June 2007

The “Range of Motion Machine” is the one key word that gets random people to this blog when they do Google searches. So I thought I would give an update on the machine. We have had it since January of 2006, so I’ve had a good year and half of usage. I do the machine 4 – 5 times per week and Pilates twice a week. Honestly, there really isn’t much of an excuse to not use the machine since it involves about 8 minutes of my time… doing the settings and turning on the fans and putting in my CD and putting on my shoes half the time (the front part of the machine does not require shoes). So for those of you who wonder if it really works, it does. But regular rules apply… it can only do so much… if your eating is out of control it won’t compensate for that but it can fully substitute your cardio and weight lifting. I highly recommend doing Pilates at least 2x/week, preferably 3x/week if you want the most optimal workout.

Brian and Ty flew to Portland to stay with Brian’s mom for a few days. It was the last few days of Ty’s life as a lap child and Brian wanted to take advantage of it. Jack and I stayed home. On Friday night I got a sitter and Jen and Pam came over. We went up to San Felipe in DC Ranch. I didn’t realize that DC Ranch was so far away. I saw the photo radar flash on the 101 but Jen and Pam assured me it wasn’t me. I haven’t gotten my picture in the mail so I guess they were right. We had dinner there and during dinner some really drunk guy kept trying to get my attention by yelling at me. It was annoying. One of his friends told us that he had been at this bar/restaurant when he learned that his sister had died or some story along those lines. Jen spent some time grousing about a phone call from her ex-husband. Nothing that a couple drinks didn’t take care of. At 10 PM they turn the restaurant into a club and a guy came around to card us. I had to put my cosmo down to pull out my driver’s license. I thought that was funny. The music was OK… a lot of hip hop type music. I would like to go somewhere where they play dance music. But still we had a good time.

I got up early the next morning to meet Jill and Connor at Wildflower for breakfast. The boys played in the play area and we went to the bookstore. We were out for hours, which was good because it meant I didn’t have to figure out how to entertain Jack at home. Jack and I then went to a pottery painting place where I had envisioned making a Father’s Day present for Brian. Jack really wanted to paint a monster truck piggy bank so we went with that. I really thought he would lose interest quickly but he loved painting the truck and seemed intrigued that we had to leave it there to be baked in a big oven for the paint to get shiny.

We went to a little café next door that was yummy. I had a shrimp and smoked salmon sandwich. Later that night I got a sitter again and went out this time with Sarah and Mindy. Sarah works with recruiters/consultants and someone from another company invited her to their office party. So we went and crashed someone else’s office party which was a little weird because everyone knew each other, except for us. The CEO even comes over and introduces himself and says, what are you doing here? Drinking free booze and eating free food and gambling with your fake money? Actually he was pretty cool about it and seemed pleased that we came, especially since I manage a > $6 million budget. They had dealers and black jack, roulette and craps. I played black jack and made a lot of fake money. I really wished that we were in Vegas. After doing this for a while we decided to go to Devil’s Martini. After staying there for a while, we decided to go to Andersens but when we got out on the sidewalk, I realized that I had lost my cell phone in the club. I had brought my cell phone to tell time and had taken it out on the dance floor and I guess it never made it back in my purse. I was really irked because I had just lost my watch two days ago! I went back to the club and the security guys said there wasn’t a chance of finding it until everyone left and they turn on the lights. ARRGGGH. That was kind of a buzz kill so we went home.

I met Missie and Reagan at Wildflower bright and early the next morning. By the time we got home, I was so ready to just chill out and do nothing. It was kind of nice just having the weekend to me and Jack alone. Meanwhile, Ty was having a great time in Portland with Brian’s mom and sister. They really doted on him.

On Monday I had another dance lesson which was exhilarating for me. We are working on a lot on the samba in terms of technique and did a little waltz, salsa and cha cha to see how well I did just “following”. If you are a good follower, then you don’t have to know all the steps… you just do them. Those dances are pretty easy for me to follow. That night I met up with my friend Mike and we went to our favorite meeting place, 4 Peaks. I think we could easily sit there and talk and laugh all night.

I sent out an email message to the distribution list for the workout center at work asking if someone found a watch. Someone had and thought it was mine so I got it back on Monday. I had left a message with the Devil’s Martini about my cell phone and they called me on Tuesday to say they had found one. I drove up there on Wednesday and sure enough it was mine. Score!

I wasn’t so lucky with our volleyball tournament that week because we pretty much came in last. We sucked. Sometimes we come in second in the tournament and sometimes we come in dead last. I personally didn’t play that well during this round. Hope it is better next season.

I had my 6 month check up with Dr. Spies. I am so happy with the results. I think his work is just about perfect and I would do it again in a second. It’s totally worth being miserable for a month. Buying clothes is so much more fun. And to think one of my biggest concerns was what other people would think. That turned out to be the least of my concerns.

On Friday night we took our nanny, Holly and her fiancé and daughter out to eat since it was her last day with us. After over a year of having a nanny, we decided it was time for Ty to move into the all day preschool at the Y with Jack. They will only take kids when they are 2 or older and they agreed to take Ty 1 week early. Having a nanny for Ty for about a year was a really good thing for us and him but I think we were all ready to get Ty into the Y with Jack.

On Saturday I took Jack to the Ahwatukee YMCA to do yoga with Jill. She brought Connor so they could play together. I really liked the class but it was hard work! After the class I took Jack to pick up his monster truck piggy bank. When we got there, his truck was sitting on the counter. Well, half of it. I guess it broke in the kiln. We decided to do another one right then and there. Jack was cool with that and we painted a new one. On Saturday night Yvonne and Colton came over and I took Brian out to dinner to the new French restaurant in Ahwatukee. I thought it was really good but I love eating a bunch of appetizers and they had one of my favorites, duck pate. We had a bottle of wine and topped of the night with a dessert. We didn’t even consider going to a movie afterwards because I would just fall asleep. The next morning we went to Wildflower for a father’s day breakfast and of course, played and went to Barnes and Noble. We really need frequent diner cards for that place.

Brian went to Oregon Monday morning for work which was a little dicey since that was Ty’s very first day in the all day preschool. I managed to get both boys there and Ty seemed pretty happy so it turned out to not be such a big deal. I had another dance lesson during lunch that day and learned a new dance for me, West Coast Swing. It’s fun but the beats are different and it may take a while for me to get used to. I actually changed my shirt before going to this class because I am very sweaty when I am done and I don’t like sitting there in my cube all gross for the next 4 – 5 hours. That night I was putting clothes away and left Jack and Ty unattended for a few minutes. During that very short period, they pulled chairs up to the kitchen sink and pulled out the nozzle and managed to flood the whole kitchen, getting water in all the cabinets and drawers and counters… and all over the floor. I really wanted to kill them but instead said NO DORA FOR A WEEK. It took a good half hour to clean it up.

My week at work was crazy and stressful so I was glad that Friday night was the Drinking Club with a Reading Problem. I think most of us, for once, read the book. Not that we talked about it. This is the second book club where the three new babies were in attendance. This is a sharp contrast to me, Jill and Kathleen who were basking in our childless presence and were gleefully plotting our girls’ weekend in Rocky Point for next year with no husbands or children. I guess the honeymoon period for us is over. I remember not wanting to spend a single minute away from Jack. The next book club will be the big Moms Gone Wild pool party and I would be very surprised to see any kids within a mile radius of that party. No parent should subject their child to that.

On Saturday I took Jack and Ty to the Way 2 Play café where you can get food and coffee and stuff and let your kids play. Jack and Ty really like to play on the stuff there but Jack wants to eat every 15 minutes and they don’t want you to bring food in there because you’re supposed to buy it there. So that drives me crazy. I think people there think I am starving my child. Jack: Mom, I’m hungry! Me: Go play! Repeat 12 times over the next 3 hours. Every once in a while I get him a granola bar or apple sauce.

When we got back, they were exhausted and so I put them down for a nap and sat down to watch a little TV. Although Jack decided not take a nap and instead put Vaseline on all his furniture, toys and walls in his room. Nice. I did a little shopping and found a great work top and stumbled on my favorite jeans in a great wash (Joe Jeans The Muse). So of course I bought them. On Sunday it was Ty’s birthday but we didn’t do anything special. I don’t even feel guilty for that because it’s the last time I can get away with it and plus Brian’s mom and sister had a little party for him when they were in Portland. I met Missie and Reagan at Wildflower and did the mall thing. I bought nice puzzles for the boys (from my mother) which they have done about every day since we bought them. They just LOVE doing puzzles and can seem to do them together without killing each other.

Next Installment: Burning My Face for Beauty—the continued quest for post-baby body improvements