Lila

Hi.

My name is Ya-ya. Spelled L-I-L-A, but I like to call myself Ya-ya.

Today is my birfday. I am two.

Being two is fun. I love my life! I get to play with my bruh-yahs, Mas and Co-Co.

My favorite thing to do is to cullah. You know, with crayons.

I like to watch "packpack" on TV. Mason insists it's called "Dora" but I am certain he is wrong.

I'm a super big girl now. I like to use the potty ever chance I get, but my mama says she doesn't have time for me to be potty trained. Those big girl underwears are so pretty though. Mine have Tinkerbell on them.

My mullet has finally grown out long enough so mommy can manage it. Every morning I make her put pigtails in my hair. Or else.

My favorite 'nack is raisins. I leave them all over the house!

Every night before I go to bed, I tiss mommy, tiss, daddy, and tiss my bruh-yahs. I love to give tisses. Mwah! Then I say nah-nite.

I am happy to be two.

Happy birfday to me! Sing it, people.

P.S. I'm having a really "sweet" birthday party this weekend. If my mommy has her act together she'll post some pictures next week.

True Floridians

The Unexpected Gift

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~Pierre Corneille

On Friday, Cole came home from preschool with a gift from his friend.

It was from his "best girl friend" Tianna.

I think she really likes Zac Efron.

She even made some sweet little hearts for the box. And yes, that's a Gucci G, my friends. Cole's best girl friend has good taste!

What was in the box? I was as excited to see as Cole was.

It was a bear.

Cole quickly dubbed him "Nosey." He sleeps in Cole's bed along with Ruffie, the 'Poster (Imposter) Ruffie, Fat Penguin, Scooby Doo, Froggie the Wenkinz, Baby Jaguar and three blankies. It's really crowded in there.



All weekend Cole carried Nosey in that box. I'm sure he'll start up again when he comes home from school today. He kept talking about Tianna and how much he loves Nosey.






And I keep thinking about this little girl, working on crafting this little box for my boy. It makes me happy for him that he's sweet to her and that she wanted to do something nice for my little guy. And above all else I am so happy for her that she's so caring and big-hearted to do something like this for another child.

It sure made him happy. And me too.

Work It

The thing about teaching an exorbitant amount of fitness classes is that you have to eat a lot of food.



And I mean a lot.



Or you'll starve.



No joke.



For most people, this likely is not a problem. But those people probably like to cook. And even if they don't, they probably still do it on a regular basis.



In the last 30 days, I have taught at least 23 classes (I lost count somewhere along the line). That, my friends, is quite a bit. In addition to that, I've also tried to maintain my own workout routines by taking a yoga class here and there instead of teaching, and throwing in some cardio when it's been a few days between teaching spin classes. And I love it.



I am a machine.



My machine needs more fuel.



There are days where I literally burn so many calories I cannot possibly eat enough. Case in point Monday, when I taught two spin classes and a yoga for a grand total burn of somewhere in the neighborhood of 1400 calories.



Interestingly enough, the more active I am, the more my body craves healthier food. This is certainly a conundrum because I abhor all aspects related to healthy meal preparation. I don't like the planning, nor the shopping, I'd rather read a book than cook, and cleanup is for the birds.



But I have to eat. It's really quite a predicament.



On top of that, I've been getting a lot of flack when I mention to people that I don't often cook dinner. I get incredulous looks that go from disbelief, to jealousy, to pity for my poor family. So I had to make a decision: either start cooking, or stop telling people that I don't.



I decided to meet halfway--I'm trying to cook a little more and I don't mention to anyone the amount of Calistoga and Tijuana Flats my family consumes. I think it's a nice arrangement.



The irony is I am busier than I've ever been. And incorporating meal prep into this when it wasn't part of the schedule before is slightly laughable.



But it's working. And Rey is ranting and raving about how good everything I make is.



I can't figure out if he's telling the truth or just trying to keep me going...

May Day. And a Mayday, too.

Once upon a time, I was bored.

That time was a long time ago.

A while back I talked about having lost the balance in my life and losing myself in motherhood. That was probably the beginning of this process. The process of digging myself out. Because of all those things I listed there, I have actually pursued several of them. Some I will mention. Some I will not...

First off, I have become a yoga teaching maniac. I am currently teaching three classes per week, and then on top of that I sub a few almost every week. I was calling myself the yogamatic there for a couple of weeks because there was a raging illness running rampant amongst the instructors so I was subbing more classes that I can count.

That has moved on into teaching the other classes I am certified for, Spinning and general group fitness. I actually subbed a cardio class this week. It was pretty amusing, to me at least, since cardio is so not my forte. But that was okay, because I balanced that with Spinning, which I love, and yoga, which I am very good at. I taught 7 classes in 6 days. I would be lying if I told you my body didn't feel abused.

In addition to my fitness craze, I have, as I mentioned, been moving forward with some other me projects. It has been lovely. Doing what I want to do is an amazing novelty. I just wish I had more time to do it, because something had to give. In order to do the teaching, and the planning, and my own working out, and all the other things I've gotten myself into, other things are neglected.

The house is a little less clean.

The laundry takes a little longer to make it from the baskets to the drawers and closets.

Even more of the meals are coming to the table by way of carry out containers.

So now I am THAT MOM. The one who has no time. Who is so involved in being so involved that many days I forget my name. It is only appropriate that today is May 1st, "May Day", because I feel like screaming that from the rooftops. Only I would turn it into one word.

Mayday!

She's going down.

Balance... the scales have certainly tipped the other way.