Shape Up

As you probably can imagine from my absence, things have been crazy busy since my last post almost a month ago.  I can't really tell monetarily that I'm busier yet, but I'm sure that will come in time.  Taking most of my time is this massive overhaul on my website.  I'm converting it to Wordpress so I can make updates on my end as needed with restaurant & menu changes.  I had no idea how big of a project it would be.

Isaiah is running & talking like crazy.  He says balloon, knock knock, chash (trash), no, bye bye, hiyo (hello), nana (for his grandmother & for a banana), choos (shoes), sky, ball, tanchoo (thank you), mo (more & he signs it too!, muk (milk), top (stop), ni ni (night night), at (hat), eat, mama, dada, & he tries really hard to say BB's name.  I should start keeping a list on my iPhone of everything he says or does that is extra cute because now I'm sure I'm missing a lot.  He tries to sing.  I will sing la la la la la la la la la (the scale).  And he will sing la la, occasionally correctly matching the tone. 

Marcus & I took this huge trip to Austin for a weekend.  Huge for us because that was our first trip together.  I wrote all about it, but I haven't gotten around to posting it yet.  Soon I hope.

One of my biggest concerns lately is getting my body back to a moderate version of what I want. 

A few months ago I tried the Paleo Diet.  I loved it.  BUT I got really overwhelmed with the massive cooking, planning & shopping it involved.  Feeding your family is like having another job.  I would start the weeks off well with lots of groceries in the fridge (that cost a lot of money) & then I would cook a meal or two, my crazy life would happen & then I would end the week with wasted food in the fridge.  And that's not even touching exercise.  Bottom line (& I don't apologize for this) is that if I have to choose between work & cooking (or cleaning), I'm going to choose work every time. 

So after evaluating many alternatives (cooking not so difficult & expensive food, counting on leftovers from catering events, continuing to eat out the longer I continued evaluating...), I decided to try out this meal program a dear friend of mine told me about called My Private Chef.  It is a local chef that has a passion for providing healthy, easy, & affordable food for everyone.  You can pickup or have delivered all of your meals for the week frozen.  You just pop each one (labeled with what it is) into the microwave for a few minutes & eat.  I figured there would be missed meals because of client meetings (had one tonight) & catering events & I could use those missed meals to feed Isaiah & get me through parts of the weekends (program is M-F 3 meals a day).  The monthly cost to do this will be less than what we were spending on groceries. 

After all of my evaluating - I realized 2 things:  I need a plan.  I can't just go get a bunch of stuff & wing it for the week.  And I don't think it's possible for me to plan & execute healthy fresh meals for my family at this point in my life.  So I am thrilled at the possibility that this program will work!  I'll let you know.  Maybe.

I Pushed Me

I was feeling a little down & unmotivated the other day.  I told myself I would just force myself to do productive things.  I did, and it worked! 

I wrote in my blog.  Upon completion, I felt like writing more. 

I did some homework, and I found out that my class this term is actually quite interesting, all about creativity, innovation, and specifically ecological innovation.  The latter is something I wouldn't expect from an MBA program, but it will be useful in my industry, so I'm not going to complain. 

I worked on some work communication that was piling up, and that inspired me to do more.  Also I think going to work & doing some things there helped.  Although the walking back & forth part scared me into deciding never to walk again.  I had my computer Mona with me.  What if I got mugged?  My files are backed up but not my millions of pictures.  But more importantly, what if the mugger forced me to the ground and hurt my baby?  No more walking.

I have come to conclude that one of the culprits for my unmotivation/lack of inspiration is my couch Hattie.  The great comfort & warmth she brings me unfortunately doesn't make me want to move from her or my current place in life. 

To fix that, I tried sitting at my desk, but my back started hurting.  Now what do I do?

So anyway, I'm back.  Which is good because lots of things are happening this month. 

New place with a new roommate (my boyfriend).  AND we will finally find out whether our baby is a mini Jewel or another mini Marcus.  More later!

For now, I am like this inside. Maybe with a little more grace.  Maybe.

What do you do to get out of a slump??  How do you deal with stress?  And pregnant girls, are you experiencing stages like these?

What Were You Doing Ten Years Ago?

Wow it's 2010!!! 

I graduated from high school ten years ago.  

Ten years ago the whole world thought the world was going to end, including my father, who made us grow a garden & start raising rabbits.  

Ten years ago, I still had never had a sip of alcohol.  

Ten years ago, I was a virgin.

Back then, didn't we ask ourselves how we imagined our lives in ten years?

Ten years ago, I never dreamed I would be living in Texas, working in the field that I do, or that I would be pregnant & not married.  

Ten years ago I was working in radio, being an amateur musician & photographer, and still pursuing acting.  So I’m sure I thought in ten years I would be a famous actress, musician or voice over artist.  

I gave up theater acting because throughout college I had to have a job, and it didn’t go over too well when I couldn’t be in any plays because my job never matched rehearsal schedule.  

I gave up film acting because I decided I had a much better chance to get rich & then write, produce, direct & act in my own movies than to break into the movie scene as an actor.  

I gave up radio when I started majoring in it & realized I could learn more by working in the field rather than being taught in class with equipment that no one used anymore.  

I gave up being a musician when I ran out of time working my way through college.  

My radio turned into restaurant work because it paid more.  I am still in restaurants.  

I am in Dallas because I hated Mississippi, and this was the quickest way out.  

I could be a lot further in life, but if I was where I wanted to be in my career, I probably wouldn’t have met the boy, so I’m happy that I didn’t excel as quickly as I expected.  

Now I love Dallas, my job, my boyfriend that isn’t my husband, and my baby.

What about you?  What were you doing ten years ago?