Rolling With The Punches

First, thanks for all the comments and email. I appreciate every word of advice, encouragement, empathy, etc. This is all a learning process for me; letting go is just not in my nature. My sister-in-law said to me in her deliciously blunt way that I get disappointed when things don’t work out the way I want. Not just a little disappointed; a lot. I am very good at planning things, so my level of disappointment is continuous. And she is right. I need to be better at accepting things that I can’t change, and changing the things that I can. I want relationships to be a certain way, but there isn’t a cookie cutter for that. There is only so much I have control over, right? So I need to let go a little and let everything just be the way it is supposed to be. Easier said than done. I feel ok right now, but I am pretty certain that this feeling of calm acquiescence will ebb and flow.

In the meantime, I am distracting myself with tons of reading. I just downloaded Middlesex and am excited to begin it. So many books, so little time…

Avery is battling a summer cold, complete with rattling cough and runny nose. It also came with a fever, but that stopped a couple of days ago. Maddie has a minor version of it, and I suffered through a few days myself. I thought summer was the magically healthy time for toddlers. It makes me dread winter and its virus fest. But fall, I am so ready for. Enough of this summer in the city already. I want sweaters and leaves and scarves and brisk days.

Phrases heard in our house now all the time: “My turn.” “Mine!” “I do it!” “No Maddie no!” “Sorry, Momma!” Yes, we are definitely smack dab in the middle of a challenging phase. Which translates into eating battles too. Madeline eats great: Lots of fruit and veggies all day and an adventurous palette to boot. She will choose carrots over Fig Newtons and raspberries over chips! But Avery…not as good. She will not touch fruits of veggies and leans heavily on carbs. Our latest battle is getting them to eat at the table. They like to take their food on the run. We try to make sure we all eat dinner together at the table every night, but so far, no luck with breakfast, snacks or lunch.

Countdown two days till my seventh sober anniversary... quitting drinking was worth if only because it created a gift-receiving occasion!

Pictured above, morning shake before and after. It’s Day 12 already! I think I have found a good ratio of blueberries and bananas and milk and Chia seeds and powder. I may start adding flax seed because I am feeling cocky now. I got Nicole drinking them too. Today is Day Two for her. Also pictured, raspberry bars that I made for Nicole to take to work. I gave one to Maddie and she loved it. And then I remember that there are nuts in it. She has had minor allergic symptoms to nuts, so I guess I will be on high alert all day for hives and such. And the last picture, if you look closely at that car, you will see it is stuffed with oatmeal cookies I made for the girls. Not the best use of my baked good, though pretty creative, I must admit.