Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day. My first real one anyway--I was pregnant on Mother's Day last year if you want to count that. This is the first one that I actually have a child. It was pretty good. We went out to a nice lunch at Green Mill, which was a good choice because they weren't doing a Mother's Day brunch so it wasn't actually that busy, and Charlotte was really well-behaved so we were actually able to have a nice meal at a restaurant without any real big issues. They messed up Eric's order but then gave it to us for free so it turned out ok. Eric and Charlotte gave me nice chairs for our balcony, which was the perfect gift. Now we don't have to use our camping chairs to sit out on our balcony this summer! They also gave me a little wall decoration, some planters, an awesome purple watering can, and a small gnome to put in our little balcony garden which I will now be able to start. I may not have a house yet, but I am going to do some gardening anyway! It was a really nice way to spend my first Mother's Day, and was exactly what I wanted--some time with my two favorite people, the reasons I'm a mother to begin with.

If Only I Wasn't So Dependent On the Internet

I am very frustrated with our internet provider. We're basically stuck with what we have, and if we want internet and tv we can't really switch--there just aren't a lot of options for people living in an apartment building. Anyway, we've had a lot of problems recently and have had to call every month for the past 3 or 4 months to get things fixed with our bill, and finally we decided to change our internet speed to a slower speed to try to save some money. They told us we could always upgrade to the next highest option for only a slight increase so we figured we would try that if the current speed was too slow. Which it is. We called tonight to get the middle speed at the middle price (not quite what we were originally paying, but not quite as fast as that either. But still better than the slowest/cheapest option). However, the people we talked to basically told us no, it wasn't an option, and that technically we shouldn't have been given the price we are paying for the service we are getting anyway. If we wanted to cancel and wait 60 days though, we could become "new" customers again (or something like that) and get an even better deal than we are getting right now for the faster internet. I think that is ridiculous. What is even more annoying is that it seems like every time we call they tell us something different. Different people offer different deals, and some people don't offer any and try to screw you over, and even just calling to tell them they screwed up a bill turns into a big hassle. There is so little consistency with this internet provider (probably not just them, but our only experience has been with this one) and it has caused so many problems. Like I said, we can't easily or cheaply switch, however, because options are much more limited when you live in an apartment. Just one more reason I'm looking forward to having a house someday.

Allergies Part 2

Apparently I spoke too soon. Yesterday my eyes started itching a little. Today they are itching more. Tomorrow, who knows? I think the cooler, wetter weather kept my allergies at bay but now that it is sunny and warm I think they are going to come on full force. Bummer.

Allergies

I can't believe it's almost May already. Where has April gone? And where are my allergies? I feel like usually they have started by this point in time and I've only had a couple of days where I noticed some very slight symptoms. Is the pollen just slow to get going this year due to some crazy weather? Or is this a lighter pollen year? If so, you won't see me complaining. I would be more than happy to avoid allergies altogether. I'm a little surprised though; usually the 2nd half of April, all of May, and sometimes even into June my allergies are so bad there are some days I can't even put in my contacts. I hope the late start to allergies means good things for my body and not just a postponement of allergy season.

Strawberries

Today strawberries were buy one get one free at the grocery store.  They actually look ok considering the time of year, and I definitely haven't been eating as much fruit (or veggies) as I should be, so it will be so nice to get some back into my diet. That is one of my favorite things about spring/summer, the decrease in produce prices and the increase in produce quality. I'm not a big veggie eater, but even I enjoy heading to the grocery store, or even better, the farmer's market, to buy some fresh stuff and toss it all together in a salad or use some tomatoes and make some bruschetta. And I absolutely love when the perfectly ripe fruit hits the stores and it goes on sale, especially raspberries. Yum. It's hard to beat fresh fruit and veggies. I know it's still a month or so until they are really fresh and actually in season, but it's nice to have a hint of that already.

I Heart Endorphins

I used to be a pretty serious runner. So much so that I even managed to run the Twin Cities Marathon in 2009. Once I got pregnant and had Charlotte, running took a back burner for a long, long time. I still exercised by taking walks while pregnant and in the months after Charlotte was born before it got too cold, but I really let things slide when it came to running. Now that spring is back and with it some gorgeous weather, and Charlotte is finally big enough to use the jogging stroller, I've been getting back out there. Boy, has it been tough. I love it though. I've only gone 3 times in the past week, and only a couple of miles a time, but I'm really pleased that I've been able to do any running at all. I love running so much. It's been a part of my life for so long now. I've never really been great, but I do it because there is nothing else like it, and I never feel stressed or anxious about life once I get going. When I hit the road running my mind is free. Sometimes I think deep thoughts, sometimes I pray, sometimes I just think about my day and my schedule, but it's never stressful thinking. And sometimes I'm so tired and out of breath that the only thing I can think about it how hard it is to keep going. I love that feeling too. My mind just empties of everything else except running and getting one foot in front of the other over and over again. It feels great to finish those runs, knowing it was a challenge that I faced head on and won. Although 2 miles didn't used to be such a challenge. That's what happens with so much time off and pushing a jogging stroller. Hopefully soon I'll be in a little bit better of shape and able to go a little further. And hopefully Charlotte will keep enjoying the ride and not get too bored. I'm a little worried to go more than 3-4 miles at a time anyway because I don't know how enjoyable that is for her. I have a ways to go before I get to that point though, fortunately and unfortunately. For now I'm just going to enjoy the chance to get out there and run a couple of times a week.

Bad Day

Sometimes technology is not as good as people think it is. Especially when you save something and go back and find it is deleted and have to start from scratch. And then you can't think of what exactly you said and how you worded it, only that you know you really like how it sounded. And there is no way you can recreate the same words and feeling behind them but you have to try because it's important that you do. But no matter what you write you still like how it sounded the first time. And it makes you very frustrated because it was perfect and it should have saved but somehow something went wrong with the computer and it didn't, even though you did everything right. Stupid technology.