April 2010 Goals

My biggest & most rewarding challenge this month is to truly enjoy every last minute I get to spend with M before heading back to work. Um, I'm going to plug away at the other goals yet to be reached but I'm not going to set any new ones for April. It's going to be an emotional month so I'm giving myself complete freedom.

Okay, I lied... I'll add one goal because my deteriorating self esteem is getting to me.

1. Attempt to hit 130lbs before going back to work. I may have to suck it up and weigh myself... tomorrow... first thing in the morning... naked... after skipping dinner tonight.

March Wrap Up!

Okay, here's the update on my goals that were on my March list:

1. Hit my target weight of 130lbs. FAIL! I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks but I KNOW this one didn't happen. I think you actually have to watch what you eat and get off the couch to achieve a goal like this one.

2. Start researching restaurants and cupcake shops for our trip to NYC! Done & done!

3. Install the window coverings in our bedroom & guest bedroom. Done!

4. Drop M's crib to the final setting. Done!

And an update on the items that carried over from February... er... January:

1. Finish the hall closet renovation. Still NOT done. Boo.

2. Create a guest room. Done! Yay!

3. Maintain current weight and/or drop another lb or two. Um, not done? Afraid to check.

4. Bring M's baby book up-to-date. We worked on it but we aren't done yet.

5. Spend more time with Cear by giving better walks. Done! The nice weather has allowed us to take her for better walks and more trips to the park each day.

6. Run with M in the jogging stroller twice a week. Hahahahahahahaha! Not done.

7. Find a nanny or caregiver for M. DONE! Yay! Got word last night that the daycare we liked finally had a spot open up.

8. Finalized start date back at work. Done! April 26th. So bittersweet.

9. Renew Canadian passport (DONE!), order M's passport (DONE!) and deal with British passport (NOT done).

10. Finalize theme for M's birthday and work on invites. Um, partially done.

April goals to follow shortly!

I Love New York!

New York is now MY city! Well, our city. D & I eloped on our weekend away! We'd planned ahead and found an officiant & photographer who do guerrilla style weddings. We secured our marriage license after landing on Friday and were able to be married at dusk in Central Park on Saturday. It was perfect.

I ate enough cupcakes to curb any cravings I may have in the near future and hopefully walked enough to burn all the calories! We wandered aimlessly, shopped and ate whatever we wanted. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel where we were waited on hand & foot.

We had a fabulous weekend, which was made all the more enjoyable knowing that M was doing amazingly with our families! Everyone had a great time with him and he was perfectly behaved! He was in great spirits the entire weekend.

I can't rave enough about New York. It's the city where anything is possible! Love it.

Two More Sleeps!

Only two more sleeps until we're in New York! Yay! I am so excited! My list of things to do before we go is long and once again begs the question: why am I such a huge procrastinator?!

I tend to leave cleaning and preparing until the last minute. I'm great at making lists of things to do but often leave them until a day or two before when I'm scrambling. I've got a tonne of things to do around the house to prepare for our babysitters (both families will be taking a shift so that means lots of clean sheets & towels and general cleaning) as well as last minute appointments & errands.

This is also our very first time leaving M overnight so I've had to create a manual. You know, a manual all about M. It covers everything from daily routine & schedule, meals, bath & bedtime routines as well as a general "where am I?" list detailing where anything that might possibly be needed can be found. I'm trying hard to put any of those little day-to-day things down on paper that I typically do second nature. M will be in GREAT hands and I'm sure he'll have a blast! Hope so!

Back to my big list of tasks!

Back to Meal Planning!

After a week (or more) of random meals, eating out & ordering in, the time has come to start meal planning again. It's a short week for us so I only need 4 meals to get us through the week, which will include take-out on Thursday night because I'll be up to my eyeballs in cleaning & list making for all of our family who will be taking turns caring for M while we're away.

In no particular order:

Steak Tacos with Spicy Sour Cream, Avocado & Tomato w/ Nacho Chips

Coconut Curry Chicken & Chickpeas w/ Rice

Proscuitto Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Basil w/ Orzo with Parmesan & Basil and Grilled Asparagus

Campanelle with Sausage & Leeks w/ Salad

Heigh ho! Heigh ho! Off to the grocery store I go!

Um... I'm Engaged?!

I think I'm still reeling from the unexpected shock & surprise of D's proposal last night. While out strolling with M, we pulled the stroller over so D could look for his wallet. Next thing you know, I've got the most gorgeous ring on my finger and answered D's "will you marry me?" with a yes!

D & I have obviously talked about marriage but to be honest, it wasn't a priority or necessity for me. I'm happy with our little family life and didn't feel we needed the ceremony and paper thing. It was one of those things I said I'd do if it was really important to D. I know that sounds negative and like I didn't want it to happen, which is not the case. It's not that I didn't want to get married but I didn't feel like we needed it. We're already complete. We've got a lovely little family in a lovely little home. We're lucky to have jobs we love and amazing families. Simply put, we're already very blessed.

So, we're engaged! We've started to talk about what we want & don't want and I think we're in the early stages of a great plan. At the end of the day, I want it to be about us, our family and the commitment we've already made to each other & our amazing son. All the other stuff is just icing on the already delicious cupcake!

Green Thumb

I hate gardening. I actually detest it. I forced myself to make the most of the nice weather a few days this week and plug away at our front garden. Nothing crazy but just a little general tidying and weeding. I parked M in the stroller and chatted to him the entire time... mostly hateful garden statements peppered with choice language. Regardless, the front is pretty much done and ready for the Spring growing season. Luckily, our front garden is filled with various flowering shrubs and trees so very low maintenance.

When we moved in last April, our back garden (two reasonably sized planter boxes) had similar trees & shrubs but we neglected to take care of them and I ended up having to pull & toss most of them. I'm now at a total loss of what to do. I know NOTHING about gardening! I want pretty, variety and low maintenance.

Can anyone suggest a good website or book that will help us create something nice but oh-so-easy to maintain?