J'Espere

            Last week I had to be a grown-up. Again. Normally I can squeak by in what I lovingly refer to as “pseudo-grown-up” world. That’s where you are technically at a physical age in which you are considered a grown-up, but secretly you are still treating said activity/excursion/event in the same way a much younger version of yourself would.   I live on the edge.             But last week I had a realization. I would call it an epiphany, but I like to think those refer to something positive and this wasn’t.    So I will call it a realization. Months ago, on a high from running the 4 mile Fleet Feet Run in Chapel Hill, I signed up for the 10 miler (at a steep discount, I might add!) KNOWING that if I could run 4 miles with a 10 month old, I could doubtless run 10 miles with a 22 month old! Because 22 months is much easier than 10, right? In my head she would already be a p...

Occasionally, it is time for change. There are some fixtures, however, that don’t change. Monday- Friday, barring a plague, I go to work. SL usually goes to bed by 7:30/7:45. In the morning I have oatmeal, then I kiss my baby and head off into the amazing world of librarianship and education. And in the afternoons I go for a run or head to the gym. Until lunch one day, when I heard a co-worker talking about the new barre3 studio that had just opened nearby. Actually, I think talking is not the appropriate word. I think raving better suits it. She was loving it. She is a runner, too, so my ears perked up a bit as I listened to her explain that barre3 truly was the best of ballet, pilates and yoga. And my former ballet dancer and current yoga loving self listened up. I will be the first to say that I was already aware that barre3 was coming to Raleigh. Early on, I had “liked” the Facebook page, and followed some of the health posts. But I had done nothing beyond that. Then, one ...

Everyone does a wrap up blog. It's important, right? To kind of review where you've been going the last year, and figure out how to keep the readers (and yourself) happy. So this is my wrap up. Things we did in 2013: 1. Bought a house. 2. Did major renovations on said house. I promise the pictures are coming later this week. 3. HAD A BABY. The Johnson & Johnson ads aren't kidding- a baby changes everything. Which is why I can do my year end wrap up at 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve, because it's probably going to be just me and Carson Daly (and maybe Matt) tonight. 4. We moved. Massive undertaking. 5. Began to have fantasies in which I slept for 8 hours, got up, ate a hot breakfast at a table, then went to get my nails done. 6. Wondered how I got to exactly this place. What I went back to, and what I always go back to, are 3 New Year's Eves that were important to me. The first was New Year's Eve 2000. It was the first NYE I actually got invited to awe...

Getting ready in the morning is a delicate creature. It’s become this crazy balance. Leap out of bed on (a ridiculously low single digit number ) hours of sleep, brush teeth, wash face, check that clothes are laid out. Tiptoe downstairs, praying that baby stays asleep for just a little longer. Wolf down breakfast. Standing up. Back upstairs, finish getting ready, by this time if the baby isn’t awake, she will be soon. Maybe Matt will have time to take a shower first, but maybe not. Time management is a skill that we have very quickly had to hone. Because when she awakes, it’s a scramble to get her fed (which is left up to Matt), to get him out the door once the babysitter arrives. Exercise isn’t even an option, unless you count zipping around the room and up and down stairs. Our lives seem to be stuck at 75 mph. I can’t remember the last time I got to sit down and just eat breakfast, or just get dressed. . I no longer stand a chance of working out before school. But there are pe...