weekend at home

Well sorry for the late update, but last weekend 2 weekends ago, we spent a lovely long weekend with my family and 1 overnight child-less hotel party evening in Pittsburgh, PA.

We headed up Friday afternoon, and got there in time to have a great birthday dinner with almost the entire family.

“are we there yet?”

We drove and drove for three hours, which seems like thirty when a three year old is yelling from the back seat, “Are we there yet?” every four minutes. We got home in enough time to have a lovely birthday dinner with my brothers and sisters-in-laws and my mom and dad. It was great to have everyone together again. Well, everyone except my sister. I think I saw her at Christmas time?

We did some belated Easter gifties and Landry liked her bubble necklace.

Simon and Brenden

Looking through the very generous Easter Basket the famed bunny left Simon at grandma’s house.

Mapping out a plan of attack with new Toy Story toys.

These pictures are a little out of order, but basically we had a wonderful time visiting with family.

Getting excited for cake with Landry

Gabe and I got away a few times, too. One night we went to Pittsburgh and stayed in a hotel downtown. We got to go swimming and enjoyed walking around and drinking wine at a few different places. It’s nice to have those grown up evenings and mornings sometimes. The hotel we stayed in had warm chocolate chip cookies when we arrived, so that was cool. We had a good night.

Welcome to Pittsburgh, PA.

And for our anniversary, my mom and dad gifted us a generous dinner at a very good restaurant up near their house in a tiny town called Hanoverton. It’s called the Spread Eagle Tavern (I know, don’t laugh- it’s not a strip club). But it was built back in 1837, and the building itself is so neat. We sat in the bar for a while, which is in the basement of the building. The walls are covered with Republican historical memorabilia, which was funny to look at and Gabe said, “Actually this place was started back when Republicans were cool, so it’s cool.” haha.

I snapped a few pictures but mostly it was really interesting to just look at everything there and think about how long it had all been there. Our meal was fabulous and we had our own private fireplace. It was a great night. We finished the night at the usual sports pub in my hometown, where drinks are so cheap you check the bill three times before paying it, to make sure they charged you appropriately.

A lot of important Republicans went to this restaurant.

Mittens and Dubya, party of two.

I saw the pictures of Mitt and George W. on our way in, and had to stop myself from pulling out my phone right away. I decided during dinner that I wasn’t leaving without a picture of the hostess desk, and as we were leaving I said “I can’t leave without a picture of Mitt and George.” They smiled and moved papers out of the way.

Anyhow, now that was nearly two weeks ago. That was my last weekend off, and it was really great. I started this post a few times and couldn’t find the energy to post it because I’ve been in a really crappy mood and dealing with some grumpy situations and people.

Since I don’t have anything nice to say about it, I won’t bother but I am looking forward to my next weekend off- this coming weekend, and hoping some big changes are coming down the pike because I need to be in a better mood more than four days a month.

Grumble grumble, sorry for the lame post and surly mood….

Business Casual

Well, I had an all day meeting today followed by a quick phone meeting so I allowed myself to wear jeans today, and dressed it up with a grey blazer. I was so proud of attempting to put a semi-trendy outfit together, I’m sharing it with you all because I like to imagine I’m as stylish as Grace sometimes, even though I only take sad selfies in random areas of my house with a grainy iphone.
 

 

So, I got my blazer at Kohls for cheap. Kohls, Keds, beaded necklace and bracelet from various lovely aunts at Christmas. I was pretty proud of myself and even managed to squeeze a VERY QUICK mile on the treadmill before calling it a day.

This weekend we’ve got lots of family things planned so I look forward to posting pictures and details later. For now it’s me, a glass of wine and some weird cop movie Gabe got from Netflix. (But Jake Gillenhal is in it, so I can handle some of those visuals right now as I fold laundry)

Workin’ Weekend and Manic Monday

So this weekend I worked, but it went pretty quickly since we were really busy and the weather was nice (of course). Simon and Gabe had a lot of fun outside. Other than that I guess there’s not much to report sadly.

Here are some quick takes:

I am currently drinking wine out of a child’s Easter cup that I bought for Simon from World Market, because I thought it was cute.

I need about 5 more pairs of these “knee tights” pants to wear all spring and summer long. I currently have 1 pair and I love them so much I wash them twice a week. I have another similar pair I got at Target that are more “yoga” than workout pants, but I bought them a size larger than what I am, so I can’t really workout in them and I can only wear them for a few hours before they get embarrassingly baggy.  I wear them to the park, to the gym, wherever. I love them. I need more.

I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking for activities dealing with Early Literacy today and found some really fun ideas to implement with toddlers and preschoolers. Doing that sort of thing always makes me wish we could homeschool because most of the ideas come from homeschooler blogs and websites.

We are counting down the days til Simon goes to preschool because he desperately needs more structure and stimulation during the day while we’re at work. DESPERATELY. The sitter has the tv on all day and he’s the oldest kid she watches, so he’s not interested in playing with the babies. Basically he’s just watching tv. It makes me insane. The other day he said to himself in the mirror “Thank you for watching the Disney Channel!” and I wanted to punch myself in the face.

Gabe and I took some days off around the weekend and I’m SUPER excited to go home and see my family and niece and nephew. I am also excited to get a night out at a fancy dinner place (from my mom and dad- anniversary gift) and to get a night away in a hotel with Gabe. Grown up 24 hour vacation- woo hoo! Simon just loves going up to my parents. He idolizes my dad. Today when we were leaving the gym, he asked me, “Which bachine were you on?” (exercise machine) I said, “A running machine, a treadmill.” Simon said, “Grandpa has a walking machine.” I said, “Well, grandpa’s an old man!” (lol I like to make these jabs at my dad, who could out-run me with 3 partially closed arteries in his heart) And Simon said, “Yeah. And I’m an old kid.”

Ha. That you are, son. That you are.

Tonight when I was driving home I noted that it was 68 degrees according to the dashboard in my car and I seriously almost cried. Spring is here! I threw my boots down in the basement, so certainly we’ll have some sort of freakish Snowmageddon or something as a result.

I need to update my running playlist BAD but today’s 2 mile run was a flashback sponsored by Guster.

 

Friday Fun.

a boy on his scooter

We started off the day with some sunshine scootering out front before I went to the gym. Then Simon and I had lunch with my two lovely lady friends at Jason’s Deli. I love love love their salad bar. It’s so so good. Yum. I could seriously eat there every day I think.

Then Simon and I popped the “real” Peter Pan audiobook in the car and drove up to Dublin (only 20 minutes away) and visited our friends who just had a new baby. I snapped a few iPhone pics from their patio. I was immediately mad I forgot our real camera, because the way the sunlight was coming through their trees was just really cool. Simon played on the swingset, played soccer AND baseball while I sat around holding a brand new baby. He is just so precious. While I was holding him, Simon asked me, “Mommy, is that your baby?” I said no (obviously). Then as we were leaving and he got all pouty faced and put his head on my shoulder he said (sighing), “I just want a baby sister.”

HEART BREAK ING. What is UP with you kid?!

Playing ball at a friend’s house.

Dad of the Year, for picking up dog poop and chasing after these two.

Simon and I hit up Whole Foods on the way home and grabbed some dinner and fruits/veggies to have handy in the house. Then as soon as Gabe walked in the door, I walked out to my hair appointment. Back to the bob, ladies and gentlemen. I just can’t handle the long hair madness. I know it’s old school and kinda boring, but once the hair came off I looked in the mirror and thought, “Oh, there you are Mandy.”

Here I am.

Short again, crazy face.

Tired and happy after a nice day off. Now onto the work week. Next weekend we have plans but they haven’t been confirmed yet. All I know is I have Friday off and I”m looking forward to getting away for a while.

XO

the ecigarette

In May of 2012 I stopped smoking real cigarettes and switched over to the electronic version. I saw it as a way to wean myself off the real stuff while still getting nicotine. Let’s rehash my smoking history:

• I had my first cigarette sitting on the dock of a lake in my hometown, probably 16 or 17 years old. I was sitting next to THE boy I had a crush on for about 6 years. He was teaching me how to smoke. Did he ever end up smoking regularly? Of course not. Did I? Eventually yes.
• Throughout my senior year I would sneak them when I could, but I was hardly addicted because my parents were insane about “catching” me smoking. (Go parents!)
• College is when I finally had the freedom to buy Newports (?!) and go to da club and smoke IN da club, just like all the cool kids. I was under the assumption this would help me not “get-fat at college.” (I was wrong.) When I think about the amount of Natural Light beer, Dr. Pepper, and Pizza I ate in college, I get heartburn. Combine that with Newports- ugh.
• I switched brands many many times. I continued to smoke well past graduation and into my professional life.
• I quit smoking when I was about 9 weeks pregnant with Simon. I did it cold turkey. It made me very angry.
• Being pregnant when you don’t want to be, and quitting all the things you love (alcohol and smoking) when you don’t want to, was very very hard and a sad selfish (hindsight) time for me.
• When I was done nursing Simon (he was 6 months old) I started up again, fully believing I had the addiction in check and wouldn’t become a full fledged smoker again. How would I ever have time to smoke with a baby?!
• At work, that’s how. In the car when he wasn’t with me. When someone else could watch him for a minute….when I went out with friends who smoked….all times I could smoke cigarettes. It became an escape back to who I was BEFORE having a kid.
• Well, that was a stupid decision, so I decided to quit again May 2012 and the ecigarette worked for me almost immediately.

How did it work?

 
(photo from: http://www.moodymamasays.com/trying-to-quit-smoking-with-ecigarettes)

• Initially I ordered a started kit from a place called V2 cigarettes online. It included two batteries and two packages of cartridges, which hold the nicotine in them. They were pre-filled with a certain amount (mg) of nicotine, so you could gauge how much you want/need.
• The vapor that comes out of an ecigarette consists mainly of nicotine and propylene glycol, which is a substance used in a lot of things, including asthma inhalers and more dangerous type stuff like windshield wiper fluid.
• Considering the difference between ecigarette and real cigarette, I figured the ecig was a better option.
• A pack of cigarettes is roughly 21 mg of nicotine. If you smoke a pack a day, that means you’re used to 21 mg. I started off on the ecig with a cartridge that was to last me all week, with 12 mg. It seemed to work, and I had cut my nicotine in half.
• It was an adjustment, definitely- because there’s not an “end” to an ecigarette, you can puff and puff and puff and it doesn’t wear out for a long time. Unlike real cigarettes, which burn down and eventually you stub it out, you have to gauge when you’re done, which was an adjustment at first.
• I got used to it. Then I wondered how I was going to quit it.

I’ve set a goal for myself that I’ll quit the ecigarette by May, because it will have been a year since the “real” thing by then. Since May, I’ve gotten down to 6mg. of nicotine, which is the lowest “dosage” you can get before going to 0mg. Basically at that point, you’re puffing in flavored propylene glycol solution only, which is just weird. And I’m a firm believer that our lungs were meant to breathe in primarily oxygen.

Now I own about 4 batteries, which all work to some varying degree, and I purchase all of my refillable cartridges at a store which is always VERY BUSY on campus called Alt Smoke. The people are nice and everyone there seems to be pretty happy with their choices.

However, there’s a lot of controversy over the use of ecigarettes. They say they’re not FDA approved (neither are cigarettes). They are worried people are just smoking ecigarettes from the start instead of regular cigarettes (really? I find that hard to believe). And some people think that it’s just a bad idea to have them in general. I’m not sure why.

Anyhow, the Smoking Haters’ Association doesn’t list ecigarettes as a recommended way to quit, but in my opinion they can go fly a kite because it’s worked really well for me, so long as I can actually kick the habit when I plan to. I think I can. I mean, I’ve quit coffee, I’ve been eating healthier, I’ve been exercising pretty regularly, and I finally ran TWO miles today (I know, it’s nothing- but it’s a lot for me) at the gym.

But I wanted to share with you people what I’m planning and what my experience has been.

Pretty durned good Thursday

Well today was pretty good. I had a half day so I went to the gym and got a good workout in. Then I realized, I had forgotten my towel. I was disgustingly sweaty and wanted to meet a friend for lunch before work, and had to take Simon to the sitter. What did I do? I showered. What did I use as a towel? A pair of workout pants I did not wear to workout- just the ones I wore to keep my legs covered to and from the car. I realize this is weird. However, doing this bought me enough time to do some other things before heading into work. I felt like a moron, but afterwards I also stood in the sauna for a second to “air dry”. Boy oh boy people in that locker room probably think I’m crazy.

After the workout I dropped Simon off and hit up a consignment shop to look for some shorts for Simon and just browse for a minute. I found a set of Scholastic BOB books like NEW for only $4.50. I was very excited. Simon is really catching on with reading so we had looked at these a few times since the library ones get pretty gross and fall apart quickly. So that was a deal, I thought. Then I found a few pairs of shorts for him and met up with my girlfriend Cindy for lunch at Matt the Miller’s Tavern.  We had a fantastic meal- a salad that was really delicious. Then we hit the shoe store where I bought a new pair of running shoes. I opted for a thicker sole, in case I end up wearing these should I ever decide to run outside (if it ever gets warm here in Ohio).

I worked 4 hours and came home to make this delicious quinoa salad recipe. I added tomatoes, half a jalepeno (diced) and the sweet potatoes from the recipe I made yesterday, Spicy Beef and Sweet Potato Tacos.

I really liked both recipes and am feeling pretty good about my domestic skills since I managed to do that crap while working and going to the gym AND eating pretty healthy to boot.

Simon napped today so we let him stay up a little later than usual and he and I took a walk around the block (he rode his bike). It was peaceful. Then after bath I let him listen to his new CD I found at Target, a songs-and-story of Disney’s Peter Pan. He was so excited to hear the music and asked to listen to the story twice. Since lights were out and the story is only 7 minutes long, I let him do it.

Tomorrow I have off and I have big plans of gym, laundry, visiting friends and a haircut in the evening. We’ll see if I manage to make anything for dinner (doubtful). But I’m anxious to have a day to ourselves and looking forward to getting my usual hair style back. My hair just doesn’t look right in a “pointy tail” and that’s all I do with it now that it’s long, anyhow. Woot!

Ohio Historical Society & Link Up for Fashion.

Visiting the Ohio Historical Society ended up being a fantastic idea because we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It opened at noon, and we got there at about 12:10 and we were one of the only cars in the parking lot. The building itself is really neat, and Simon liked the statue out front. A lot of things had been updated since my last visit (decades ago). But as soon as we walked in, we went straight to the mastadon, which Simon thought was SO cool, but also a little scary.

Checking out the mastadon bones.

The museum had a lot of neat things to look at and we spent several hours walking through and looking around at things. We love this kind of stuff.

Lots of cool animals safely behind glass and stuffed.

Simon walked up to the bison and said, “Wook mommy, a yak!”

That’s “chitty chin bang bang, mommy”

Super cool old fire engine

This fire engine reminded me that we should go back to the Central Ohio Fire museum again soon. That place was cool!

Creating patterns in the quilt exhibit room

We were not great at making patterns, but we did make a house and a garage.

tucking in babies in the pioneer/Appalachia area

Simon immediately picked up these dolls and started playing house. He loves to dress up, and so do I. So we had some more fun at a photo station around the corner, dressing up.

“I wook pwetty, mommy.”

“I wook handsome, mommy.”

We probably had a little too much fun in the dress up area. There are about 20 photos of us in various outfits.

After we made our rounds through the bottom level, we went upstairs and looked around some more at the planes hanging from the ceiling and a race car parked upstairs.

Walking upstairs to see the airplanes.

Controversy exhibit had various controversial items on display, that was really neat. Simon did not like this area.

We hit the gift shop on our way out and we happened to find a “Davy Crockett hat” which is something Simon has been wanting for a while. So I got that, and a bottle of Raspberry Reisling made in Ohio, SCORE! Simon was so ecstatic about this damned hat.

Finally Simon said he was hungry, and we were too. So we thought and thought about where to go eat, but were in that SO HUNGRY mode that we couldn’t think of a place that was quick and not crap food, and open.

We ended up at a place we normally go to for breakfast called Paul’s on Fifth. It was about 4:00 and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so both Gabe and I opted for two big meals off the Easter Special menu. I had ham with sweet potatoes and broccoli and he had walleye. Simon had chicken nuggets (of course). Then we both got desserts and split them. Apple pie a la mode and chocolate cake. It was awesome.

We came home and the sun started to peek out of the sky, so we played outside for about an hour before coming inside and putting the kiddo to bed.

We had a great weekend, and managed to use up every bit of sunshine we were offered. Now I sit sipping my champagne and dreading this work week, but also looking forward to another long weekend for the next one I have off– April 12th. Hopefully that “warm spring” they keep telling us about is just around the bend.

Because I wore a dress today, I’ll go ahead and link up with Camp Patton

Leggings (it was cold): Ann Taylor loft

Dress: Belk, last summer- no clue.

Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft

Boots: Belk, Reaction by Kenneth Cole, I use the name brand as an excuse to wear them with everything (It was raining)

Headband: Ann Taylor Loft

Purse: consignment, Baggalini (and BRIGHT!- I didn’t realize how bright)

Simon:

Grey long sleeved teeshirt: Mary Poppins (not pictured) shirt Finch Pickles

Golf shirt: Gymboree, consignment

Jeans: GreenDog (Macy’s) a gift

Hat: Gymboree, of course.

Shoes: Cowboy boots from Kohls (make his feet stink but he loves them)

All other clothing in dressup photos: Ohio Historical Society.