FOUR MONTH SABBATICAL

As you may have noticed, I've been gone. I haven't posted anything in three and a half months. I was hoping to have this up and running before I moved and jumped into the busy season of my job but alas, it is not so. Now I'm half way through my busy season and thoughts have finally pressed my guilt enough to get a move on.

Maybe this assumes the epitome of the modern woman; so busy doing that writing and journaling has taken a back seat to this long journey ahead.

I've been thinking a lot about women of this era and have made a lot of changes in myself to be the super mom, wonder wife, bionic business woman, and still seem to fall short. This will be a lifetime adventure to define what a modern woman is and does and how she can, in fact, do it all.

Lately my work has been getting the better of me. I spend roughly 70 hours a week punched in the time clock and a rough estimate of another 8 hours a week thinking about work. For those of you deep into your professions, that's a lot of work. Try juggling other household regularities, such as cleaning, cooking, groceries, balancing the checkbook and paying bills, vehicle management and maintenance, exercise, relaxing, catching enough zzzzzzz's; the list is endless---especially for you moms. I don't even have kids yet! If you are wondering what my husband does, he also works. He does the hard work, probably less hours than I do, but the more proactive job. Mine is more reactive, but necessary (we work together with quite the office).  Also in my husband's defense, he does help with a lot of these responsibilities and I don't usually ask him to. Our agreement is this: during the busy season of our jobs I handle the hard stuff and time consuming stuff and he focuses solely on his job. If I need him to do anything else, I'll ask.

Notice that the word "exercise" (above) is italicized. Now, I know I haven't discussed my job much so you won't understand quite why this is such a big deal for me. About five months ago I decided to run a marathon. Not just decide, but start training, and I have. Since then, I've worked through three different busy seasons for different jobs (multiple jobs at approximately the same time), a move, and climate change. My husband and I moved temporarily from a small town with a high altitude in Idaho (western United States) to a large city in Northern Virginia (eastern United States) with a low altitude. Folks, that's a night and day difference. Harsh, dry winter season to a harsh, humid summer season to be more descriptive.

My training started out with just at walking for 20 minutes four times a week the first week. Now I'm running approximately eight miles a day, three to four times a week. My schedule has had to change with what times of the day I run. Now that it is hot and humid, I can no longer run at 2:00 pm like I did in Idaho. Shoot, I don't even like to start my run after 8:30 am; it gets too hot and sweaty! Usually I come to the office at 7:00 am to let my team in and pick up their paperwork for the day but that only gives me 90 minutes to train before heading home to prepare lunch for the day and get my husband out of bed (he needs more sleep than I do). However, I also work late into the night and am working on finding a new routine to get up early in the morning with enough time to run to the office and let my team in, and run back home. It is a struggle.

After all is written today, I'm looking for tips or suggestions from those of you who do have it all, or seem to have it all. How do you manage? What works for you? Is there anything you do or tell yourself that makes you able to get more done in the day?

The question is, "Why do you do what you do, and how do you keep going?"

HOW MANY STEPS ARE THERE?

Ever wished you could do it all?

Wake up, exercise, have laundry done and breakfast cooked before the kids wake up? Gee, wouldn't that be nice. After dropping them off at school with healthy lunches packed, I'd love to pick up my latte (or cup of orange juice as my choice) and head to work in the business world and run the work place. Oh yeah, and after work I would be able to pick my kids up from practice, get home while I help them with homework and cook up dinner for my husband. Then we would just hang out and have fun, I would have an hour to read a book, clean up the house, do yoga, and head to bed.

Good grief. Even if I would manage my time to have an hour just to read and make some good, homemade, HEALTHY food it would be awesome. I take it back. I wish I could keep my house clean by doing my regular chores...I don't even have kids yet! You all know how it really goes. Kids crawling over you to wake you up, dragging them to school because they missed the bus while you wear your slippers and pajamas with last night's makeup (if any) left on your face. Maybe you grabbed some food on the way for them to eat in the car. Or you hurried to get dressed and managed to drop the kids off so you don't get to work too late. I don't know.

Take it one step at a time. For now, maybe to get to that dream of having it altogether, it will probably be best to work on myself and manage my sleeping habits AND find a good workout plan that is working. What steps do you take to make life "normal?"

PONDERING

I love the decades of the 1900s. Things seemed so much more simple in those days. It was normal and more accepted to be a woman staying at home and doing chores, raising children, and cooking home made DELICIOUS meals. Granted, things were harder to do. I'm grateful for my washing machine and dryer, and for a water heater by all means! But don't you wish you could go back to a simpler time?

I'd love to not worry about the pressures of working a job to provide a second income for my family or if I'm going to get a nanny or have my children at a daycare center. Is there a way to do it all? I want that! Exactly that. I want to be able to be a mother and wife at home with my children and family and take care of things that otherwise tend to get neglected, but I also want to help my husband and relieve the pressures he has.

How can I be a woman living in our modern world and still be that crafty, sensitive, nurturing and loving soccer mom? This are a few of the things that I hope will be topic of conversation on this blog. I'm sure many things will be from my life so I may be a little bias. Please feel free to keep me in check and remind me of the outside world. 

Is there anything you hope to read about?

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Hello there, I'm just starting this blog and am in the process of working out the bugs. Bear with me while I get things up and running! Feel free to request updates be sent to you by leaving a comment with your email address! Contact information will soon be up.