Yes, I just titled my post that. Sue me. Frazzled days make it hard to be witty or creative. Apparently they can also make you appreciate the little things in life a lot more readily. After “failing at motherhood” today, I realized how thankful I am for a few things.

Naptime

There is a bright side to your child missing a morning nap after waking up at 5:40 am. And a bright side to preschool wearing out your toddler. Three hours of unadulterated bliss. No cat piano. No cries. Pure peace and quiet. Thank the sweet heavens for that.

People Who “Get” My Love of Sarcasm

For the record, I don’t truly think I fail at motherhood. I have my moments, but I trust I’m a pretty dang good mom. At the very least, Makenzie doesn’t go screaming and running in the opposite direction when she sees me. I take that as a good sign.

Leftovers

I have been the queen of leftovers this past week. Leftover lasagna for lunch on Wednesday. Leftover roasted veggie + pesto sandwich for lunch yesterday. Leftover quinoa for lunch today. Note to self: always make meals with plenty of leftovers.

Excedrin Migraine

If you read my post from earlier you know exactly why I’m thankful for that.

Chocolate in Healthy Snack Form

I had a strong chocolate craving this afternoon. Too bad I realized that we didn’t have any chocolate in it’s purest form around the house. How did I let that happen? When there’s a will, there’s a way, so I found a way to get my chocolate fix.

One container plain Greek yogurt. One teaspoon cocoa powder. A few drops of NuNaturals cocoa bean stevia. A couple handfuls of Cascadian Farms Chocolate O’s.

It may not be a huge chunk of dark chocolate, but it worked.

Speaking of NuNaturals…it’s about time I post the giveaway winners! Drumroll please…

• #96 – Amy @ Love4Living
• #5 – Sarah @ Our Journey In Life, Love, & Happiness
• #150 – reader Haley
• #87 – reader Jess

I have emailed the winners, so please check your email if you won and respond to me before Wednesday morning so I can get your shipping information to NuNaturals. Thanks!

• What is something small you appreciate today?
• What are you up to this weekend?

Good morning and happy Friday! I didn’t even think today was already Friday when I woke up, but then Peter assured me that, yes, it is in fact Friday. Works for me! That meant I could have my big bowl of oatmeal right away this morning.

Normally I have a pre-workout snack of some sort in the mornings – a bar, a couple handfuls of cereal/granola, a piece of fruit, etc – and save my oats for when I come home from the gym and can actually sit down and enjoy them. It also makes me not feel like I’m working out with a brick in my stomach. Rest days I get to dive right on in. And do you see it???

My peanut butter had a special little message for me.

I guess it knew I needed that today. Time for a little heart to heart talk.

I ended up taking an unplanned rest day yesterday because my right calf still felt super tight and tender. Logically, I knew I needed to take the day because I would rather have one day off than push a four mile run and weights workout only to get injured or even more pain. It made perfect sense and I was cool with the decision…until sometime in the afternoon.

This is me saying I still go a little mental sometimes and deal with things like exercise guilt. By the time afternoon rolled around, I felt fine and questioned whether I really needed the day off or if I had “lazily” taken a day. The exercise guilt started setting in and overtaking the logical side of my brain.

I started to let myself feel like I had been too lax lately and that I had lost my Body After Baby progress to my happy weight. Even though I’m fitting comfortably in my favorite pair of jeans – the #1 pair of goal jeans I had for myself.

I had already taken an unplanned rest day this past Sunday and felt like taking another was letting myself down…or possibly you all down. Was I being “lazy”? You know… because spending an hour chasing a toddler at the park is lazy, of course!

Basically – I got hit with the ridiculous stick and was in crazy land for a bit there. I guess we’re never fully immune to the body image and exercise/food guilt struggles that have dug their way in before. My oatmeal’s subliminal messaging pulled me out of that you’re-being-WAY-too-hard-on-yourself haze just in the nick of time. Because now I have to see if I can pull myself out of the why-are-you-waking-up-before-6am-baby-B??? haze.

• Give me either your favorite “love yourself” quote or just something you love about yourself this morning. Let’s burn the “ridiculous sticks” that like to try to beat us every now and again!