Jenn's Zen

The new year, a trip to the Franklin Covey store and a new calendar. I’ve entered all the pertinent information, birthdays, anniversaries, track-in/out dates, Aftershock gigs, a trip in February to the beach for scrapbooking and the hours set aside for the gym and nannying.

Outside of family responsibilities these two things (the gym and nannying) vy for my time. It is part of the balance I worked SO hard for in 2007. This fall and into the winter I over committed and was all over the place. It left me feeling like I was running in circles getting nowhere and constantly supposed to be somewhere else doing something else. No mas.

2009 a fresh start and a new schedule. My nanny schedule has changed. The family I work for doesn’t need me so late in the day anymore. I said goodbye to a few hours and while I wasn’t sure saying goodbye to the money was a good choice, the sanity it will bring to my day (and thus less stress to our family) makes it a good choice.

The last few months (Aug-Dec) I’ve been able to maintain my success at the gym, but truth be told I still haven’t reached my original goal. 2-3 workouts a week is not enough for me to reach that goal. Lifetime Fitness just put out their January schedule and I’ve mapped out a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday routine that should give me the variety and results that I am working towards. Maybe Jeremy and I will even sneak in a few Friday night “date” work-outs. This schedule (minus the Wednesday workout) is one that I will be able to maintain in the future even if my nanny schedule changes, which it certainly will by the end of the year.

It feels good, a breath of fresh air into my schedule.

It has been pointed out to me that in my previous post I didn’t thank God for my husband. Does that mean I take our relationship for granted? Hardly. Several years ago we hit a marital wall and one of the things I learned then was to be sure not to take our relationship for granted. It’s almost as if our marriage is in it’s own separate category. To add it to the list of things below would somehow diminish all that it really is.

These thoughts have been rambling through my head since I made that post. Jeremy had surgery a couple weeks ago and in the first few hours of that experience and into the coming days these thoughts came together. Thus, a convergence of thought.

• I am thankful for a vital husband who is extremely capable and talented
• It makes me smile that even through his pain (emotional or physical) he still tries to make me laugh and often succeeds
• During the first hours and days of his recovery I helped him get dressed, socks, shirts the whole bit. It occurred to me how grateful I was that this wasn’t our normal. That he will get better and he’ll be able to care personally for himself. I was happy to do it, don’t get me wrong, but I was glad that it was temporary and not a Christopher Reeve situation.
• At one time I would have said we are lucky. These days can’t say I really believe in luck so much (check back if we ever win the lottery). I know that we both work hard at our relationship and I know we are both committed to it.
• I am thrilled to be with someone that I would be attracted to and desire to be with even if I met him for the first time today.
• It’s interesting to note that we’ve known each other for 20 years and yet I learned just a few weeks ago that he likes Laffy Taffy. who knew?! I can’t help but wonder what else I’ll learn in the coming years.

I do thank God for my husband and our marriage. I don’t take it for granted. It is something so precious and so dear that it is difficult for me to put into black and white words on a page. It feels as though the words limit what it is.

So, there it is. Some people might say we are lucky to have been together for 20 years (married for 17), and I suppose in some ways we are, but the two of us know the hard work and committment it has taken and will continue to take. Here’s to 18 years in 2009!

That’s how long it took me to run a mile on Sunday.  I never thought I would know or care how long it took me to run a mile.  My line was always, “I will only run if someone is chasing me with a knife, if it’s a gun just shoot me already”.  Another new statistic that I know about myself is that I can run four miles.  That to me is a minor miracle.  Truth be told, when (18 months ago) I started working out I could barely jog 2 minutes.  By barely I mean winded, red faced, going to die, barely.  My goal for the end of this year was to be able to run a 5K (3.2 miles).  Now I know that I can.  I’m still not convinced I would do it in respectable time, but that wasn’t part of the original goal.  Maybe that will be part of next years goal.

Oh!  And for what it’s worth I still don’t enjoy it or think of it as fun.  I love knowing my body can do this. I love how it feels to ask my body to move and it moves.  I love being able to go out and dance my ass off at Aftershock gigs.  I love how I look in clothes (did I really just say that outloud?!).  I love all that.  The actual working out not so much, but I’m OK with that.

I voted for Barack Obama because:

• he has a timeline to get American soldiers out of Iraq
• his insurance plan won’t cost me any more money than my current plan
• he’s offering additional tax relief for the middle class

AND

• Sara Palin’s ignorance about the world, and possible new policies regarding guns and abortion scares the pee outa me

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When did I get FOUR pairs of gym shoes? When did I get two different pair of running shoes? When did I become particular about what shoes I wear for certain workouts? Crazy isn’t it? I literally laughed out loud when I noticed this in the closet. This is SO not me. Well, I guess it is now. I’ve morphed into one of those people who gets a little stir crazy if I’ve missed more than one day at the gym. I have favorite classes and favorite instructors. I look forward to seeing people who I only know by their first name that I only see at the gym. Hopefully not too annoyingly, I’ve become one of those people. *sigh* I never intended it to happen. But here it is: I’m a happier girl if I’ve had a workout. Did I just say that outloud?

Let me see, where did I leave off with my Lifetime Fitness saga? I think I left you somewhere around Christmas, on my own, without the trainer, and still trying to reach my original weight-loss goal.

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For the third year in a row Pat (crafty neighbor, dear, sweet, confidante) and I attended CKC in Charlotte, NC. We indulge in two crafty over-nights a year. The first is in late January/early February at the beach and then this CKC event in Charlotte. The hubbies have the little girls for the (junkfood eating, water park and circus going) weekend and Pat and I get some time for our paper passion and a great dinner out (ALWAYS!).

This year we rocked!!! We have learned well over the last three years how to select classes that we will like. This year we lucked out and Sue Neal of Papercraft Magazine fame taught two of our classes. We also took a Likety-Split Disney album class and an acrylic album class by Awesome Albums. After the LS album class we got brave and asked the instructor how she got hooked up with the company and how could Pat do the same. (more…)

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Pastor Fred posted this fun visual test and JD and I just spent the last hour taking all the tests. So, that’s what we’ve been up to today. It’s a hang out day, the little girl is still in her cozies. We have a date tonight, the glamming up will start soon.

I’ve never been an athlete or gym rat. While there have been times you could have called me athletic, cheerleading comes to mind, I’ve just never been that sort of person. Until possibly now.

Last May a few planets aligned and I found myself going to the gym on a regular basis. The necessary planets were 1) Oprah was a smaller size than me 2) I hit a very unmagical number on the scale 3) my wardrobe was getting smaller and smaller because I REFUSED to buy a bigger size 4) my wedding ring no longer fit and I was to embarrassed to have it sized up, AGAIN 5) Lifetime Fitness came to town and JD’s employer provided a corporate membership for all employees and their families.

So, we got our membership cards and were there at the open house in May 2007. They opened two or three days later, and I’ve been there five days a week ever since (more or less/ give or take). I’m still pretty shocked about it myself. Call it right time, right mindset. (more…)

I just did something I NEVER thought I could do.

I scooped ice cream out of the pint container and returned the remaining portion to the freezer. Wow. Really, I did.

First of all let me tell you that I rarely buy ice cream by the pint. It’s usually a fancy expensive, calorie-laden brand and I don’t feel like it’s worth it. Second, even though the container says 4 servings it’s really a one-time sit down with the spoon. Seriously, we all know this. If it gets opened, it’s all going to get eaten.

So, Mayfield pints were on sale 10/$10.00 (cheaper than what used to be the half-gallon). Would they have sold them to me for $1 each, I dunno. I bought 10. The calories per serving are 160. (Why I know this or care is a different post).

Friday night I ate a whole one. What can I say; I was home by myself catching up on Oprah and Brothers & Sisters. Saturday, I split one with Emily. And today I made the never before attempted, scoop out one serving (approx two scoops) and put the container back in the freezer. Step away from the freezer.

By the way, using the smallest bowl in the house helps!

As I was getting dressed today I noticed my clothing:

• Levi’s jeans
• t-shirt from Hard Rock Café (Maui, yes, I really went there)
• bra from Vera Wang
• undies from Gap Body
• and sweater from Abercrombie and Fitch

I’m not a label girl, really I’m not. I buy what I like and what fits and only pay what I want to pay. The jeans are the $20 variety from Target, the t-shirt was a tourist purchase almost 7 years ago, the bra was less than $20, the undies were on sale I’m sure of it, probably 3/$10 or some such thing. The sweater is of course the gem from our recent Goodwill outing. All could have been made in China, so possibly not so very American after all.