Although the calendar does not say that summer is over, my spirit does. The days are still warm, but school is in full swing. Even the Indiana State Fair has come and gone.
We had a really terrific summer in so many ways. For the first 9 years of my marriage, my husband and I wanted a swimming pool. This was our first summer with our new pool. We enjoyed every minute of it! We all got great exercise and spent a lot of “family time” in there.
The kids did a great job of being at home while I was working. I was better able to balance getting my work done with having the kids home than ever before. Sure, it would be great to be able to spend every minute of the summer with them goofing off, but that isn’t how our lives work. So we made the best of what we had and everyone enjoyed it.
I love fall. I love so many things about fall. But I have to say that I am a little sad that summer is over.
Comparison Shop for Maternity and Nursing Needs
0 Comments Published by Tricia July 24th, 2008 in HealthWhen I was pregnant with my first daughter, I didn’t fully understand how difficult nursing was going to be for me. I heard from everyone that it was so “natural.” Well, it wasn’t easy for us. And it wasn’t easy with my second daughter either. At least not until I got the proper equipment. As a working mom who traveled, I had no choice but to pump. Using a cheap pump from a baby store was not an option for me. I needed something with some power to do the job quickly.
I wish that I had known about MEDmarketplace.com. They have a selection of hospital grade nursing supplies and medical equipment. I ended up renting my pump from a local pharmacy. I should have just purchased a good set before I had my first baby and used it with both kids. MEDmarketplace.com will allow you to quickly compare the price of items like maternity supports and breast pumps.
If you are pregnant and plan on nursing, do yourself a favor and check out this site. It is better to be prepared with a good pump to be able to start off on the right foot than do what I did and end up trying multiple cheap pumps (which can’t be returned) only to end up with the expensive one anyway.
We’re in Day 11 of my quest to get back to health. Those of you who read my blog regularly know that when I fall off of the Weight Watchers wagon, I gain weight. When I stay on it, I lose weight. It’s that simple. So why don’t I stay on it??
The good news is that when you lose weight the right way, you don’t gain it back as quickly. Many moons ago when I lost all of my weight with diet pills, I could gain back as much as 5 pounds a week after I went off the pills. Now when I gain back weight, it is more like 3 or 4 pounds over several months.
It’s relatively easy for me to stay on plan during the week. In fact, I tend to have a lot of points left at the end of the day. Weekends are when it gets hard. If I can make it through a weekend without cheating, it is a major accomplishment.
Next week I have a business trip for 2 days and a trip to Cincinnati for 2 days. Those are going to be a HUGE test for me. But I am going to plan in advance and allow myself just a little bit of flexibility. Hopefully that will lead to success.
I’m still 5 pounds over what I consider to be my “okay with myself” weight. If I can just stick with Weight Watchers for the next month, I will get back to where I was. Then the challenge begins to head to my goal weight. 
As I was blogging about earlier today, summer is almost over and we need to be taking advantage of the time that we have. Given the costs of transportation, most of us are looking for shorter trips. But short does not have to mean less fun than far away!
One of the many places within driving distance to us is Chicago. There is no shortage of things to do in Chicago, whether you are a single, a couple, or a family. You might want to start out with a tour just so that you can see everything that there is in the city and learn a little bit about its history.
Our family has enjoyed the Medieval Times Dinner, Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, and various museums. I recently heard some friends talking about the Legoland Discovery Center.
For evening, you should look into a dinner cruise–beautiful! And the shopping, oh my. You can buy anything in Chicago.
If you need some help figuring out what to do, sign up for the Trusted Tours & Attractions newsletter. Their online travel guides will help you make sure that you are not missing anything. You will get detailed information about attractions in every city like this one about the Metropolitan museum of art. We didn’t do this for Chicago because we thought that we lived so close that we didn’t need it. Big mistake! I get them every time that we visit a major city now. Plus, when you sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter before July 31, you will be entered to win a $150 iTunes gift card.
Get out there and get in a little bit more travel before the weather starts to turn colder. Of course, then you will want to travel to take advantage of all of the beautiful fall weather (especially here in the midwest). You can count on me to encourage you to travel more!
Summer is quickly drawing to a close and I am sad about that for so many reasons. Most of all, I enjoy the carefree life that summer represents. No one has to get up early. There are not places that we have to be every day. Although we do the same amount of work (including household chores), life is just so much more laid back.
The girls only have the rest of this week and two more weeks before they go back to school. Although the weather will still be warm for weeks after that, “summer” just will not be the same.
So I am thinking to myself this morning what I still want to squeeze in before summer is over–so that I do not look back and wish that we had done more. Next weekend we are taking a trip to Cincinnati to go to King’s Island. I’m thinking maybe we will still try to hit the library a few more times before the summer reading program is over. Definitely more swimming.
Sure, we will still enjoy summer activities after school starts. The State Fair will be here soon, and we have tickets to an Indianapolis Indians game. But I do not look forward to going back to the grind of homework, PTO meetings, lunch packing, and early mornings. Maybe I’m the biggest kid of all?
