Mom in DCity

Subscribe and never miss a thing!

Reporting Live on Hurricane Sandy

by 9 Comments

Many moons ago, in a previous lifetime I was a journalist– the kind of journalist that stands out on the beach in the middle of a hurricane and tells people to stay inside. I don’t know how many times I said things like: “we’re the only idiots out here” or “I wish I could be at home snuggled up under a blanket instead of out here.” Well, today was my big chance! Washington, DC shut down, and guess what I did…

1. Ignored all warnings about leaving the house. After going stir crazy at 9 am (yes, that’s how long it took), I packed the husband and kids into the car and didn’t come home for hours.

2. Took pictures of anything and everything:

Check out the guy covering himself with a plastic tablecloth!

3. Judged all the news coverage. If all you have to say is “Caribou is still open,” do you really need to be out there getting blown around in the rain?

4. Criticized the city. Why didn’t they clean up these leaves before the storm? Are they actually hoping for a flood caused by clogged drains? Huh, Mayor Gray? Is that what you want?

5. Put on makeup in case a real reporter needed someone to interview. But only if they need to talk to someone who really knows what they’re talking about (flips hair over shoulder).

6. Drank too much coffee. I forgot I didn’t need to be up for days on end, and now I’m all jittery.

Starbucks was closed but Caribou wasn’t!

7. Updated Facebook on area business closures. Well you were all wondering, weren’t you?!

8. Went to the airport to see if all the flights really are cancelled. They were for the most part. And while we there there, the girls ran a few laps around the terminals and then ate some lunch at the only place open: Dunkin Donuts.

“Reporting live from the airport, I’m Zana.”

9. Looked out the window every 5 minutes to see if things have gotten worse.

Still raining out there…

10. And of course… blogged about it.

I tell ya… you can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the– wait that’s not the one. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t– no, that’s not it either. Oh what-the-hell-ever.

I’m sure it sucks if your power went out or if you’re roof flew off today. But since that hasn’t happened here (yet), I will continue to make light of Frankinstorm.

Keep it here for the latest. Now back to you…

Ten Pounds and a Baby Phat Jumpsuit

by 11 Comments

I have an announcement to make! The title probably gave it away, but here goes: I lost the 10 lbs!

It took 2 months of sticking to a plan, and here I am. But now what?

Things have gotten pretty exciting since I’ve gotten lighter: I feel better about the way my clothes fit, Dave keeps telling me how good I look (ok he really does that no matter what I look like– such well trained husband), and I’ve been getting a lot more cat calls from the hoodlums on the corner (don’t be jealous).

Today, I decided to celebrate my new sexy bod by purchasing a very important article of clothing: a Baby Phat jump suit. Yeah, I said Baby Phat. Yes, I know I made fun of the lady at Burlington for her Baby Phat purchase… but this is different. First of all, it was a size 7 in juniors (I may be having a midlife crisis), and second of all… it was $4 at Macy’s. That was not a typo. It was $4. I spent more on my soy latte this morning.

Here’s what it looks like:

From the Macy’s Website

I’m always standing around in that position with my hair blowing in the wind, so I think it will look really good on me.

The thing is, I really do love this jumpsuit, but where do you wear something like this? Beyonce hasn’t called me to hang out lately. I only go to the club every other year now. The JLo concert was a couple of months ago. So when am I going to wear it?

If I keep losing weight at this rate, it’s not going to fit me for long. Ha! I’m kidding… there’s no danger of me continuing to lose weight. I had a pumpkin cupcake to celebrate today and it was divine. Oh how I’ve missed my Kitchen Aid mixer these past two months.

So here are my questions for you, my dear readers:

1. Where should I wear my sexy new jumpsuit?
2. How do you transition from losing weight to maintaining weight? I’m generally all or nothing– a dozen donuts or a salad with no dressing.

Discuss…

Sickness and School and Skinny Jeans, Oh My!

by 2 Comments

My name is Besa and I’m a slacker. There. I said it. Now I can stop beating myself up about not visiting my own blog for more than a week. Moving on now, here’s what’s been up:

Sickness
With the start of school comes the start of sickness at our house. Yours too? Our exciting kick-off to sick season began with strep throat this week. First Lira, then Zana. My attempts to keep the sisters apart while Lira had it were pointless; strep spreads like woah, and there’s no stopping it. It’s awful… especially if your kids get the pukey kind (and mine always do).

Strep Throat Part 1
Strep Throat Part Deux

We are several days into our antibiotic regimens, and everything is improving. They’re both still coughing, but not enough to keep them (or us) awake. The worst thing right now is getting them to take their medicine. Picture this: me holding Zana’s legs down with my leg, her arms down with one hand and forcing the syringe into her mouth with the other. Twice a day. It’s awesome.

School
As you all know, we had a rough start. But I’m happy to report that both girls are (generally) happy to go to school in the morning. Lira actually enjoys doing her homework– although, since she’s my daughter, that will surely change in the coming years. Zana is really taking to the Montessori classroom. She likes doing the “work” (which is what they call all of the educational stuff)– because she feels like she’s doing the same thing as me all day. Work, work, work! And we both love our time in the car to and from school. Here’s a conversation we had today:

She has a lot to say

Z: Why are you going to work?
Me: To make money.
Z: Why?
Me: So we can live in our house, and buy things we need.
Z: And go to Disneyworld?
Me: Yes, that too.

We talk about all the important stuff. I’ll let you know when we solve world hunger.

Skinny Jeans
First of all, thank you all for reading Triple B and those Last 10 Pounds. That blog post broke the MomInDCity record for most reads and most comments. Nothing like food and fat to get y’all excited! I’m happy to report that I am halfway to my goal of losing those 10 pounds!

There has been lots of exercise involved. Mainly morning runs around the Capitol Building, but also stuff like hiking. Sugarloaf Mountain is ideal for non-hikers because it’s not super high.

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

The “diet” hasn’t been bad either. I’ve discovered that if I exercise every day, I burn enough calories to eat what I want (for the most part). The best part about all of this is that my clothes are starting to fit again. Haven’t popped a button in at least a month. I had a bag of jeans (mainly skinnies) that I put in an unreachable part of my closet after a horrible cycle that I couldn’t break. It went like this: try on jeans, attempt (unsuccessfully) to button them, get sad that I couldn’t, drown my sorrows in cupcakes. It was a bad scene. I took the bag down this week and am excited to say that I am wearing my skinny jeans again! No, they don’t look as good as they once did. But they button, and that’s what counts, right? Also, my muffin top is more of a mini-muffin. That’s hot, right?

Who knew 5 pounds could do all that?! Oh, and if you scroll down to the lower left hand side of the MomInDCity website you can see my “pounds lost” tracker from MyFitnessPal. Join me! I could use the motivation.

What’s new in your world? Any big weekend plans?

 

Back To School Round Two

by 3 Comments

Big day at our house today Zana’s first day of school!

Lira started last week, with some waterworks–

First Day of School

But she has since adjusted to life as a Kindergartner.

Back to her silly self

I had high hopes for Zana this morning, especially with all the smiles before we left the house.

All smiles!

We drove to school, chatting and singing the whole way. I even missed the exit because we were having so much fun. When we arrived, Zana happily grabbed her backpack and lunch box and walked inside. She shook her teachers hand, introduced herself and even smiled. Things were going great!

It’s a Montessori school so parents don’t walk into the classroom; instead we say goodbye in the hallway. The classroom is “their space.” I gave a quick hug and a kiss goodbye, and the sobbing began. The teacher quickly whisked her off into the classroom and I walked the other way. She never looked back. I did, and took this picture:

By the time I reached the stop sign, my lower lip was trembling. When I got back onto the freeway, the tears flowed freely. What was I crying about? She would be fine. We just went through this adjustment for summer camp, and it only lasted two days. I never cried like this when Lira started school or camp. Is it because Zana the youngest? Because she’s my baby?

I got some great (mostly sarcastic) advice from people I care about.

Dave: Maybe it’s a sign you should stay home with her. And have dinner waiting for me on the table every night when I get home.
Chase: You’re crying with Zana but didn’t with Lira because you’ve always liked Zana more.
Mom: She’ll do great. Remember your chart!

I had a hard time concentrating all day. Thought about going to check on her at lunch. Thought about calling the school. Thought about picking her up early. Somehow, I made it through the day.

When I got to the school for pick-up, Zana was on the playground. She ran to me with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. Her teachers told me she stopped crying a minute after I left. She played, ate all of her lunch, sat on the potty, and even napped. To top it all off, Zana wasn’t ready to come home. She actually ran away from me and told me she wanted to stay and play. Go figure…

She went to sleep feeling like the big girl that she is. So proud of herself. But not as proud as I am.

 

 

Potty Party on the Front Porch!

by 11 Comments

Any day that I get a package from BeeBop (my mom) is a good one. And yesterday’s mail came at the right time; a 5-hour work meeting had me feeling pretty cranky.

We ripped open the box and it was even better than I had imagined: a potty training gift pack!

As you know, Zana started going peepee on the potty at school last week. She only does this at school, and pretends she doesn’t know how when she’s with us.

Since BeeBop knows that a party ain’t a party unless we’re all invited, she sent new undies for everyone!

For the potty trainee… bloomers!

For the big sister… multiple fluorescent options that she believes look better layered.

For Daddy… underoos! No really. Superman underoos and Bevis and Butthead boxers.

And for me… a bunch of goodies from Victoria’s Secret.

Naturally, all of these needed to be modeled immediately. Outside in the street. For everyone to see.

I’ll spare you the pics of Dave posing like Superman in his underoos and me wearing a VS thong with the girls’ fairy wings and pretending I’m in the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion show. But trust me, Dean Cain and Heidi Klum would be jealous.

When the paparazzi was done taking pictures, we all went inside and I changed Zana’s wet diaper.

If you think I’m stressed about this whole potty training thing, you’d be wrong. My potty training philosophy is that I don’t have one. I was apparently fully potty trained by 18 months, but that’s because BeeBop was an overachiever. Zana is already 2 ½. It’ll happen eventually, right? Before college?

What’s your potty training philosophy? And, more importantly, what are your favorite kind of undies?