- At work we are gearing up for the beginning of the school year, and it’s been a busy time. I feel quite a bit of pressure because I’m working on new projects with new “clients” (they’re all internal), and I want and need to do good work for them. It’s been trying the last couple of weeks, because work has demanded a lot of time and focused attention – two things that are difficult to come by right now.
- We started a Whole 30 on Monday. It took a lot of prep work last weekend, and continues to require more cooking than I’ve been doing, because we really can’t eat out. We did get Wendy’s salads last night, but we definitely bent the “rules” to do so. Andy and I are both committed to a full 30 days of eating cleanly (no dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, additives). The first day I had a headache and no energy. I’ve done better the rest of the week. Andy’s had a rough day or two, as well. The first three days in a row I was in situations where I had to ignore scrumptious desserts. It’s no wonder we have an obesity epidemic in the U.S. We’ve been doing this five days, and I’ve had to turn down desserts three of them! And I don’t go to an office everyday, where temptations are more extreme.
Here’s some of the food I prepped ahead of time. Hardboiled eggs; browned meat; a peek inside our fridge; roasted sweet potatoes; boiled potatoes
Some meals and snacks (clockwise, from the large picture on the left) – My breakfast day one (eggs scrambled with some ground beef and a lot of veggies); turkey meatballs and steamed broccoli with kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes; nuts mixed with raisins and apricots; banana ice cream; fruit smoothie; toasted sesame nori chips; balsamic-glazed stir-fry over sweet potato. (The banana ice cream and fruit smoothie break the spirit, though not the letter, of the Whole 30 law.)
- Aria is a little chatterbox. She talks up a storm when she’s in a chatty mood (which is most of the time), asking questions or filling me in on her understanding of what’s going on in her world. She has a tendency to invert phrases or words, which is adorable. For example, she calls toilet paper “paper toilet” with her little toddler lisp.
- Noah has decided he only needs to nap 90 minutes each day. Exasperating. I can’t be annoyed with him, though, because he has started giving me kisses if I ask, and this week he started saying “Mom” and “I love you”. As I type this he is at his sister’s bedroom door trying to wake her from her nap. Exasperating, again, but again I can’t stay annoyed because, I mean, he wants his sister’s company. How can I be annoyed at that? (I just reread this paragraph, and it occurs to me that I may be in big trouble with this kid.)
- We got our new couch! It fits a bit awkwardly in our current space. We bought it with the addition in mind, and in that space it should be perfect.
Regardless of how it looks in the room, it’s a huge hit with everyone in our family. The cats took naps on it promptly.
Aria immediately learned the joy of jumping on it, and has now sat and laid on it in every possible way.
This thing is magical. It makes Noah look small! 
The pillows are Noah’s favorite part. He likes to hurl them off the couch, and even enjoys an occasional quick rest between climbing on large pieces of furniture (chairs, couches, tables – nothing’s off limits anymore).
