fitness weekend

lots of activity this last weekend!

dan took griffin for a bike ride while i met my co-workers and rollerbladed 28 miles. 28 miles! my feet were not happy with me. but i did it and i'm still alive to tell about it.
the gateway trail is great. relatively flat, with the exception of a couple bridges. we parked by lake phalen and bladed out to stillwater i believe.

we did a little grilling out that night and then sunday i took a 20 mile bike ride.

i have been ramping up the exercise these past few months, but so far i dont feel/notice a difference. maybe i need to quit eating ice cream and a pound of pasta every day. haha.

anyway, it was a good weekend and so far, a good week.

last night we took griffin for a walk in his wagon, and the little next door neighbor girl, riley, came along with us. they are about the same age. anyway, this was the first time i've seen griffin really interacting with another kid and he was actually being a bit of a showboat! he's normally the reserved, shy one that just watches what the other chitlens are doing, but last night he was telling riley all kinds of stuff and he was playing a game with her where he would tickle her belly and then want his tickled.
(thats how it starts...next thing you know.....)

anyway, it was super cute to see him so talkative, and having fun with another little kid.

today when i was dropping his off at school he said to me, "momma, why you go to work?"
how do you answer that one?
• i could have said, "cuz we need to be able to pay the bills", but he doesn't get that yet.
• i could have said, "you know all trains and fun toys you have downstairs? i don't see YOU working too hard to pay for them"
• i could have said, "you know how we like to take trips, go to concerts and do fun things? well - we need to be able to pay for that". but again...that is money related. not relevant.
• i could have said, "i know baby. it sucks. i wish i could stay home with you every day and watch you grow and be the one that gets to teach you all these new things. miss yvonne can shove it up her ass. how come SHE gets to be the one that sees you do the new things, learn your letters, eat new food, say new funny things and teach you how to move your head all ghetto like and say, while pursing your lips and then saying, "oh no you di-int"
i ended up telling him "because someone needs to make the cereal that you eat everyday!" (umm...like i'm really making cereal, but hey, he can probably at least understand that one!)

so why DOES momma go to work? i'd like to say it is all about the money. we need it to pay the bills. we need it to afford the great new house we live in, the trips we want to take, the things we want to buy griffin, the college fund we started for him, and to just plain get by.
yes, that is part of it. but...we didn't HAVE to move to our new house. if we stayed at the old one, we could probably afford for me to not work.

but in reality, i think i want to work. at least part time. yes, i do want to see all the things griffin does, be a bigger part of his life and of him learning new things and basically taking the time now to spend with him that i will never get back. but, i think deep down i know that i like and want to work. maybe not 40 hours per week...25 would be ideal, but not possible right now. maybe down the road.

i think for us...it's about quality of time...not quantity. i imagine that if i were home all day, i would probably plop him in front of the TV quite a bit, just to be able to get things done. i would be crabbier to dan, because i would expect him to take over when he got home. i guess for US...i feel like we parent better this way, and we are better partners because of it.
for US..this works. i am SUPER happy for my friends and family members that can stay home...that works for THEM.

i am sad now and then, and when other friends/family are able to stay home, i do feel a twinge of guilt/sadness for myself and wish i could be in their shoes, but overall...we are happy. i FINALLY like my job, it's fairly flexible (as well as dan's) and the time we spend in the mornings, evenings and weekends...i think we do a pretty good job of fitting it all in and making griffin realize that the amount of time spent isn't the most important.