This Year I am Thankful For....

I woke up this morning and quickly was filled with gratitude.  Usually, by this time of year, I am burnt out on working.  I am ready for four days off for Thanksgiving with family, and I usually am running on fumes.  This morning I came down stairs to our fridge and saw the calendar and realized we are a week away from "Thanksgiving Break".  I was amazed to realize that I don't even feel like I need a break, it will just be a nice bonus to have one.  It will be nice to see family, eat turkey and celebrate what we are blessed with. 

I like to think back at time in terms of how you change from year to year,  like where I was a year ago...  A year ago, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy.  I had just gotten over two months of stuffy noses and plugged up ears and started getting a food allergy reaction, a knot in my back, and swelling.  I was just finishing up work with one of the most exhausting cases which led to me getting wrongfully accused of "slander" by a father upset that I called CPS on his household after his 8 year old showed several signs of sexual abuse and neglect (legally required of me to do in the state of Indiana).  This was in addition to almost 40 other kids I was seeing for various mental health issues.  There was never enough time, never enough energy, and never enough resources for me to feel like I made a difference.  Each day, I left the office never complete with work but always completely drained.  It was a very stressful time.  I was coming home with migraines and feeling so tired that I usually came home and went to sleep around 5 or 6 at night, only waking for dinner.  Pregnancy is hard.  I don't think I had any other image than the pregnancy "glow" which I think was more like a two week period somewhere early September after morning sickness stopped...

This year is so very different.  

My child, who I was unsure I ever thought I would have, is not only alive but so well.  She's gabbing up a storm, is healthily attached to me and Chris, crawling and side stepping, appropriate weight and height, and is meeting all of her milestones before they are "due".  She is a happy baby.  A good baby.  A baby that I love to spend all day with.  We are forming a tiny little relationship and it's so amazing to be here day to day to witness all these cool new firsts.  

My marriage, while not always perfect, is such a blessing.  We have molded into two mature people (most of the time) who God continues to bless with friendship, resources, and support. I can't say enough about Chris.  He is a patient man who saves his leadership for times when it really matters.  He is so easy going that it's almost hard to upset him.  His has a huge heart for our family, our daughter, and he is one of the best dad's I know.  Chris has stepped up and become a truly honorable husband this year.  He is quiet about his good deeds and won't flaunt them.  He doesn't seek admiration and he doesn't rub in his work into my face.  Sometimes I miss all that he does because he is so humble.  He works hard, at work and at home.  He is my helper and even though I have found our passions vary with what we love to do at times, we appear to balance each other out.  We are growing into our marriage and I find more joy in it than I did those early months.  I find we are a unit.  We are a team.  And while the rest of the world often feels hard to push through, I feel like my sanctuary is within our marriage. 

Our Church is our family.  A large family of over 10,000 or more in the congregation these days, but family none the less.  When I started attending Grace in 1999 about this time of year, I knew one person, my friend's father who took me when I expressed interest in going to church.  Today, I know hundreds of those peoples and for seasons of my life we serve, grow, pray, and worship together.  I look at how each area of our church has also served me and what a blessing it is to attend there.   

Our families who this year have out done themselves in being present for us in time of need.  I am thankful for them in times of joy like KK's birth and times of sorrow like my grandma's passing.  I am thankful that despite our differences we still love one another so much to forgive daily and be close.  I am especially thankful for

my mom.  She has helped me so much this year.  From adjusting to motherhood, helping me with 4 months of trying to breastfeed an infant whose throat muscles weren't well developed, going to doctor's appointments, and always bailing me out when I can't find a baby sitter, she is pretty much my life saver right now.  We talk almost daily, usually because I'm lonely and she's my best friend.  Since my grandma has gotten older, I have found that there isn't the reciprocal relationship like there used to be, and it's been a joy to watch my mom and I grow closer as I have become a wife and mother.  We don't always agree, and I don't always take her advice, but she's always there for me.   

My small group is my other rock.  They are a three other couples who have been with Chris and I since our first summer of marriage.  They have challenged us, supported us, been there on days like when I quit my job and I was unsure if God would provide.  They have watched our kid, watched our dog, and always been there to pray for us.  We have served together, discerned life together, and worshiped together.  They are truly good people that God has placed in our life. 

My friends are evolving and changing this year.  Mainly because having a child was such a game changer.  I am amazed by the people who helped us prepare for Kaylie.  I am more amazed by all the people who came this year to help us.  Our pastor's wife came over quite often and prayed for me, made us dinner, bought me things to help with breastfeeding, and gave me tons of resources to try and make good decisions.  Many of my pledge sisters who I continue to grow closer to as we grow and mature, and they see me and support me even though our lives look so different.  Friends from work, who held my hand when I quit and told me it was ok.  Friends who also became moms who shared in the joy and the frustrating days.  We have so many good friends near and far that I am overwhelmed with their love.

My job has been another amazing blessing God has given us.  It has gone from one client in March to almost 30 now in November.  My cup overflows and most days I have more work than I can do.  I am booked pretty solid these days, even starting KK in daycare two days a week in the new year because I am so busy.  I am so blessed at work.  It's energizing.  There is no micromanaging.  And well there are still crappy things to do like bill claims, unclog toilets, and accounting meetings all of which are not as much my passion as therapy,  but I am doing REAL THERAPY.  No more life skills, no more just accessing people to resources, but real therapy that I went to school for.  It's so amazing.

My home is another miracle.  The neighborhood we never thought we would be able to afford three years ago is now our home.  It's not just a house.  It's a neighborhood with really good people who share tools, have BBQ's, go our for drinks, help each other.  My neighbor who found out KK wasn't swallowing well and relieved me of the pressure that I sucked at breastfeeding.  She's been to our home countless times this year to help.  She is not my neighbor anymore, she's my friend.  I am so lucky to have her and about a dozen other really amazing women (and their families) in my life around here.  I can't see moving.  No other neighborhood has this many cool people in it.  This house is 22 years old.  We need a new shower, front windows and a list of a million other things that could use a face lift or to be redone, but it's our home.  And we grow into it and it just feels more like home. 

My Macy who is the best dog on the planet (except when she digs holes in the yards, chews up stuff that I leave out, sheds all over, and whoo's at us before it's time to get up).  My parents who always said dogs were a lot of work forgot to tell us about all the joy they bring.  While Macy requires lots of love and brushing and vacuuming, she is also the most loyal and loving pal we could have asked for.  She gets her fur pulled and for months she listened to a crying baby.  She never left my side during pregnancy and we layed together those days after work when I had nothing to give and she just put her head into me and slept.  She is my dream dog.  She is our best friend.  We will love her every day God gives us to her because she is just a treasure and a joy to have.

Relationships are clearly very important to me.  I think of the list of people I could site as truly important to me, and I can't even narrow it down to 30 or 50.  We have some really awesome people in our lives.  Some I see weekly, some I see monthly, some I only see on a rare occasion like a wedding or a yearly trip, but we are blessed to know so many wonderful people.  I wish the world was smaller or they invented teleports.  Sometimes I just miss some of them.  Sometimes in the business of life we don't talk.  But the ones who see past all that, and love me just the same, are truly precious gifts.  I have been showered in love this year.

It's not 26 days of thankfulness, but it is so much of how I feel today and through out this year.  I have a family, great business partners, church family, real family, friends and neighbors who are my joy.  I am thankful for peppermint mocha creamer in my coffee all year round (thank you coffeemate), NBC shows like Parenthood, Biggest Loser, and the TODAY show, Fisher's Library, Woodland Animal Clinic, Fishers Pediatrics, Facebook :), my GMC Terrain, and my sweat pants.  I have so many staples to our little life.  I have so many things that makes each day consistent yet unique.  I am thankful for all kinds of food and beverages, but thankful for mainly the fact that I have food daily and don't worry about hungry.  I am thankful I can afford to buy Christmas presents.  I am thankful for access to healthcare.  I am thankful I have warm winter clothes.  I am thankful I am safe and live in a safe country because despite all the violence on the news, we have a good country.  It is safe compared to so many countries where people are in fear all of the time.  I am thankful for all our military does for us to keep those freedoms.  I am thankful for Charles Schwab & Co for employing Chris and giving him a paid paternity leave and a paid sabbatical.  It's not the best yearly salary in the world, but we are a couple who both love our jobs.. that is rare..

I am thankful for so much.  More than 26 days worth.  Our cup runneth over.  Our hearts do, too.  Thank you for reading my blog.  The letters and emails I have gotten inspire me to write in my darkest moments.  I hope this is a blessing some day to you.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING (a week early) :)

A Turning Point

There must have been something about buying size 14 pants that was a wake up call.  Maybe more so seeing that I had some how placed getting back into shape at the bottom of my priority list since I went on family vacation in July.  I had lost about 55 pounds prior to the trip and pretty much caved back into old habits when I went back to my job.  After 30 days and then moving solely into working in my private office, my anxiety reached an all time high.  There was excitement, success, but also fear about failing.  Two months later, I am realizing I am making it.  I am no longer struggling day to day with lingering feelings.  Sure, I occasionally get nervous, but I feel like I am growing in confidence every day that I made a transition, a successful transition, to private practice.  I am able to pay the bills and now I am doing so well in the business that I am just trying to figure out how to free up more time, so I can keep working a little more.  I have figured out how to juggle the mom ball, the work ball, the house ball as best as I can.  I am sleeping, caring for myself better and finally ready to take on the weight again.

I wore my new outfit to work, felt better in it, but had this lingering feeling that I can't be content to stay in this size.  It's not a healthy weight even after a baby.  So while I am content that I am making progress, I realize with winter and holidays coming I need another push to take it up a notch.  I need motivation to get back on the eating well AND working out train...  Motivation....

Today, I reorganized the garage after my morning sessions.  I pulled down the treadmill and moved some things out of the way, so I no longer can't say I can't go for a run or a walk during the day.  We have a TV and DVD player for workouts and weights to kick it up a notch.  We have an ab ball, a sit up mat, and lots of workouts from Men's Health Magazine.  On the wall is a list of old times from running right before I got pregnant.  I was working on getting my two mile time under 25 minutes.  I stood looking at it in my work clothes.  I thought, I will walk.  Baby is asleep.  Treadmill is ready and hooked up.  So I walked, and then I thought, I want to go faster.  So I ran a mile... in my size 14 dress pants....  It was a slow mile, but a mile none the less.  I haven't really run like that in months.  Maybe since even before I got pregnant, but it felt wonderful.  I could tell my strength had shifted from my legs to my arms from carrying a big old 20 pound baby all the time.  I could feel the fluff, but I also felt like inside I was still strong and still able to do it.

I didn't have a full workout.  I burned 103 calories which is pretty much like half of a cookie, but I didn't make another excuse to sit on facebook or just do another chore during nap time.  I did something for me.  I feel better.  I feel more awake.  Now, I just need to figure out the motivation to do this daily... for me... for my Turks and Caicos body...

I am thinking of printing a picture of the beach.  I know when I stand in my one piece swim suit on the beach I want to stand as confident as I can because I took care of myself.  I am going to keep eating right and try to keep cutting out the extra junk I don't really need.  And I am going to try my best to keep running.  I need to make new habits as a mom, so KK can see what it means to live a healthy life.  Hope to find motivation, inspiration, and endurance to start a new habit and continue to try and get back to a healthier lifestyle.

Another Means to an End of the Muffin Top

Yesterday I was getting ready for work.  I have this collection of pants I still haven't braved to put on... well, I tried...  And the victory music trailed off when I buttoned them.  The dreaded "Muffin Top" appeared...  Ugh!  I tried to comfort myself by thinking of how long I had these J.Crew Khakis and how many times I have dried them (Clearly that dryer shrunk them...).  And clearly, they were too small, but I tried to initially make it work.  I put on my post-natal Belly Bandit... I felt like I had wrapped myself in cellophane and all my insides were smashed together.  I felt heartburn setting in and still noticed that "bump" above my pant line.   It was a much smoother version but everything just felt wrong and smashed and uncomfortable.  I have had the same size pants since I was about 18.  I remember when I moved out of single digits into size 10's, and I thought to myself that eventually, I would go back to being an 8 and life would be great.  I wore a size 8 starting in fourth grade when I moved out of the clothes from Limited Too and braved into the Juniors world.  Everyone said my clothes ran a little big but I knew what the smaller size looked like... knew how it felt... and knew that I was what I was...

So today, I realized I have to stop avoiding the inevitable.  I can't keep wearing only 3-4 pairs of pants in my collection that still fit.  Now that capri season is over, my pant choices especially for work were a pair of Loft pants and a pair of J.Crew light khakis that I had bought right before I got pregnant (I hadn't really dried them too much so they were roomier).  Yesterday, I caved and wore my maternity pants with the elastic band all the way up to my bra.  Ugh, I am 9.5 months post-natal and I put on those maternity pants and an aura of defeat lingered in my brain the rest of the night.  I have to stop pretending that I am magically going to fit into some of these pants.  The number on the scale has remained 164 since July.  I have prioritized work, baby care and housework over weight loss.  This is the price I pay for that...

I packed up the little lady and headed to Castleton Mall.  The first couple stores, I couldn't even look.  I couldn't even think.  What size, what length... what will it look like... ?  No one offered help, so I just left.  Then I traveled to the Loft... "our sizes run big here so you are probably a 10 still", she said, "but I will grab a 12 just in case".  I said to myself... "try on the big ones and when they are too big you will feel awesome"...  Over the knees, the thighs, over the butt, buttoned just right.  No bagginess, no room to grow.  12.  Size 12.  That's my size now?  Maybe it's the cut.  I look down... "Julie, our curvy fit".  Damn...  the other style is the skinny fit, and I am clearly not getting to go down to a 10.  Despite them fitting I pressed on in the search.  Maybe just maybe there will be a magical size 10 pant that fits me.  Maybe?

The trusty Limited.  A land of classy clothes that always make me feel rich in style and texture.  I have a few Limited pants and I like them.  I tell the pregnant sales woman... ugh, I need help.  She kindly smiles and tells me about her pregnancy.  I remember.  I remember getting bigger and bigger.  Fearing these moments where I realize I hit the point of no return.  I am a mother now.  I have those motherly hips, people comfort themselves by describing them as such.  She grabs a 14 and a 12.  I try my strategy again..  14 will be too big right...?  My mother wears a 14.  My grandma wears a 14.  But not me... I don't, do I?  Over the knees up to the belly, buttoned.... Rats, I wear a 14.  I double check and say, "my friends say I always buy my clothes too big, what do you think?"  She said, "I don't see how those would be any too big, they fit your body really well".  Woof...  I am a 14.  She says it's just a number.  Like age, it's just a number...  I am slightly crushed on the inside. 

 

Well, I no longer have a muffin top in my dress pants.  I look classy, fabulous, and am able to now wear the shirts I avoided because of my muffin fluff.  So in a way I am happy because I don't feel fat in my new pants.  Maybe I will cut out the tag.  Part of me knows, I am still fatter than I want to be.  The pants are a double edged sword: make me feel skinnier but also need to motivate me to lose that weight I've been holding on to.  Maybe I will use it to motivate myself back into my old pants, and maybe part of me needs to just "get over it" and accept that my new mom body is a tad bit wider.  I am active, healthy, eat good foods and I am slowly toning places.  I have a lot more I could do but with starting a business, having a baby and dog, and caring for a home, I think I've hit a limit on all that I can add in.  Maybe this is another leg of the journey where I accept where I am and wait for the sun to rise.  I have to keep climbing but I have to also be ok that I am not at my goal. 

I treated myself to a new sweater, too.  I want to make it a look.  I am wearing it tonight.   I am about to look hot and get a few compliments.  They will never know I wear a 14.  It is just a number.  It's just my pants size.  It's just who I am right now. 

Next May we go to Turks and Caicos for a friend's wedding.  I know I will probably be the largest of my sorority sister friends.  I am one of two of us that are moms.  I am the only one with stretch marks that cover 80% of my stomach.  But I am married to a wonderful man, with a great family, a wonderful home, and with my faith.  I am not everything I want to be, but I have so much that I would never trade for a size 2 bikini body.  I might not be skinny but I know I am still so many other wonderful things.  I won't stop until I am fit again... I guess it's just taking a little longer than it does for other people.  Ok... enough comforting myself.  Time for work.  Time to go look hot in my "right now pants".  They are pretty cute even in a size 14...

The Infinity List

Every Monday I edit and update my "to do list".  This list is my anxiety's way of feeling like I have some sense of ability to manipulate my environment and feel in control again.  Usually, I laugh as I get to about a half page into it and recognize there is no way I am completing it in one week much less one day.  I have started accepted those "special projects" don't happen unless I abandon everything else and allow my house to go into tornado zone.  That would be when there are tumbleweeds of dog hair in the hallway, piles of laundry up and down the hallway, trash to go out, toys across the whole main floor and "just piles of crap to put away".  There is always a healthy thing on there like "go for a walk" or "do a workout dvd" that I never get to because I will always clean anything before I commit to working out.  I'd rather clean toilets, showers, floors, just about ANYTHING before I workout.  And there are those items I call, "God wouldn't it be nice if I had time to...".  Lately those things are like, rearrange the rest of the stuff in the office I have never put away, put the little baby clothes in the garage, take in the patio furniture, puree fresh baby food, or bake something healthy.  Every Monday baby and doggy are usually pooped from the busy weekend.  She takes longer naps and Macy usually is content to veg under her front yard tree.  And me?  Well, I stay in my PJ's most of the day racking out as many progress notes, claims and piles of laundry that I can...  Usually, there is dinner in a crock pot, dryer bells going off, half finished projects throughout the house.  I know some day I will finish vacuuming...

Today was a victory in some ways and probably God thinking "it's about time your realized that" moment for me.  At 3:23, I successfully completed all my claims, notes, and paperwork for my business.  I have all of my receipts in the budget for our home and all the accounting is up to date for my business.  I am showered and ready for work.  The house isn't THAT bad right now and my laundry is two small loads from being completely finished.  While I can see at least a dozen more items that "could" get done, I feel like I have finished all the items that I really REALLY wanted to get done.  I feel victorious because lately I am into Tuesday before I get to the end of my stack and I am never dressed for work before 4...

I am starting to be ok with the fact that things are not "perfect".  What is acceptable to me today, was formally deemed "complete disaster" before I had a child.  I wanted every pillow fluffed, beds made, sink empty from dishes, and dog hair always swept up.  Today, I accept and recognize that I am NOT superwoman and this to do list grows faster than I can work.  I am picking up way more clients.  I am doing doing doing all week long.  I am still 10 pounds above baby weight, but we keep trying. 

I know the list is going to keep getting additions.  I am about to add some right now, but for a brief moment, I wanted to savor that I am not just transferring a bunch of stuff onto a new list, but I am actually completed with the bulk of things for a week.  I am done for a moment.  It feels so good!  I have had to learn to celebrate a new kind of me.  I used to be about perfection, and now I am about survival.  I am learning to give up doing "good" things so I can feel "good".  I am drinking water, taking time out to shower and use the restroom.  These are all major gains for me.  I am about having a balanced life, not one that always fits into a pretty little box.  Every piece of my life has it's flaws and areas for improvements, but overall, I know I am giving it the best effort I can while still valuing everything else.

Losing my grandmother made me realize somethings.  In the last two years, I used to call her on my way home from work a few times a month.  She was always sitting alone in her apartment, while I was busy doing doing doing.  In those hours, I was frequently looking at my watch thinking about what I would or could be doing instead of being on the phone.  I remember getting inpatient sometimes.  I remember forgetting to call back some weeks when she wasn't there and being unrealistic about everything I NEEDED to get done.  And while I know I made many efforts to be there, I think about the fact that now she's gone.  I can't just call her up anymore.  I can't make time rewind and give her my free minutes.  Our lives are short, precious gifts.  Our relationships are glimmers of moments added together to create meaning and love.  Our houses will always be dirty.  There will always be 1000 things I need to do, want to do, could do, should do, would do, but need to choose not to do, so I spend my time wisely with those God put in my life.  It might not be perfect, it might not be up to someone else's standard, but today I feel accomplished...  Too bad I hear on the monitor, afternoon nap is over for baby... back to work.... the best job in the world :)