470 calories in an eggnog latte - 350 calories burned at the gym = 120 calories of eggnog latte that will end up on my abdominal rolls. Damn!
I just schlepped across the back parking lot through snow and slush to go the gym. I then spent 3o minutes on the treadmill running 3 miles (with some warm up and cool down walking in there), did 20 sit ups (I know, wimpy but I was short on time), and stretched. Then I had to shower and trudge back through the snow and wind to the office. I should be proud of myself and feeling really good but truthfully I am bummed. I am bummed because after all of that, I still did not work off enough calories to earn my much cherished and dreamed about eggnog latte.
I wait all year for the six weeks that Starbucks offers the coveted eggnog latte. For those of you not familiar with this little concoction from heaven, it is espresso with steamed eggnog and a sprinkle of spicy nutmeg. I can tolerate eggnog on its own somewhat but am not a huge fan. But eggnog with coffee has turned out to be a whole different story.
This past weekend I tried and tried to fit an eggnog latte into my plans but each time my plans were foiled. First I was going to get one and sip on it as I leisurely shopped my way through the grocery store. Instead I had to run through the store throwing items into the cart so that I could shop and pick up lunch before my husband ate Miles from lack of alternative food choices. With my plans thwarted for Saturday I decided that we could stop at the Bucks on the way to a birthday celebration for Miles and his friends (they are all within one week of each other). I forgot to factor into those plans the simple fact that I am always late and there was no way in hell that we had time to stop for anything, red lights included. So my plan for today is to convince my coworker that he wants Starbucks too and that he also wants to get out of the office for a little while to go there. I’ll let you know if this one actually comes to fruition.
My life is completely crazy right now and if only I could get a decent nights sleep then I might be alright. Miles was sick last week with a fever so I kept him home from daycare. Because work is so busy right now that meant that I got even further behind. I’m not complaining, if my baby is sick then my numero uno priority is to take care of him but life outside of our family doesn’t slow down one bit while we are on the sick wagon.
Then we went away for the weekend to a wedding on Cape Cod. The wedding was fantastic and I had a blast dancing the night away. We hired a sitter through an agency and she was wonderful. So wonderful that I stayed out a whole hour later then I had planned. That still meant that I was in bed by 10:15. How lame am I? Miles was a party animal, he was up all night. Not really but it sure felt like we were back in the newborn days. He finally got up for good at 4:45. I had taken the care to rent us a condo rather than a hotel room so that we would have room to take care of Miles. That morning the condo was full of hungover wastoids trying to sleep off the wedding bliss that they had felt the night before. So Miles and I were stuck in the bedroom where our own hungover wastoid (my husband, his father) was trying to catch some zzzzs.
I thought that was an early morning but that was nothing compared to Sunday morning. On Sunday morning Miles woke up at 3:45 and between screams thought that it was a good time to play. That morning we were staying at our friends’ house and their 2 year old was in the next room. Not cool to wake up the neighbors Miles, not cool. So we cut our visit short, packed up the car, and headed home at 5 AM. Miles slept for the entire three plus hour trip. And we all took a nice two hour nap at home that afternoon.
The night waking has not ceased upon our return to home. And he was kicked out of daycare for having the squirts. He can’t return until Wednesday.
And through all of this I am scrambling like mad to get our really cool press kits out the door. So dear editors, please take pity on me and publish something, SOMETHING about the AirCrib. Please.
I am responding to Katja’s call to action regarding local mom fashion. Burlington is full of all types of fashion from hippy to trendy. Most moms tend to dress sporty casual during the day and trendy or preppy for going out.
Baby joggers are a HUGE necessity here since most people are so active and all brands and versions can be seen around town. Slings are also very popular.
Babies are dressed in a minimalistic fashion. Old Navy and Baby Gap are the most common look - not a lot of ruffles and teddy bears. And a very popular activity is taking your baby to baby yoga in your Subaru or SUV.
Like I said earlier, the trade show was a huge success. We came home with some great leads and even orders! Nathan and I have been busy following up on all of the inquiries for samples and trying to put together a sales team. Stay tuned for some hot product reviews featuring the AirCrib.
As is always the case in Vegas, the real fun happened at night. I can’t really get into all of the details because, well, you know, I just can’t, it was Vegas. But there were all nighters, celebrity sightings, and a missing persons report (everything turned out fine in the end) thanks to my college friends who joined me. Unfortunately I wasn’t as interesting as them and retired after dinner each night. I used to be the wild and crazy one who they tried to keep up with but motherhood has tamed me.
I have so much to say that I will break this out into at least two posts, maybe more.
Last week I packed up and flew out to hot, hot, hot Las Vegas for our first trade show, the ABC Kids Expo. It was the first time that I left Miles and I don’t want to do it again any time soon. I really missed that little guy!
Anyway, I flew out to Vegas (did I mention it was hot there?) along with one of my two pieces of luggage. After all of my luggage arrived safe and sound I dragged it out to the taxi stand. Or at least what USED to be the taxi stand. They moved the stand and its endless miles of rope. The line was, as always, exceptionally long and smack dab in the middle of the (hot) sun. When it was finally my turn I collapsed into the cool air of a cab and nursed all of my old injuries that had resurfaced as a direct result of dragging the huge bags though the miles of taxi stand ropes.
We arrived at the convention center and I dragged the luggage to our booth. The booth looked great! All of our efforts to design an eye-catching and interesting yet low cost booth paid off. We also had a killer location - right on the main aisle. From the moment that I hid my bags until the end of the day our booth was full of people. We were ecstatic! It was the light at the end of the tunnel.
One of the best parts of the day was when a woman stopped by to take a look. I started giving her the sell and explained the how, what, and why. It turns out that she was from Babble, an online parenting magazine that I love. She was searching out new products to put on her blog and our product was selected!
We also had some neighbors stop by with their babies to try out the aircrib:
Emma, from Baby Snaps
Hayden, from Snug and Tug
All in all, a very exciting day at the show.
After the show (now this is where the fun begins) we hit the first bar that we could find in the hotel and partook in a little happy hour magic. It was definitely needed. And following that was a delicious dinner outside (not so hot once the sun goes down) on the strip across from the Bellagio water show. Definitely the best seats in Vegas and the food and company wasn’t too bad either (I had to include that in case any of my coworkers read this).
More tomorrow…
The unveiling of the AirCrib at the ABC Kids Expo is only a few days away. We are getting very excited here at the office and working like mad to finish all of the last minute tasks.
Even more exciting for everyone is the socializing that will go on. I am meeting up with three friends from college, two of whom I have not seen in over a year. We are going to squeeze into one hotel room and live it up like we did back in the day. Well, kind of. Now that I have a baby my living it up sessions are nothing like they used to be. Staying up past 10 o’clock - crazy! Yup, I am still the party animal that they once knew. They might be just getting in at 6 AM but I will be up and getting ready to go out. Does it really matter if you do Vegas by night or by day? I think I know the answer to that question…
Two of my coworkers will also be hosting guests - a girlfriend and a wife. Thankfully the girlfriend and the wife don’t go with the same person, although that could make things very interesting!
It will be my first overnight away from Miles. Being the overachiever that I am I couldn’t just break myself in with 1 night, nope, I am going to do FOUR. It will be tough but I will spend so much time fending off the shots that my friends send my way I won’t have much time to think about it.
I am trying to remember when it all began. When did I receive my first question about staying at home or going back to work? As I think back to each milestone: maternity leave, pregnancy, wedding I think that it actually precedes all of these. I was probably first asked before I even finished college. Granted it was one of those late night conversations with the roommates about who was going to get married first and how many kids we would have but it was my first foray into the eternal discussion about staying at home versus working.
It didn’t start to become clear to me until I got pregnant. That is when the reality set in that I was going to have a baby and suddenly had absolutely no idea how to take care of one. That is also when I realized that in this stage of our lives we are in no position to do it on one income. Pride causes me to sugar coat it and say that I love my job and that my son loves daycare (both of which are true) but the cold hard fact is that we would be homeless and hungry if I didn’t bring in a paycheck too. Not to mention the fact that if I weren’t busy earning money four days a week you could be damn sure that I would be busy spending it! I do enough damage in the evenings and weekends as it is.
Since I do have to work I have come to insist on a few comforts. I don’t want to hear any crap from my husband when I spend money. Yes, all jeans these days DO cost $150. And I definitely NEEDED a new pair of shoes. I do my part by shopping the sale racks which, by the way, does constitute an emergency and I am therefore allowed to use the credit card. We have also recently hired someone to clean the house - I think that I have died and gone to heaven.
Would I give any of these things up to stay at home with my son? I don’t know. My schedule is working out for our family and man do I love those three days at home with him!
