Happy 2023!

[mommyatty]

How’s everyone doing in the new year?

[186momx]

I'm working today. Setting up payrolls for the new OR paid leave, plus the normal new year set up changes. Plus we are dealing with trying to get all the tax organizers out. Just lots of paperwork. DD stayed home and I left her a big list of things to do since she didn't want to work at the office. She just called to verify the water temperature for the washing machine. She is washing all of DH's sick blankets.

DH is still sick and isn't getting better with the meds from the doctor. It will be a week tomorrow and I think I'm going to suggest he call the doctor back. The sniffling is driving me bonkers.

There is something on my calendar for the next 21 days and some of that is out of town overnights. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

[twinmomma]

My house is 95% back together. We finally celebrated Christmas at our house yesterday and today I immediately took down the tree and all the decorations. The kids have put away all their new stuff. And now I feel like I can relax for the rest of today before I go back to work tomorrow. Phew. What a whirlwind this week has been. I’m looking forward to getting back into our routine.

[supertrooper1]

Happy New Year!

I’m not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. DS goes back to his dad’s house tonight until Friday. DS has no idea how badly he hurt me yesterday when he came into my bedroom first thing in the morning to tell me his favorite day of the year was his dad’s birthday. I’m struggling because I want him to be able to talk to me about anything, but he doesn’t get that saying stuff like that is hurtful.

Today will probably just be cleaning the house that I’ve neglected over the holidays.

[sandandsea]

I’ve unpacked and done laundry but haven’t gotten it folded or put away. I got all the Christmas stuff put away except the actual tree, because it’s new and I have to find a home for the huge box to store it.

I go back to work tomorrow and have a ton to do, including a promotion consideration slide deck due Wednesday. I have narrowed my inbox down to 60 emails I need to address from the week I’ve been out.

I’m only working Tuesday and Wednesday this week as we are headed to the mountains Thursday afternoon to ski. I got all the snow stuff out and organized so it will make packing later this week easier.

[sdlaura]

We had a fun New Years weekend away despite the cold and gloomy weather in a place that revolves around sun and swimming. The kids all had a great time having a NYE hotel room party. But it’s amazing how long it takes me to unpack/do laundry/put everything away from just two nights away with the kids. And DH isn’t feeling well.

Tomorrow will be our first day of childcare for the toddler since 12/23. DS2 had a really hard time going to camp today, but I hope that tomorrow is better.

I’m not big on resolutions normally, but figure now is as good a time as any to start trying to lose a little weight. My 3 friends and I who are on a sort of constant text thread together all decided to set some specific goals around food/exercise/sleep. Anyone else working on something similar?

[librarychica]

Happy 2023! We are planning an international trip for spring break and thought the kids’ passports didn’t expire until January 2024. Surprise! They expire this month. So I spent the evening getting passport photos, filling out forms, and making an appointment at the clerk’s office to get that done. We got their first passports for their first and so far only international trip. Maybe we can manage to leave the country twice before these expire.

H and the kids installed the closet systems I bought in September. That’s our productivity done for January!

I’m back at work tomorrow. I’m hoping we can start to get things done. I feel like I’ve been stuck in planning mode a while and I am ready for doing mode.

sdlaura, I am trying to up my activity and cut out any weekday drinking.

[sdlaura]

librarychica one of my friends set a goal of ‘no drinking in the house without guests’ - I try to do that too.

[twinmomma]

sdlaura I’m trying to get back in the habit of Peloton rides. I need to get my body moving again and take that time for myself now that Im healthy enough to exercise again. A year of sedentary life after long Covid has not been great for my body.

[mae0111]

sdlaura - I gained back a lot of the weight I lost a couple of years ago. It sounds counterintuitive, but I had an ulcer and constantly felt hungry with it, so I ate a lot. Coupled with starting a new job that made me more sedentary, it wasn’t good.

I’m trying to move more and eat healthy, but I went a little nuts last time and I don’t want to do that again. I’d like to lose around 10lbs and maybe drop a size to get back into some of my cuter clothes.

[rere]

We are finally well. Worked out for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. Ds left yesterday, so we were down, but we went out to lunch then built a fire and cooked steaks later, so not a terrible day.

Today is back to work. I usually don't dread going back, but today I am just blah.

[twinmomma]

supertrooper1, I'm sorry, it's so tough when the kids make comments about liking the other house more or something they love about the other parent. I always try to remind myself that they have no concept of it hurting our feelings and that's not their intention at all with the comment. Doesn't make it hurt any less. Yesterday the minute the girls woke up, they called their dad to ask what time they could come back to his house because they want to see their new cats. This week, thanks to new pets, his house is their favorite. It'll change again at some point. I'd guess your exH did something fun that day and so your son is just associating it as the "best day ever" because this year it happened to be a fun thing.

[polecat8]

I am back at work today after 2 weeks off. The boys went to school, but DD has remote learning today and tomorrow thanks to a burst pipe at the middle school.
Unfortunately, DH and I are going to my uncle's funeral this evening. My uncle was 85 and in ok health, but ended up with a rare lung infection that went into his brain.
I am ready to get back into a routine. By the end of last week, I was so bored and getting annoyed with everyone and everything. I had plans to get some things done, but was more content to sit around and do nothing (which I don't get to do very often).

[sdlaura]

mae0111 that’s my goal as well - to lose 10 pounds. Same for my 3 friends that I’m tracking things with. We’re all active and eat reasonably healthy, but by our early 40s when a pound or two a year has crept on, it adds up

I also really really need a major closet clean out, but would like to see what I would want to keep if I’m successful at losing 10 pounds, rather than doing it now.

polecat8 I really need my routine too, and I’m glad it’s back even if it has some downsides in terms of having work and less flexibility/fun.

[mae0111]

I'm back to work today... sort of... because both kids are home because the school added a teacher work day. DD1 has a tutoring session for her private school entrance exam. I've paid a ton of money for the tutoring and her scores, which were poor, really aren't improving. It's going to make it hard for her to get in if she doesn't get them up, but her last chance for the exam is on Monday, so I'm not seeing a big jump happening.

DD2 takes the test for the second time later today. Her scores were pretty good, but she was just on the edge of getting into a higher stanine in two areas - like 1-2% off - so I just wanted her to try again with no pressure and no real prep.

Along the theme of kids being hurtful, DD1 had a significant meltdown last night because she wanted to be the first to use DD2's new telescope. We explained that of course she could have a turn, but since it belonged to DD2, and she was very excited about it, she would be the first to use it. It meant waiting an extra 2 minutes or something while DD2 looked at the moon. But she launched into a tirade about how DD2 got SOOOOOO MUCH MORE than she did, it wasn't fair, Christmas sucked, etc.

I was livid. I tried SO HARD to carefully select things that she would like with no ideas, and to make sure things were even. My dad actually got DD2 the telescope and a few other neat science-y things, which do not interest DD1. He gave DD1 cash because all she wants to do is go out with her friends a go shopping (as she should at 13). He thought she would like money for her vacation. I agreed with him. He was very careful to give her exactly what he spent on DD2. I absolutely ran myself ragged while sick and taking care of both kids while they were sick to make sure they had a nice Christmas and a fun vacation.

I did not handle it well.

[mae0111]

sdlaura, the 40's are no joke. I'm 47 and my metabolism has ground to a screeching halt. It's the worst!

DH needs to lose a lot of weight as well. It's helpful when we can support each other, but he doesn't get the concept of moderation. He's all in - working out every day really hard, nothing but salads, no cheat days. He does that until he hits is goal weight, and then says, "Ok, all done, back to normal." And then he gains everything back and then some. I'm hoping he approaches things a bit differently this time. He has high cholesterol, heart issues in his family, and I think his BP is high and he's just not telling me. And he's a former smoker/current vaper. He just needs to get a handle on his health.

DH got me an arc trainer for Christmas, and it gets delivered in a few days. Our basement is still under construction, but once it's done, we'll have a dedicated workout room. I'm so excited! Arc trainers are just about the only thing that doesn't kill my knees! I feel so much better mentally with cardio, but my body feels very old and sore.

I'm going to aim for 4 workouts per week, less takeout, cooking healthy foods more often. If I can lose 10lbs by summer, I'll consider that a success.

[sdlaura]

mae0111 DH has been doing a loose keto diet for a while now, so he’s already lost a lot of weight. And he seems to be mostly sticking with it and going back to it after holidays and stuff, so it seems to work for him - he just doesn’t crave carbs like I do. I am also trying to not cut out everything fun so that it’s somewhat sustainable, I hope.

My sister has an arc trainer and loves it. We have a peloton, and an ellliptical that never gets used anymore and this reminds me I need to try to sell it now while people are thinking about exercise. I am kind of an exercise nut (both cardio and strength) so don’t need to make many changes on that front, but lots of exercise alone is not cutting it anymore when it comes to my weight.

[k3am]

We're still slogging through DS stuff. He is feeling 99.9%, minus the rash that comes and goes, but is currently looking the best it ever has - more light pink than red, and his arms and legs look almost completely normal.

He's got markers for a couple rhuematological conditions (lupus and Sjorgens being the notable ones), but they said that based on the fact that he has no symptoms, they're not clinically relevant.

My interpretation on his allergy results is that he's "positive" on cat dander, dog dander, Johnson grass, and elms, and strongly positive on bermuda grass, rye grass, elm, and olive, but I'm pretty sure most people have some type of allergy to these things.

He gets a liver ultrasound tomorrow morning - his liver levels are high, but not crazily so, but based on the "generous" liver size the hospital doctor noted, they want to double check, and he'll go back in a couple weeks for more bloodwork to see if his liver levels have gone back down into the normal range.

[librarychica]

Jan 3, 2023 0:55:16 GMT -5 sdlaura said:

librarychica one of my friends set a goal of ‘no drinking in the house without guests’ - I try to do that too.

Does the backyard count as “in the house?” lol.

Seriously I do like a solo glass of wine on occasion but every year it becomes a bit too habitual over the holidays and every year I have to spend a few months being strict with myself before I reset to normal.

I also bought a concept 2 rower since our old, bought -used elliptical bit the dust and I’ve struggled with gym workouts since starting to WFH last spring, so my goal for the next month is 20 minutes a day during the week and either a hike or an outdoor paddle every weekend. My oldest is getting to the age where she hears a lot of diet culture nonsense so when she asked me what my exercise resolution was (she said hers is to play outside with the dog bc said dog is on a vet-mandated diet) I told her it was to exercise in ways that I find fun. I am trying to live that and set a good example.

[supertrooper1]

Add me to the weight loss club. I have been consistent in the gym since April and am happy with my strength training. I have lost about 12 pounds but have also put on a bunch of muscle and am starting to see some tone instead of flab. I have mainly focused on going to the gym and need to focus now on my food. I am against anything that is not sustainable, like keto. One of my hang ups is drinking coke. I don't want to give it up, but I need to cut back and figure out how to work it into a healthier lifestyle. I've read studies on how cutting carbs and too many calories can have the opposite effect, especially in women. Too few calories and not enough carbs can stress out the body. I've finally convinced Beau that extreme calorie deficits and no carbs is not good and we need to focus on eating protein, cutting back our portions, and making long term changes so we don't gain back our weight.

[sdlaura]

supertrooper1, I also love coke - Mexican coke specifically. It's my afternoon treat. I am keeping it for now, even as I try to modify my diet, along with my nightly Hershey kisses or other small serving of chocolate. I'm trying to go really light/plant-based/non carb with the rest of my diet. But I know it won't be sustainable for me if I don't have a couple treats, and these both add up to less than 300 calories.

[mae0111]

Along the getting in shape line…

I’m helping to coach DD1’s basketball team. Tonight we were short kids, so I had to run drills and scrimmage long with another coach.

Omg

I’m so sore and tired. Sprinting and cutting and moving like that… yikes. It’s been a lot of years. My knees are like WTF was that all about??

[mommyatty]

mae0111, I went to urgent care yesterday for what I thought was a muscle cramp in my shoulder. Nope. I sprained my shoulder…apparently sleeping. I shudder to think what a middle school basketball practice would do to me.

[k3am]

Hah. I broke my foot walking off a step a few years ago. And then broke it again… while sleeping when it got tangled in the sheets.

Getting old sucks.

[soccermama]

Happy New Year WP!! I can't believe its 2023 already. We had a nice holiday and time off....but I was more than ready for my kids to go back! They had been out for 4 weeks (year-round school)....so it was really time for everyone to get back on schedule.

[k3am]

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