:Ring: :Ring: – Could someone answer?

Happy Monday, everyone! How was it? I am still feeling under the weather. I woke up with a terrible headache and agitated from the start – not a good way to wake up and start the day. I wanted to curl back up in bed, covered with blankets, and sleep the entire day away.

This is one of the pleasures I miss: calling in sick. As a stay at home mom, THERE ARE NO SICK DAYS. 😦 No calling in late, no leaving early, no half days or taking an extended lunch. At times I miss the freedom… YES I am referring to work as FREEDOM. Crazy! BUT being a stay at home mom was a dream of mine from the day I gave birth. I hated the thought of having someone else raise my son. I wanted to be there to witness his firsts and to be a part of his life 100% in the early years. I know that I am VERY FORTUNATE to have this opportunity. There are hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS of families out there that are struggling to make ends meet with both partners working, only finding out that they are next to be laid off. But being a stay at home mom has bee the hardest job I have ever worked.

It has made me incredibly strong, both mentally and physically but I do have my breaking points… quite a few of them, actually. I am still trying to find a healthy balance between being a mom, a wife and myself. And this is the order that I live my life in: mother, wife and myself. I often find that I hold back on aspects of my life that make “me”, me. I try to focus of those qualities but to be honest, I don’t get to – not even on a daily basis. That’s why I try to get in as much “me” time as I can. Going to the gym helps me quite a bit. Not only does it add exercise to my life, but I can get lost in the music of my Ipod and veg out. I also take time to read a good book – this helps my mind take a break from thinking about life in general and paint pictures of the words I am reading.

And this blog, too. I have always been a writer and have had quite a few blogs in my past, ranging from crafts, personal, my baby blog and now this. It is a wonderful outlet for me to reflect and get lost for a few minutes, or hours, at a time. This blog has also helped me not worry and over-think in my daily life. When I am at home I think, over analyze and become obsessed about the inevitable. It was driving me insane so I knew I had to either find a second job or a hobby that I could do around Jordan – tada! The Clean Eating Mama was created!

What do you do for you? Is it important for you to find time everyday to reflect and de-clutter yourself?

Geez, I had no idea I was going to go off on a tangent like that! I guess I was having one of those moments that I was needing to get lost in my own words and reflect. 🙂

So let’s get back on track: today I started with a nice cup of coffee and some dry Puffins!

And some trail mix… I wasn’t really in the mood to eat anything so I just snacked.

We were having the carpets cleaned at 10 so I was more worried about Jordan and his schedule than mine.

Luckily, he took a nap during the entire time they were here, waking up about 10 minutes after they left. I fixed us some lunch – he had a banana, apple pieces and a waffle, and I had a bowl of Tuscan bean soup, Kashi TLC crackers and a mini brie cheese.

Unfortunately I wasn’t;t feeling any better from the morning and I only ate a third of my soup, a few dabs of cheese and the remainder of my crackers.

The carpets were still pretty wet so Jordan and I loaded up in the car and headed to Trader Joes. I found a new location only about 15 minutes from my house! YAY! I just love Trader Joes! Look at all of this!

Pancake mix, mineral water, a new Larabar flavor, banana’s, cous cous, Dill, walnuts, Zbar’s…

Pomegranate white tea, almond butter, more banana’s, artichoke hearts, pasta sauce, alphabet pasta (for Jordan) 🙂

And these tortilla chips!

Which I snacked on 😉

I also picked up my items for No No 2 Yo Yo’s Project Feed me. This week was Meal in a Box. (Have you singed up for this yet? If not, please do!)

After Trader Joe’s we stopped by to say hi to Marc and my dad who was working on Marc’s grandparents condo. My dad had been staying with us the past few nights – it was great to see him! I don’t get to see him that often. He LOVES his Grandson to pieces!

After putting the groceries away I was really excited to try my tea so I made a nice, hot mug of it – unfortunately my throat was hurting and this was the main reason I was drinking it 😦

It was really tasty! LOADED with antioxidants, I hope it will kick the bug right out of me! Hopefully…

Dinner was left over stew that I had made Saturday night for everyone.I took a few pictures of it but it kind of looked like… a big pile of… yuckiness. It was TASTY but not really eye friendly.

I am off to bed – think good and HEALTHY thoughts for me, guys! I really can’t afford to be sick any longer 😦

Good night!