Before I Lose Momentum, I Wanna Know...

This week I have gone to the gym three times, which for me, is GREAT. I've also had the chance to catch up with some friends and on some much needed sleep (even if the sleep has been at weird times and interrupted by bouts of insomnia - it's still more than I usually get).

 However, I've also neglected a lot of housework and home projects that I vowed to tackle during this glorious 5 day reprieve from work. So today I am buckling down and focusing solely on those things. However, I am definitely one of those people who needs inspiration to clean. For me, that usually comes in the form of a playlist. But not just any play list - it's a play list compiled of songs I remember reverberating through my childhood home when my mom was in a cooking, cleaning, baking frenzy the day before, or the day of our hosting a houseful of company. I loved those days! The whole house filled with wonderful aromas from the lemony freshness of Pledge or the sweet woodsy smell of Murphy's Oil to alluring traces of stuffed shells or baking cakes. So I'll share with you, a few of the bands that throw me back to that time and give me the boost I need to tackle my own projects on the home front.

So... Just a few of my cleaning favorites are:

Anything by:
The Crash Test Dummies
4 Non-Blonds
The Cranberries
500 Miles by The Proclaimers


I'm sure I'm missing some. Might have to go pick my mom's brain on some of her other cleaning favorites because I'm sure that they will strike a similar chord.

What gets you motivated to clean? Do you have a play list? I wanna know! Always looking for some inspiration. Oh, and HAPPY FRIDAY! :) 

Slowing Down

Oh, hey! So let's just forget that awkward 5 month hiatus and pick up where we left off... K?

Alright. So I've been working every Monday and Tuesday and every other weekend, right? You can imagine with only every other weekend off that I treat it like those 3 days will be the last three days of my life. I say "YES!" to everything! 

Sometimes this is a great thing. I see friends I have been missing, I indulge the girls' requests for crafts and park and restaurant outings, I spend great quality time with the husband. It's a real love fest. But the thing is... Sometimes my kids don't say "Hey, what are you doing this Saturday, mom?" But everyone else does. Enter... My last weekend off. 

There were couple dinners, karaoke revolution revivals, and Halloween parties. It was a friend-filled free-for-all. And. It. Was. AWESOME. I mean, who doesn't love a night of debauchery with Gumbi, Where's Wenda and Waldo, and The Cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show? Who doesn't love doing wheelies in Dr. Scott's wheel chair or grinding on cardboard cut outs of Matthew Broderick and Ben Stiller? ...What? I mean.......

But then I went back to work. And I missed my girls, and my guy, somethin' fierce. 

Wednesdays are the one day of the week that I worked the night before and I don't have a sitter. I usually opt for a movie day where I lay on the couch half asleep and half awake, interspersed with quick meals and easy playing. But after my weekend of friends, I decided the girls needed some SOLID fun with their mama. In order to do this, the one thing I have learned is: DON'T STOP MOVING. The minute I stop moving I find myself gravitating toward the couch, lusting after it's soft cushiony bed. So this Wednesday I decided, ENOUGH! Don't pass go, don't stop and collect 200 dollars, don't even change out of your freaking scrubs!

I'm not sure if I get good mom points or shame points for the scrubs thing. Good mom points: I did the damn thing. I got myself out the door without fall into a stupor first. Shame points: These scrubs have seen some super gross things. Bad, bad things. Like, worse than Matthew Broderick and Ben Stiller even. Note, however, that I DID take the time to stop for coffee. See? I know how to prioritize. Coffee > Clothes. I regress...

We went to the park. But not just any park. We went to the castle park. You know, the one that gives me a freaking heart attack every damn time because my kids go running in opposite directions down view-obstructing wooden passage ways where I have no effing clue if they are being lured away by men with lollipops and '70's porn star mustaches. That park. But it was 8 am and there were no other nervous moms with their easy-target children to be found. And that made it easier to keep a close eye. It's the little things.

We came. We saw. We did park type things. It was good. 

I have been reminded how very precious these moments are. How quickly they grow and enter new phases and want different things. Today, being the cool mom means not caring if I am still wearing nasty scrubs, just so they have my attention and the chance to do fun kiddie type things. But pretty soon, that won't be the case. Pretty soon it will be buying them their first lip gloss and letting them tack up their room with boy band posters. So I am savoring the now. My weekend off is on the horizon. It will be filled with a date night with the husband, mornings where we are all piled into one bed for family snuggles, pumpkin picking (super late, I KNOW!), and eagerly giving in to my girls' whims. 

I have been picking up a lot of extra shifts lately. Between a $300 parking ticket I was so lucky to receive in Philly (don't even get me started...) and wanting Santa to leave a lavish lay out for the girls this year, the extra money will really help. But I need to remember, the best thing I can give them is time. It's attention. It's me. So I'm not picking up shifts this week. I'm slowing down. I'm enjoying that I am so wanted. And with that... I'm off. Two very sweet little girls just woke up and after this post, I am going unplugged for the day. Happy Thursday! Tell me - what will you be focusing on more this weekend? Whatever it is - enjoy it!