The Life of a Traveling Mom

For about the last 10 years I have had a job that required some work travel.  The actual frequency and time away has varied based on what is going in my job and that flucuacates a lot.  But this has been a reality Marcus's entire life- Mommy travels for work.  My first trip was when he was around 12 weeks old and we have figured out how to make it work since.

I always think it is kind of funny when I talk to Mom's who have never (or extremely rarely) spent a night away from their child.  In honesty, I have spent more nights away than Luke has (he never travels for work).  In our house it isn't something odd or unusual- it is just life.  I know that without a supportive spouse this would be impossible.  It is hard enough to leave home and miss your family.  I am lucky enough to know that when I gone, Marcus is getting loots of LOVE, TIME, and JOY with his Daddy.

My favorite thing is when I get text messages with pictures and stories.... It makes me feel like even though I am far away I am still part of the family.  Today, I am at a work conference (yes on a Sunday and it makes me a bit crabby) and Luke sent me a ton pictures that made me smile and at times giggle.  Looks like they had a lot of fun without me today!

Learn and Play Cafe

Marcus really wanted to play right away but
I made him eat his breakfast instead.

I have heard about the Play and Learn café for awhile.  It is only few miles from our house and offers a café and play area for little ones.  I finally decided to take Marcus there today.

Play and Learn Cafe Website

 

We got there a few minutes before it opened (9am) and ended up staying for almost 2 hours, so I call that success for Marcus.  Here are few thoughts on it.

Marcus's Breakfast pancakes

• The concept is really smart.  Gives a parent a great place to bring your little one to eat and play in a nice warm environment (really good for winter).
• We got some food and drinks.  The food was OK-  Marcus ate his pancakes but it won't blow your socks off and I would consider it fairly reasonably priced.  Just an FYI you are not allowed to bring outside coffee drinks in with you and their coffee/tea was only so-so and since you can't bring it in the play area anyway I would probably skip that in the future.
• You do need to pay in order to enter the play area- $5.00- which once again I think is fair and reasonable.  It costs that much to bring them to any other play gym.
• We got there at opening- which I think should be a bit earlier than 9 am on a Saturday and it was pretty wide open and not a lot of people there- by the time we left it was getting pretty packed.  So I advise getting there early if you are like me and don't like a crowd.
• Overall I would give this place a grade of B+ (if the food/drink offerings were a bit better it would have gotten a A-).  It was good entertainment for a reasonable price.  I know we will go again.

Here are some pictures of the place.

Café Area

Play Area- which we called the castle.  It was perfect for Marcus.
 

It didn't take Marcus long to find the trains to play with.  He is such a funny boy- for about the first 15 minutes he didn't stray very far from me.  After that he was all over.

He really like to climb the play area and looking down on Mommy!

 We did have a moment or two where he didn't want to share.... it was all about the food.  He actually took an eggplant away from a little guy.... so we talked about it and gave it back.

 One thing I really like about this place is that the parents were pretty engaged and I didn't see any kids climbing up the slides (not even once) and that is a pet peeve of mine!  I never let Marcus do it and then he sees other kids doing it and thinks I am mean..... No Marcus Mommy isn't mean.... just doesn't want you to break the rules!

Marcus really liked the slide and went down it several times.



 



A whole lot of love and a little bit of perscpective

Last week-end I was blessed enough to be able to spend an entire week-end hanging out with some of my college friends in San Francisco and I had an amazing time.  I realized that although I travel occasionally for work and that provides me with a bit of alone time, that I had had not had any real quality time with friends- meaning not just a night out or a lunch date- in a long time.  I think the last time was actually when Marcus was about 7 weeks old (and he came along). So this break was long overdue and I loved almost every moment of it.  When I flew home I reflected on how great both the trip and my friends were.

Cheers to Friendship

 

Sometimes my friends fulfill parts of me that I almost forgot about. (I can't exactly explain this statement but I feel how true it is).

They add perspective

They allow for my imperfections and offer forgiveness for my silliness.

They all bring their own set of issues and baggage and we are so comfortable that each of us spends a bit of time dumping all of those issues and baggage on the floor. 

Then like true friends we all help pick it up and put it all back together again.

They bring unconditional love- well that is what it feels like to me-  they loved me in stupider and darker moments of life than now so it is easy to let my hair down and be silly because I am secure in that love.

They share the joy in whatever moment we are experiencing, whether it is eating some amazing ice cream, trying a new drink, having a dance party, or just celebrating the moment and hanging.

They offer experience- from their own lives, and from those people with whom they surround themselves and they share that with me.  Not in a way that says I am a better than you or sounds condescending. Instead their experience feel like story book that offers multiple options and endings.

Did I mention the laughter my dear friends bring, at one point I couldn't stand or sit up because I was laughing so hard every muscle contracted.

Not to say that every moment is perfect, and that we can't be annoyed with each other but imperfection is usually followed by love and forgiveness (sometimes it just takes time).

I am blessed with amazing friends.  They bring me so much joy and I hope I do the same for them.  It amazes me when I think about it- I have a great husband and son (Luke and Marcus), an amazing family, and so many wonderful people that surround me but sometimes it takes the perspective of time with friends to realize how good life is. They help make me a better wife, mom, and overall person.  Thank you my dear sweet friends for being such a wonderful part of my journey. Now, let's not wait another three years for our next long visit!

A Mom Life Hack- Thank you notes

We all do silly things and come up silly ideas.  I am going to share one of my favorites.

I am a huge proponent of thank you notes.  I am working really hard to teach Marcus that they are important. (he actually loves sending and receiving mail).  So from the moment he was born I started training him to write thank you notes, and other cards.

 He actually writes out his own thank you notes and letters and I am going to tell you all about it.

This is my favorite mom life hack.  After an event where Marcus receives and unexpected or unrequired gift we start the process of sending out thank you cards.  One of two things happen- either I let him pick out the cards he wants to send himself of (like this thank you card featured here) I make it on Shutterfly- totally depends on my mood and how ambitious I am feeling.  Anyway once we have the thank you cards in hand, and of course the list of who should get one it is time to go.  Even when he was super little we did it the same way.

Once we have the list I read it to Marcus and ask him who he wants to say thank you too first- for some reason he answer is always Great Granma Warner, anyway once that is decided I remind him of the gift he received and he starts to write, color, or paint his note.  I may not know what is actually says but I know he is working to show he is thankful.

 

 Here is a sample thank you card written out by Marcus. 

Normally he will help me put them in envelope and adds a few stickers to the back for a final touch. I also make sure the return address is his name, after all if I use store bought thank you notes, the return address is the only way a person would know the card is from him (although occasionally I do right "Love Marcus" on them too).  We put the stamp on and even walk it down to the mailbox.  That way he gets the entire process from beginning to end.

 

 

 

 

Last thought-  here are my rules on who gets "Thank you Cards" and when.

• Birthdays- Everyone who gives a gift or attends his party gets one.
• Christmas- We only send them to people who provide unexpected gifts- especially if we did not reciprocate with a gift.
• Other events- if Marcus gets a gift during any other time of year we try to write a thank you note or if some one does something unexpected with him or takes him to an event

I know that others have their own etiquette rules but this is what we follow in our house.



Another Year- Another Goal

2016 Goals

 

After a lot of thought and about 27 days to late I am ready to unveil my 2016 goals/ resolutions.  Similar to last year- no ranking, just thoughts.  These are not all lofty goals but they are something to focus on in the new year.

Do an event a month (and invite Dad along)-  This is similar to the goal (which was not met) from last year however there is a slightly different twist.  Last year I wanted to do a 5k a month, this year the focus is on an event a month- it can be any distance event.  I have already completed the January event (ice skating) and am signed up for snow shoeing in Feb.  I am hoping that by adding this touch I am more likely to make the goal.  And yes, my Dad is invited to join on all of them but he already wussed out on January!  I am looking for suggestions on events that would be fun to do this year!

• A sub-goal of this one is to blog each one we complete as well so we have a record of it. The good news here is that January is already up so just 11 to go. 

On that subject ,my blogging goal for this year is to make sure I blog at least one time per week- meaning that the end of the year I will had at least an additional 52 blogs.  This is a carry over of a successful goal from 2015 but I do better and blog more when I have a goal driving me along the way.  I am actually going to attempt to keep this up all year long and not have a 4 month drought again. 

Do something for others/ volunteer. This was also a successful item in 2015 however I need to continue it into the new year.  I also want to find out a way to involve  Marcus in volunteer activities.  He is old enough now that I would like him to learn how lucky we are and learn to help others.  Not sure what you can do with a 3 year old but I will check into it.  Also I sent in my application to apply to be an election judge- figure this would be one good way to fulfill my civic duty.




Get Healthier- This needs to be a key activity for 2016.  I don't feel like I have done a lot to improve my health and wellness in the past year. 

• Yoga-  I love yoga and I feel a ton better when doing it so that needs to become part of my routine again-- even if that means just doing it at home before bedtime.
• Other fitness-  I need to get back into a routine- not sure what it is yet but it is needed
• Meal Planning-  I have been actively working at meal planning.  This is a goal for this year.

Spend more time in the wood shop:  I finished the year with a lot of unfinished and dreamed about projects (not to mention the projects that are built and not stained).  I want to finish the rest of the items our bedroom in 2016, build a toy box for Marcus, and build him a kitchen.  Also need to stain the projects built but not finished in 2015.


Do a better job at flossing  and get Marcus on board too  I needed to add on slightly off beat and easy to accomplish one for 2016 (similar to the vitamins in 2015).  This is it-  I need to do a better job of flossing and gargling in 2016-  not hard but does require diligence.

OK that is it.  The list is longer than I intended but I think they are all good goals.  Now I just need to stay on top of them and complete them in 2016.  I got this!

Report Card on 2015 Resolutions/Goals

I know it is the 18th of the month and I haven't actually put up my New Year's Resolution but that is because I have been stewing over it.  I am going to do this in two pieces.  First I am going to start by reflecting on how I did on last years thoughts... So here it goes and be ready for a bit of failure (I did edit out most of the commentary from last year).


Take a daily vitamin-
I am actually going to call this one a success.  I am not going to claim that I got 100% but it was close.  Even better I got Marcus started on this activity as well and he LOVES his gummy vitamins so I call that winning.


Run/Walk 12 5K's with my Dad.
Well this is the first failure--- I don't remember how many events we ended with but I can tell you it wasn't remotely close to the goal!  Opps--- you can guess a similar goal is going to be in the 2016 bunch.

A sub-goal of this one is to blog each one we complete as well so we have a record of it.
Clearly this one didn't get done since I can't tell you about what events we actually did in 2015- Opps again.

  On that subject my blogging goal for this year is to make sure I blog at least one time per week- meaning that the end of the year I will had at least an additional 52 blogs.
I finished the year with 56 blogs-  Woohoo!  This means I met the goal.  I have to admit that I totally feel off of the wagon part way through the year and it was only because I had a strong start that I made the goal.  I also figured out why.  Along the way I started setting way to high of expectations for myself on this and it actually impacted what an when I blogged.  Once I relaxed and was a bit easier on myself the blogging improved.
Do something for others/ volunteer. I realize that I have become a bit of a bump on a log when it comes to serving others. I value this and I need to show that I do by becoming involved in something.
This was also an area of success although I need to continue to try to do more.  I volunteered with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) and was on the steering committee for their big fundraising event of the year.  Additionally, I participated in Moms in Training and raised money to fight leukemia and lymphoma.

Continue to work on turning off-
 I am going to give myself a yes and no on this one.  I think that I was more mindful of turning off in general but probably didn't do it to extent of my goal.

Sub-goal- This also means physically exerting myself more often. Whether it is yoga or running this does help me focus.
Yes so we are going to have to call this one a failure.  I ended the year in the same condition I started it but I did have some good attempts along the way!

So the overall tally for the year- I started with 5 goals and two sub-goals.

 

Goals- 3 Yeahs!, 1 partial, 1 No

Sub-Goals- 2 No's- clearly needed work here

 

Overall, I think I did ok.  I didn't just mail it in when I picked my goals.... instead I tried for things I wanted to stretch for and I am better for it.

 

Look for my resolution/goals in 2016 coming your way soon.

Entertainment at the Airport

A fun and free activity

On Saturday we had a pretty low key day planned.  It really just consisted of dropping the dog off a the groomer and going to a birthday party for one of my friends kids.  It was also amazingly cold outside with a wind chill factor somewhere in the negative 30 range.  So with no real plans we came up with some really fun ideas and kept ourselves busy. This blog is about one of the things that we did.

Last fall, the MSP airport opened a public place to watch airplanes take off and land.  According to some articles I read this is something that the community had been asking for and the MSP airport commission actually spent $200,000 in creating it last summer.

Since we dropped Sandy off at the groomers in Richfield we decided to spend some time in the area and the idea popped into my head to check it out.  I looked up the map on the MSP website (below) and it was super easy to find,  Marcus loved everything about it.  The actual drive into the airport is neat because you drive through two tunnels (and airplanes are actually potentially on top, which was mind-blowing to Marcus) and see a ton of planes before you even get to the parking lot.

Once you are at the parking lot it is possible to see the backside of both terminal # 1 and terminal # 2, as well as having a clear line of sight on two runways.  We were surprised that even with the cold weather and the early morning (it was 9ish) there were actually a few other cars in parking lot as well.

We sat in the car for about 20 minutes and just watched planes take off and land and we will be going back to see it again, only I think we will wait until summer.  It looks like a great place to have a picnic.  This was fun and I suggest it to anyone who has kiddos who think planes are pretty cool.

MSP Airport Viewing Area

Back in the workshop again....

It has been a long time since I have worked on a project in the woodshop and I have a long to-do list.  Most of it is tied to our bedroom.  A few years ago Luke and I made a Farmhouse Bed Frame for our bedroom and since that time I have dreamed about the other pieces in the room I wanted to make to match the bed.... now fast forward a year or two (what can I say but time flies when your having fun) and I finally got to working on the list.  The first thing (and most important) is to build some night stands.  The ones we used before don't match the current bed frame and they also don't really fit with the shape of our bedroom so I found some I liked.  They are the Mini Farmhouse Bedside tables from Ana White's website. See the picture- mine don't look quite like that.

Ana White Mini Farmhouse Bedside Table Plans

 

Getting back into the woodshop after a long break always takes a bit- first I have to clean up the workbench and find the right wood. For Christmas Luke got me a new Kreg Jig which I was super excited to use.

Once everything was ready to go I started working... Check out my footware.... I don't know that anyone would suggest the piggy slippers but it works for me.

 

Love my piggys!






I made a few small alterations to the plan as written.  First I added a shelf so I have a place to keep my laptop.  I also accidently flipped the sides so they don't look the same as the plans but it looks good anyway.  One thing you can't see is that I actually drilled a huge hole in the back of the drawer so I can hide all of my charging items in the drawer (it is awesome). Here is what it looked like when it was completed but still in the shop.



I have  really hard time deciding what color to stain/paint the bedside stand (and I still have to make a matching one) but I decided to bring it upstairs to see how it looks.

 Ok time for a vote-  should I stain it the same color as the bed OR do something else like the same color as the bed for most of the stand and a black/coffee stain for the shelves?  Give me your opinion in the comment section.  Let's be honest I am not going to actually stain it until spring when I can do it outside (hate the smell) and my goal is to have a few of the other items for the room completed by then too!

 Here is a close up view.... as you can see it is instantly full of books.  I can't help myself!