Week 4 and The Summer Effect

I'm on week 4 of the C25K program and while I'm not quite where I want to be, or where I should be, I have definitely seen progress. I can run for five minutes now, not just two and I'm covering more ground. I am transforming myself into a runner-- both my body and my mind. Even though I played soccer for years, I never considered myself a runner because I couldn't run a 5 (or 6 or 7 or even 8) minute mile. I put up this mental block against running; I couldn't do it because of my ankles or knees, because at my weight, it would put too much pressure on them. I couldn't run because I just didn't have the endurance and would wheeze the whole way through. And while those things are true, they really aren't excuses. In fact, they're reasons for me to run. I *need* to be in better shape; I want to feel healthy and strong again, for my husband, for my kids, and mostly for me. This is surely a slow process, but five minutes is better than 2 (and secretly, I look forward to my runs!)

It's July, which is crazy because I've technically been off from work* for two and a half weeks and I just now feel like I'm getting into the groove. At 3, E$ is more energetic than ever and gone are the unplanned days where activities just spring up organically. We need to have a schedule, a plan and this is how I am reminded that full-time stay-at-home moms work so very hard. It is seriously exhausting and we have definitely spent too much time and money out eating lunch. I'm hoping to do better in July and then we have our big vacation in August, with just a few weeks after that until E$ starts school. It is nice, though, to not have a set bedtime or to wake up to an alarm clock. To not pack lunches or set out clothes the night before; to be flexible with whatever comes up and to encourage E's curiousity. It's like the signs we always see at Topsail Island on our annual W-Family vacation: it's summer and we're on island time.


*Teachers are never really off. Even in the summer, we are planning and thinking ahead and working on the next school year. We just have a different schedule.

Bittersweet

It is essentially the middle of August.  In just two full weeks, I go back to work.  I go back to packing lunches and setting out clothes the night before, to getting up at 6:30am and hoping to get out the door by 7:15am. I go back to spending my days with tweens and talking about books and writing.  I will drop E$ off at his babysitter's house, and pick him up late in the afternoon.  Our days, and weeks, will be scheduled

In some ways, I miss that structure.  One of my favorite things about teaching is that my schedule changes.  I still get an occasional day off every season.  I get a few days off for Thanksgiving, two weeks in December and a week off in the spring.  I get snow days; I get summer vacation.  Those days off during the year are always welcome breaks, but the many weeks of summer can get to me.  I love being home without much of a schedule; now that I have E$, I love being home even more, to have that time with him.  I believe unstructured play time is essential for kids and he's getting old enough to really enjoy it.  We usually wake up sometime between 7am and 9am, and have a lingering breakfast.  We go out in the mornings, to play, run errands or visit friends. Sometimes we eat lunch out or we picnic.  We almost always come home for a nap.  Glorious, afternoon naps in the summer that can sometimes stretch up to three hours.  Then we get up slowly and spend some downtime.  He plays with his toys; I check my email (or read celebrity gossip online, but whatever).  Several weeks ago, I brought our Kangaroo Climber (now three years old and sunfaded) into our living room.  My boys are climbers and jumpers and super-high-energy-like-you-wouldn't-believe and always wanted to play outside during the hottest part of the day, so my solution was to tug this thing inside, which has been awesome.

My savior this summer.

And while I love these days, these weeks to spend all day with him, I am ready to go back to work.  I'm fortunate to work at a school that can be flexible with my schedule and I work four full days, so we have a three day weekend every week.  For me, it really is the best of both worlds.  And after so long of having these long, hot summer days stretch out before us totally unencumbered, I am looking forward to getting back to a schedule.  I'm excited to pack our lunches, to get up in the morning and put on someting other than gauchos and t-shirts. Also, I get to buy school supplies.  I'm 30 years old and I still get to buy school supplies for myself!  I know E$ will be thrilled to see his old friends, and some new ones, at his sitter's house and maybe we can find a way to get him into bed before 10:00pm (oh yes-- that's his current bedtime).  But while I'm looking forward to it, the change will be hard.  When I mentioned to E$ the other day, at the breakfast table, that we were going to visit his babysitter, instead of smiling like I had anticipated, he wrenched his face and the tears poured out, while he sobbed, "But I want you!"  That will be the bitter, but luckily there's a sweet side, too.  

In the summertime, when the weather is fine...

The weather has been so very fine this week; the humidty seeped away and left us with warm, sunny days that didn't try to steal your breath.  There were beautiful breezes that were perfect for days at the park or mini road trips and lunch with friends.  I love my job; being a teacher is such a rewarding profession, but I'm also really enjoying being home with E$ this summer.  Not that I haven't enjoyed in before, but at almost 2 1/2, he's at an age where we can get into all kinds of things.  We've been painting a lot (finger painting, dressing up simple wooden picture frames, and we're getting ready to tackle the front porch...), catching fireflies, blowing bubbles, taking walks and having picnics, exploring our neighborhood and library and perhaps the best of all, taking a nap together just about every afternoon.  We're having popsicles for breakfast (yogurt pops that we're making, so it's still healthy!) and staying up late.  I'm plowing through books and feel relaxed-- exactly what summer is supposed to be! 

Thought I'd share a recipe that I made last night, Raspberry Whoopie Pies!  I got the recipe from an issue of Everyday Food (which I love!) and altered it just a bit.  It was a perfect summertime dessert!

Cream 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 stick of butter; add one egg and 1 ts vanilla (I actually added 1 TB because the original recipe called for lemon zest, which we were out of).  Then, alternate with 2 1/4 cups flour and 1 cup milk (again, recipe called for whole milk but we only had 2%).  Add 3/4 ts baking powder and 1/4 ts baking soda.  I used a small cookie scoop and made about 30 cookies (it took 3 sets).  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, get ready to make some delicious raspberry whipped cream!  I put my stainless steel bowl and the carton of whipping cream in the freezer for awhile (10-30 minutes, whileI'm cleaning up from baking).  In the cold bowl, add about 3 TB of brown sugar with one small carton of whipping cream (about 3/4 cup) and whip!  In a separate bowl, mash 1 pint of fresh raspberries (yum!  We always have to buy extra berries to cover for the ones we snack on while we're baking) and blend that into the whipped cream.  Once the cookies have completely cooled, put a nice dollop of whipped cream on one and top with another!  We ate a few last night and they were so delicious; perfect for a summer evening.  I also put several in the feezer; I'll let you know how those turn out and I'll take some pictures.  Enjoy!