Los Porchs

After feeling super gross, sluggish, and exhausted all day every day, I accepted the challenge from one of my dear friends who is a BeachBody Coach.  I ordered the 21 Day Fix challenge pack and felt every emotion when the box arrived at the house.  Totally overwhelmed, but knowing I had to start soon or I'd have a box of 21 Day Fix paraphernalia laying in a corner, I jumped in, feet first on Monday. At the end of the first day, I wanted to crawl into bed and just sleep forever.  I had a headache from hell that made work impossible and home with toddler a nightmare.  I struggled through and did the damn workout before crashing into bed. The second day, I had the brilliant thought to add coffee to my protein shake in the morning.  I was a totally different person that day, you guys.  I had been needing that caffeine!  Since then, I've used coffee in the shake every morning and have been pleased with that addition to my routine.  On the weekends,...

In my years within early childhood, I have had many people (family included) tell me that I just couldn't understand, that it was so different when it would be my own child someday. I've already conceded that this is true.  Changing diapers when it's my kid is a breeze.  Puke is disgusting, but less disgusting when it's my kid.  Everything is easier -- I agree. But today I had a moment of reflection as a I helped a 5 year old with some sensory issues in the bathroom.  He had an accident while on the playground and came inside with me to clean up.  I turned around to grab some extra wipes from the cabinet and before I knew it -- poop.  Everywhere.  On his body.  Like he had massaged his lower half with poop.  I kicked into mom mode and spoke softly, calmly, and helped him clean up and move on -- like I would want someone to do with my kiddo. It is different when it's your own kid, but how you look at other people's children also changes....

Progress can look different depending on what one is pursuing... right?  For example, progress downstairs right now means that I tore all of the wallpaper off in a fit of joy and am now in the slow (s l o w) process of going back and removing all of the glue from the walls.  Upstairs, progress means getting all of the boxes out of the rooms and spaces set up with intended purposes... we currently have 3 bedrooms with beds in them and 1 set up as a semi-official office.  In fact, tonight's progress looks like me carrying a dining room chair upstairs to the desk so that I can sit here at type a quick update while Charlie takes her bath (Daddy is the King of the Baths). It's really hard to remember to be patient, that this is a forever home and there will be growing pains and changes and that this house will ultimately grow and change with us.  We are using the 4th bedroom as an office because I need my sanity and somewhere to doodle and read and blog and feel like a ...

There is so much going on in my life right now that I feel like I'm holding onto things... afraid to let go.  Prime example, there's an empty bedroom upstairs that would/could become the nursery if/when we have another baby.  It pains me to move office furniture in there to make an office that I am super excited to have because it means there's no baby in our immediate plans.  We have so much space in this house that it feels like a constant reminder that someone is missing.  Our family is not complete but I have no idea how much struggle it will take to rectify that feeling. On the same note, I used to run.  I know.  Let that wash over you.  Long, long ago (2013) in a far away place called Chicago, Porch and I started running at Chase Park after work.  I was using a Couch to 5K program and just kind of chugged along while he did his workout.  I loved it.  I craved it.  And then, just as I was thisclose to finishing the last week,...

We survived and are currently up to our eyeballs in boxes while looking at each other and debating what we need and what we can get rid of -- again.  We purged before the move but I think we're headed for another round.  Overall, we have way more space than we know what to do with -- we have several empty rooms including 1 bedroom, 1 living room, the dining room, and the entire basement. We did a walk through this afternoon and are headed to Home Depot to pick up some items to make immediate changes while we marinate on some of our bigger ideas. Charlie is doing awesome & seems to love her big bedroom with her favorite toys easily accessed! Pictures are coming soon, I promise.  I just have to find my camera ;) Mama Porch

Man, I wish I was up north at the cabin day drinking on the lake rather than here, day drinking while packing in bursts between naps & sleep.  We're loving that we're home for the long weekend and that the weather has been playing nice.  I'm just overwhelmed as I try to figure out what to keep, what to trash, and what to take to Goodwill.  I've been following that whole "if you touch it and it brings you joy" crap, but it just makes me feel like Dorothy in Return to Oz.  Haven't seen it?  I'll lend it to you.  It's a grown-up return trip to Oz (don't let your kids watch it until you do). I'm so SO excited to have space, but today I found myself saying out loud, "It's going to be 3 people in a 4 bedroom house."  Excessive.  And another reminder that we're a family of three. -- Porch just came upstairs with a bag of remaining syringes and drugs and I wanted to die.  Just melt into the floor.  He's still talking a...

Porch and I are no strangers to moving.  Since we moved in together in 2008, we've seen some things.  Like the time we moved into our first apartment together in the West Loop and he had the mattress on top of his LR3 and went through a red light.  Did you know Chicago has red light cameras?  Not only will they send you the ticket for going through said red light, they'll throw in free video footage of your vehicle going through -- with a mattress on top.  There was really no fighting that. Or the time we moved out of that apartment to a place 2 blocks over and the landlord kept the security deposit because of a chip in the granite that no one but her could seem to locate? Or when we decided it was time to move to a place where we could "raise someone" and in the course of moving, had at least two boxes open and spill their contents in the middle of Malden? We have experience a lot of moving.  We've learned some tricks along the way. Moving to Wisco...