Faaahhhhhlllll!

Today's cooler weather has prompted me to break out the Trophy Wife uniform...my Juicy Couture track suit. That's right, nothing says I'm comfortable AND stylish like head-to-toe, hot pink velour with JUICY written across the rump. Okay, mine doesn't have anything written across the butt, I made sure of that, but it does have a larger-than-I'd-like Juicy logo on the back of the jacket, which is probably why I was able to find it on sale at Rue la la (LOVE that site if you've not visited).

I'm trying to get back on track and find a routine that keeps me connected to the world available through my computer without leaving me chained to it. I've had a lot going on and lots of changes over the past six months, so here's a little summary...

Until April of this year I thought I'd found the perfect balance in life. I was working part time at imc2, the place I had worked since 2006, and was off two days a week, getting to enjoy a bit of stay-at-home-mom life. The end of April brought a major upheaval in that lovely balance. My department went through major, unexpected budget cuts. My position was essentially eliminated, though I was offered a different, lesser position that would have required me to be in the office five days a week, but for five hours only. Considering I was driving two hours a day to get to work, that arrangement just didn't make sense for me. It hurt at the time, but I'm loving life now and there are no hard feelings.

So, this summer I found myself in a situation I hadn't been in since...high school. No work. It. Was. Awesome. I always had some kind of job in college, even if I only worked a few hours a week, and I was one of the lucky ones who graduated during the .com bust of 2001 with a job in the .com industry. Now I could thoroughly enjoy sleeping in (though my daughter rarely lets me sleep in past 8 am, it's still nice to not have to set an alarm clock), catching up on daytime TV like The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Regis & Kelly and endless reruns of Grey's Anatomy, and shopping and running errands whenever I felt like it. Considering my daughter was still in school three days a week, it was great having so much "me" time. Of course, I soon realized that all these things were much more fun when I also had that steady second paycheck coming in, so I was rarely seen at Trophy Wife Mecca, AKA North Park Mall. Yes, it was this experience that inspired the whole Trophy Wife Life stuff.

After awhile, I realized I needed to do something more productive with my time. For years I drove past a boot camp class by my office, trying to figure out how I could make that kind of workout fit into my schedule (taking my long commute and irregular schedule into consideration). Now I had no more excuses. I attend a boot camp(ish) class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 am and I love it. Adios flab! Now if I could just get more committed to better nutrition I'd probably see even bigger changes.

Somewhere in July I also started suffering from a lot of eye strain. At first I thought it was just getting used to a new computer, then I thought I needed glasses. I made the appointment and got outfitted with a stylish pair of eyeglasses for my slight farsightedness only to realize that wasn't the issue either. I still suffered from a great deal of fatigue, vertigo and a kind of detached feeling in my head and the biggest trigger was working on the computer. A visit to the doc yielded a different diagnosis...labyrinthitis. Basically, it's just an inflammation of the inner ear likely caused by a cold that got out of hand. He told me to start taking Dramamine to help with the symptoms and it would likely work itself out. Well, more than three months later, I'm still waiting for that to happen. Things are better, but still not great. Thankfully I'm not working, so avoiding the computer is at least an option, even if I don't particularly like it. That would be why I was so excited about starting this blog and then totally and completely flaking out on it.

Starting this Fall I put Lanna in a new preschool and have been looking for some part-time freelance work so I can keep up my professional skills without going back to the grind full time. I'm not having a lot of luck, but I know things will fall into place eventually. I've enrolled my daughter in a tumbling class which I absolutely hate. There's nothing like trying to get your almost three year old to cooperate with a group for an hour-long class. I'm trying to make myself stick it out until she's three and can be in a teacher-led class, but I'm dying to put her back in swim lessons.

Finally, a few weeks ago we lost my cousin Allen Feld. Allen was one of my Iowa cousins and was just a week older than me. I have a TON of cousins and many of them live out of state, so it's hard to say we all have really close bonds, but I get along well with them all and always enjoy seeing them every chance I get. As a child we'd always spend about two weeks in Iowa each summer and since Allen lived in the same town as my grandma, we saw him a lot more than many of the other cousins. My brothers were also close to him, so this is has been hard on all of us. We'll miss him a lot. We all attended the funeral in Rockwell City and I'm wondering if I'm the only one who was really bothered by what I thought was a really crappy eulogy. The priest based it all on what he referred to the "rule of threes," the idea that things often happen in threes. He mentioned three different people, including Allen, who died at age 33. Except, oh wait, Allen was 32. It's forgiveable considering Allen would turn 33 this month, but still, he could have done the math. What I really didn't like was his comment, "So I guess if you make it past 33, you're alright." Inappropriate. Maybe I was just oversensitive about it considering my emotions were pretty high at the time. I know it can be hard to write a meaningful eulogy about someone you didn't personally know.

Okay, please considering this rambling recap my attempt at getting back in the blogging saddle. I'll be back soon with something more topical and concise. :) I'll leave you with this...what do you think of the new look? I just LOVE the awesome caricature of me from the talented Lorraine Garrison! She is amazing and if you're looking for a graphic designer, I certainly hope you'll look her up at her website.