I’ll take life with a side of normal please.
I rarely post on the weekends. I rarely eat dinner later than 7 pm. I rarely eat pasta.
It’s after 10 pm on Saturday night and I’m writing a blog with a lasagna cooking in the oven.
Nothing has been normal the last two weeks. We finally finished moving last night at 2 am.
The last thing I packed was Mr. Bones. I needed someone to keep me company while I was working.
Our new tenants moved in this morning at 7 am. The crazy thing is I haven’t been procrastinating. We’ve been working on house stuff for two weeks nearly nonstop. There is a lot more to this move than simply moving. We have decided we want to make a major change to our lifestyle. We are simplifying and getting rid of stuff with the intention of living a more minimalist life. It feels good but it’s hard. Especially for the type of gal who owns 7 wigs and 5 pairs of false eyelashes.
Most of the last two weeks have looked like this…
…me in my sweats with a paint brush in my hand. Nearly. Every. Day. If there are a million typos in this post please forgive me. I think I’ve lost half of my brain cells from the fumes.
Despite the non stop work and lack of internet there have been some fun times. If you can imagine fun without the internet.
Blogger friend Deb from Smoothie Girl Eats Too came over to help me paint. Who says blog friends aren’t REAL friends. THANK YOU Debs!
I’ve got to put my kids to work spend some quality time time with Thing 1.
My first day going to my new job.
Last week, we even managed to fit in a taekwondo tournament.
Thing 1 doing his form.
I love weird jumping shots.
Thing 2 with the bow staff.
This ended up being the most challenging tournament yet for me. There were 9 girls in my ring. A few months ago, a girl I’ll call Mrs. Incredible, beat me in forms after a tie and kicked my butt in sparring. Since then, I’ve been ridiculously nervous. I’ve been worrying non-stop that I’d get to a tournament that I’d have to spar her first and lose. If you lose your first match then you are automatically out. What do you know? For my first match they call up me and Mrs. Incredible. WTF? Of course. Not sure what happened but I experienced what I think some people refer to as “the zone”. I was crazy calm and focused. The match went quick and before I had even realized it happened, I won. After months of worrying I couldn’t believe it!
That would have been enough to make my day but for my next match I was paired with MMA Mama.
Remember her? She scared the crap out of me beat me at my very first tournament. This time, I was crazy focused and determined not to let her yelling shake me up. This newfound focus paid off and I won that match as well.
My last match, I was with the same girl who I had ended up sparring for first and second place at my last two tournaments. I had won those matches and I guess I must of been “overly confident”. I lost. She was thrilled and even though I really wanted to win it was fun to see her so happy. Sort of. 😉 So I ended up getting first in forms and second in sparring.
And guess what???
Brent competed!
Check him out!
It’s hard to see in this picture but my super mellow husband looks ferocious!
He ended up getting 3rd in sparring.
Winning trophies and medals is fun but our taekwondo “family” is what keeps us kicking. The next morning at breakfast, Thing 2 thanked God for the fun times at the taekwondo tournament.
Other highlights this week have been the discovery of a new to me band called The Civil Wars. Sooooo. Good.
and
yesterday THE NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM!!!
Love.
I’m going to try and get back to more regular posting and catching up on your blogs this week but my house still looks like this…
…so please bear with me.
Today, I sat on the couch overwhelmed by the mess and fell asleep.
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
Oh Miss Jenn,
I so love reading your stuff! You are so insanely normal…. Take a deep breath, hug your hubby & kiddos. Is unpacking considered a workout, if I’ load my heels and tighten it up’ first? If so, I’ve got some time on Monday-I am an excellent unpacker! Hug-a-roos, D
Oh Dania!! U r the best!!! xoxo
I was so happy to see your post pop up in my reader!
You have so much going on… But things will get back to “normal.” Changes and adjustments are hard. But they also make us grow so much…
I love that you guys are such a taekwondo family! I’m actually thinking of having the toddler start at some point. Hubby did some taekwondo when he was younger and his experience wasn’t very good, so he is a bit hesitant. Any advice?
Oh, and getting the house in order. Be patient with yourself. I am a firm believer in “to do” lists. They make me feel like I accomplished something (and let me see all the stuff I did accomplish even when it’s hard to see….). Hugs!
Thank you, Andrea. I’m totally using your advice and making lists. Now if I could just stick with it.
I actually do have some advice when looking for a taekwondo studio. I’ve gotten that question a few times so I think I’ll write a post about it. I’ll try to get that up in a few days. I hope it will be helpful. (((hugs)))
You are so badass!
How’s this for weird…last night I was reading my book and suddenly thought “I haven’t seen Jenn comment or post in a while, I should email her tomorrow am” I was about to do that when I saw this post.
Glad to hear you are alive and kicking (and pasta eating!), literally. Things will calm down…and in the meantime, I’ll take those wigs off your hands.
Thanks Katie. I am hoping by the end of the week I’m feeling more like myself again!! At least only half my living room floor is covered in boxes. ((hugs))
Congratulations on not letting your head get in the way of your body. You and Deb are too cute! Good luck with everything. Sounds like it’s all coming together. (Man I hate painting)
Love the way you put that!!! Ha ha! My head is always getting in the way of my body I guess that is why the “zone” took me by such surprise. Now if I could only figure out how to do that regularly.
I hope you write some in the future on your new simplified lifestyle. I want to get there too. We are doing lots of posting to EBay, Craigs List and Cleveland Recycles Free these days. It will be a long process, but hubby and I are both taking steps weekly to get there.
Congrats on your awesome wins…and lessons. Glad Mr. Bones gave you the some needed company. Nice hat!
Thanks, Brooke.
Oh my gosh…I’ve been posting like mad on Craiglsist and Freecyle lately. This weekend I’m going to try and tackle Ebay. I’m going to try and write a post soon on simplifying. I’d love to hear any advice you may have as well!
Congrats on kicking the a$$es of your arch frenemies! and it was nice of you to be happy for the other girl who won. All of you guys are so rad that you do Taekwondo together!
It was my pleasure to help paint and to catch up and gab and have lunch (THank you and Brent!)…it gave me painting confidence for the future!
I’m with Andrea- lists are the best. At your point, you’ll need several: this week, next week, next month, etc. The more you simplify, the easier it’ll get. and don’t wigs stack?
Hang in there.
Thanks Debs. It was so much fun to have you up to help me. It meant a lot as well. I took your and Andrea’s advice and started making lists. Now if I could only stick with them instead of getting distracted. Any advice for ADD? 😉 xoxox
Good luck on simplifying, Jenn. I want to do that. It is so difficult for me to make the decision to get rid of stuff…
Thanks! I agree. It’s so difficult. I’ve been hanging onto a certain pair of books for over 12 years even if they do look like something Frankenstein would wear b/c I wore them the night my husband and I met.
Congrats on getting moved, everything painted (Hi Deb!) and on the Tae Kwon Do wins! Also, you are adorbs in pigtails!!!
Thanks Charlotte!!
Yippee! I totally missed your posting. So glad you glad moved. Way to kick booty, girlie. And looking hot while doing it! I’m not great w/ organizing and tend to get overwhelmed just looking at my kitchen so when you figure it out, let me know!!
I think we are two peas in a pod when it comes to organizing. It’s so overwhelming. At the very least we can empathize with each other.
i love the new Radiohead album
I actually thought of you when I listened to it. I remember you saying how much you love them!
That is AWESOME! It had to feel so.good. to beat those girls after months of worry! Way to go!
Be gentle on yourself with the organizing. These things can take time. You have a lot on your plate. Be good to you!
Oh my goodness, you are doing so awesome! Change, especially to this extent, is so testing and you and the family are doing great.
For me, I take organizing piece by piece. I start in a corner of a room and make my way around. Things that don’t belong get moved to the next area until they meet their correct home or land in the donate or trash pile.
The big picture can sometimes overwhelm me, so breaking big projects into little pieces, or in this case little sections, helps me tackle the big project on my hands.
Hang in there! And congrats on completing the house renovations for the new family!
WOw…you’re doing amazing.
I feel for you. I’m currently doing my MSc while working full time and it’s INSANE! I just keep slogging along and keep things as simple as I can. I make priorities for what matter (my husband, exercise, good food, endless homework…) and try and keep up with the rest. I found it helps ot tackle one thing and one thing only at a time….cuz really, when there’s a zillion things to do, every where you look you can get distracted on something else…and end up doing nothing much. IT wasn’t obvious to me at first and I nearly went crazy until I figured that out…for me it helps knowing at the end of the day I can tick a thing or 2 off my list…well most days anyways! That and making muffins. Muffins make everything better
Good luck
Thank you for the advice. I think you are right I need to focus on one thing b/c like you side I feel like I’m doing a billion things but nothing is getting done. Sounds like you are CRAZY BUSY. Wishing you the best as you complete your degree! You sound like one heck of a woman! ((hugs))