New Mom on the Blog: I've been everywhere, man...

Oh, hey.

Let's just avoid all awkwardness and the obvious fact that the last post on this blog wasn't even written by ME (as well as the fact that it was posted in May) and pretend like it never happened.

Great.

I mean, before I could even write this post, I deleted at least 100 spam comments that got through in my absence, so it's not like there wasn't new content being generated. Plus, I have several interested sponsors to sell things like bidets and psychic readings. (As well as some sort of flash light, but the website made me feel uncomfortable, so I'm not sure that one will work out.)

In other words, I've hit the big time in the world of blogging.

What have I been doing? I'm glad you asked. I'll make a list. I'm good at lists.

1. Running! I finally took my own advice and started running. And then I became one of those annoying people that posts about it on Facebook all of the time and obsessively looks at her MapMyRun routes. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram so you can see more screen captures of my running stats than you would ever care to see. So far, I've run in two organized events (5Ks) with hopes to do more as well as maybe run more than 3 miles at a time some day. I'm not destined for marathons, but I absolutely love the way I feel before, after, and during a good run. I finally know what everyone has been talking about. (Shut up, Amanda.)

2. I went from reading lots of books in a year to reading one in a 4 month period (and it was one of the Harry Potter books) so I joined a book club with girlfriends from work. It has been fantastic and those girls can read way faster than me, so keeping up has cut into valuable blogging time. (Not that I am complaining - every book has been fantastic.)

3. We have a few free months of Showtime right now and I have chosen to watch as many seasons of Dexter as I can before it gets taken away. If anyone has a problem with that, I now know how to murder all of you and pretty much get away with it, so I would shut it.

4. Exploring our new city has been one of the most exciting parts of this summer. Sure, we're doing a lot of touristy-type things (prior to living here, I'd been to Chicago three times and two of them were before I was even ten years old.) I'm learning which pizza places are my favorite, which train lines I need to take to get where, and just breathing in every aspect that I can. I love it here. LOVE IT. (St. Louis, you are still home and I love you too. I can love lots of places.) When I found out we were moving, I adopted this mantra - joy is where you are - and so all of this has been an exercise in making this new place our home. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating on my family and friends back in St. Louis, but mostly, I feel joy. Who knew I'd love living right smack dab in the middle between a cornfield and a skyscraper. Talk about balance. So, joy is where I are. Or am. Whatever.

6. Oh, yes. I decided to battle this one just before The Incredible Hulk turned 3. We have been mostly* successful. (* - I still clean my fair share of poo out of little boy briefs. We're working on it. I am really proud of him.) I can't wait to share with all of you my methodology as well as my general NMOTB comedy, but I just have to sit down and write it. It's coming. I promise.

7. It isn't as though I am new to Pinterest (and I have over 3000 pins to prove that), but lately I've been very interested in cooking for my family and figuring out a way for us to lead a healthier lifestyle through the food we eat. And doing all of it on a budget. Everyone has different ideas of what the word "healthy" means, but for me it means eating mostly produce, whole grains, and a variety of foods that involve the least amount of processing as possible. (Or, if I'm tired, a bowl of sugary cereal or a hot dog - because I like to keep it real.) For awhile, I've been posting info about my monthly meal planning on my personal Facebook, and I've since been encouraged to share that here. In truth, meal planning is something REALLY important to New Moms. Being willing to throw that plan out the window and order a pizza is really important too. So, I'll do my best. I am going to try out a few new recipes a month (and I'll be sharing them on the blog), I recycle ones that work (you can find those on this board mostly), add in a few easy go-tos, as well as some tried and true family recipes (those will never be shared, but you're welcome to try to figure them out...) Think I'm doing it wrong? You're probably right. But, my family never goes to bed hungry, so there's that...

Other than that, I've been singing, sewing, grocery shopping, cleaning...damn, it's a good thing I don't play Bridge, I sound like a housewife from the 50s.

But, mostly, what I've been doing is really and truly enjoying life. Maybe it's the trips to the city. Maybe it's the beautiful weather. Maybe it's just the fact that life (while not totally free from struggle and stress and sadness) has been in a delightful state of stasis after a year which was far from it. I think back to where I was one year ago and my eyes fill with tears of gratitude over that time of uncertainty being over. (Not to say that you're ever fully free from uncertainty, but at least that period in particular is over.) So, enjoying life it is. Doing the ordinary mom-type things that develop content for this blog and also eat up all of my time to put it on paper (or, rather - screen.)