Packing

The packing of Casa de Folger is in full swing now. Tom got his security clearance and they are telling him his start date will be either April 15th or April 30th depending on when he passes the drug test. Good thing they gave him 3 months notice on that drug test. Everything should be good and clear from his blood stream by now. I kid, I kid. But really? You'd think they would have done that right off the bat.

But I digress. I am learning that packing is 10x more work than you anticipate. Inevitably, one small project leads to 10 more. For instance, you decide to start by going through old clothing to decide what to donate and you end up spending 3 hrs going through old photo's from your college spring break trips and shredding anything you don't want either your husband, or your best friend's husband to find. Ahhh.....the good old days. Speaking of donating old clothing.

I pulled 15 pairs of size 14s from my closet today and threw them in the donate pile. I have been hanging on to these pants for 5 years waiting for them to fit comfortably again. The bad news is, they still don't fit. The good news? They don't fit because they are too big. Like, WAY too big. So that made me very happy. But now I have to go on a shopping spree and while that sounds fabulous, I have no money to buy anything right now. Bummer.

I've had one session with my trainer, and boy, was it an ass kicker. She's definitely put the mojo back into my workouts and I am already feeling results. I have to do an hour of cardio 4-5 days a week plus 3 one hour strength sessions. I hate it. But it works so I guess I'll stick with it for now. Maybe, just maybe (but probably not) I'll be in a bikini this summer.

Wishful thinking I guess.

Time to do taxes. I will try and get back here more frequently over the next few weeks. I've got plenty on my mind!

Definitely, Maybe

So not only is that the title of my most favorite Ryan Reynold movie ever but it also seems to be the running theme to my life lately. It just seems fitting to use it as my latest blog post.

So we are definitely headed out of Colorado and back to Minnesota. However the real question seems to be when? And I sure wish I had an answer for this. It might help me organize my time more efficiently. Maybe April. Maybe May. Could be June. Who knows? In fact, we just might get word today that Tom's security clearance has gone through and we need to be there in 3 weeks. I sure hope not but anything is possible. This is the government we are dealing with here.

We've slowly been getting the house ready for our renters. Taking care of all those projects we have wanted, and needed, to do over the past 4 years. Hardware on the cabinetry and tile on the bathroom floors. In the process of having the new tile installed, it was discovered that our builder decided that the plumbing was a great place to drive a drywall nail through. Unbeknownst to us, water has been slowly leaking beneath the linoleum creating a watery mess. How this water managed to not create any rot, mold or structure damage is beyond me. We must have done something to please the gods! And because karma just seems to be on our side lately (knock on wood please) our new neighbor, whom Tom spent all weekend drinking beer with when he should have been doing homework (but that is another blogpost and I am still bitter about it thankyouverymuch) happens to be a plumber and he fixed up the problem for a 6-pack. THANK YOU BABY JESUS. Now all we have to do is figure out how to repair the drywall that had to be removed to get behind the shower and into the plumbing. I am trying to see the bright side. At least this didn't happen a year from now when the ceiling caved in on the garage from rot. Right?

Yesterday I had a fitness assessment done with a personal trainer. I am not happy with the results. At all. I scored average. AVERAGE. I do not spend 5 days a week at the gym to be AVERAGE. Obviously, I am not working hard enough to get the results I am looking for. So.....I hired a trainer. Only for a couple of sessions to shake things up a little bit. I am excited to get started and to see what she has in store for me. I am 8 lbs from my goal weight and I want to get there before summer and this is exactly what I need to get motivated again. I figured it was my early Mother's Day present. But we're not going to mention it to Tom just yet, so let's keep this a secret.

This weekend we are headed west to spend the weekend at my brother's place in Avon. He has graciously decided (and will probably undecide if it's a powder day) to watch both the kids so that Tom and I can ski. It will be our last day on the mountain for the year. And probably longer than that as I don't see a ski vacation to Vail in our near future once we head back to the midwest.

It's coming!

Wow. Is it really March already? Where has the time gone? We've been having beautiful spring weather here this past week, which means it's just about time for a big dump of snow. Last April we got over 3 feet so I wonder what is in store for us this year? One last Rocky Mountain dump before we head back to the midwest.

Lots has been happening here at Casa De Folger. Eva has started crawling and is even pulling herself up to a standing position. I fear she may be an early walker like her brother. However, she has no interest in eating solid foods so we are still doing the bottle every 3-4 hours. I get one 6 hr break at night, but she is still up at 2 or 3 am for a feeding. Can't wait to put those days behind me.

Declan has been testing both Tom and I's patience with the "Terrible 3s". Whoever coined the phrase "Terrible Twos" had it all wrong. 2 was a cakewalk compared to 3. Some days I wonder how that child is going to live to see 4. His favorite thing to do lately is spit at me. That usually does not go over well. I do really well with getting him in timeout and explaining why he is there in the earlier parts of the day. But by the time we are on the 5th or 6th timeout (which is usually around 10 am) I have usually lost any semblance of patience and have to put myself in timeout and count to 10 so that the neighbors don't hear me losing my noodle and calling the police on me. By 5 pm, Declan is allowed to do whatever he wants and I just block it out and go to my happy place. Which usually involves wine. Can't wait for preschool to start.

We are also working very hard on toilet training. Or, "toilet learning" as I have been told to call it. Whatever it is, I don't like it. Every morning I make Declan walk around bare-assed so he can't rely on the diaper. We put his little froggy potty in front of the TV and there he sits. But I have to remind him several times to actually use it. I ask him "Do you have to go poopy Declan?" and he responds "No, it's not coming out of my butt yet". And then he eventually yells "It's coming!" and off to the potty we go.

On a positive note, Declan has been in swimming lessons and is doing great. He should be ready for the lakes and the Dahlen pool by this summer! And beyond the discipline problems we are having, he really is a great kid and when he's not misbehaving he is a lot of fun. Although, I am already over the toy fights that are already breaking out between the the kids. I know this is payback for me.

I am still busting my ass at the gym and working on my running endurance. I can't say that I am really getting anywhere but I haven't gone backwards either. I think it's time to invest in some running shoes though as I am currently using cross trainers which don't have enough "spring" for running. So far, I've lost 13 lbs. Yay me! I have been struggling with the dieting part, and fortunately I have been able to get by with just exercising but I know the day is coming when I am going to have to actually start counting calories. I just hope that day arrives after the Girl Scouts have packed up their cookies and gone home.

We haven't made much progress in the way of packing. However, we did finally schedule tile installation for out bathrooms. Since our cat decided to substitute our master bath carpeting for her litter box we have to replace the flooring (why we didn't tile in the first place is beyond me). So, that goes in next weekend. I have also been going through boxes of old photos and shredding duplicates and organizing. I found lots of great blackmail photos of friends. Should I put them on facebook? Ha ha. I've also got a couple goodwill boxes ready to go. So, it's baby steps toward being ready to leave. It still doesn't feel real though. It probably won't until we are settled in our new home, which might not even be until next year.

We've got a big day today. Swimming lesson, then having lunch with some friends, a workout and then dinner with another friend tonight. I can't wait! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.