New York City and New Jersey Greatest Hits

I try in my blog not to brag too much about my baby boy- but we have been in New York City and New Jersey for the Labor Day holiday and Alex has had the best time and has some VERY cute pictures.

Here are some for his fans!

Alex and Mommy in Central Park

Alex got an arm painting by an artist in Central Park.

Alex and Daddy went mountain climbing.

Alex went digging for fossils at Jurassic Jersey.

Central Park carousel.

Alex learned from tricks from Spiderman.

We checked out the piano at FAO Schwartz.

Spiderman popsicle!

Jurassic Jersey selfie! 

Basketball Pro!

We have had a great time so far and I am so proud of how good Alex has been and all the new experiences he has had!

A Month of Books!

For the month of August, I set a literary goal- to read two books, one for personal development and one for fun.  A sub-requirements of the fun book was that it had to have some literary value- it couldn't be smut of the 50 Shades variety that I am so fond of.

I think this was the best goal of my month.  I read two books that I really did enjoy and, interestingly enough, enjoyed them both more than the junk I had been reading to just pass time on airplanes.  

Prior to this month, I would have said that I didn't have enough time to read at home while doing things with Alex, but I did find that I do have time.  Here is where I worked it in:

1. Post-nap Alex tends to want to watch a movie, this ended up being great reading time, but I had to let go of what I would usually do- the lunch kitchen clean up.  As it turns out, it doesn't matter at all if I just let the lunch dishes sit until dinner.  Plus, I wash them while things are cooking so I don't have to look at them while I eat.  Win-win.

2.  Pool time.  Our neighborhood pool doesn't open until 11 and Alex typically wakes up before 7.  I blew up the little pool and have been sitting under the tree watching him and the neighborhood girls swim while reading.  Win.

3. Pinterest.  I look at Pinterest for the last 30 minutes before I go to bed.  Epic win- just read instead.  Don't worry I still spend plenty of time on Pinterest.

So here is what I read:

The Valley of Amazement:  I have heard for years that Amy Tan is an amazing author- but I always kind of assumed she was an amazing author in that her writing is deep and hard to understand, but as it turns out The Valley of Amazement was one of the best books I have every read.  It isn't easy reading in that there is a neat happy ending in the book- too much happens to the characters throughout the book to truly have them walk away into a happy fairy land at the end- but throughout the book you are rooting for these characters so deeply that at every turn, when they have bad things happen, or make bad choices you just want to scream for them.  One of the other excellent elements of this book was that it took place in China during the early 1900s and was told from the perspective of a courtesan.  This was something that I knew nothing about and Amy Tan filled in so much rich detail and you forget your preconceptions about being a courtesan and just fall into the experiences of these women's lives, no differently than if they worked in an office building. Overall rating:  A+

A Mind for Numbers:  This book is the companion book to the class I am taking on Coursera called Learning how to Learn.  The one struggle that I had with it was that it followed the course videos so closely that at times the script for the professor's lectures were almost word for word, but overall, I have done very well on my quizzes because I have heard it from the professor and then read it in the book.  There were some great strategies for learning in there and it really is a book for everyone, not just people who want to get better at math and science. This is also a very short read and very good at breaking down complex topics into easy concepts.  Overall rating: B+

I put on my bucket list that I want to read the "1001 Books to Read Before you Die".  I'm only at 33.  Plus, I marked the pages of books I had read with my llama post-its and they look kind of creepy staring at me - thank you Sarah!  But here's what it looks like!  It's open to Heart of Darkness- which I read, for the full llama experience.  

Good luck and good reading!

Bucket List!!!

One of my goals for August was too create a bucket list.  This ended up being more difficult than I thought because I set a goal for myself of creating 100 bucket list goals.  I thought I was going strong until I realized I had a bucket list of 30.  So, I started Googling Bucket list ideas and those ideas spurred other ideas for me.  Also, walking away from the project for a little while also helped.  I would think of some new things through the day, or as I was pinning on Pinterest.

That being said, here it is:

Literary

1.       Write a novel.
2.       Get published in a magazine.
3.       Read 1001 book list.
4.       Give a TED talk.
5.       Read the entire Bible.
6.       Have a library/office with built in bookshelves
7.       Take a creative writing class.
8.       Rent a cottage by the sea for a writing vacation.
9.       Write my personal manifesto.

Fitness

1.       Run in a marathon.
2.       Complete a Spartan Race
3.       Reach my goal weight.
4.       Go on a yoga/fitness retreat
5.       Learn to stand-up Paddleboard
6.       Play in a tennis league.
7.       Be able to do 100 push-ups
8.       Learn how to do a split
9.       Take a Polar Plunge
10.   Complete the Master Cleanse to see how it feels.
11.   Go one year without going to a fast food restaurant.
12.   Get hypnotized.

Professional

1.       Reach 1000 followers on my blog.
2.       Start my own business.
3.       Teach a class.
4.       Write a book on marketing.
5.       Get my Ph.D.
6.       Be able to say I’m a millionaire.
7.       Be on HGTV.
8.       Get paid to organize someone’s home/business.
9.       Create a passive income.

Random

1.       Own a pair of Christian Loubatons
2.       Watch the Red Sox play at Fenway Park.
3.       See Dave Matthews play The Gorge
4.       Go on a no-budget shopping spree.
5.       Own a Boston terrier.
6.       Design and build my own home.
7.       Write in my blog in a café in Europe.
8.       Get a tattoo.
9.       Own a jeep.
10.   Have a little girl named Amelia.
11.   Go to a drive-in movie.
12.   Meet Stephen King.
13.   Meet a POTUS
14.   Host a fancy, well-planned, well decorated meal like Martha Stewart.
15.   Get snowed in.
16.   Watch all of the seasons of Dexter.
17.   Name a star.
18.   Send a postcard to PostSecret.
19.   Hire a personal shopper to help me pick out clothes.

Travel

1. Go to Maine.
2. Go to Australia.
3. Take an Alaska cruise.
4. See the Northern Lights.
5. Take a Mediterranean vacation.
6. Visit Ireland.
7. Take a month off- rent a cabin somewhere- and relax.
8. Go on an African safari.
9. Go on a multi-day sailing/boating trip.
10. Visit the pyramids.
11. See a solar eclipse.
12. Fly in a private jet.
13. Take a hot air balloon ride.
14. Ride in the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls.
15. Drive cross-country.
16. Sleep on the beach.

Things to Learn

1.       Learn to salsa
2.       Learn to make sushi
3.       Learn how to do my makeup perfectly
4.       Learn to make pasta.
5.       Learn to play Dave Matthews on the guitar.
6.       Learn to fly a plane.
7.       Attend a seminar with Oprah.
8.       Take a photography class.
9.       Take a class on meditation.
10.   Participate in a book club.
11.   Learn to make chocolate.
12.   Take a real art class.
13.   Take horseback riding lessons
14.   Learn how to scuba dive.
15.   Learn how to ski.

For Others

1.       Volunteer abroad.
2.       Make a donation every year to St. Judes.
3.       Volunteer helping local women find jobs and become independent.
4.       Volunteer in prison.
5.       Teach at Vacation Bible School
6.       Write a thank you note every day for 30 days.
7.       Become a bone marrow donor.
8.       Join the Peace Corps.
9.       Take in a foster child.
10.   Participate in a three-day Susan Komen walk.

Alex

1.       Take Alex on a Disney vacation.
2.       Take Alex to the National Zoo.
3.       Read Alex all of Harry Potter- then take him to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
4.       Take Alex to the Cincinnati Zoo and Kings Island- just like I did when I was little.
5.       Take Alex camping.
6.       Volunteer with a sport Alex is playing.
7.       Write a book for Alex’s high school graduation of 100 reasons he is awesome and I love him.
8.       Build a Habitat for Humanity house with Alex.
9.       Teach Alex how to cook.
10.   Go to a Beaches family resort.

Zoo Memories

My extracurricular activity for the month for sweet baby Alex was to take him to the zoo.  He has been to the zoo a lot, but everytime there are some special memories.  He loves the animals and I love the short trip to Columbia to the Riverbanks Zoo and some time one-on-one with my sweet little man.

Here is some of what we were up to:

1. First, the zoo is all messed up right now.  They are constructing a new entrance, a new habitat for the grizzly bears and a new sea lion and sea otter installation.  While the habitat is under construction, the bears have been moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I asked Alex where the bears were and he said they were at daycare!

2. We took the snacking tour of the zoo. Alex needed a break about every other animal.  We had fruit snacks, Pirate's booty, and then chicken tenders by the monkeys.  But he is such a sweet sweet boy- we just sat there and discussed the animals we had seen.  I love hearing his perspective and what he remembers. For example, can we go see the llama- he might be being bad and spitting at the cow.

3. It is no surprise to any one reading this blog that actually knows me that I am a little OCD, so the concept of not following the natural path at the zoo is just beyond me.  But one part of the magic of going to the zoo with Alex and my quest for enlightenment is that I just follow him around to wherever he wants to go.  He wants to see the gorillas, we walk to the gorillas.  He wants to feed the giraffes- that is where we go next.  We took about 10,000 more steps than we needed to, but he had a great time.

4. Alex loves the alligators and the crocodiles.  The American alligator was on leave while they remodeled, but he was back yesterday.  Alex believes it is a different alligator and I don't totally disagree.  He did look smaller.  There are two crocodiles in the aquarium and Alex watched them for about twenty minutes.  There were a couple of summer camps coming through and Alex kept saying "Hey guys!  Hey guys!  Look at the crocodile, he's swimming!"  At one point, the turtle swam up and gave him a kiss.

5. One of the favorite activities of my little neighbor girls and Alex is for all the girls to chase Alex around the yard and call him the "Baby Cheetah."  So, on the carousel Alex rode the Cheetah.  He's my Baby Cheetah!

So that was our zoo day!  We had a great day and came home and took a very long, happy nap.

Sweet Brown vs Sheryl Sandberg

Time management has been on my mind a lot of late.  Like most women in the working world, I have read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg and her assertions that a woman can rule the world professionally and still be a great mother.  I totally agree with that sentiment- but, as she says in the book, it requires making choices.

The example that she gives in the book is that she felt guilty because she wasn't one of the mothers in her child's daycare who knew all the other kids names.  Like her, I am damn lucky if I even remember it is swim day, much less that it is some kid's birthday that I see about 15 seconds a day.  

Sweet Brown has a similar message, but it is much more catchy "Ain't nobody got time for that."  If you haven't seen the video clip of Sweet Brown on YouTube, you HAVE to check it out.  You too will be walking around telling people "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Anyway- to the point.  During my staycation, I have been doing a deep cleaning of my house.  Unfortunately, I have discovered that it is filled with the good intentions of a parent who works, but just doesn't have time for some of those intentions.  Hence the time management.

I have decided to follow the Sweet Brown method - "Ain't nobody got time for that."

1. I have an entire craft closet of scrapbooking stuff and I have amazing intentions of scrapbooking Alex's existence.  For those of you who scrapbook- this is a time consuming hobby to emboss the little letters and delicately cut out little frames for your pictures- not to mention getting the pictures printed to begin with.  I have scrapbooked exactly one page since Alex was born.  Seriously. So then I think to myself- do I want to spend my time scrapbooking Alex's life or creating new memories.  I choose new memories.  And in recording them- I am going to spend 30 minutes to an hour creating a Shutterfly book.  Here is the pile for the Goodwill.

2. Magazines.  I have a subscription to HGTV, Oprah, Women's Health, and Food Network.  These are so addictive because they are like six bucks in the airport and they are like $20 for a subscription- $5 in the case of Food Network because I get HGTV and full disclosure I love reading them, but they tend to accumulate. I don't get a ton of downtime in my house to sit and read magazines. I decided yesterday that the day just isn't going to come that I am going to get a chance to go back into history and read all these new magazines.  The recycle bin received two donations roughly the size of the stack in this picture.

All of this purging is helping me understand how much I am spending on, quite frankly, shit I don't need.  I did a little research on it and there is a ton of research being done on America's addiction to having and maintaining stuff.  It freaks me out to think how much time alone I am spending "managing stuff".  For example, cleaning out my closet and then going to shop to get more.  

For more info, check out:  http://www.postconsumers.com/education/consumer-addiction/

This morning, I made a choice- go to the outlets or go sit at Barnes and Noble and enjoy my  morning by blogging and writing a paper for my Learning How to Learn Course.  I have to say, I am happier for it and I have no new acquisitions other than a pair of headphones because I forgot mine and the course materials are presented in video format.

In the meantime,  I am heading home to clean out the closet.

First full week of August- Check!

This week has been a busy week- but I am super glad that I have some fun new goals for August.  I thought about just carrying over July, but it is more fun to just start fresh with some newbies- but with the same overall goal of a happier, fitter, more well-rounded Kristen.

I think one of the most interesting things about my goals is that they are helping me to take more time out of my schedule to do things that are important - living life.

First, I have actually scheduled in my goals some extracurricular activities- like reading a book for personal reading and fun or taking Alex to the zoo.

Second, I have found myself actually deviating from "the schedule" to do things like stop writing my blog this morning to read a story to Alex or to stop cleaning the kitchen to take Alex and the girls to the pool.  Last Sunday I even filled up the little pool and sprinkler to let the kids play while I sat under a tree and "gasp" read the newspaper.

The getting up when I wake up goal has also been great.  I am not wasting my first hour of the day wishing I was still asleep- instead, I have been getting up and starting mine and my little boy's day off in a better way than "Alex!  Go back to sleep."  I think we are both having better days because of it and I am amazed at all the things that I have gotten done because of my extra time.  

This week I did complete a new recipe, courtesy of AllRecipes.com.  I had made ham earlier in the week, so I was looking for something to do with the leftovers.  I was craving homemade mac and cheese, and didn't want to have to buy any additional ingredients- so I found a recipe that involved bow tie noodles since I didn't have any elbow macaroni's and went to town.  I think the best part of this recipe is that it had some fresh garlic in it which just tasted amazing.  I put it into MyFitnessPal and it was only 430 calories for 1/6 of the casserole dish.  More than enough for a dinner- it was very filling.

The other cool thing that I started this week was a class taught by Barbara Oakley on Learning How to Learn.  It is offered for free on Coursera.com and is a four week class.  It took maybe two hours to get through all the lesson videos.  My textbook came in last week so I have to start reading.  So far- love the class.  I have signed up to take Human Physiology in September.  Something totally different than what I do in my job, but something I should know about!  

I have to head off to make healthy breakfast.  I am staycationing next week though- so I should be a better more regular blogger all week :)

Have a great weekend!

August Goals

Without further ado... here are the August goals:

Fitness

1.  Couch to 5K.  For real this time- I am doing a 5K in Indianapolis the second week of September.  This is go time.

2. Track MyFitness Pal - Actually stick to calorie count 6 days per week.

3. Drink two 32 ounce Tervis's per day of water.

Extracurricular

1. Complete Coursera Course "Learning to Learn"  Receive Verified Certificate.  This is really cool because over 100,000 people are signed up for this class offered through the University of San Diego.  If you are interested head to www.coursera.com

2. Read Two Books - one professional and one personal.  I included this as a goal even though I love to read because I realized the other day that I am not reading as many books as I used to all the way through to completion.  My house is littered with "starts"  In July I finished The Thirteenth Tale- a book I had been struggling with for several months.  Felt significant accomplishment.  Of course I am not struggling with picking the perfect books for my goal.  I have a disorder.

Financial

1. Buy only one drink from Starbucks daily. No breakfast. - I am spending more than $50 a week on Starbucks.  Totally unnecessary.  Their breakfast sandwich isn't even that good for you and starts my calorie count too high. But it is so damn convenient.

2. Put money in savings monthly.  I am terrible at saving money.  I have a 401k, and some money in savings, but it more guilt that contributes than actual practiced methodical deposits.  No more.  Saving starts today.

Alexander

1. Draft a will.  If something happened to me and Steven, there is no will dictating where mini me goes.  That freaks me out to no end.  This is a MUST for this month.

2. Take Alex to the zoo.

3. Create one Shutterfly book.  I have a ton of scrapbooking stuff- but let's be honest- that isn't going to happen.  So I am going to start putting together Alex's history in Shutterfly books.

House

1. Kitchen Overhaul - My cabinets need cleaned out like no one's business.  If you come over.  Just don't look.

2. Cook one new recipe per week.   I always pin it- but God forbid I actually cook it.

Personal

1. Get up on weekdays at 5:30 and on weekends at 6:30.  I get up at these times anyway, but instead of getting up and proceeding with my day- I lay in bed and waste an hour.  I have some ambitious goals this month and this is great quiet time.

2. Create a 100 item bucket list.  I frequently do things and say "That's on my bucket list" but I don't actually have a bucket list.  Now is the time.

I will keep you posted on progress, but for now- headed downstairs for healthy clean eating for breakfast.  No poptart.

July Goals - A Recap

I'm feeling very yuppie right now- I am sitting in my bed with my newly dyed black hair, blogging and drinking hot tea.  All I need now is to change Alex's name to something like "Moses" or "Blue Ivy."

That aside- I am going to recap my July goals.  Some went well, some went not so well.

1. 30 Day Ab Challenge/Couch to 5K- Made it to day 15 when Dr. told me not to work out for a week.  Never recommenced.  Did recommence C25K on July 31 and started where I left off - so at least I'm not starting from scratch again.

2. 10,000 steps - I am really good about meeting my 10,000 steps if I wear my FitBit, but remembering to both charge it and put it back on is apparently a challenge for me.  Overall score - 50%.

3. Track MyFitnessPal - Yep.  Did this.  Sadly some of the days it said that in five weeks I will weigh 10 pounds more than I do right now.  But I tracked it.

4. Update LinkedIn.  It's updated.  Not very pretty, but updated.


5. Blog 2 Times Per Week - I restarted the blog, but I did not at all meet the 2 times per week requirement.

6. Paint two paintings.  Check.  One at home and one at Painting with a Twist.

7. Take Alex to Aquarium.  Check.

8. Do Alex's homework nightly.  We did homework like 4 nights, but the weather has been so great that I have been letting him play outside until dark, so a lot of nights it was too late to do homework.  Although I think it is almost a better goal to let Alex enjoy the summer!

9. Month of Austerity.  Aside from one little excursion to Nordstrom during the anniversary sale- this was a total success.

10. Cancel Mastercard- Get Chase Sapphire. - Done!  Goodbye ripoff US Airways!

Yesterday I created my August goals- more to come on that later this weekend.  Apparently it is going to be a rainy mess, so I will have plenty of time to blog about it and maybe check off a few items!