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7 Little Things To Get Me Through The Day

Some days I'm running full force, non-stop and feeling pretty darn close to SuperWoman.  Other days ... well, other days I'm lucky to make it all the way to bedtime without wanting to just curl up in the fetal position.

My job during the day is demanding.  It's mentally exhausting and, as of late, filled with meetings, deadlines, performance reviews, policy creations, jumping in and taking over staff responsibility to allow for vacation requests.  I'm THAT woman ... the one who is the "Type-A", the one who says, "no, really, I can handle it."  And I am that woman who takes on way too many tasks because it will take too long to teach someone else and honestly, I'm really flipping good at multitasking.  Not bragging ... just saying, I truly have it down to an art.  Thinking about it, I'm not sure when I became that way, but I remember really being able to define that skill when I worked in the Emergency Room at the main campus hospital for the Health System I work for.  12-hour shifts from 7pm to 7am ... running all night in a Level I Trauma Center taking in everything from the "I just want a bed and a meal" to the "level I trauma ETA 3 minutes!"  I perfected the ability to jump from one thing to another and while doing one of them, I was able to start the next.  

Or .. perhaps it goes back to starting my entire working career as a waitress and then bartender.  Being able to work the entire floor even on a busy Friday night and come out of it without breaking a sweat.  Expertly weaving in and out and making one trip of the floor to address each and every table.  

I guess we all become a combination of our life experiences ... and I think our ability to take those life experiences and really refine the good ones and weed out the bad ones becomes an art form in and of itself.  I've never claimed to live a perfect life, however I can claim to being able to steer clear of the bad decisions more often than not in my 'old' age, simply because, I've been down the other fork in the road ... and this chick is NOT going backwards!

During the weekdays it's a long haul for my husband and I.  We both work full time; opposite shifts.  This way our 5 1/2 year old is not having to do the before/after school thing and we can save the outrageous prices of daycare.  (Seriously, have you priced it lately??  The before/after school program at my daughter's school for just ONE day a week is $60/week.  That's $240/month!  For ONE day a week for 1 hour after school.)  

I start my day at 5:20am.  Up, dressed and out the door to be at work at 6:30am.  For the first 30 minutes of my work day I actually have peace.  No one at my desk with questions and hardly anyone in the office yet.  It's a little slice of heaven.  Especially when you haven't even had a first cup of caffeine.  Just sayin'.  However the crunch of the day is soon upon me and before I know it, it's time to leave.  Then it's a mad dash home to get there in time for my husband to leave for work and for me to take charge of the LIttle Miss.  

Between getting my chores done around the house, cooking dinner, quickly buzzing through my emails and social media that I've not been able to do all day, possibly getting a network TV show favorite in, cleaning up the house for the FINAL time of the night, the bath and bedtime ritual for Little Miss and then getting to squeeze in some Scentsy business .... I'm lucky to have my head hit the pillow by 11pm.  On a good night.  

So ... how do I do that and NOT be curled up in the fetal position every single night??  Well, I'm about to share the 7 little things that I do to get myself (and my sanity!) through the day.  

7. My iPhone.

Yep.  Siri is literally my Personal Assistant.  She schedules all my bill payments throughout the month, reminds me of my grocery store list, blocks out reminders for my Scentsy business work, keeps me on track with my marketing and social media branding, and of course, reminds me of the important things like, "Mom's birthday" or "Don't forget about the Leadership Seminar scheduled for Tuesday," you know, so I don't blindly just drive to the office that day instead of across town to the Convention Center .... (no, that's NEVER happened. HA!)  I seriously take full advantage of the brain in my Smart Phone.  Without it I would constantly be wondering if I paid the credit card bills on time, or if the water bill is due this week or next week and when the dentist appointments are.  Yes, a planner is all fine and good ... but does it make a noise when it's trying to remind you to do something you scheduled??  I think not.  

6.  My Lunch break at Work.

This is seriously one of my most coveted things during the week.  Why??  Well, I think I covered the whole, 'my job is mentally exhausting' part, right?  And the part where I have no decompress time between work and jumping in to do my evening duties as Mom while my husband works.  My lunch break is a whole 30-45 minutes that I can sit.  I can mentally recharge.  I can READ A BOOK.  I can check Facebook or ... on a really good day - do some pinning on Pinterest.  It's a time in the day where I escape into the corner of the building and just .... BE.  

5.  Happy Texts.

Yes, my husband and I have fun ... even when we are apart.  If he knows my day is going downhill, he'll send me a funny picture, a cute YouTube video he knows I'll like, or something as simple as, "You're awesome."  It's seriously one of the best ways to keep my sanity in check.  And I love him for it.

4.  My Heating Pad.

Oh, Heating Pad, how I love thee!!  So I have this whole Disk Degeneration Disease in my back and need at least one back surgery.  Who's got time for that?!  I have lived with it for many years so I almost consider myself to be have a pretty high tolerance for the daily pains.  However ... stress is a major trigger for my back pain because my whole body is tense and tight and it just exacerbates the pain I already have.  After the chores are done and Little Miss is happily coloring and watching Netflix ... I have a nice 30 minute window to sit with my heating pad and watch the nightly news.  As soon as that heat hits my back ... I can start to take those deep cleansing breaths and get in a little bit of relief.  

3.  Playing with Little Miss.

Yep.  Sometimes you gotta take your perspective down a notch or two and look at it from a child's point of view.  She absolutely loves to color so most times we color, sometimes we play the Match card game and other times we dance it out.  Yep.  The Pandora App will get switched on the Xbox One and we will dance it out!  Crazy, fun, shake your hair, bounce around kind of dancing that leaves you feeling euphoric.  

2.  Balance the Happy with the Rest.

I'm a nice little ball of stress most weeks due to my work, but I have this really awesome home business in my Scentsy business.  It's a job, but it's one that makes me smile just thinking of it.  It's the job where I can be ME and I get to create the atmosphere and just have FUN.  I chat with people about the product and their love for it, I add people to my team and get to know a new 'family' in them ... it just makes me happy.  And you have to have some happiness to balance out the stress; if you don't, you will only be left with the stress and that, my friends, is when you find yourself curled up in the fetal position!

1.  De-Gig From the Day.

This is a term my husband has always used since I met him.  "I need to de-gig from work," as he plays an hour of GTA5 instead of going to bed when he gets home from work.  It took me awhile to understand it, but once I did ... I totally OWNED IT.  After everything is done for the day, my house is clean again, Little Miss is having sugar plums dancing through her dreams, my quirky need to lock, re-lock, and double check the entire house before escaping to my bedroom.  And my bed.  Oh, how I adore my bed!!  My husband and I finally, yes, FINALLY bought a new bed, (we were probably ten years overdue) and for as many years as we put it off, all I can say is: we were stupid.  A good, comfy, supporting bed is the most heavenly thing ever.  So, when the day is done and the house is quiet I retreat to my bed.  I have two Scentsy warmers in there with only relaxing scents and softly glowing light shining and the ambiance is just perfect.  Some nights I just lay there and enjoy the quiet.  Others I might hop on Pinterest until my eye lids get heavy, and others when I might do a Netflixing binge before closing my eyes.  It's all "mindless entertainment" but it settles me.  It relaxes me.  It keeps my mind from thinking of the 72 things I forgot to do during the day at work and how I probably should have done that load of laundry tonight and that I don't want to forget to grab my headphones off my home office desk so I'll have them for work tomorrow, and 'oh - did I lock the front door?'  Yea ... my mind is one of THOSE.  The ability to allow myself to just de-gig from the day is better than anything else I could give myself.  

All in all, it's about balance.  About getting hit with the punches, but learning to dodge some of them.  My happiness can come from the important people in my life that I most care about, a heating pad to calm my nerve endings, or simply doing a little Netflixing at the end of the day.  Yen and Yang.  Stress and happiness.  Anxiety and relaxation.  

At the end of the day I am blessed to have the opportunity to have all this hustle and bustle in my life.  The hustle my husband and I do each and every week allows us to have two full time incomes, plus my part time Scentsy income.  We can give our family and kids the things they need and some of the things they just "have to have!"  And I am peaceful in knowing that my kids see us hard working and pushing for the life we want because I don't want them to live in the fairy tale that life is easy and handed to you.  That you can't just rely on other people to do the things you could be doing for yourself.  If you want something; you work for it.  And if you want it bad enough ... you'll find the time to make it happen.  We are making little people here ... and they need direction and strong influences in their life.  

At the end of the day you just have to have a little more happiness than you do stress.  And that, my friends, is perfect balance.

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Busy. Busy. Busy.

This Week .... 
Here I sit on my glorious Saturday afternoon just completely happy to be sitting at home and still in my yoga pants and t shirt.  The first week of the new year is officially in the books and it has been the craziest one I've had in such a long time.  I'm mentally and physically drained at this point.  Do you get to those points in your week where you just want to curl up in a ball and sleep for 14 hours?  Yea.  That was me by Monday evening.

A Great Start .....
January 3rd is my husband and I's wedding anniversary.  With the stress and chaos of the holidays and his lay off from work I was really hoping we were going to actually be able to celebrate in some type of fashion.  So ... using a lovely gift card we decided we wanted to see a movie together.  In a theater.  Yes.  Not in our home on the couch, but in this glorious building they show movies in where all kinds of people go.  I remember these buildings from our past .... before the busy work weeks, the kids and everything in between.

We decided to try the Fork & Screen option that AMC Theaters has, where you can eat, drink and have everything brought to you while you watch your movie.  It seemed like a dream come true.  I hoped online, bought our tickets and reserved our seats - then begged, pleaded and bribed my 13 year old son to please watch the 5 year old for us for 3 hours.  He gave in.  I literally jumped for joy.

An anniversary is the celebration of your relationship .... so, being in a giving spirit I let my husband pick the movie and his desire was the final Hobbit movie.  I have to say ... it was a really fun experience.  We ordered our food and a tall cold beer each and sat back to enjoy.  It was fabulous.  We watched new movie previews.  We laughed.  We ate.  We drank.  All without kids.  Watching a movie without having to pause it or even get up for a refill on our drinks, (you push a button!) I felt like a Queen for a day.

Being in this state of euphoria I did the only thing that a crazy, happy, geeky woman does: I took a bathroom selfie.  That, my friends, is a look of pure happiness on my face.  It wasn't a fancy anniversary, but the whole point was to be together and enjoy US.  Even if it was only for 3 hours.

Enter the Weekdays.....
This was a big week beginning for us.  I'd had some time off for the holidays from my work and now it was time to go back to the regular work weeks.  School didn't start until Tuesday for the kids, but my husband finally, (yes - FINALLY!!!) started his new job Monday night.  Little did I know this would prove to be the busiest week I'd had in a long time.

I work in accounting .... still ending year end financials and beginning a new year of financials is time-consuming.  And I was down a staff member.  And I had the beginning of the month reports to complete.  And year end performance reviews to do.  And a long, laundry list of other tasks.  Monday started off rough.

As I walked in the house from work, I made my husband's lunch for the night and he was officially out the door.  I was ready to have a good evening though.  I had set up my Scentsy team meetings and did an online Google Hangout after I put the little one to bed and then got things ready for the next night and headed off to dreamland in hopes of a good rest of the week.

The Winter Vortex.  Whatever fancy name you use ... I'll still opt for the simplest one.  Cold.  It has just been plain COLD.  Tuesday didn't yield more promising results, only more workload for me at work and my husband getting acclimated to getting home from work as I was walking out the door to go to work.  He got our little one back to school and then slept until I woke him up at 530pm.

My husband has worked the nightshift for long enough now that I have the evenings down to a fine science during the week.  Surprisingly enough I can get more done without him home.  I think as a Mom you slowly develop this skill.

MultiTasking ....
So the week continued .... me barely making it through the workday and still having my sanity, off to pick up the youngest from school, hit the grocery store and then home in enough time to make the husband's lunch and get him out the door.  Throughout the week Madison has 'homework' which is basically the equivalent of me continuing to review what she has done during the day at school.  This week for her it was all about fables and one of her tasks was to watch The Little Red Hen.  I wasn't too familiar with this fable until we pulled it up to watch while I was making lunches and starting dinner.  As we listened to the story I was feel very connected to the Hen.  It's your basic fable of how you reap what you sow.  When she asks her farm friends to help her no one wants to ... but when she makes the cake on her own - everyone wants to eat it!  Shocking.  But alas the Red Hen sticks to her guns and eats the cake on her own.  (You go, Red Hen!)  I think her lessons this week spoke to me more than they should have.

Weeknight dinners change up a bit, as you can see I had Date Night: Party of One while working on organizing myself for my upcoming college classes.  I lead a very envious life, I know.  My goal each night of the week is to do a little housework so that way come the weekend I'm not completely overwhelmed with all of it.  I highly suggest this as it works fabulously for me.  I split it all up, laundry one night, dusting another, vacuuming and sweeping another, trash, bathroom, etc.  It makes it so much more manageable that way and I at least feel like I'm accomplishing something in the midst of the chaos.

The Magic of it All ... 
Some days you are the bug ... other days you are the windshield.  This quote is one my favorites because it's just so true.  I felt like the bug all week.  Always behind in work, with more piling on each day and getting back into the routine of doing all the housework and nightly chores on my own.

My philosophy is a simple one: find things that make you happy ... and then enjoy them.  I don't know the actual name of this magical machine ... but in my office breakroom it is my happy spot. With the touch of a button you can have cold, filtered water, hot filtered water, (for my Chai Tea obviously) and there is even a button for boiled filtered water, you know, in case you only have time for Cup 'O Noodles for lunch?  Either way ... this machine is my happy spot.  It allows me an excuse to get away from my desk and then I can create a perfect cup of my favorite tea in seconds.  If you ever see this contraption for sale on QVC or Amazon, please comment message me.  I will buy it in a heartbeat!

Making it through the week was hard.  Even though I did my best to keep a positive attitude, I still struggled.  I did try though.  I ended the week drained.  I can say, however, by plotting out my housework during the week, I'm able to sit here on a Saturday afternoon and only have minimal housework to do.  So ... maybe I did end on a high note.

Weekend Love ...
Despite the rough week in my household, the weekend love is still strong.  My husband and I do a weekly Date Night on Saturday nights.  Normally at home of course, so I'm looking forward to sitting down to a nice homemade dinner, quality time with my family and either a game night or movie night for us once the little one is snuggled in her bed.

Adjusting to a new schedule is tough.  How do you find the silver lining in yours?  Mine are the little things.  The ability to multitask my week so I'm not doing housework all weekend long, the time spent in the kitchen each evening with my 5 year old discussing important world topics such as which play dough color is the best, and in my world, thankful my husband is back to work and we can relieve some of our financial stress.

I'm working on focusing on the GOOD each week while I keep my head above water on all the rest.

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A Day in the Life .....

Jacqui...

It's officially a brand new year.  2015.  Not only am I ready for a new year, but I'm ready for a new adventure to take on.  I have been working on my cooking blog for a few years now but realized more recently I needed a new outlet.  So ... welcome to Mom's Day Never Ends.  Catchy name, huh?  Yea.  Creativity at it's best.  I joke, but I knew that I'm not the only woman out here who is trying to fit so much into every single day.  I figure maybe I can share my life and in turn find ways to organize it better by hearing your feedback and meeting other Moms out there like me.  

Let's start with the basics:

• I work full time as a Supervisor in Patient Accounting for a large health system in my area.  I can say I actually really enjoy my job.  I've worked with the health system for 11 years now and have been in my current role for 3 years.  It's challenging, keeps me busy all day and the flexibility of my schedule, (and ability to telecommute) is ideal for me.  
• I also have a direct selling business and am an Independent Scentsy Consultant.  This is a passion for me because I truly love the product.  I meet so many people working my Scentsy business that I have found new friends on a weekly basis; I love that.  Again, another job that allows so much flexibility, so it fits perfect for me.

Lunch breaks consist of multitasking: working my Scentsy business on the go!

The majority of my work week is filled with meetings, training classes, design projects and working through issues.

• I am celebrating two years of marriage, (as of 1/3/15!) with my amazing husband, Justin.  This is my second marriage, (and final!) and as much as it sounds cliche, he is my best friend.  He's the one I can count on for anything.  We have your typical marriage ... me asking him to take down the trash or clean the cat box and usually in about 3 days it happens.  He asks me to not stress out about everything and I don't listen and end up giving myself migraines.  Yin and yang, right?  He's a geek, but he's my geek.  He loves computer gaming, gadgets, cheesy action movies, Dungeons and Dragons, and tinkering with almost anything.  He works mechanical/labor jobs and over the years it never fails ... lay off's come and it puts a strain on us.  2015 is starting anew.  On Jan 5th he officially starts on with our local Harley Davidson Plant, getting hired on during one of their 'surge hires'.  He's hoping to be kept after the initial 9 weeks and if so ... that means Union benefits.  To my ears that means: stability.  

Here he is ... I told you he's a gadget guy, right?

• I have three children, two from my first marriage and one with my husband.  Insert craziness here.  My oldest will be 18 in August this year and she is .... how do I put this?  She's a teenage girl filled with hormones who is strong-willed and dying to be independent.  If you haven't yet experienced teenage years with a girl ... good luck to you my friend.  

Alyssa.  My "I'm an adult!" Child.

• Next up is my boy; he's a gamer, a tech-geek, gadget-lover, sweet and caring 13 year old boy.  He has actually really stepped up just in the past year.  He adores spending time with his little sister, (don't worry - the little one is coming next) and still loves watching silly movies, playing games and hanging out with us.  I can only hope he stays this way forever.  (is that possible??) 

Quentin.  He's my boy ... though he prefers I say "young man."

• Last, but certainly not least, (just ask her, she'll tell you) is our 5 year old.  When we found out we were pregnant it had been 9 years since I had Quentin ... it literally felt like I was pregnant for the first time all over again.  Everything had changed!  When Alyssa was born I was a stay at home mother and with Quentin I worked as a Property Manager for an apartment complex and I lived on site so it was easier ... with Madison during my pregnancy I was still working the overnight shift in the Emergency Room at the hospital and realized very quickly that it needed to change.  A pregnant woman's sense of smell is heightened and working in the ER I think most of my co-workers will tell you they would often see me running to the restroom if I came across an odd smell.  Switching my career at work was a blessing and started leading me on my current path.  Madison was the start of what my life is today.  She is animated, creative, loves dancing and singing, has a remarkable sense of humor and it quick-witted.  I think we are in trouble ... 

Madison ... our little lovebug.

 What's So Exciting About all That?

I made the decision about 2 months ago that 2015 I was finally going to finish my Bachelor's Degree.  Here's my Type A personality shining through.  With me working full time during the day, my husband working the overnight shift during the week and all the other errands, Scentsy business and kid-stuff in between I knew I needed an online program because if I was going to do this I was never going to find the time to go to classes.  So last month I enrolled at Baker University in their Bachelor program for Business in Leadership with a minor in Healthcare Administration.  

Knowing I'm not the only working mom and definitely not the only working mom who also is finishing college I needed an outlet to try and reach out to other moms out there and document my journey to hopefully inspire other moms like me.  We are also working on buying a home this year, which is a very fun process, but luckily I have a really great, (I'm not lying or exaggerating) realtor team who is helping me.  By January 1st, 2016 I hope to be writing a blog post from my new home office in my own home.  

Life Is a Matter of Balance.

I think for any mom out there you have to have balance in your life to maintain your sanity.  And a glass of wine or two doesn't hurt either.  I obviously keep busy, but I also make sure to make time for me and time for my marriage.  I learned from my first marriage that in order to have a successful marriage you have to put in the work.  So that's what we do.  Once a week we have Date Night.  Sometimes we go out ... most times we stay in.  It might be movie-night snuggled on the couch, game night or even a night with friends (what a luxury that is!!).  In the midst of the chaos of the week, you have to come back to home base and hit the reset button.  If you don't, you will explode.  It's a proven fact.  I read it on the internet and everything is true you read on the internet, right?  

Next....

So now you know a little about me.  Obviously with this being the very first blog post for this blog I know there probably isn't a lot to take away from this and for that I apologize.  BUT ... I hope you stick with me for a little while.  I promise to share my experiences with you, share things that I think help me and can help other moms.  Ways to keep your sanity and not explode.  (who wants to clean up that mess too?) 

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