Time

I'm not even sure how it got to be 2+ months since I last posted (seriously!?) but if that's any indicator of just how crazy life has been, well... there you go. I won't go into detail about everything that's been happening, but here's the bullet list breakdown:

• Planned and started another round of home renovations (unfortunately much sooner than we intended due to a mold situation).
• Began serious potty training but then sort of put it on temporary hiatus due to the main bathroom being the epicenter of said renovations... Ugh.
• Introduced N to gardening - he loves it and is actually rather helpful with it this year!
• Took a trip with N to visit relatives.
• Parents visited us.
• Took advantage of every free, non-rainy weekend to pack in some summer family fun (zoo, nearby parks, bike rides, splash pad, waterpark, hikes, ice cream, fireworks, airplane museum, city festivals, mini golf).
• Went on a mini family weekend getaway to the Wisconsin Dells area (this passed weekend) and packed in even more family fun.
• Did a 3-day protein shake, fruit, and veggie cleanse (lost 5 pounds!).
• Planned and hosted an office bridal shower for my co-worker and office-mate.
• Tried - and failed - to utilize budgeting software to get our finances under control. Oops. Going to give it another go here soon though as I really did like the software, but made some mistakes in setting it up initially which I now know to avoid. Also changing banks a week into it really made things harder than necessary. THAT was a whole nightmare in and of itself. Gah!
• Learned the benefit of "emergency" savings when my employer sent my paycheck to the wrong (old) account that was closed, which resulted in a 2 week delay before it was finally deposited into the correct (new) account. Sigh...
• Began a new workout and eating plan in one last-ditch effort to a) shed 5-7 pounds, b) gain some definition in my arms/shoulders, and c) tighten up the belly pooch before upcoming appearances on the beach (see below)!

So yeah... things have been busy and I'm really trying hard not to be that person that worries about "doing it all" all the time. That's just not realistic. There are days when I feel like an awesome mom, but the house is a disaster. There are days when I make a lot of progress at work and feel like I'm really making a difference, but I get home late and don't get to see N as much. There are days when I just HAVE to get some laundry done/meals cooked/bills paid and wind up snapping at my family for distracting me. The thing is, I'm learning to cut myself some slack. Sure it would be great to keep all the balls in the air at all times, but I think even if I were able to do it, I'd be unhappy. It's just too much. I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time instead of crazy multi-tasking. It's a work in progress, and probably a topic for a post all it's own...

Meanwhile, time marches on. So here's what I'm counting down to as of now:

• 3 days until we meet with our RE (Dr. B) to discuss the first steps in beginning a frozen embryo transfer for (hopefully!) baby #2. Yikes!
• 8 days until I get on an overnight train with N to take him to my parents house in NY... and 9 days until I leave him for the longest span of time we've ever been apart (a little more than a week).
• 11 days until the hubby and I head to Maui for a much-needed couples' vacation (friends of ours will be joining us there for part of the time).
• 56 days until the start of the fall quarter in which I will (finally) complete my Master's degree - yipee!

This is all really big stuff! Hopefully in between all of it I will find time to blog a bit more often...