Once again, I failed to keep up with my Flip Fridays series last week. No video to share, but you can check out an amateur review I wrote up of a new restaurant in town on my other blog. Yep, I'm that hip, trying out a new restaurant during opening week! With my toddler companion!
In other news, I've finally made the decision, after months of agonizing over it, to decrease Elias's daycare days from four back down to three. As I mention in my other blog post, I think I can get all my work done in three solid days and while the savings aren't substantial, trimming the budget wherever we can does help and it adds up after awhile. I'm still planning on four days of preschool in the Fall, since four days of preschool is significantly cheaper than four days of daycare, but we'll see. It will depend on my work situation, various travel plans, and the longevity of a growing list of stuff - car, water heater, furnace, you name it. Owning a house is fun!
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the change for a few reasons. Following a month that beat out November as my best, February has been depressingly slow, business-wise. If wedding invitation orders pick up significantly in the next couple of months, which I'm hoping they do, I might be pulling my hair out on Mondays. Time will tell. For now, things are a little on the slow side so three days seems like it should be enough. And I've really been enjoying Mommy Fridays again now that Elias seems to finally understand the concept of Daddy being home but inaccessible (more or less...knock on wood) and with the altered expectation of an hour of "quiet time" in lieu of the anxiety-inducing nap that never happened. So hopefully this means a little more of a good thing.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Monday is not a run day. Oh yes, didn't I tell you I started training for a half-marathon that I can't afford to actually register for back in January? A little pathetic but even so, it's proven to be pretty good motivation. I'm only down about five pounds, but I'm keeping up with my "training" schedule and I'm up to about 6.5 miles with no sign of the knee problems that followed my first (and perhaps only) marathon almost ten years ago (knocking on wood again). I haven't felt this motivated to get back in shape in a long, long time. Self-care has been slow to come back for me, post-baby, but now that I'm making a real effort at it, I see how important it is to good parenting. It's a bit counter-intuitive, but it's like the flight attendant tells you on the plane, in case of an emergency, put your mask on first, and then help your kid. But mostly, I think it's because I've finally found something that I enjoy all by myself. Maybe a room of one's own is actually not a room at all.
