Day 100.

I do not even know what to say. I just wrote every day for 100 days. I said I was going to, and then I did.

It inspires me and makes me sleepy at the same time. That happens to me a lot though - I will look at someone's accomplishment and it will both inspire me and make me sleepy for that person.

Oh, you ran a marathon? I am both inspired and so tired for you. I'm insptired.

Oh, you just created and hosted Thanksgiving dinner for every single one of your family members, including your Great Aunt Hilde who hates every kind of food and spits it right out onto her plate and says "Blah" but she doesn't really say it right because she doesn't have all of her teeth anymore? I am so Insptired right now.

Oh, you lost 60 pounds? Insptired. Me.

Oh, you.

Anyway - that is just what happens. I was even like that when I was little. I was pretty shy when I was really little. Mostly I appreciated all of the hyper kids who ran around, because they were very entertaining....but I was tired for them. So tired. Now I'm tired for their teachers and parents. Holy my goodness.

100 days. I can't thank you guys enough for being my audience through these 100 days. Even if you just popped in once - and then were curious today as to what I might say after 100 days.....thank you. I hope you had fun! I hope I made you a little bit happier. That's all I really want. I love you, my readers!!

Maybe sometime I'll check back in....

Maybe sometime I'll be a famous writer....

No matter what happens, you know what I'll be up to, even if you don't hear from me -

I'll be either sneaking an extra bite of cookie dough....taking a swim through my basement full of laundry a la Scrooge McDuck and his money room.....snugglin' my babe.....having a crazy conversation with my husband....lovin' on my dog....or writing the next great novel sensation to hit your town! I mean if they can make a movie out of Battleship, a game where you're just saying coordinates over and over....I feel like there has to be hope for commercializing what I'm busy writing up.

SO who knows what will happen in life. I'm just soooo happy that I have completed my 100 days! And I got to share a little bit with you....and you and you and you. You too.

And you.

Thank you everybody!!!

Day 99

Seems I'm not alone in being alone....

That is how I feel. I feel like when I've been blogging and saying things, even REALLY random things, people talk to me about how they feel the same. It feels pretty nice knowing that even though people are really really different, some things really keep us together.

Man that came out so cheesy!!

Maybe it is my nerves again. I feel like I should have something profound to say for tomorrow. The 100th day. Maybe something profound will come. Maybe it won't. I really don't know. That usually happens, though. My nerves will cut into a situation - and it ends up being really good, or a pretty sizable mess.

Who knows, maybe it will just be one or two readers reading my 100th post. If it's you...thanks. Thank you all for reading.

We'll see what I have to say. I really have no idea what I'll have to say!

Right now I just want to say thanks...and...oh my goodness tomorrow is the 100th day!!!!!

Day 98

I got my haircut.

I am going to the farmer's market tomorrow.

Corinne laughed the entire way home from her Grandma and Papa's house today.

These are some things that make me happy.

The weather is supposed to be fantastic this weekend - hope you all have fantastically fantastic weekends!

Day 97

I feel like I am finishing up a run or something - just a couple more minutes, just a couple more minutes. I always do that - tell myself, "Just a couple more minutes".

Only three more bloggin' days after this, and then my challenge is complete. Holy Moly Guacamole.

This whole experience has been great. I know a few things now - I'll have loyal fans if I ever become a famous writer.....I'm able to stick to the challenges I set for myself....I am capable of writing every day for 100 days....(ok I'm not at 100 days yet but I pretty much know this at day 97)....I absolutely love not watching t.v. (I started not watching t.v. around the same time I started this challenge. It is nice...I like having more time to do things I want to do)...I absolutely have a whole lot of inspiration for future ideas...(I've even entertained the idea of training for a half marathon....I might do it, people. And, if I do, I've already heard of a few people who said they might donate to the good cause I would run for!).....I've also been inspired for future writing adventures in my novel....I just think it has been a great experience all around.

I've even lost some weight - I guess if you're sticking to one goal you might as well stick to others, right?

I just....am pretty happy about how I am very close to the end. I mean, completed goals are often celebrated....why not almost almost almost done goals, too?

Anyway -  it will be really strange on Monday to just go to work, and then come home....what will I do? The possibilities are endless....only....I won't be telling you about it.

Unless you stop by my house. Or try calling my phone, but I must admit I've been very, very bad with checking my phone lately. Or you could call Steve, I guess. Or send me a telegram. I wonder if they still do telegrams? I would love if you sent me a letter. I love those things. Getting a letter in the mail is one of my favorite things.

Well.

This is just really something - thinking about NOT writing my blog. This habit I've had - I'm about to stop cold turkey pretty soon.

Strange. Really strange.

Day 96

So....this may be Day 96, but it is the 200th post I have ever posted to my blog. This makes me happy.

Anyway, on a completely different note....please take a minute to read this: http://www.momsinmaine.com/2012/05/wake-up-moms-youre-fighting-the-wrong-fight/

My friend Tonya posted it to facebook - it is worth taking a minute or two to read about it and think about it.

I had to go back to work after just six weeks of disability ("maternity leave") - once Corinne was born. It was certainly not enough time. I miss her all the time. I think just having time to bond with your baby is important, at the very least.

There are a lot of things I think America could stand to change - it's diet, it's educational practices, and this are at the top of my list....but they're not the only issues. There are problems everywhere...but maybe your signature on the petition mentioned at the bottom of that above-mentioned article could help one of them.

That's all I have to say...oh yeah, and thanks, Tonya, for sharing that!!

Day 95

I have a huge headache. My head is pounding sooooo much.

I'll make this quick.

I got the blood test done. I was so freaked out. Before we started the nurse started asking me questions to get me to be more comfortable and not think about it. I told her I had a baby in October.

"Oh, did you have a boy or a girl?"

"A boy."

"Oh, and what's his name?"

Pause. Realization.

"A girl. I had a girl."

Oh my goodness. I get way too freaked out by those things! Some people are afraid of heights, I'm afraid of needles taking blood out of my body. Oh my goodness.

OK I have to go. The sound of my typing is making my head hurt even more.

Day 94

Dear Blood Test,

We meet at 9:10 a.m. tomorrow. This will be a dual of wills. You'll be the sharp one, eyeing my left arm up and down. I'll be the one looking in the other direction.

Don't get the wrong impression. I'm not into getting all tied up in your gimmicks. But you are the only way I can get a discount on my health insurance. I should at least be nice. I should at least meet you - at 9:10 a.m.

I'll try not to pass out. And maybe I'll find out if all these veggies are doing me any good. I just hope we don't have to meet up for too long.

I might pass out.

Oh mannnnn. I don't want to go. But I'll go. See you tomorrow.

Day 93

I love Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is like another Christmas, or Valentine's Day! Someone from work emailed me and mentioned "Sloppy Kisses, cold eggs, breakfast in bed, homemade cards"....it made me want to cry it was so nice. She said she saves all of her gifts from her children. I know I will, too.

This year I WAS able to get a sloppy kiss from Corinne, but that is mostly because if her mouth goes anywhere near anyone there is bound to be some drool! We went out to breakfast in Rochester, we went to the Public Market and got flowers, then we hung out with my family.

And Steve gave me a charm for my charm bracelet!! It is an October birthstone, representing Corinne. I love it so so much.

It has been a very busy weekend (but let us be honest - whose weekend is not busy?! Even if you live alone and barely have any family I am sure your weekend was busy. I don't think I've met one person with a "slow" weekend. Seriously if only weekends were Monday-Friday and the work week were Saturday and Sunday....I think the world would just be a better place).

Anyway.

I just picked up the dog from "Camp"....and threw a load of laundry in (I'm still not to the bottom yet, people...but maybe it's for the best. Who even wants to know what my basement floor looks like at this point? Not me!)

Now I wanted to write really quickly before I went over to Steve's parents for Mother's Day dinner.

And - I just wrote for exactly three minutes. Time to go!

See what I mean? Busy, busy! I'm ready for the weekend already. Too bad tomorrow is Monday. Holy Moly.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!!! Even if you are a Mom to a Dog or Cat - if you care for someone in a motherly way, I think you count, too! :)

Day 92

It is so much fun to dress Corinne up. I cannot get over it. She was wearing a little dressy top with some pink leggings....and then she spit up all over it...and she's wearing a pajama-type of outfit...but...when we go to Rochester....I fully plan on dressing her up again!

That is right, we go to Rochester tonight! We're going to stay until tomorrow night. I thought, why not go see my mom on Mom's Day?? And then we'll be back for dinner at Steve's mom's house.

It will be my first Mother's Day. Well, last year I was pregnant on Mother's Day...so this is my first one with Corinne here. I just want to spend the day in Rochester.

Anyway - hope you all have a good day!

Day 91 


Quarter to 9 on a Friday night. My lofty plans are to fold laundry and go to bed. I wonder what will happen if I actually catch up and we suddenly have no more laundry. Will it be like on LOST with the Hatch? What will happen? 


My life is just as dramatic as cable t.v., if not more so. Someone should make a reality t.v. show on my life. Put me on Bravo, I won't mind. We can all find out together what will happen with this laundry. It will be a nail-biter for sure.


Actually, this reality-t.v. show of me really is sounding intriguing the more I am thinking about it.  We could all find out together, on t.v., if I get a sewing machine this year! And then we can all find out if I manage to create things with it that do not look like Frankenstein made them! 


And we could actually watch me bake cookies. I love it. I have no idea how I look when I do that. I just know that my kitchen ends up with flour all over it, and it stays in my hair through a couple of showers. That could be t.v.-able.


T.V.-able? I'm already making up words! Move over Jessica Simpson A-La 2004! Move over, hills! I will bring fashion to the screen! I'll bring back the scrunchie or something. Oh my God if the scrunchie were brought back?! Or that little wave thing people did with their bangs? 


I am telling you, people, this would be an interesting show. So much drama. My butt is like Kim Kardashian's butt. I can do this. 


I guess for now I'll settle for finding this one out on my own - hopefully I win my battle with the laundry tonight.


If I don't - well, that just means I've passed out on the couch watching old episodes of The Hills on netflix just because I reminded myself that show existed.


And if I do - I really have no idea what will happen. I'm not kidding, this is a pretty dramatic thing to happen! Ohh, I wonder what will happen......


Here I go!

DAY 90

Oh my! I've been writing every day for 90 days! Holy Moly!

That makes me feel very adult. Following through on something I say I am going to do is very adult...I really think it is.

I've also been doing other adult things. Maybe on purpose, maybe just because it feels better to do an adult thing.

It actually feels amazing to do the adult thing. I really love it. I used to think being an adult you had to do a lot of boring things. You really don't - it is all in how you look at it. I once read an Ann Landers  - a reader wrote in and said things like, "I get myself pumped up and excited to do regular, normal, mundane things. I'll actually say to myself - "I GET TO do the laundry today!" That reader said her quality of life skyrocketed. I try to do that as much as I can. I really think perspective can make things better. I can't do it all the time - but for the most part I will say that it helps.

And I do love the results of doing the adult thing.

Doing the bills? It feels great to have those things in order.

Laundry done? Best feeling ever.

Just ate a salad? A feeling of accomplishment. Oh so nice.

I could make a list of a adult things I really love - ok, I will -

For example -

Putting winter clothes away in the basement and keeping the summer clothes in our drawers - very adult. And I cannot even express how good it makes me feel.

Keeping up with the laundry on a day to day basis - oh my goodness not only is that adult but that is amazing adult. I loveee it. It doesn't always happen, but when it does - it is so so so so so nice.

Praying more and going to church on a regular basis - it really feels nice. It feels nice to connect to God. It gives me hope and it makes me feel peaceful. Sometimes the choir gives me chills. I get hope for the next week - I get hope for the future - I get hope for all the people I pray for....and my list is growing.

Eating my vegetables. I've lost 6 pounds since I decided to lose more weight a few weeks ago! I'm loving it. It feels so much better to eat right and move around more than it ever did eating whatever junk I wanted and laying around more.

Setting goals, and following through on them: this means making things better around the house, writing more, being with my family as much as possible, exercising more - whatever I've been putting a goal to, I've been up to the challenge. And I'll keep going, too.

Going to doctor's appointments....and dentist appointments....and holding myself accountable for my own health. So much better than just not caring about health - I've been sick far, far less. These past two weeks I've had a bad cold....but this is the first time I've been sick since the Fall....and I used to get sick once a month at least.


Anyway you may think I'm crazy but it's just how I feel.

I think that woman from Ann Lander's column was 100% right - especially because there are so many people who are NOT able to do these things. SO many people who have disabilities, who are paralyzed, who do not have the support or the means to have a place of their own with things of their own, who may not have anyone at all to care for, or who might not feel the self worth to care for themselves. Those are the people I pray for....and I'm thanking God I can do those things that I can...for as long as I can.

And - Sidenote - While I'm at work.....while I'm away from my baby and my house and my family in general - and I want to stay focused because I'm glad I have a job - but I also want to go home - I entertain myself. I have started reading my emails in my head using a muppet voice. Professional emails explaining how protocols have changed are just so much better when Fozzy is reading them to you. Oh my I just had to say that. I thought it kind of went with that Ann Landers note - I GET TO read a million emails at work....hehe.

Day 89

Tonight I had lofty plans of folding laundry and discussing the family budget. The last thing I remember, however, is laying down next to Corinne, with Steve on the other side of her, just before her 8 o'clock bedtime. We were singing to her. She must have fallen asleep - and fuzzily, I remember Steve picking her up and putting her in her crib. I remember saying something like, "5...more...minute..."....and now here I am at 12:32 a.m. - I was sleeping that entire time.

THAT is a long 5 minutes.

 Maybe 8 o'clock should be my bedtime, too! Oh, that sounds delightful. So does going back to sleep. Goodnight everybody.

Day 88


Today was a bad day. It's only Tuesday. The week is moving too slowly for my taste. I don't even feel like writing another sentence. And I'm still sick....I guess you can just call me Mrs. Pessimist. 

Day 87


Somehow, I've done it. I've got myself stuck inside of a stupid Monday. I cannot tell what is bigger: my list of chores or my headache. I've become Cinderella - especially because I keep losing my shoes. Maybe I should just throw a dance party and buy myself a new pair of shoes....then at least it would make this Cinderella stuck in a Monday thing I'm going through a little more fun....right?

Day 86

For the next few days, I'll try to sum things up in 5 sentences or less. This is because I'm already trying to spend less time with the internet. It is also because I like to mix things up - oh no I only have two sentences left!

Today, I ate a handful of cashews. There was so much salt, I thought I was eating sand.

Day 85!


I think in 15 days or so, I may take a little break from the internet.


I've pretty much stopped watching t.v. altogether, except for watching some Game of Thrones episodes once in a while, which I really like. When that season is over, though...I really don't think I'll be watching anything. Unless Mad Men comes on Netflix, then I'll watch those of course. But other than that...nothing. Nothing, I say!


Anyway....I almost never use my phone. I have become really bad at remembering it exists. I just do not use it much at all. I think I'm just leaning toward disconnecting myself for a while.


Do you ever feel like that? I feel like technology is everywhere and I just need to step away from it for a little bit. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. 


I've got some home improvement projects we're about to work on now that the weather is getting nicer....and after my week of caring for sick people and being a sick person is winding down, I'd like to get back on the treadmill...or run outside when I can. And of course take Corinne on walks outside.


I even think for my novel writing I might just use a notebook for a while. It helps me to write in different places, it might actually help me to write without using a computer. 


So basically...in short....you probably won't see me on the internet for a bit after my 100 days of blogging are finished.


It's not you, internet. It's me. It is totally me. I need to just...be.


Be a mom and wife.
Be health conscious.
Be a writer.


None of those things involve the internet...so why should I involve the internet? 


It is strange how using the internet every day to connect with everyone and write has caused me to want just the opposite.


I suppose it is human nature to want what you do not have.


I will totally keep up with my blog here for the next 15 or so days, until I'm at 100 days, of course.


But after that...I am just saying....you probably won't see me blogging every day. I've got some things to be. I've got to get busy doing and do less talking about it for a while. Who knows...maybe in a few months I'll have some stories to tell. Maybe I'll be able to say I'm officially done with my novel....maybe I'll be able to say I've lost some weight and done some cool things with the house. I just want to actually work on those things. 


I am glad to blog for 85 days, and happy to go to all 100...but I'm looking forward to my next project: doing more, and talking about it less. I've got to get this novel finished...and, now that I know I can make time for writing every night...I'm going to make all of that writing time novel-oriented, and not just some of it. I'm going to get some things done.


 At least....for a little while.

Day 84


I am still sick. I had to leave work today after an hour of being there.


Fever, gross, gross and gross. This week has just not been fun.


And now it is the weekend, and, I'm looking at a calendar with a lot of cancelled plans. I should really start using pencils more. It looks like some kid colored on this thing with three different pens. Anyway... I hope we can at least make it to church on Sunday. I want to go back to that sister act place so bad. 


Side Note: Corinne is a thinker! She has figured out how one of her books plays music, and she opens it up all the time to hear it. She is also a music lover. As soon as she is old enough, I plan on enrolling her in a dance class. She dances all the time. Just had to mention this. She is dancing right now! This is what reminded me.


OK. Back to wallowing in sickness.

Day 83


Ugh.


That is all I have to say for today.

Day 82


The skies are dark today.  
Literally.
Don't you hate it when people say "literally" when they really mean "figuratively"?  Like when they run one mile and say they "literally ran a million miles".  I Just want to say to them, "you did not run a million miles, you bub, but you are literally the biggest idiot I've ever known".  Instead, what I do say is "Oh, that's really nice.  You must be really in shape.  I am very jealous of your abilities."


I have to tell you that right now Steve is typing this to you but I am dictating it.  I'm still writing it because if Stephen Hawking can do all of his magic by blowing into a tube I can still do my blog magic without my hands today. I do not feel well.  I feel like if I were to look at the computer screen I would not be able to type anything because I would be too busy throwing up into my hands.  I hope that is not too much information.  I hope your are not offended by the Stephen Hawking thing.  I like that guy, but I don't really like that he cheated on his wife.  That's beside all this. 


 Now another thing.  For some reason, for the past two months, I've had this song stuck in my head, which I guess kind of goes with what I was saying about Stephen Hawking:

Get it?  Because she is asking if her man is serious.  Anyway, my throat's really kind of hurting so I should probably go, but thank you Steve for writing out this thing today.


(Steve's side note:  I should probably mention right now that Katie is in bed in a quasi-state of delirium.  She's insisted that I publish this blog post as-is, but I'm sure she will recant most of it once she's regained her mental faculties.  I'd also like to apologize to Stephen Hawking.)

Day 81


My dishwasher sounds like it's about to eat me.


My dog doesn't seem too worried about it.


If my dishwasher did eat me, my dog would probably try to make friends with it. That is how lovable my dog is.


Anyway.


The baby is asleep.


The dishes are hitting the ceiling.


I really should finish cleaning up - -


note: should invest in helmets.