My Current State of Affairs

Idea stolen from one of my favorite blogs: Rare and Beautiful Treasures. Hope you don't mind, Erin! (PS - I love you and want to be your real-life friend)

I added a few I-phone pictures thrown in for your viewing pleasure

Current guilty pleasure: Sunday afternoon nap while Jones naps. 3 weeks in a row. Lovely.

Current nail polish: I am bare!

Current play list: "It is well with my soul" Pandora station on my computer at work. I like it. A lot.

Current read: Just finished Tina Fey's Bossypants. Hilarious. Now I am reading the Bible with our church's read through the Bible in a Year program. It takes up my reading time, but Trey and I are enjoying it.

Current drink:hazelnut coffee with hazelnut creamer. Can't get enough.

Current food:frozen dark cherries and almonds.

Current favorite show: We don't have cable and we don't watch much TV at all, but right before bedtime, Jones snuggles up with me and we watch a Baby Einstein DVD. It's my favorite time.

Current wish list: material - a new purse / non-tangible: to sell our house in Hattiesburg

Current needs: faith and patience

Current triumphs: I have not cried on my way to work in over a week! And I am really enjoying my job and Jones loves his new school. We are going to make it after all!

Current Indulgence: breakfast at Starkville Cafe with Trey and Jones

Current blessing: a sweet lady at work has taken me in as one of her own

Current excitement: Trey and I are going to Oxford to visit old friends, Russell and Callie, next weekend. Adult time!

momastery

I have a new blog love: momastery.com.

She's cute. She's funny. She's honest. She loves God.

Her story is amazing. You must check her out.

She had me at this line in her bio:
"I love Jesus, gay people, adoption, and rearranging furniture. In the interest of combining all my loves, I have asked Jesus to help me adopt Nate Berkus."

Funny, that girl.

Happy reading!

case of the monday mornings

Only it's Wednesday.

And only I have it every morning.

I am not sure what I am in, but it is a major funk. I cry and/or get mad every. single. morning. on my way to work. As I type this, I realize I sound a bit unstable.

Once I am in my office and settled in, I am better. I am usually fine by 9:00.

I had a 7 am meeting this morning. After which I met with the dean of the college, my boss, around 8 am. She commented how perky I always am in the mornings and how put together I seem to be.

I almost simultaneously laughed, cried, and tee-teed on myself.

Put-together?

Let's recap, shall we?

1) I have on tights under my dress, but nothing else. Clean laundry is hard to come by at my house these days.

2) My hair is in a pony-tail because my child woke up at 5 am so I attempted to straighten my hair while in the kitchen reading him a story while he ate his cheerios.

3) I haven't eaten a meal since yesterday at lunch, unless you count the crust from Jones' grilled cheese sandwich last night
4) I am fairly confident I forgot to put on deodorant this morning

I appreciated the confidence boost, thanked her, and considered joining the local theatre; I was putting on some show here.

My mom reminded me this morning when I called her at 6:45 on my way to the meeting in tears, that this is normal. The working-mom part, not the overly sensitive psycho part. This too shall pass, my friends.

Jones got in the daycare we have been waiting on. He got on the waiting list the week we moved here and we found on Jan. 3 a spot came open and he got in! He could start the day after MLK day! In the words of Jones - YAY!

Only he got sick the Thursday before. Fever at school. Sent home. Fever lasted until Friday afternoon. Then it happen - he broke out. All over.

Yep - Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Or as I refer to it: Disgusting Disease Kids Get at Snotty-nose Daycares.

He's better now and started his new school this morning. Acording to Trey, he walked right in and started playing. Praise God! I know this to be true because, as all wives know, husbands sometimes tell you things you want to hear and I was not going to be played a fool. I called the director of the school and checked on things for myself. He told the truth! Jones walked in like he owned the place. Score one. Check that off the worry list.

It's hump-day and I am looking forward to dinner with fun friends tomorrow night. What gets you through the day?

Did you know I have a niece?

I feel like I have neglected this here blog. And that's not the kind of operation I want to run. Do something right or don't do it at all, you know?

So I am going to try to get back on the blogging train, so to speak.

Starting with a very important addition to our family: Noelle Adams. She came a few weeks after our abrupt move. Lucky for us, our move was to the current resident of this precious child.

Henry's got a little baby sister.

And we are all in love.

How could you not be?

Here she is this morning sporting a dress my Mamaw made that my sisters and I wore back in the 80s. Sweet thing.

put your big girl panties on

I read my last post to Trey. He made me realize I need to put my big girl pants on a deal with it. No, he didn't say that. He was very supportive and offered suggestions to make it work. He knows I am happier when I run (and, come on, when mama ain't happy....).

But as I read the post out loud to him, I realized it sounded like I was a complaining brat. Sorry, readers.

But thanks for the suggestions! (except you, Evelyn. 4 kids and she runs at 4:30 am??? Who is this wonder woman?? It will never be me. j/k. I valued yours suggestion, too. I guess)

My schedule is consistent and everybody has the same 24 hours in the day as everyone else. So I will figure it out. I was just in a pitiful mood this morning that consisted of me thinking I was the only woman in the world that had to send her child to daycare. Brat. Sorry.

I leave you with a picture of my sweet man in his favorite outfit - rain boots:

I am not wonder woman. I need suggestions

I am a working mom now. It's fine. I really like my job - it's a great fit for me. And I work for the greatest institution known to man that also allows me to have off two weeks at Christmas. The perks are good. And I am slowly learning how not to cry from the drop off at daycare to my office at work.

But there are a few things about my new role that I can't seem to figure out.

Let me explain.

I like to run. I enjoy it. It is my me time. Before our abrupt move to our new town, I was in the middle of training for a half-marathon. When we moved here and our lives were turned upside down, that training fell to the way-side.

When I was a stay at home mom, I found making time to run simple. I had a running partner that would meet me at 5:30 to run a few mornings a week. I would get back home in time for Trey to leave for work at 6:45 and then Jones would wake up at 7:00. I would have time to jump in the shower before Jones woke up. But I didn't have to worry about getting fully dressed for a job and having both me and Jones looking somewhat presentable, fed, happy and out the door by 7:30 for work and school. That schedule just wouldn't work now. Especially since Trey leaves for work even earlier now. There are not enough hours in the morning.

Let me stop you before you mention the unmentionable. Do not tell me to wake up before 5 to run every morning. It just won't happen. Not with me running alone. I won't do it. And there is no need for me saying I will do this, only to not then in return feel like a failure.

My other simple option of running while I was a SAHM was to put Jones in a jogging stroller after breakfast and go. Jones loved it. It was nice. This is, for obvious reasons, not an option now. At least not during the weekdays.

I would run my long-runs on the weekends.

And finally, my last running time was when Trey got home for work. I had been with my little man all day and I felt no guilt taking an hour or so to myself and running alone. This is the one I am struggling with now. By the time I get home from work, it is 5:30. I have seen my child for a total of about 45 minutes all day. I refuse to leave him again to go run. It is just not that important to me. I miss my child all. day. long and being without him for one more minute is just not going to happen.

So this leaves me with my last option - running after he goes to bed. He usually is asleep by 7:30, so this seems like the most realistic option.

By the time he is asleep, I am changed and ready to go, it is 8:00. This does not take in consideration anything I need to do around the house, dishes that need to be put away after dinner (if, in fact, I cooked dinner. Let's not be mislead, this does not always happen) clothes folded, etc. And what about my time with my husband? I have seen him even less than my child during the day. At least I get to take my child to and from school. Car time = quality time these days.

So sometimes I run and sometimes I want to cry and sink into the couch with Trey and watch Friday Night Lights on DVD. (Clear eyes. Full hearts.)

And then the cycle repeats itself - saying I am going to run at 8 or 8:30, not running, going to bed, feel like a failure.

I am running this half in April (I was thisclose last year before chaos ensued) so I need suggestions. How do I juggle it all? Maybe it will get easier when he is older and stays up later? Maybe I should do the unimaginable and wake up at 4 to run? (please oh please don't be the answer) Maybe it will get easier when it doesn't get dark at 5:30?

I know working moms run. A lot. So how? When? I see moms with multiple kids and high-stress jobs doing a lot more than me. I am not sure about this working mom thing, but I am doing what I have to do so I am determined to make it work.