Big Blogiversary

I've been blogging for quite some time now, something like 5 years. I've had four different blogs - this one, my fitness blog (that's on hiatus pretty much), my food blog and the blog I write with my fellow writing group. So, I've celebrated a lot of blogiversaries (or however you want to spell it). While some have meant more than others, I do have to say the first anniversary of the food blog has resulted in the biggest celebration yet. Never in my life have I had a dinner with blog readers to celebrate a milestone. It was awesome!

Here's a recap post with pictures of the event. It was a five course dinner created specifically for the anniversary with over 40 people in attendance (readers and friends). It was a dinner that will be hard to forget!

Get real

There's a lot going on in my brain right now and I feel like I have enough content to write for eons. It's just all about finding the time, which has been difficult to do with two kids. But, thoughts about the in-laws, religion, adverse vaccination reactions (not my kids, but a nephew had one that sent him to the ER last week), "anonymous" moms in The Club -really, there's quite a bit floating about in that cranium of mine. I suppose the most prevalent is business related - Virtual Fitness, my "maternity leave" and where to go from here.

I'm half way into my maternity leave. I made the decision that taking care of a crazy preschooler, a baby and exclusively nursing was all I could focus on and give it my "best" (which honestly, I'm never feeling my "best" at parenting). I know me and that multitasking is not one of my strong suits. I can't be the best mom that I can be and work as much as I want to at the same time (someone will inevitably shoot me for saying that). We are extremely lucky that we've been able to make our lifestyle happen, as simple as it is.

I've been training a few people here and there, but I have not been writing anything on the other blog nor have I been advertising my services. For me, I have to be able to live the lifestyle to give it 100% which means, when Carter is a year old and no longer nursing I can hit the gym like I want. I can tweak my nutrition plans, I can develop new, creative exercises and I can take my business in a new direction. It's time to start preparing to get real.

For my birthday, Bill bought me some books to help me get my nutrition plan published. That damn plan will be published. Oh, it will. My goal is to hit the ground running when Logan starts school in September and when Carter turns a year old at the same time. At that time, he'll be finished nursing and will be old enough for a few hours of daycare. I will have kid-free time to write. I intend to have the book ready to publish in less than a year. Lofty? Maybe. But it's a goal. I also have plans to ditch the other blog and evolve it into a website. One with a recipe section and a place to calculate calories, carbs, protein and fat, figure out your own BMR and track your progress. It's somewhat scary because I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO ANY OF THIS and will most likely have to hire someone to design it for me (any web gurus want to trade?)

So, 2010 will be the year I hope to see my book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, the year I own a fitness website and God knows what else I'll come up with. Maybe even a cookbook (don't laugh Bill).

Short and sweet

A few things...

I don't think this is postpartum depression, but whatever.

No word from the HOA, even though they have received two requests. The third will go in on Friday and then we'll see what happens from there. The fitness website supposedly returned the money they took, but it has yet to show up in our account.

And on a nice happy note, Lisa was awesome in having me write a guest post for Workout Mommy. I've had a couple of emails from it requesting info for online training and it was put up on Reuters, which is fantabulous. Thanks again Lisa!

Where did the weekend go?
I seemed to have blinked & missed it. I sure was busy with "stuff", some of it good, some of it not so good. I guess "stuff" makes the days fly by.

First, I'll start with the not so good stuff. Over the end of the week, I noticed a couple of bugs on the back of Logan's hairline. They were there on different days & each day it was only one bug at a time. So when I saw the first bug, I just picked it off thinking it probably settled on him after playing outside. Then the next day I saw the other. Again, I picked it off but this time holding it on my finger for some kind of identification examination. It looked like a flea.

I totally didn't (refused?) to believe it & as Logan napped, I did some flea research. I checked the pets & they both came back clear. Neither one of them had been scratching at all. And this isn't our first go around with fleas, either. Back when we lived in Oregon, both of the dogs had a pretty bad case as they were "outside" dogs for a period of time. It was easily remedied & we didn't have to worry about the house since it was all hardwood floors. So I know what I'm looking for. But this time, I didn't want to think about dealing with fleas in a carpeted house. The more pictures of fleas that popped up on my screen, the more convinced I became. I emailed Bill letting him know that I think we have fleas.

Over the next day, I developed my plan of attack on the little suckers. Since our pets were in the clear, they had to be coming from somewhere. In my flea research, I read that fleas can lay dormant in carpet for a very long time. As in months. We've only been in this house for a short period of time, so I was totally convinced that they were in the carpet before we moved here.

But then.

I was sitting on the couch with Logan waiting for Bill to get home from work. I saw a bug on Logan's collar again & picked it off. Another jumped on me. And then another. As we were sitting on the couch I saw three or four fleas jumping on or around us. I turned to look behind me. They're coming from the curtains!!!!! As soon as Bill came home, the curtains (that came with the house ) came down to be immediately thrown out & I washed every single blanket in the house. I changed the filter in our vacuum cleaner & will go over every last inch of the house on "power suction". And wouldn't you know it. Now that the curtains are down & in the trash, we haven't seen a single flea & nobody has been itchy with bites (Logan was practically eaten alive). It was an easy victory, but still completely gross.

Now for the good stuff! The weather is starting to stay nice & warm, reminding people that summer - swim suits, shorts & tank tops are just around the corner. This is music to a personal trainers ears. I missed the first fitness season rush over New Years because I was taking a holiday break & subconsciously preparing for 3 months of illness, so it's awesome to be feeling more like myself & being able to jump on the pre-summer rush.

So far, so good! I've had 3 people sign up for my online training program in about a week & two people are thinking about bartering. I'm trying to trade out for someone to clean my house once a week & another to trade out child care at a drop-in center here in town. Whether or not the trades will actually follow through, that's a different story. But at least I have some more long-term training clients jump on board.

Between exterminating fleas & developing nutrition plans & workout programs, I've been too busy to realize that it's late Sunday night. Tomorrow starts another week of adventures...

We interrupt this program
Health care issues are taken care of & in-law drama will continue, picking up tomorrow evening (I'm sure). In the meantime, after taking a few weeks off of writing on The Other Blog, I was finally able to sit down & pump out an article last night. I woke up this morning to find that it had been published by Fox News & Reuters - again, also Omaha News Channel 7 & USA Today!!!!!

I'm revamping my cover letter & contacting our local paper, even though they already have a fitness writer. My friends are threatening to do it for me if I don't do it myself. It couldn't hurt considering health & fitness writing gigs are slim to none right now. I'm pretty sure things will pick back up in the middle of the holiday season when we get closer to New Year's Resolutions.

Come out, come out, wherever you are!
Not a whole lot going on in these here parts today. Bill is getting ready to leave for his grandma's funeral & we stopped by Aunt Ju-Ju's house to pick up Uncle J's black jacket for Bill to wear to the services (because the suit he wore to our wedding doesn't fit. This makes me want to try on my wedding dress to see what happens). The cousins played a little bit, but it was mostly Logan stealing Cousin B's goldfish crackers. The little snack thief!

I realized the other day that I am not as smart of a bargain shopper that I think I am. I thought I found a great deal on toilet paper (I even had coupons!). Turns out that it wasn't such a great deal after all. I bought packs of single ply. Yep. It sucks. Now I dread going to the bathroom.

Also, I found out that the post I wrote on Virtual Fitness today got picked up by FOX News & Reuters (again). I wrote this in the middle of a two hour nap time battle with Logan. I was amazed that it got published. Typos & all. Once I get a few more publications under my belt, I think I'll start hitting up some more job postings for freelance work. I have been sending out cover letters and writing samples without any luck. I'm not discouraged by it only because I thought pursuing this would make for some great practice or "homework" to keep working on my writing skills. I plan on spending a lot of time working on my two books this winter when we're stuck inside all day long. If I'm lucky, we'll get snowed in again for a week or more.

And finally, a day late & a dollar short, it was delurking day yesterday. I missed it because I was too busy blinding everyone with the pink blog (hey! Did you donate or Click to Give?). So, I've watched the blog stats steadily increase & often wondered who on earth is wasting their life reading about my boring days as a Stay at Home Mom (or Work at Home Mom now, I guess). I think I can count how many people I know who read here on two hands & maybe a foot. The other 100 people or so, I'm stumped. So, leave a comment & say hi! Lord knows I need to come out & say hey on a few blogs that I lurk on.



**Update**
I just found out that Detroit news channel 4 & Connecticut news channel 3 picked up the "To ice or not to ice..." post too!

Writers block
If there's one thing I've learned about myself over the last few years, it's that I experience burnout pretty darn quick. No matter what job I've had or how much I loved it, it still happened. Usually I would burnout so bad that my recovery resulted in an emotional meltdown or a career change (from personal trainer to stay at home mom is a great example).

Fortunately, I've been able to recognize & accept this limitation & personality trait. I don't let it bum me out & I just move along. Over the last few months, there have been many stressors in my life that have been pushing me towards burnout, which manifested as writers block on The Other Blog. I have three different posts (meal replacements, anatomy & another time wasting machine example), incomplete & unpublished that are just "there". I finally was able to sit down during Logan's naptime & pump one out off the top of my head. I'm finding that it takes personal experiences to snap me out of writers block.

Last week the General Manager of the small town gym left Bill a message letting him know that they changed their minds & wouldn't let him work as a sub at the front desk (which was going to let me continue training at the gym without purchasing a membership). We were officially banned from going there altogether - just because Bill questioned them about deducting illegal charge backs. I guess they figured out we were serious about reporting them to the State Labor Board. This put a wrench in my training programs for clients that I'm doing one-on-one sessions with.

So, the weather has been beautiful & absolutely perfect for park/boot-camp routines. I'll be able to train outside for a few more weeks, then I'll have to get a membership somewhere (& this will make for an interesting post, for sure). My photographer friend & I did our first park workout last night & it was so much fun. It also made for a great topic on Virtual Fitness.

So, after a month of writers block, I finally have my "Gym in a bag" post up. I hope I'll be able to keep the momentum going!

Don't call it a comeback
While working through the stress of the lawsuit, the lump, the house that never sold, financial crap & family horror stories going on in Utah; I totally lost my focus on The Other Blog. I wasn't able to write anything, let alone quality content. I would open up the screen & just sit there, staring blankly at the white space in front of me.

The stress even distracted me in developing cyber-training programs. Poor Wendy (who is a freakin' awesome cyber-client, working out with my programs every week since The Blog went live in February) would get emails from me. "Here's half of your weekly routine, I'll get the other half to you tomorrow". I pride myself on meeting deadlines, like everyone getting their entire workout routine on Sunday nights so they'll be ready to rock on Monday morning. I'm lucky that she's a flexible & patient person & that it didn't screw up her training consistency.

After the ultrasound & knowing that I was going to be OK, everything meshed back together & returned to "normal". After the last workout I had with my massage friend, I had a post pop into my head. I wrote it that night when I got home & it was the first content post since The Break. Last night I sat down to write again, only to find that Reuters published this particular post.

Then when I came home from my two hour morning walk with Logan in the stroller, I found that the post I wrote last night was published by FOX News.

So, go check out these articles/posts & there's also a cyber-client results update on there too. After 15 weeks of training, Cheri lost 30 lbs, over 10 inches (close to 5 coming form the waist) & needed a whole new wardrobe before she went on a family vacation. The new wardrobe part made me get choked up with excitement for her. That's just awesome stuff.

**Update**
Not only did Reuters pick up the F.I.T.T post, but also the BOSU post as well. iVillage picked up the BOSU post & IBS put it up on one of Houston's local news websites & one of Pittsburgh's local news websites too.

My 15 minutes of fame
Everyone who knows my TV watching habits, knows that I'm a reality TV junkie. I hate sitcoms (for the most part) & watch pretty much any reality show out there (give or take a few). Well, today I had a chance to be IN a reality show, thanks to my friend & workout partner who offered to let me ride her coat tails for this opportunity.

To continue to protect the name of my friend & the small town that we live in, I'll refrain from giving out the details of the show (what show, what channel & air date). But I will say it was a lot of fun & it changes my entire perception about reality TV. It's so not real at all. That won't stop me from watching it, but now I know....

My friend sent in an application for a certain show & they accepted it. They flew to our town & have been filming here all week. She asked if I wanted to be a part of it with her. Of course I told her yes! On Tuesday, Logan had a chance to be in too, but I had a meeting that I couldn't miss (I was very bummed about that). This morning was the final day of filming & I got to be in a big part of it.

I got to the filming site, got mic'ed (that was similar to getting the airport security pat down) & talked about filming angels & scripts. Yes. Reality TV is scripted! Well, this show was slightly scripted without writers, but with discussion of lines & conversation before every shot. There were many takes of particular scenes. After a while, I started to feel like this was a job (& realized that acting would be totally fun).

I'm going to feel like an absolute fool when this airs because it is THE CHEESIEST "acting" EVER. We had some very funny, sarcastic lines, but it wasn't natural. So, I'm not quitting my day job. I am an idiot & it's going to be on National TV for the whole world to see. I think my friend & I are going to have a viewing party where we're going to make fun of ourselves until we develop a complex. But we still had a blast, no matter how dorky we look. When we know the airing date I'll give everyone the heads up & let people know via email rather than posting it here. That way you all can make fun of us too. And give us bigger complexes.

In other 15 minutes of fame news, when I got home from filming this evening I found out that FOX News picked up a post that I wrote on The Other Blog last night. This is great & I hope it drives some more traffic over there. Since all of the "fun" life has been throwing at us, I've been really distracted & I've had a hard time posting regularly on Virtual Fitness. This was a little motivational boost & hopefully it sparks some interesting future posts.

The evolution of a business
Wow, oh, wow. I am excited. Wait, excited doesn't even describe it. I have butterflies. I'm that excited. I'm in the beginning stages of working with a few different people on ways to make the cyber-training business bigger & better. This is changing The Other Blog from an emergency- "I need a way to work from home & fast"- to a long term, productive & successful business. This is focusing on the big picture, creating a product & service that is unique.

This is something that I've been thinking about for a few weeks now. I've talked at length with my workout partner who owns her own business. I've received some great feed back from cyber-clients. What once started as a decision to upgrade the documents, has now turned into branding & creating a company identity, a possible new logo, web/blog design, email updates, & much, much more. It's amazing!

What's been difficult, is that Bill & I have been butting heads on the direction of the business. Remember the anniversary post where mentioned our differences at great length? How sometimes it compliments our life? Sometimes (more like all of the time) it's difficult for us to compromise or even be on the same page. There have been tears. There have been "discussions". There have been differing opinions. While I value his input, the ultimate vision, goal & decision is mine.

I know he takes it personally that I'm not doing things the way he would. This evening I told him about the latest developments & for the first time, he was supportive & excited, commenting on how we'll have to celebrate. That really helped me feel so much better, it was great.

It's going to take a lot of time & hard work to get the business where I envision it. I'm up for it, though. This is something that I'm going to be proud of having in the future. Man, there are the butterflies again.....

Dangerous but delicious
Last night I submitted my smoothie recipe. I was going to submit two, but ended up with the one. I started out creating a vanilla mint smoothie that turned into something completely different & to be honest, pretty creative. I called it the Jump starter, but really should have named it something spa related. It's crisp, clean, smooth & refreshing (& very green & very healthy). It reminds me of spring, a fresh summer morning, or the feeling you have at the spa after a massage in your white fluffy robe with cucumber slices on your eyes. If I don't win the competition, at least I had a whole lot of fun creating this recipe & I have a concoction completely original & mine.

This morning I checked the competition site to see what contests were up for June. Kid-friendly recipes & cheesecake. I grabbed my phone & sent Bill a text message. You know what the June contest is for? Cheesecake! A few minutes later he replied, That sounds dangerous but delicious! Isn't that the truth.

I'm really excited about this month because not only are the recipes for foods that are mouth watering (& the kid friendly foods? I'm a stay at home mom to a toddler. I'm a shoe in), but I have a whole month to work on these recipes, rather than a whole day. I'm not sure how I feel about cheesecake being in the house all month long, though.

Yesterday, I spilled the beans & told two of my friends that I'm entering the world of food competitions. They both readily volunteered to be taste testers. My photographer/workout friend & I started brainstorming on some ideas while busting out butts on the treadmill (with the incline at the max). It's a lot of fun having friends who are just as excited about this as I am. I'm probably going to set up a taste testing party for the end of the month, right before I have to submit my recipes (& I'm sure the entire club will be over to eat cheesecake. Who wouldn't!) This is going to be a really fun adventure.

***There is a great update on cyber-client results on The Other Blog that everyone should check out. And yes, I do see the irony in a personal trainer entering food competitions & making cheesecake.***

It's official
Today we had our monthly meeting for MOMS Club & voted in the new board members for the next year (which starts in July). I'll be on the board as the membership VP & I'll also be co-coordinator with another mom for the babysitting co-op. I'm really excited about these positions.

I started working with E on the babysitting co-op (she's actually done about 95-98% of the work, I'm just taking over for a few months after she has baby #2). This is one of the biggest perks of the club & I can't wait to get this program up & going! It had fallen through the cracks & wasn't very successful last year. It was one major reason I joined the club (along with playgroups & just getting out of the house to talk to other adults). It's great to have a network of friends that can help to watch Logan if Bill & I want (need) to go out on a date & we won't have to shell out $30 or more to do it.

I start training (& Bill laughed at the fact that there's "training") for the MVP next month. It doesn't seem to be too hard, just a lot of computer correspondence. Seeing as though I'm already at the computer a lot, it's no big deal.

So, yea!

***There's a lot of good stuff on The Other Blog, along with another new cyber-client who has achieved great results after only a few days. And I have to gush Thank You's to another cyber-client who did a favor for me (it was like she had some psychic abilities) & really helped our family out (in a situation that I haven't talked about, but will sometime in the next week)***

Sometimes you just need some sleep
Recently, I've been having a hard time getting to sleep at night. Bill will go to bed around 10-11:00 pm, while I'll stay up until 1-2 am. Historically, it's been the other way around. For some reason, the roles have switched & now I'm the one staying up late.

I try to go to bed around 1 am, but then usually end up flipping around like a fish for an hour to an hour & a half. This is where I'm exceptionally thankful that Logan is a great sleeper & sleeps in until 8am. It's become a vicious cycle of going to bed late & needing a enormous cup of coffee (close to a pot) the next morning. Bill has tried to convince me to take a sleeping pill, but I won't for fear that if Logan wakes up (which he doesn't), I won't hear him.

Yesterday was Bill's split shift. He came home from work for a 4 hour lunch. We went grocery shopping (one of our favorite weekly chores) & came home. I was so tired, I took a nap. A 2 hour nap. First, I never take naps. I never could heed the "sleep when the baby sleeps" advice. There were times I would go lay down to only get up 15 minutes later, proclaiming that "I just can't take a nap". This was clearly not the case yesterday & fortunately, Logan was just as tired as I was & slept for the whole 2 hours as well.

Not only did I take a 2 hour nap, but after dinner (a very delicious grilled lamb chop that Bill cooked up) I promptly fell asleep on the couch while watching TV. For another 2 hours. We went to bed & I slept another 8 hours.

This morning I feel like a million bucks. Totally rested & ready to tackle the day. Sometimes you just need some sleep (& maybe just a little coffee).


***There's a great cyber-client update on The Other Blog. Yesterday, Wendy ran a 5k with an amazing finishing time! Go check it out & give her congrats on a race well ran!***

Thanks for the help!
After reading the opinions about the two buttons, I added "cyber training" to #1 & ta-da! My new button...


For anyone who would like to add it to their sidebar here's the HTML code:

<a href="http://cybertrainer.blogspot.com"><img alt="Smart & Strong!" <br />src="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Mastre/blog/button4.jpg"/></a><br/>

Thanks a ton for all of your help in the decision & hopefully this will keep the momentum going!

Need a little help from my friends
I've been doing a little bit of work over here to keep the momentum going on The Other Blog. I've spent quite some time on these buttons (more than I would like to admit), to the point where my hand is numb.

Anyway, I need some opinions. Bill & I can't decide because we like them both. Which button do you like? #1, #2, throw them in the trash & start over or should we just use both of them?

#1

#2

I couldn't miss this
Last night I read Beth's new post. It was about her fitness results using the plans from The Other Blog. She lost 8 lbs in one week! I am so excited for her!

She's been working hard to make it happen. She's doing all of her workouts at home, with two kids no less. She hasn't achieved results from dropping her calories & starving & this isn't "water weight" either. 60% of calories are from carbs. Nope, she's doing this the good old fashioned way & with some science in the mix.

The big part of her success is that she's the one making it happen. She's making the choice to workout or not. She's making the choice to eat right or not. And her efforts are showing!

I just had to give her a shout out because I know how much she wants to succeed. Reaching her fitness goal means a lot to her & she's well on her way to doing it!

The most boring post in the world
Today was especially busy. Appointments in the morning & trying to work all day while Logan did his best to distract me. I'll have a very interesting & introspective post tomorrow because I'll have some more time.

Along with Stefanie & Kim, look out for Wendy & Beth on the other blog (I'll have the link list updated tomorrow too). Lots of people are starting to workout now!

Little of this & a little of that
I never thought things would go this fast, but I am pleasantly surprised! Virtual Fitness has been up for only a day & I have a handful of potential new cyber clients. This is just awesome! It's been interesting to see what working at home is really like (even if it has only been one day). And quite frankly, right now it seems to be harder than working outside of the home.

Yesterday afternoon, Bill, Logan & I went to another MOMS Clubber's house. Her son is a little older than Logan & he's outgrown most of his toys. My friend offered to sell us a ton of toys for practically free. We were thrilled. We loaded up the entire trunk (no kidding) & I made a second playroom for Logan in the computer room. I hoped it would keep him busy while I try to write out programs. It does, but there's still a lot of distraction. Last night he was pretty happy to walk around the room holding his snack cup full of animal crackers. The next thing I know, I see him & Buddha hiding in the corner behind the futon. Logan is sneaking him crackers & Buddha is slobbering all over his hands. It was gross, but pretty cute. So, if the toys don't keep him entertained, at least the dog & cat do.

Speaking of entertaining, if you read the first post on the other blog, you might have noticed that Logan is now playing soccer in the house. This happened the other day & I was so incredibly shocked that I instantly sent Bill a text asking him if he taught Logan how to dribble. He called & said that he showed Logan how to kick the ball maybe once or twice, but not how to dribble across the room. It was firm confirmation that Logan truly IS my little Olympic soccer player, just like I thought before he was born.

And in high anxiety news, after months & months of Bill telling his sister that our family won't be separated, she's agreed to come over for dinner tomorrow night. We already know she's on the attack, based on what she's been telling Bill. So, this should be interesting. Last night Bill came home from work & said that they might not come over because Uncle J is going out with a buddy of his. We're kind of irritated about that. Bill is going to talk to Aunt Ju-Ju about it, so we'll see what happens.

The beginning of a new adventure
For some time now, I've been grappling with the thought of going back to work. My whole thought process, mental melt downs & my own personal stay at home mom vs working mom epiphany will be another post for another day. However, I will say that the wall that I've been trying to climb has everything to do with motivation.

I've been trying to motivate myself to get back into the game & have had absolutely no luck. I was burnt out & my passion for fitness was gone. Until....I got an email from Stefanie.

Sometime last week she emailed me asking if I would write up a program for her. I was so excited. I got her nutrition plan together & sent her the cardio & core program shortly there after. In the next day or two, she'll get her flexibility & lifting routine.

By developing her program, I felt that spark of excitement that I used to feel when I was training at the gym. It was definitely the jump start I needed.

With her encouragement & my desire to work at home, I've decided to set up a second blog. I know, I know. Not less than a month ago I was talking about how keeping up two blogs was way too much work for me. Well, this is different. And I've set it up so that I have the ability to do this without Logan screaming at me to get off of the computer, if it's only for a few short times a day.

My second blog is Virtual Fitness. It's where I can connect with people all over the world, just like I have here. I'll keep it interesting by posting tips, a weekly health & fitness article & as more people achieve their results from the programs, I'll add their before & after pictures along with their success story.

This is way too exciting & I can't wait to see what happens!