MBA as I do......not as I say

A while back I was asked if I would be interested in blogging about the day to day experiences in the life of a family with an MBA student for Duke. I was flattered that they would ask me, a stay-at-home mom that wishes Facebook had spell check on it. After some consideration I decided I shouldn't add another task to my life. I feel stretched a little thin with our current situation and I didn't think it was fair to my kids to add something that would take even more time away from them. I also was worried about what my blog might include. Looking back on some of my posts here I realize I don't exactly paint the prettiest picture for an MBA family. Although this time in our lives is probably the hardest we have ever had (and ever hope to have) it's not all bad. I don't want to scare anyone that is possibly considering pursuing a similar degree.

When Brandon and I agreed that he should go back to school I figured it would be a lot of work. Some late nights, weekends away, and a lot of time on my own. I had no idea to what extent that would be until now. My plan for him to just slide by so that he can just get this degree and nothing more was not on his radar. At first I thought my husband was way more of an over-achiever than I ever realized. He has done exceptional well in all his classes. But as I listen to what he learned over the weekend or what his case study is about each week it became clear that he really does love this stuff. It's not about doing better than the guy sitting next to him (although that's nice), he's learning to do something he is extremely passionate about and make it a career. Isn't that what it is all about?!

People ask me all the time, "Don't you wish you would have done this years ago before you got married or had kids?" Really it took us this long to realize what really interests us. If Brandon would have gone for his masters before now it probably would have been in engineering and he would have just continued to dislike his job. If we would have started before kids, sure, it may have been easier, but I don't I think I would have admired all that Brandon was putting into this. I don't think he would have appreciated my efforts in helping him succeed. Before his first day of school I knew there would be a day somewhere along the line of this program where one or both of us snapped. We would reach a point where one of us hit our limit and would completely take it out on the other. It hasn't happened yet, and now I don't think it ever will. Every night we stand in awe of what the other did to get us through the day and there is no reason to complain. We both know how hard the other works and the sacrifices we are making now are so little compared to the future we are preparing for ourselves and our girls.

So go out and do it. Find what you want to do and don't let anything stop you. It's not going to be easy, what good things in life really are? Like they told us at my Duke weekend, you've got to keep reminding yourself this is a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal.

February is not my diet's friend

I appreciate all the support everyone has given me with my weight loss goals this year. Believe me, it keeps me motivated to know that I have so many people behind me and I certainly don't want to let you down. Since the beginning of the year I have lost 8 pounds, and I am proud of that. Even better I have been able to add mileage to my runs and increase the intensity of my strength training. Last Friday Brandon was home so I was able to go out by myself and take a nice run without the stroller. I set my Ipod for 5 miles. I've only run 5 miles once before, but it was with Brandon and I wasn't about to give up after a few miles and hear him talk about it for the rest of my life. This time the only person to motivate me was myself (and the little lady that told me what mile I was on while I was listening to my music). I honestly don't think I would have gone the entire distance if I hadn't planned it on my tracker from the beginning. but when it was all over I was so happy that I did. I ran it better than I ever could have imagined and feel very confidant that I can reach the 10K race goal this year. Hopefully I can get out there for longer runs more.

This past month I have really kept up my calorie counting. It's very rare that I go over my 1300 count for the day. I've managed to plan ahead and eat light on the day that I know we are going out in the evening. I limit myself to one (if any) after-dinner snacks. This month, however, is going to be a rough one to keep this up. This weekend is the Superbowl. Sure, I can say all day long that I'm going to eat healthy while I watch the game (really the commercials). But Brandon has already said that his diet is off for the day, and it's pretty hard to enjoy your grilled chicken salad with lemon juice while the person next to you chows down on cheesy nachos and buffalo wings. I'm hoping to have some self-control, but Sunday will just be beginning.

My birthday is Tuesday. My sweet Dad has offered to take me and my family out to dinner that night to celebrate and Brandon is taking me out on a birthday date night on Friday. They both told me I could pick the place. Tuesday night has yet to be decided, but for my date night I picked An in Cary. I tried to be reasonable and not pick a place that specializes in their mother's famous fried chicken recipe or a 2000 calorie molten chocolate cake. I checked the menu and the options looked great, but I'm just going to be honest, if I'm paying over $100 for a meal for 2 you better believe I'm going to be licking it clean. And is it really your birthday without a cake? I thought about making myself one that would be light yet curb my craving, but making my own birthday cake reminded me of the time that I saw a movie by myself. I just felt like a complete loser. Maybe we'll just buy a single slice from a restaurant so I'm not eating on it for days.

Just when you think the worst is over 7 days later is Valentine's Day, and 3 days after that is Summer's 3rd birthday. We have a nice party planned for family and her friends. You know I decided to make her a personalized Minnie Mouse birthday cake. I'll try my best to resist the urge to test the frosting multiple times and hope to hang out more with the veggie tray than all the other kid-friendly goodies that I have planned.

We do have a few other events on the calendar, but hopefully they won't be as detrimental to my diet. Thank goodness this is leap year. I'm going to need the extra day to help me avoid major disappointment when I step on the scale in March!