dad. I am not ragging on him but sometimes, I wish that men could either nurse or multi-task.

Happy New Years Blog World