Drained

Ever feel stretched thin? Emotionally? Mentally?

Physically I feel like a thick post. And maybe just as stiff.

This past weekend was one of those weekends that seems long and short all at the same time. I was always on the go; got very little sleep; didn't get the chores I wanted to do done.

My oldest had to be run around to different places over the weekend. I had his social calendar a little overbooked. He loves it though. He's such a people person. And I have a hard time saying no to people. The invites come rolling in and I just shove things around to make time for them.

Our one kitten injured her leg.

 An expensive vet bill later and we know she does not have a break or a dislocated hip. Just a soft tissue injury. I left the vet's the weekend before with some pain meds for her and instructions to have her rest. It did the trick. Then we ran out of medication and she overworked her leg. Now she's limping again. We're trying to keep her calm and keep her from jumping. It's hard to kitten calm so she can get the rest she needs. She wants to play and explore so badly.

And the baby is teething still. All his teeth are coming in all at once. He went from having no teeth to six in six weeks. And there's two more just under the surface right now. He's normally a smiley happy baby. When he's teething, he's still a smiley happy baby...As long as I'm holding him. If I put him down for whatever reason, he screams. He's a mama's boy. During the day, I can deal with it alright. At night, he wakes up many times looking for me. So I get about as much sleep as I did when he was a newborn. I'm so tired, I have no idea how I'm functioning. Maybe I only think I'm functioning. Maybe I'm just a huge mess and I have no idea because I'm too busy pouring caffeine down my throat.

I also restarted the couch to 5K program. I got halfway through last time I tried it and then decided to just do my own thing. I need to work at my breathing while running so thought a do over would work.

 I've been working more on core lately too. Everything from my chest down hurts. Thankfully today is my rest day. I feel like I need it.

Summer

Hello, Summer! I missed you over the Winter months. It's good to see you again.

Anyone else's life get flipped upside down come summer? It seems like we're always on the go come summer. I have nearly every weekend booked up from now until Labour Day; not to mention the day trips and activities the Monkeys and I will be doing between now and then too.

We kicked off our summer with a birthday party down in Cambridge on Friday. Driving through the rain and seeing the flooding in the K-W area with my own eyes was crazy. And maybe a tad bit scary. We were fine. The boys had a blast at the party and we went to Boston Pizza for dinner with friends.

We celebrated the long weekend with our first bonfire of the season. I think I spent most of my time blocking the path between my running children and the fire (I cannot count how many times I had to say "no running around the fire." The little stinkers were just way to excited) and cleaning up marshmallows.

I also had some vet time this past weekend too. I noticed on Thursday our girl kitten seemed off. Friday she was limping and hiding. Saturday I spent 6 hours at the vet's office with her. They did x-rays to rule out a broke bone or dislocated hip. Because she's so tiny it took three attempts to get a good x-ray of her. Thankfully they only charged me for one! Ends up she only had a soft tissue injury. Some pain medication and lots of rest was all she needed. She's back to being her spunky self again. She's also become a cuddle monster. She'll climb into anyone's lap for a cuddle at anytime. She's taken a big liking to Hubby. He can be changing a diaper and she'll curl up in his lap.

I've been hitting the gym hard this past week. My body is sore. I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

I have not been eating the greatest lately. I've been tracking well. Just not really caring about my choices. That needs to change. I get in all the good foods I need. It's hard not to. There's a rainbow of beautiful fruits and veggies that are in season right now. I love all the fresh produce in my house right now. Then I don't think twice when I dip into the cookies, the popsicles and chips. I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks. Gotta eat well coming up to the day since I know there will be a couple of celebrations with lots of calorie heavy goodies. I won't feel as guilty then if I'm good now.

And now it's time for a bike ride with the kiddos before it either gets too hot or it rains.

Perhaps I should rename my blog to Diary of a Crazy Lady. I went to the gym last night with every intention to stick to running so I didn't hurt my shoulder anymore than it is. Once I got there I remembered bootcamp was starting in 30 mins. So I ran for 20 and then wandered over for bootcamp. I had completely forgot about my muscle; it wasn't feeling too bad at that point.

Well, I was the only one who showed up for bootcamp! So instead I got a little personal training time for free. I got to try out TRX. It's totally something I can see myself getting into. But, since I still feel so new to fitness, I would want someone there telling me what to do; just like I had last night.

Halfway through the workout, my shoulder let me know it was hurting. I pushed through it even though the voice in the back of my mind was telling me to stop. I felt great after my workout; my shoulder/neck, not so much. I came home and iced it. I'll be icing it on and off throughout the day.

Tonight, I run and only run. No arm work! I need to let myself heal.

I found a new summer treat at the grocery store. Gelato! 

(there should be a picture here, but I'm having trouble uplaoding. Sorry)

This particular brand is only 60 calories with 14g of carbs and 14g of sugar per half cup. That's only 2 points per serving! I bought lemon and it's so yummy with strawberries cut up on top! It doesn't replace the greatness of ice cream, but it's a good sub if it's hot and you just want something to cool you down.

Down!

I ran in for WI last night, but I didn't stay for the meeting. I wish I could have since I don't have a meeting next week due to Canada Day. But Hubby was at the hospital and I had all three Monkeys in tow. Don't worry, Hubby's okay. It looks like he may have had a panic attack; we're not sure why. We're still working that out.

Anyways, I stayed off the home scale all week and just focused on being as good as possible. We did eat out on Sunday since we went into the city. Hubby and I took the boys to Pita Pit thinking it was a healthier way to go. 

Yesterday, I avoided the bathroom with the scale so I wouldn't be tempted to jump on it. 

I stepped on the scale with my eyes closed; like that would make a difference. Then I heard "way to go! It's like last week didn't even happen." Down the 3lbs I was up plus an extra 0.5lb! Yippee!

I would have done a happy dance, but I was so sore and stiff. It was hard enough carrying around the baby all day. It's days like yesterday I wish he was walking already. Then I remember "last baby" and I'm okay with the fact he's still so dependent on me. 

Yesterday I was in a lot of pain from the gym Sunday. I had really pushed myself and hit some personal bests around the gym. I felt great on Sunday. Very sore and a bit stiff yesterday. I was rubbing muscle cream on myself and taking Motrin all day just so I could move. My whole upper back, shoulders and neck were hurting.

This morning I woke up feeling mostly better. One muscle is still super sore and very stiff this morning. I can't bring my arm up or turn my neck to the left. The rest of my body that was sore yesterday feels normal again today. Has me wondering if I pulled a muscle. I'm currently sitting here with an ice pack resting on my shoulder/neck. Hopefully it helps to ice it a few times today so my run today isn't too bad. At least it isn't my legs. I can run. I just might not feel the best doing so.

A little Growing Up

My baby, my Smartie Pants, my male mini me (the skinny version) is all grown up today.

Okay, not really. He just graduated kindergarten. But, any mother out there will agree, it feels like they're all grown up when they're up there getting that little kindergarten diploma.

So far it's been one of those days. I woke up this morning and could hear the tv on in the living room. It was 6am. I went down ready to send a little boy or two back to bed for another hour. There were no boys in sight. One of the kittens was sitting there, watching tv! I don't even know how he turned it on. Weird. When I woke up this morning, on top of being thrown off by the tv being on, I was (still am) sore from yesterday's workout. Mega sore! So sore I busted out the muscle cream and Motrin. Normally, I would just do the cream when I'm this sore, but since I had a grad and a teddy bear picnic to go to with 2 little boys in tow and no help, I took the Motrin too.
Tonight is WI. I'm feeling like a bloated beast. We'll see what the scale says. Any loss this week shall be a victory since I was up so much last week. 

Now I'm off to enjoy some nice, cool watermelon since it's so darn hot right now. 

Furballs and Sugar

Well, my baby, at seven months, is no longer the youngest in the house. Yesterday, the monkeys and I brought home 2 two month old kittens. We went to go see one cat, but she was already adopted. Then the pile of kittens caught our eyes. I asked if we could see them out on the floor. Two took to my monkeys right away. It didn't even take me a second to answer yes when Monkey #1 asked if we could take them home.

So Phoenix and Oreo (original, eh? Ha!) have found their forever home with us. Filling our home with pet love once more.

 (Phoenix)

(Phoenix & Oreo)

We live a good hour away from the rescue we got the kittens from. Being out and about for most of the afternoon with all three kids is taxing on making healthy choices. At least it is for me. I'm plagued with the kids begging for junk food all afternoon long. Monkey #2 for the most part is happy with the raisins or fruit and water or juice boxes I normally bring along. He gets going when Monkey #1 does. At home, Monkey #1 is fine with the healthier treats. When he's out and about, he wants nothing to do with them. He's a sucker for advertising. He wants the candy, the chocolate bars, the cookies, the cakes, the sugary drinks and so on. Yesterday, he got shot down left, right and center for every sugary treat he asked for. If I say no to him, I won't buy for myself. I see it as a win win situation, but I'm sure he doesn't.

When he least expected it, I pulled into Tim's drive-thru. The boys were treated to small frozen lemonades.They were more than happy with their drinks and I tried not to feel so bad giving them something so sugary.

Day After Soreness

I said I was going to push myself at the gym this week. I did just that last night. I ran hills as fast as I could for 15 minutes for a warm up. Then I hit a personal record of lifting 70lbs. Doesn't sound like much compared to Hubby's personal record, but it was a big moment for me. I used to avoid our 25lb kettlebells because I said they were too heavy. Now here I am lifting 70 on repeat. My next goal is to get to 80lbs.

I came home from the gym already feeling sore. I knew today was going to suck. Lifting my tiny 13 pounder is a challenge today. Every muscle in my upper body is protesting. It's as wonderful as much it sucks. I hate feeling sore, but I love knowing what I will get out of it. A slimmer, fitter me. 

This morning I took my little monkeys out for a Tim's date. Monkey #2 had orange juice and a cookie (not healthy, but we all have to have a special treat sometimes) and Monkey #3 was content with his Mum Mum cookie I brought from home. I enjoyed my first iced coffee of the year; made with milk instead of cream. We went for a long walk with a stop at a park along the way. It's so beautiful outside, I wanted to make sure we made the most of it. We'll get in more outside play after naps are done. Plus there's soccer tonight. More running around. It's a special game tonight. Monkey #1 is playing close to my parents' house. My dad is coming out to the game for sure. He misses coming out to watch the games; we miss him too. For two years straight he was at every single one. My mom, if she's having a good day, will come out too. 

I'm on the fence about getting a couple of new cats tomorrow or Friday. Hubby and I had agreed to wait until closer to the end of August before getting a new pet, but I found two young cats at the humane society who captured my heart. Not sure if I'm going to go back to adopt them or not. I really miss having a furball in the house.