Taking Care of Myself (Or Not)

Hello!  Long time no “see”, eh?  My life got a little out of control there for a week or two, which I admit is totally my fault.  I let myself get stressed out about something I have no control over and as a result haven’t been paying enough attention to “ME”.   April is an extremely hectic month because Noah’s (yes, I’ll be using their “real” names now) soccer and hockey overlap.  We are in the midst of hockey tryouts for next season and his soccer team is ramping up for their season which starts May 1.  I’ve either been here: He’s the one with the orange cleats.  Or I’ve been here: He’s on the right.  While I LOVE watching him play, both sports are rather cold at this point which doesn’t help matters!  HA!  There hasn’t been near enough of this: RELAXATION!!  Although, Noah has no interest in chilling out.  He’s quite the energetic kid which is why we put him into sports.  The extra activity has done wonders for him.  I, on the other hand, need a sense of “balance” in my life and running from rink to soccer field 6 days a week, having zero time to clean my house, sacrificing my gym time over my lunch hour to run home and get something done at the house, meals on the go, not getting enough water into me and not getting enough sleep due to worrying about everything that’s NOT getting done has (had) me feeling anything but.  Thankfully, hockey will be done until September by this time next week.  That and I gave myself a real kick in the ass Wednesday night for not dealing better.  So even though we had a soccer game last night I committed myself to drinking lots of lemon water, preparing a decent meal for everyone and turning a blind eye to the house.  And you know what?  I slept GREAT last night!  And it’s great to be home today for Good Friday with everything closed because it forced me to just sit for a few hours.  Between my hubby and I, the laundry has been done, bedding is changed, the dishwasher has been run.  Vacuuming will wait until tomorrow.  This afternoon we left the kids at home and walked down to our favourite “hotspot”, The Red Brick Cafe: It’s a 3 mile walk, round trip with loads of hills….AKA, just what the doctor ordered!    My hubby got his standard; a vanilla latte and I rolled with a soy chai tea latte: We stopped atop a bridge to take a few pictures of ourselves…..so vain, I know!  :) Even though I look exhausted, the fresh air felt so. damn. good!  And I know it did me good, too!  I took a few more pics along the way to test out my point and shoot camera, a Canon Power Shot SD980 IS Elph.  We may have bought a new little surprise that I hope to share with you all very soon!  PURDY!!!  :)
And now for some eats.  These are pretty much all a week old b/c as I said, I haven’t been eating well the past 5 days or so…. That pancake was GOOD!  It was from last Friday morning.  The kids had asked for pancakes for breakfast so I decided to get decadent with mine.  It’s topped with whipped cream cheese, dark chocolate chunks and agave ample syrup.  Looking at this makes me really want another!
The above stir fry was today’s lunch.  I tossed together cooked wild rice, broccoli, avocado and tofu then mixed in some mango chipotle dressing and this Tabasco that I’m addicted to these days:
As the commercial goes; “I put that sh*t on EVERYTHING”!!!!!  Has anyone tried this??    
I haven’t really been eating a lot of oats for breakfast lately.  Instead, I’ve been inhaling this cereal like it’s my job: LURVE!!!  One lunch I did enjoy last week was one with my hubby.  We met at another Red Brick location closer to our jobs one day and I ordered a roasted red pepper and goat cheese panini with a side salad: And my hubby had a salami/provolone/apple panini with a pasta salad: We both enjoyed French vanilla coffees on the side: AND, we blew through a pack of this gum in no time at all! Well, I think that’s all I’ve got for now.  Thanks for letting me vent!!  I’m positive things are on an upward swing so I expect life to settle down somewhat sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, what are your top 3 stress busting “do’s”??  I’ll sign off with a photo that never fails to make me smile.  Pepper LOVES chasing leaves out on the deck and insists on trying to bring them in the house once he catches them. BABY!!!
Bye for now!!

Soccer, Hockey and the USA

Happy last week of January, everyone!  Can you believe the month is already over?  I sure can’t!  And my baby will be NINE on Friday!  Holy smokes.  I actually had him on a Monday so technically,  9 years ago today was a pretty eventful one!  LOL
The past week has yet again been hockey heavy.  The boys are in the beginnings of playoffs now so the schedule has been erratic at best.  When and who we play depends on how the other teams are doing so there have been a few occasions where we get an email about a game that has been added to the schedule for the very next day.  Not much to do but roll with it. 
In my last post I mentioned that I hurt my back doing level 2 of Jillian Michael’s Shred it With Weights.  Thanks for all the well wishes!!  I’m happy to report that I’m back in action, but it took a full week to feel OK again.   
I kept it low key in the gym last week by doing some light cardio Tues & Thurs (walking on the treadmill at a speed of 3.5mph, incline set at 5%.  My usual is 4.2mph, incline at 8.5%) and yet another Jillian Michael’s DVD that is new to me on Wed & Friday:
I’m not huge on yoga so I really liked that although yoga moves are the basis of the workout, there’s plenty of exercises to get the blood flowing and the heart rate up.  And it was perfect for my back because no weights are involved; it’s all about using your own body as resistance.  I’m 95% sure that I will not continue with level 2 of SIWW as I do not want to injure myself again.  That being said, I really do like the workout so I may give it a go on Friday’s making sure to use a lighter weight and sticking to the modified exercises.
This past weekend was a great one!  Well, Sunday mostly.  DS had soccer practice and a uniform fitting first thing in the morning.  Here he is in his practice uniform.  
That boy just has no patience for the camera, but I harass him with it anyways!  :)  We had enough time to go home for lunch before switching gears to hockey mode.  We had an away game in a border town which worked in my favour.  *wink wink*  The boys played like beasts and came out of it with a 3-1 win which was all the more awesome because the same team beat us 4-1 on Saturday.  The boys were all “BOOYA, other team!” LOL 
After the game I bribed my crew with dinner at Panera if they put up with me at Target and Wegman’s.  A half hour later we feasted!  DS took a photo of his grilled cheese/yogurt tube.  He also ate my chips;
My hubby had the Frontega Chicken panini:
And I enjoyed a half turkey artichoke with a garden salad.
DD had a chicken Caesar but was eating it like it was her job so I left her to it!  Haha!  Here are some of the goodies that I bought at Target & Wegman’s:  

I did buy non-food related items, too, but will save them for another post.  One fun item I did find right in my own city on Saturday was this: Which was fabulous on a toasted Ezekiel muffin! And then there was this deliciousness!! Tastes like chocolate milk with a kick….a very good kick!!  :)
And before I sign off, some of my more interesting eats of the week!! And my crack is back, in the form of cinnamon hearts! Bye for now!!!