(Note to) Selfie

Here's a selfie for you - I took this one to show Kim that I was dressed so casually at work, I was surprised my friend Sabrina would let me stay (she's my personal stylist, nutritionist and life coach, as you may recall).

No earrings, even. Sheesh.

Haha I was thinking about this blog entry because I had a "Note to Self" moment regarding exercise. Drumroll, please...

(this is revolutionary, by the way...)

I feel better when I exercise.

I've ridden my bike to and from work five of the last six work days. Three days last week, both days this week, for a total of 104 miles so far. I feel so much better! Actually, my legs feel tiiiiiirrred, but I am happy and satisfied that I am getting in a good workout every day.

I had been feeling like crap for the last month or so. I checked my Strava app on my phone, where I track my bike rides and runs (hahaha) with GPS. The last time I had ridden was June 4th. Oh - about the time I started feeling like crap. Now, I'm no rocket scientist (my friend N. actually dated a rocket scientist, by the way, she said it was as exciting as you might imagine. Rocket scientist, not astronaut, haha!), but I am seeing a connection there.

We're gonna let that slide, though, as I really did need some time to recover from my scar revision surgery. Such a seemingly minor thing that really was pretty painful! I'm all healed up now, and using strategery to keep myself rolling along. Right now it's easy-ish to commute to work. I have sufficiently threatened and bribed my 14yo into walking her 7yo brother to day camp every morning so I can leave for work on time. It will get hairy, though, when school starts up again. My 14yo is now a high schooler (I am a single mom* with one in high school, one in middle school, one in elementary school. I have become one of *those* people, hahaha) and she won't be able to walk him to school. My 12yo son and 7yo cannot be trusted to walk together, sigh. One block. We live one stinking block from the school. My 12yo catches the bus at the corner of the elementary school. The timing is perfect, but the boys are not. :)

(Edited to add: As Kim correctly points out, I am a single mom with a Greg. And I had a happy moment with this yesterday, when I arrived home exhausted after a long, hot bike ride. I had less than an hour to pick up the youngest from daycare, take the oldest to HER FIRST JOB INTERVIEW - more later- and get the middle child to football conditioning practice. My head was spinning. And Greg said, "Why don't I just take Blake to practice and you take care of Alli and Reid?" Boggle. You mean, someone to help me? Ooooo, this takes some getting used to, but I like it, I like it! Also, last night he laid out the plan for us to go away together alone this weekend...ah, love. Love.)

Anyway. I'll figure it out. My goal is for bike commuting to become simply, "how I get to work."

Things are going really great these days. Greg and the kids are doing awesome, and doing super well together. Last night, my 7yo was curled up against him on the couch watching TV. It's amazing to me how much of a family we're becoming. Last Friday, Kim came up from Oregon for her daughter's basketball tournament. I took a half-day vacation and met Kim for a leisurely lunch, then we went to the game, then to drinks while we waited for her daughter to shower and get her gear from the hotel. We all went back to my house, where we found Greg in the kitchen making pizza from scratch for my children. I'll tell you, that is about the sexiest thing ever to come home to!

Speaking of Kim, she had a brilliant idea to take a picture of our daughters, who share the same name and are a little more than a year apart. Kim and I went to high school together and I considered her my academic rival and she considered me no threat, haha. We lost touch for years, reconnected over facebook years ago when I was getting divorced, and at that time she said one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. "I'm on your side. I don't care who's fault it was, I don't care what you did or he did, I am your friend and I am on your side." Isn't that wonderful? Totally true, too. I sort of went off the deep end when I was getting divorced and she stood right beside me (figuratively), not afraid to tell me what she thought, but always having my back.

So this picture is especially meaningful to me, too. These are both really, really great girls, our Al(l)is. And great moms.

Genetics at work. :)

Edited to add, too, that Sabrina had a serious heart to heart talk with me yesterday about biking to work and my obligations toward looking good. She said since I started biking to work and got back together with Greg, there are too many days with no makeup, earrings and cute clothes. This morning I told her I did my best for her - biked to work and put a little thought into my appearance. I told her I would think of her, too, when I rolled back into my driveway after work looking like a sweaty raccoon with all this makeup smeared all over my face. That'll impress the boyfriend, won't it? I don't think she cares, haha.

After she took the first picture, of me standing there woodenly, she said,
"HAVEN'T I TAUGHT YOU ANYTHING?? Put some sass in it!!"