In times of stress...

I shop. So, between my husband getting back on the road, my basement being jackhammered up (more on that later), work and one non-stressful factor (I'm only 6 pounds from the 'goal' weight I set for myself - yay!), ummm...I've done a bit of...damage! Really it's nothing too 'bad', but I have been ordering/shopping away. The highlights:
Two pairs of shoes from L.L. Bean heading this way: This adorable navy blue hooded sweatshirt dress for only $20 from the Norma Kamali for Walmart line (as posted by Elements of Style - thanks!):
This shirt and shorts from Old Navy, the colors were just too perfect for me to pass up (which were really so cheap it should be illegal!): A new Hobo International Zoe wallet from Lori's Shoes (also v. necessary, as my old one was literally falling apart and Lori's had 25% off Hobo!): Last night's big haul was from BodenUSA. I've never ordered from them, but always think they have cute stuff. So when they sent me a coupon for 25% with free shipping and free returns, I decided it was time to give it a try. I always think this vest look is cute, pulled together yet not too fussy, which seemed perfect for my work from home life:So I ordered a couple of vests (one was reg price, the second was from the sale section), the scoop neck t for under it, a grey pre-layer t-shirt combo, and since I love polka dots, I couldn't pass up the green & aqua spotted pull over: Whew! I think I still see the smoke coming off my credit card! I swear I'm done for a while ;-)

"I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."

Well, not exactly, but things have been a bit rough around my household for the past week. Yep, stomach flu. And it totally and completely sucks. Luckily Henry's round one was literally just one round (cleaning out a puke soaked car seat may be the most disgusting thing I have ever done). But he has been left behind, stuffy nosed and with a hacking cough reminiscent of a pack a day smoker. Just when I thought we had survived without receiving the infectious plague, it struck both my husband and I, at nearly midnight on Sunday night. And to add insult to injury, HDog still had a fever on Monday, so we spent all day watching PBS cartoons, praying to the porcelain god and trying to negotiate who felt worse when H needed more attention.

The rest of 2009 better be golden after the shit storm of a start that I've had!!!

Two steps forward...

and now for the one back. After just three days back at daycare, Henry has the stomach flu. Lovely. Tossed his cookies, in the car seat, just one block from daycare this morning. Poor kiddo. Trying to remain positive, but puke patrol is NOT my idea of a good time. Fortunately there is no fever. Let's hope for a 24 hour quickie.

And I pray we don't all catch it.

Fatness Fog

I'm lost in it. Stress snowballed over the holidays, along with my waistline. While hanging with my family, I just let it all go. And I wasn't really holding on that tight before the holidays! So, now I sit working in my yoga pants, because although I can get into the jeans, they certainly aren't comfortable.

I know, I know, a few of you who know me in real life would say, "You are not fat". And really, I'm not saying I'm fat, just flabby, inactive and not healthy. Can't remember how much I spilled about my back pain, but beginning in August '08, I suddenly developed some pretty sharp back pain. I went to my regular doctor. She said, ice and Advil for 5 days. Check. Still hurts. Waited a while. Still hurting. Met with an orthopedic specialist who sent me to physical therapy. Physical therapy helped, but did not alleviate the problem (which is probably a bulging disc around my L4 or L5). It totally sucks. I feel like a 33 year old woman in a 65 year old body. I cannot bend straight down and pick a basket of laundry from the floor.

So, I'm not going on a diet. I've tried that in the past, been wildly successful with losing pounds, but haven't committed to a lifestyle change. I need to work out and eat healthy on a consistent basis. I spent too much time being lazy in my relatively naturally thin body and I'm paying for it now. Can't say I have a super detailed plan just yet, but I'm reading SuperFoods HealthStyle (taking inspiration from Kath Eats Real Food - thanks!), trying to make some gradual changes, and stick to them.

Monday, Shitty Monday

We had a pretty nice weekend. Watched Henry's little friend C on Friday night and even managed to make it out to dinner with both of them (though thank goodness we did not have twins!). Both kids SLEPT IN on Saturday morning, with C getting up around 7:30 and Henry not up til nearly 7:45! I was almost worried something was wrong. Sunday we made a trip to the pumpkin patch. Although it was very windy, Henry enjoyed it immensely. We carved a pumpkin and I potted a couple of mums into pumpkins too. Nice weekend. And then things took a turn for the worse:

• Mid Sunday afternoon realized that the siding on the north of our house is completely flapping in the window. Huge chunks laying in our neighbor's yard. Shit. Guy was supposed to come between 8-9 a.m. this morning. Had to call and chase him down. He finally came after 10 a.m. and with not very good news.
• Around 9:30 p.m. felt nauseous last night. Spent a large chunk of last night praying to the porcelain god. Total suckage. And no, NOT pregnant, just sick.
• Realized this morning that our car was due at the shop. Drove over to find construction everywhere, related to the Brown line el renovation (the shop is under the el). Had no cell with me (was dead, left it at home on the charger). Had to drive home, look up the number and call. They are still in the same place I just didn't push hard enough on the office door. Crap.

I feel like there is more bitching to be done here, but nothing else is floating to the top of my brain at the moment. It just all came down on me in one big shit storm so I guess that's why I'm crabby. Feeling better now (stomach flu? food poisoning? gone), but it just blows when this kinda stuff happens on a Monday right?

Oh well. Two huge positives to close with -

1. my lovely husband will be home for the next month or so. He cooked up a storm last night so we will have food all week with little effort!
2. Nephew #3 is arriving TODAY!! Yippee!!

Hate

People always tell you "hate is a strong word". Normally, I agree. However, when speaking of the massive amounts of rain we Chicagoan's have endured in the past two days, I'm gonna say it. I HATE the rain.

Don't get me wrong, I know we are super fortunate compared to those braving the hurricane, but still, the weather is making me stabby. Several reasons:

1) Our lovely lower level, filled with soft, brand new carpet has disgusting water seepage. We have moved our entire entertainment center, couch, lots of toys, pillows and ripped up that gorgeous carpet. I attempted to use our Little Green Machine on it, but felt akin to drinking an entire swimming pool of water with an adorable bendy straw. NOT COOL. So I gave up. We are working on a rotating towel system around the edges. Praying we can get it dried out and put back together without spending thousand of dollars.

2) H, Z & I are all going nuts. Like stir crazy. I was forced to take my boys to McDonald's this morning to fulfill Z's breakfast out craving and H's need to run at the same time. Nothing like trans fats for all today.

3) Our yard, in all it's loveliness, looks like a swamp. Crazy standing water, floating toys and I'm about a zillion bugs. Yuck.

4) My hair. I look like a scraggly drowned rat every time I leave the house. It blows.

Sorry to be absent for like a month and only to return and post a ranting mess. Life has been so busy that I just haven't had room for blogging these days. Will try to return soon. With something nice.

Would you put this on your kid?

Henry & I are gearing up to travel. Alone. And I'm already fearing it. Really the biggest challenge will be getting myself, Henry, a giant carseat and a suitcase from the parking garage to the airport. And getting everything packed in and loaded for baggage checking. Once we've dropped off the "stuff" we'll be in good shape. But how on earth do I do things that require both hands and not have him completely run away from me?!

Man, there is a TON of chat out "there" about child harnesses, leashes, etc. Lots of it is super negative, claiming using one of these is lazy parenting and that one should teach their child to behave properly (I did read one incident where a mother had leash on a 7 year old! Ok, that, in my opinion, is wrong!). But other parents are definitely supportive, reminding us all that you don't know what it's like to walk in another parent's shoes and in busy places sometimes being safe is the best choice.

So at nearly 18 months, with limited vocabulary and unlimited running skills, would it really be a bad thing to put a cute little monkey backpack on Henry so he can do his thing without me losing him? Hmmm...

*Sigh*

Well, things are chugging along in the real estate side of our world. Sorta. I'm wiped out from all the talking, budgeting, strategizing, blah, blah, blah. An update, as quick I can summarize all the shit that has gone down:

• We are still fighting with the mortgage company. Our broker is a complete assclown. We've gotten multiple financing extensions and he still can't get his shit together. Then, once he did, the contract stated we cannot receive cash from the seller at closing. Which totally screws us out of $10,000! So, we called up citimortgage (our current mortgage lender) and started working with them. *Hopefully* it will all be straightened out by Tuesday. Hopefully.
• We received two offers on our condo on Saturday! One was a low ball and their agent let us know they were up for bargaining. The second was $20,000 higher, which is great! But, their financing looks a bit shaky.
• A third buyer was sort of in the mix. Our agent really thought this couple was going to put an offer in this weekend. He called them to give them an update and was informed that the buyer bought another unit in our complex that just went on the market this TUESDAY! I'm so ticked. We did the hard work for them with all the showings, getting them familiar with the complex and then the other unit just waltzed onto the market and swiped them from us. Must have been a good solid offer too since they are already under contract.

Ugh. I just want this nightmare to be over with! I know I should be thankful we have two offers. But I'm nervous. And actually two units joined us on the market this week. The one that sold and another one in the same building. I snooped through their open houses today. They are nice units. Very nice. And their kitchens have ours beat any day. Double ugh.

Hopefully we'll have a resolution soon. My head may explode if we don't.

Oh and to add to the mix, I earned a new patch on my Motherhood sash this weekend. I've now been puked on. Yep. Little man has a lovely, projectile vomiting illness. And to add insult to injury, he seems fine during the day and then vomits all night. Triple ugh.

Excitement...turned to worry...turning to anger...

Well, our lovely house was too good to be true. Not totally, but that is how it feels. We had our inspection of the place last Thursday. Two major issues came up:

1) Water in one corner of the basement. The seller obviously had no clue because their entertainment center, full of electronics, was sitting right in that corner. I think they are willing to pony up money to fix this.

2) There is a sag in the roof and a bow on one side. I think the current seller's thought it was just a siding issue and didn't mess with it. Well, our inspector suggested a structural engineer take a look.

So, on Monday we had more people out, estimates given, blah, blah, blah. Problem is, for both of the issues, without opening up walls and siding, the complete nature of each problem can't be determined. The water thing I'm not as concerned with. But the structural thing is a GIANT can of worms. A can the seller is hesitating to even touch. Which is pissing me off. At first I was worried because everything else about the house is lovely and we reallly want it. Now, as much as I want the house, we shouldn't have to buy a house with a potentially large defect without some sort of financial concession from the seller.

Come, eat Ramen noodles with me...

In my NEW HOUSE!!! Fabulous, exciting and expensive! But we are so happy and excited! We put in an offer, countered back and forth a bit and came to an agreement today! It is so adorable and needs virtually NO WORK, which is friggin' amazing considering some of the dumps we looked at. 3 beds (which we will convert to 4 easily - more on that later), 3 1/2 baths, full walkout basement, patio, yard, 2 car garage...I could go on and on and on! I must sleep now, so I cannot write many details, but here's a few of the pictures!

Interesting interpretation...

I like to read Jen Lancaster's blog, Jennsylvania. She was discussing Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love. I love her interpretation of the woman's enlightening tour:

"...Eat, Pray, Love inspired me to do the same thing. That is, if you substitute "find enlightenment" for "not be so tightly wound I'm going to punch the next asshole I run into right in the throat." "

Given how tightly wound I've been in the last two days, I think I need to follow Jen's lead...

Bastids!!!

Our realtor just called. Someone else put an offer in on said 2-flat and the owners accepted! Grrr!!! What I don't understand - our realtor said she never got the seller's realtor to call her back! She talked to his assistant multiple times, but never the realtor himself. So...as someone selling a house, if you knew you had a second buyer VERY interested, going back for another look today, wouldn't it be in the best interest of your seller to wait for another offer to come in?! I mean, I'm not saying we were definitely putting in the offer, but why wouldn't you wait? OR at least call the realtor back. I almost feel like something shady has gone on. I'm totally pissed.

Freaking out...

So, really all of this is good, but it's just...so much...all at once...

• Our nanny, Katie, called in sick on Friday. Something seemed a bit off, but I just shrugged it off. Sure enough she tells me we need to talk this morning - she's pregnant! I adore Katie even just as a friend, but this means she and her husband are moving back to Poland at the end of April and we are nanny-less! Ugh.


• We looked at this fantastic vintage two flat this weekend. I'm possibly going back this afternoon with our contractor to take another look.

Home Sweet Home?

• The first floor and basement are totally finished out and in move in condition. The third floor is rented out and the current renters are leased through May. Our thought is to eventually add a master bath and turn the entire third floor into all bedrooms, making this two flat into a single family home. We would probably wait a year or two to do the conversion because the first floor & basement is definitely enough space for us now and if we collect rent from the upstairs this entire building would only cost us about $500 more a month! It has a nice small yard out back and a big 2 car garage.


• I need to get tons of work done, but have ZERO urge to do so. Like none. I've been dealing with real estate nonsense all morning.


• H's 1st birthday is Thursday! My entire family is coming on Friday, including my sister, her two boys & husband, who are staying at my house. Our hotdog themed birthday fiesta is Saturday and it will be my family and Z's.

Really I'm excited about all of this, but I kinda feel like I might explode!!!! Yikes!

I hate saying "No"

Since having Henry, I'm realizing I need to learn to say "No". It's so hard. There are many, many things I'd like to do, but by accepting more things, I'm only stressing myself out. Unfortunately, I'm still bummed to pass by things I'd like to do. Such as:

1) Take on more new people at Junior League. They need help with some of the women joining in January. I'd love to jump in and help because I've always enjoyed working with new members.
2) Get back to volunteering with Off the Streets Club. I used to at a minimum, attend the 3rd Thursday program where we take a bus from downtown to the club on the 3rd Thursday of each month. I'd spend the evening hanging out and having dinner with the kids. They are such a great group. I miss them.
3) Join our condo board. It's currently filled with old farts who are so out of touch (except my neighbor) with what most people I know would like to see happen for our great association.
4) Work out. Ummm - yeah, maybe if I skipped sleeping?

I'm sure there are zillion other things, but those are what come to mind right now. I just started reading I was a really GOOD MOM before I had kids.


Seems like a pretty funny story about how everyone tries to be SuperMom and how it's okay to be frazzled and how to deal with it!

Bad Karma

So I'm wondering what I've done that has caused me to have SUCH a bad stretch of luck. Really it's just two things that have gone wrong, but they are things that have caused much stress.

1) Went down to pick up H's 6 month photos from this fancy photographer we used and once I started looking through the book, I realized that half the photos were missing. Gone. And the photographer cannot find them. So, capturing H at 6 months was only half done. And I feel like the second half was probably better than the first. We took pictures of him in this great hat that he wears, in natural light, with a brick wall behind him. Poof. Gone.

2) I spent $460 on medication for our dog Annie. Took it to the secondary pharmacy to have it compounded (broken down and redistributed into the dose she needs) and the pharmacy liquified all the medication. AND blames me for it. I got half of the meds in the form we need and then got into a HUGE argument with the guy at the pharmacy. There are way more hairy details than this, but I can't bring myself to write it all. I'm so pissed about it that I cannot stop thinking about it and I'm afraid the stress is taking years off my life! I just can't get over the fact a)that are holding their ground that I am lying (or not remembering) b)that they were so incredibly rude and c)we stil don't have the full $460 worth of meds we started with. Ugh.

I think I need to go volunteer some time, money, something to make things right in the world. Because I could really use a friggin' break!