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Today We Waged Hope

Today we waged hope for better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients and their families.  After months of anticipation, the Purple Stride 5k was upon us.  It was a tough, heartfelt morning full of love for Debbie and her family that left me in tears a couple times.  Team Deb Force five won an award for raising the most funds as a team for the second year in a row.  Unquestionably, Debbie was the key our success.  Our collective love and the respect we hold for Debbie continues to inspire us to wage hope.  She was a tour de force, who inspired so many of us.  

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While we were highly successful fundraising, my training and preparation for the race was poor.  Sadly, the results showed this as I finished with a time of over 30 minutes.  Excitedly, Jake and The Mayor had awesome showings with the Mayor getting 3rd place in his age group with a time of 28:11.  Albeit Jake didn’t place in the top 3, but still finished with a time of 25:13.  Of course, he was disappointed with his time feeling that he could have done significantly better.  Nonetheless, it was still over a minute faster than his time at the event last year.

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At the start of the race, The Mayor and his teammates, Jake and my co-worker Imani were at the front.  The Mayor and his teammates were super excited and nervous to embark on their run.  They were the cutest.  It was a sea of purple as we lined up at the start.   This was my first run at FAU and this particular course was absolutely beautiful.  Undoubtedly, I wish I had been better prepared for the run, but now I know what I need to do before the next event.

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After the event, my stomach was churning -thanks to chili I ate yesterday, but we waited for our team to finish. As the team members finished as we enjoyed the free food and we waited for the Mayor to get his medal.  A big congratulations to the Mayor and fellow Deb Force Five member HB who placed 3rd and 2nd respectively in the under 13 age group.  I now owe the Mayor $50 as he finished under 30 minutes and he beat me handily! 

Lastly, while the event may be over our work is still unfinished.  There is a long way to go in the war against pancreatic cancer and doubling survival rates by 2020.  In fact,  it isn’t too late to donate to Team Deb Force Five.  If you’d like to donate, please click here. To our Deb Force Five family, thank you for your participation, your donation and your continued love and support of this beautiful family.  

Today’s song is “The Sky is a Neighborhood” by the Foo Fighters.  I was jamming to this song as I finished my third mile today.  It’s a great one!

 

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My iPhone X

The iPhone X is finally here!  Ok, I acquiesce it was here last Friday the 3rd.  Importantly, My iPhone X arrived today.  While my Iphone 6 has served me well lasting well over 3.5 years, it is nearly ancient in phone terms and starting to show its age.  As excited as I have been about my new phone, my boys have been even more excited.  They were both dancing with glee when they saw it had arrived today.

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Consequently, the I received a call from the Mayor as I was drove up the turnpike.  The Mayor isn’t one to wait around for answers, so I was not surprised at all by this.  He and Goalielocks were fighting over who was going to get to open my phone.  The Mayor was busy pleading his case as Goalielocks was shouting he called it in the background.  Sensing his brother’s annoyance level rising, the Mayor proceeded to thank me for letting him open it.  Naturally, this made Goalielocks go ballistic.  Meanwhile, I’m telling the Mayor to stop saying these things that are clearly untrue.  I was finally able to get a word in edgewise and disappoint them both with the news that neither would open it.   Instead I would wait for them both to leave for hockey practice before I would open it myself.

After seeing pictures of shattered phones, I opened my new phone gingerly. I started setting it up before my Barre class.  Honestly, I’m proud of myself for putting down the Iphone X and heading to Xtend Barre.  It was seriously tempting to stay home to setup and play around with the phone.  Nevertheless, I exercised some discipline and headed to the Barre.  As usual, Adam kicked our butts in new and inventive ways.  I’m sure my legs, abs and arms will be screaming tomorrow.

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I activated the phone and finished the setup operations between sauteing the chicken and cooking rice.  The first thing the boys wanted to see once they boys got home from practice was my new phone.  As soon as they got in the door, they rushed over to see the new phone.  Namely, they wanted to see what it looks like and how it works compared to their phones.  I played around with some of the camera features, which pepper this blog.  I cannot wait to try out the camera tomorrow.  There are features that I still haven’t tried like the emoji maker, but I’ll have plenty for that.   It will take me awhile to get accustomed to the X as it is  quite different from the 6.  Nonetheless, I’m quite excited for my new toy.

Tonight’s song – love it –  is an awesome flashback to the 90’s with  Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta.”  I heard this song on the radio today as I drove and it brought me back to the 90s.

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Dancin’ in the Rain

Is there anything more cathartic than dancin’ in the rain? I tend to think not.  In all actuality, now that I live in a place where the rain is warm, I don’t even mind dancing in the real rain.  There’s no mystery to why I teach Zumba several week nights.  First, it helps cover the boys expensive hockey habit.  Secondly, and most importantly, it is my sanity keeper.  Even when I’ve had the worst day at work, I leave my Zumba class refreshed, happy and ready to take on the world.

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Dance has magical properties that lifts burdens from our shoulders.  I see it in my Zumba students and myself.  At the start of class, we all look a little more serious and stressed than we do at the end.  To be clear it isn’t only dance that achieves this, however, dancing in my mind is a lot more fun running.  Whatever gets you moving and gets your endorphins pumping will put you in a good space.

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So if you’re having a rough day and thinking about skipping your workout, don’t do it.  Get up and give yourself the gift of dance, running, weights, barre, hockey or whatever your workout of choice may be.  I know its super tempting to sit and binge watch Stranger Things 2, but put it off for at least a 1/2 and get moving.

“Dancin’ in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I’m happy again!
I’m singin’ and dancin’ in the rain”

 
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Days of Gratitude

I continue my days of gratitude posts today in honor of my friend Debbie.   Today I am grateful for the time were able to spend with Debbie and her family.  Moreover, I’m grateful that we were able to help them in their time of need.  When a friend is faced with a devastating diagnosis or prognosis, what we call the “Meatloaf  rule” goes into effect.  Meaning whatever you need, we’ll do.  There’s no “but I won’t do that.”

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Last March after Debbie had gone into hospice, we were helping clean and bleach the floor.  She was going to hire something, but there was no need since we could all do it.  Admittedly, we like to keep things light in our house and love making people smile and laugh.  Naturally, we had to find a way to make them smile and laugh.  Unfortunately, for all of them it resulted in a sight they cannot unsee.

 

As we prepared to drive over, the hubby took his battered pair of jeans and cut them off as high as they could go.  Oh yeah, he  made himself some daisy dukes.  You should know that my hubby suffers from the disease no asatall. He proceed to put on the shortest pair of shorts I have ever seen and we drove over.

When we got to the house, we knocked lightly so as to not wake Debbie.  John answered the door and Luke’s choice of wardrobe hit him like shock and awe.  He was clearly transfixed and mesmerized by the sexiness of Luke’s legs.  We entered the house and his family lost their ish.  When Debbie had woken up from her nap and came downstairs, her reaction to hubby was priceless.  She was laughing so hard, although I’m sure there was a shock and awe moment for her like John had experienced.  Nevertheless, we had succeeded.   Truly, you couldn’t help but laugh as you looked at my hubby in his sexy daisy dukes scrubbing the floor.

I’m so grateful that we were able to lighten the mood for awhile.  I should say (allegedly) that  the hubby did put on some basketball when he and John made a Home Depot.  I can’t believe John wouldn’t want to be seen in public with the hubby in Daisy Dukes!

As a reminder, our Purple Stride event is only 17 days away and we have a big hill fundraising hill to climb. You can join our team or donate to the cause at Team Deb Force Five.  Lastly, I’ll share a piece of advice I gave one of my kids tonight.   Life is way too shorts to let squabbles or arguments simmer.  As conflicts arise with people that matter, deal with them timely.

Tonight’s Song Disturbeds cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence.”

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Your Trademark

What’s your trademark?  Is it the way you smile? Is it the cup on Dunkin in your hand?  The way you dress?  Or maybe it is the way you make people laugh.  Each of us has unique gifts, a unique look, unique ideas.  Either way your trademark is uniquely yours, so own it.

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I get it, trust me I do, its tough to own your fabulousness while fighting through the minutia (aka brave sierra) of the 9-5:00.  One of my favorite movies is Office Space.  As our protagonist became miserable in his job, he lost himself for a minute.  It wasn’t until he decided to make a change that he was invigorated again.  In the end, he defrauded the company and ended up in a construction job.  Obviously,  I’m not advocating defrauding you company, but I am advocating finding and following your passion.

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Nobody in Hollywood today or yesteryear, could compete with the awesome persona that was Mae West.  Without a doubt , her trademark blonde hair and acerbic wit were and still are absolutely legendary.  I love the quote from her below.  It’s not what you do or what you say, but how you say it.  Say things in your voice.  Do things in your own way.  Be true to your identity.

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As I wrote at the beginning, each of us has things that are uniquely ours.  This along with the way we make people feel is our trademark.  As I look at my own kids, each has a trademark of their own.  Jake’s trademark is his dimples and passion for music.  Goalielocks’ trademark without question is his flowing blonde hair and brilliant, inquisitive mind.  The Mayor’s is well he’s the Mayor – that’s his trademark.  Everywhere we go, people know the Mayor.  Certainly. his cute dimples and personality don’t hurt.    No matter the pressure, no matter what happens, don’t let life’s up and downs impact you amazingness.

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Tonight’s song:  Queen Ft. David Bowie Under Pressure

 

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Jus Cleanse Bandwagon

I admit it, after much consternation I jumped on the Jus cleanse bandwagon.  After struggling to lose both the Norway and Hurricane Irma weight, I figured why not try it.  I researched several cleanses.  I quickly realized that I would need a cleanse with more than just juice if i was going to be successful.  Fortunately, I found a cleanse on Groupon from a reputable company with tons of good reviews.  It was reassuring to see numerous people write that they didn’t feel hungry or fatigued while on the cleanse.

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Consequently, I bought a 3 day cleanse from Jus By Julie.  The cleanse itself was came with nine juice and nine soups.  The juices were Sweet Spin Juice (kale, spinach, pineapple, rice milk and mango), Spicy Pomegranate (think master cleanse with pomegranate), and Berry Chia.   I enjoyed each of the juices including the Spicy Pomegranate.  These juices are blended not cold pressed, so there is considerable pulp in some of them.  I don’t mind pulp, but if you’re not a pulp person these juices probably aren’t for you.

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In addition to the juices, the cleanse came with 9 different soups.  There’s too many to name here, but some of my favorites were: split pea, carrot ginger, red lentil, coconut pumpkin bisque and the detox broth.  Each of the soups, like the juices, is vegan, gluten free, kosher, non-GMO and dairy free.  If you have sensitivities to any of the aforementioned items, this cleanse will be perfect for you.  While the soups have no dairy, gluten or animal products, what they do have is a lot of good flavor.  I was honestly impressed with the quality and flavor of all nine of the soups.

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Was I hungry on the cleanse?  Absolutely, but I’m always hungry.  I could eat sixty four Thanksgiving dinners still be hungry.   At the end of each night, I was hungry, but I wasn’t dying from hunger.  In fact, I had expected to be much hungrier at the end of the day.  From a calories perspective, it wasn’t super low calorie, which is good.   I felt it kept my calories at a safe level without being too high or too low.  Unquestionably, the most surprising aspect of the cleanse was how I felt on the cleanse.  Surprisingly,  the cleanse left me feeling energetic and amazing.  While teaching Zumba on the cleanse, I felt great and full of energy.  This was a truly pleasant surprise.

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Confession time.  The cleanse directions state that  you’ are to give up solid foods and coffee creamer while on the program.  I have no problem with the food, but admittedly I couldn’t give up my Dunkin.  Nonetheless, the cleanse was still effective for me even as I continued to drink my cream laden coffee.   I know there’s a cacophony of differing opinions on cleanses, which makes it difficult to truly evaluate their worth.    However, at the end of the three days, I was down four pounds and feeling fantastic.  It is definitely something I will buy again and something I’d recommend trying.

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Where can you buy it?  The best option is via Groupon as it sells it for $59 plus shipping vs. the list price of $125 on Jus By Julie’s website.  They ship the juices and soup to you frozen at a cost of $20.  Jus By Juile packs their products into a Styrofoam cooler with a generous amount of ice packs.  I was impressed that the cleanse survived being delivered to sunny South Florida in the early October heat.

Groupon: click here
Jus by Julie: click here

 

 

Affiliate disclosure: Some of the links of this site are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earning a commission if you click through and purchase.

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Staying Sane

When you’re a busy hockey mom/career woman like me, staying sane amidst the crazy is always top priority.  The responsibilities of work, home and hockey (insert sport here) pull you in a million different directions concurrently.  Sometimes you feel like you’re caught up in the rack, a medieval torture device, because you’re being pulled so many different directions.  So how does on stay sane when juggling life’s many responsibilities?   How does one find a way to release the pressure and unwind?  I’m glad you asked.

Here’s my Hockey Mom Fit Life guide to staying sane:

  1. Surround yourself with great people.  Your squad will pull you through the best and times and the worst of times just like in a Charles Dickens’ novel.           original (1)
  2. Make staying fit a non-negotiable priority.  There is no better way to cope with the stressors of life than taking a kick arse zumba class or running 3 miles.  Seriously, it works wonder for both your physical and mental health.  giphy (39)
  3. Get in the habit of reading books, not just your Facebook feed.  A great novel can lift your spirits and stimulates your mind.  There’s nothing bad about that combination.  q35ff.jpg
  4. Take a yoga class.  Regardless of what type of yoga class you take or your level, nothing beats the supreme relaxation of savasana.   I’ve been waiting all week for tomorrow’s aerial yoga class and its end pose savasana.  In the yoga swing, which functions like a hammock, savasana is otherworldly.  Undoubtedly, I will fall asleep during the final relaxation pose again.  If I had my druthers, there would be an entire class of savasana.  (Just a suggestion Monica!)
  5. Eat well 80% of the time.  Feed your body and soul with natural, whole foods that will fuel your workout.   Additionally, when you fall off the wagon, and it will happen, don’t be yourself up over it.  As long as you’re not falling off the proverbial wagon all day every, you should be okay.2kNwjP

  6.  Treat yo self!  Back to the 80/20 rule, make space in your diet to treat yourself.  One of my guilty pleasures, is European chocolates.  Can you blame me? I didn’t think so.  Particularly, I adore Neuhaus and Leonidas chocolates.  A nice box of chocolates will last me almost.  I allow myself to have one a day, like the vitamin only better, so I never feel that I’m deprived.             mti2ota3ndi3otexmtq1otuw
  7.  Take a vacation that isn’t related to your child’s sport.  This summer we spent fifteen days in Norway as a family.  While it certainly was not cheap, it was one of the best experiences of my life.  It is a trip that we as a family will never forget.  Moreover, it was a nice departure from our everyday obligations and life.  Sometimes that’s all you need.
  8. Don’t be afraid to enjoy an adult beverage with your squad and be grateful for Uber.                                     tenor (9).gif
  9. Pay it forward.  Nothing keeps you grounded like giving back and making the world a better place.  For me, it’s all about funding pancreatic cancer research in honor of my dear friend Debbie, who was the inspiration for this blog.  Pancreatic cancer robbed us of a beloved member of our hockey family way too soon.  Consequently, we will never give up the fight to find a cure for this insidious disease.  This November, we will participate in our 3rd straight Purple Stride in her honor under Team Deb Force Five.  You can join us at the event or you can donate in her honor here at our: team site.
  10.  There’s no better way to relax than by listening to fabulous music.  For instance, his morning I was rocking out at work to REM, Tom Petty, The Beatles, AC/DC, so tonight I’ll leave you with some REM and No Doubt. C’est la belle vie! 
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$15 Billion

$15 billion is a heck of a lot of money.  Coincidentally, $15 billion is the size of the youth sports market in  America.  This figure includes league fees, travel costs, apps to manage teams/organizations and live stream games.  Consider that DropBox and AirBnB are both worth only $10 billion, while SpaceEx is worth $12 billion.  That’s a lot of freaking money.

At this point, I feel like our family alone has contributed $1 billion.  With all three kids playing travel hockey, I feel like we’ve been “hockey poor” for most of our adult life.  When I was growing up, our sports followed well defined seasons.  Year round participation in one sport, which drives up costs significantly, simply didn’t exist in our youth.  Now kids are specializing in one sport early often by the time they’ve started middle school.  The problem with specialization in one sport early on is for the increasing incidence of overuse issues and burnout.

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There’s a ton of pressure on kids to make both club and school teams as they pursue college scholarships.  Its a vicious cycle.   As parents we complain about early specialization, but we’re also a big driver in extending the seasons of sports.  I read an interesting article on this topic today in the Star Tribune.  The author wrote how many high school coaches had been pressured into offering off season training for their programs.   This, in my opinion, created a vicious cycle where athletes feel that they have to specialize and work at their craft year round, while coaches feel pressured to coach and offer programs year round.

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How do you solve this problem? I certainly don’t have the answers.  But somewhere in the middle, there’s gotta be a balance.  All I know is that its exhausting and rewarding for everyone involved.

Meanwhile, we had our 5th game of the weekend this morning.  My morning was more than a bit hellacious.   Sadly, my phone wasn’t working correctly and I couldn’t get the rink info off of it.  I sent a text to a group text, but alas we’re all super sarcastic so that didn’t work.  Coincidentally, it didn’t help the lack of mimosa situation either, but I digress. As a consequence, I drove Goalielocks to the wrong rink.  He was livid (to put it mildly.)  Sadly, the game, much like my morning, was a charlie foxtrot.  Nevertheless, I’ve added a 16th bullet to my hockey mom wisdom blog reinforcing the importance of showing up at the right rink.

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The rest of our day, ascended from the ashes from a crazy morning.  Sometimes its all about perspective.  Midway through the first period, one of Goalielocks’ teammates got kicked with a skate leading to a deep laceration on the inside of his ankle.  In the end, medics had to respond to the rink and his teammate ended up in the ER at the local hospital.  Its amazing how insignificant  my untimely rink tour of S. Florida became against the back drop of this serious injury.  It truly is all about perspective and realizing even our worst morning isn’t that bad.

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Super Saturday

We spent our super Saturday dividing and conquering.  While I traversed the state for hockey with Goalielocks and my two brothers from another mother John and Jon, the hubby stayed in town for the Mayor’s evening games. Since the Mayor was at a friend’s for most of the day, so hubby was able to have a productive day at work.  Meanwhile, we spent 3.5 hours driving from the Palm Beaches to Ellenton on 70, which is largely a two lane road.  We had great company for the drive, althought I’m sure you can imagine how much fun this drive is.

We actually made great time, so we were able to stop and have lunch on the banks of the Manatee River at Woody’s River Roo.  This nice spot is absolute perfection for feeding hockey players, while enjoying a great drink and the beautiful location  Moreover, it’s not fancy, so you don’t have to worry about the kids breaking anything.  As I sat dockside admiring the beautiful view, I succumbed to the temptation and ordered a mimosa.   I had a cup of clam chowder and a salad, while Goalielocks enjoyed the burger.  We finished our lunch and headed to the lunch, which was less than five minutes away.

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Meanwhile back in South Florida, the Mayor was gallivanting about with his boy JM driving the Kaputa and the bulldozer.  As I sat in the sin bin between periods, I caught a video the Mayor had posted on his Instagram that had me in stitches.  It was a video of him driving in slo-mo and then speeding by.  Honestly, it was the funniest thing I saw all day.  When we finally got home after a long day on the road, the Mayor was super excited to tell me about driving both the bulldozer and Kaputa.

Both of the boys’ teams went 1-1 on the day, but both hubby and I were happy with their efforts.  While the day was as long as the drive,  the time spent was well worth the investment.  We only covered a good 380 miles in 7 hours of driving! (Thank you JB for driving our motley crew across the state!)  Our first game in Ellenton certainly didn’t end how we wanted it to, but what I enjoy most of all is spending time with my kids and with our hockey family.   The Mayor and his team did well this evening winning their game 4-1.  My Mayor was stoked that he scored a goal and his usual line mates did equally as well.

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The wonderful people that make up our hockey family are incredibly dedicated to their families.  Morevoer, they’re invested in their children and super fun to be around.  When I look at social media influencers on instagram and beyond, I see people who’s only commitment is to themselves.  Whatever commitment they had to their family or their kids is secondary to their own interests.  Its sad really.  In contrast, the hockey parent life calls for a parent that is selfless.  Hockey parents have to be  willing to dedicate of time and resources (aka money) to their children’s athletic pursuits.  I know some day my kids’ hockey careers will come to an end.  At that point, I’ll have time and money to spend on my interests.  Until then, I’m committed to living the hockey mom life.  In fact, I’ll be back at the rink tomorrow morning for Goalielocks’ game.

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Life Cloaked in Fatigue

When you’re a hockey mom, your life becomes a rat race cloaked in a fog of fatigue.  Some weeks there simply is not enough caffeine to keep you awake.  Day in an day out, you race from the bus stop, to work, to the gym, to practice and then to home.  By the time you eat dinner, its after 9:00 and your falling asleep on your plate.  Maybe your kid doesn’t play hockey, but plays another sport or activity, but the story is the same.  Pure unadulterated exhaustion.  As I figure it, I will finally get a chance to sleep in sometime in December!  Woohoo!

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In effort to balance your life, you have to make yourself a priority.  It could be carving out 30-60 minutes for exercise. Or maybe you take the time to actually use the Massage Envy membership you bought yourself.  At this point in my life, I could get 86 90 minute hot stone massages without me having to come out of pocket.  Do as I say, not as I do is clearly the message here.  Nevertheless, I’m taking time Sunday to get a nice relaxing massage.  If the meme below speaks to you, like it does to me, it is time for you to make yourself a priority.

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I went for a run tonight when I got home from work tonight, despite the fact my abs were destroyed in Barre.  For context, my abs have been so sore since taking my first Barre class that I can barely get out of a chair, rollover in bed or stand up.  Hey, the upshot is that I know the class worked!  In order to run, I had to figure out how to mitigate the pain in my core.  As a result, I found a girdle (sexy I know) for lifting weights that I could use to support my abs while I ran.

The run sucked, but running in 88 degree weather is never the most fun you will ever have.  The runner’s high you experience post-run is amazing and can’t be beat.  I only ran 2.75 miles because I’ve been having some serious shin pain in my right leg and serious knee pain in my left.  Sadly, my left knee was not loving the run so much.  Fortunately, my right shin felt pretty good during the run and feels okay still.  Fingers crossed!

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No sooner had I sat down after taking a nice post-run shower, when the Mayor called me asking me to pick him up from practice.  Hubby took them to practice tonight.  The Mayor’s practice ends at 7:20.   Meanwhile Goalielocks finishes practice at 9:30 pm.  I, of course, told him I’d pick him up.  I drove to the rink through the usual log jam that is Friday traffic on the turnpike to get My Mayor.  The normally six minute drive, took at least 15-20 minutes.  Good times.  Only in Florida, is the quickest route on the turnpike through the pay lines and not the Sun Pass lanes.  Craziness!

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I got to the rink and saw my Bantam parents outside in their “Oktoberfest” beer tent.  None of them had seen the Mayor.  As I drove towards rink two, my hubby came out of the rink laughing.  It seems the Mayor, in between the time he hung up with me and I got to the rink, had arranged to go home with a friend and out for dinner.  Amazingly, the Mayor forgot to relay his change of plans to mom.   I thought I was going to blow a gasket.  I had finally gotten comfortable when he called.  Now here I was circling the parking lot at the rink in my pajamas hair uncombed with searing pain in my core.   Ah yes, motherhood is a glamorous gig.

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As I figure it, the ab pain is really a good news bad news scenario.  First of all, it is good because apparently my ab muscles still exist.  It is bad, however, because any movement like coughing, standing up, sitting down, laying down, coughing or laughing causes the some serious pain.  Sadly, while I have now confirmed the existence of said ab muscles, they’re nowhere to be found.  In fact, they’re now in the witness protection courtesy of Irma and stress.  Here’s hoping they emerge from the program before the holidays.

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I’ll leave you with this incredible video of the band Aha (awesome Norwegian 80s band) performing Take One Me acoustically.  Shout out to one of my fave people, the one and only BG for directing me to it.  Its incredible, enjoy!