So. Much. Laundry.

This is a really big week for us – well, not me, actually – the girls have so much going on! And by default, I have lots going on. They have the 8^th grade field trip (an overnight!) to Atlanta, the Battle of the Books competition ("Maybe I can read a couple more books before Saturday..."), the start of Spring lacrosse practice, and a special youth group on Sunday night.

And in preparation for all of this, I’m – doing laundry. That’s right the key to a successful big week is having all the laundry done. Which is no small task these days with it being all cold and snowy outside all the time. There are so many clothes to wash it is nearly impossible to keep up!

Anyone have any good tips for getting the laundry done? This is one of the few chores where I don’t have any short-cuts. I do manage to sort: darks, lights, colors. Heck, we have enough red and pink clothes for their own load!

Here’s a picture of my very pretty laundry room, where I spend so much time! I'll spare you the "before" picture.

Shopping

Taking the girls shopping is always an experience. I still remember the very first time I ever had to perch myself in the dressing room on a chair and wait for them to come out and “model” their outfits for me. I was kind of in shock, because I remember that's what my mom did. I remember feeling old and privileged at the same time.

Until that day, I’d always brought home clothes, set them out, and they put them on and wore them. No questions asked.

All of a sudden, I had GIRLS. They cared what they wore, what color it was, whether it had enough sequins on it, the list goes on.

Now, several years later, I’m still finding a chair or just standing around in the aisle of the dressing room waiting. Sometimes with other moms.

We listen for the sounds of disgust.

And pray we hear those magic words: “this isn’t so bad.”

90-Day Challenge Update

I was overwhelmed with the response to my initial 90-Day Challenge post, and I want you all to continue to let me know how things are going. I am so pleased to have the support of my friends and am happy to offer support back. So don’t forget to tell me how you’re doing with your own challenges! It takes a village, right?

It is important to note that it is extremely cold in January in North Carolina. Some might disagree, but it’s my 90-Day Challenge, so I get to decide what cold is.

Because of the overwhelming frigidness, I’m running on days when it warms up a bit, or I go run on a treadmill in the gym. I don’t much care for the treadmill, but it’s better than freezing to death outside.

However, yesterday I ran outside in the chilly drizzle and found it to be, on the whole, not that bad. I guess last weeks snow and 7-degree morning showed me what real cold is and made it ok to run in 40-degrees and drizzly.

Also a major problem recently has been tempting food. I’m not even gonna tell you how much yummy stuff there was at the Super Bowl party at St. Marks. Well, actually, I am going to tell you: there was tons. Dip after dip of delicious cheezy goodness.

So as a result, I haven’t stepped on the scale yet this week. I’m going all salad-and-small-portions for a few days and we’ll see how that goes.

Em