Squeezing It All In

Yep, that's what all us busy stay-at-home-moms (and of course, working moms too) do every day. We try to squeeze it all in. Getting exercise, keeping the house clean, getting the laundry done, running mundane errands, doing something fun with the kids and trying to save some energy for keeping the hard-working husband happy too. We all know what goes first... sorry Daddy!

Well, yesterday was so busy that I didn't even have time to write about it until today. I am proud to say, however, that the first thing I squezed in was a quick and effective workout. After building a barricade around my treadmill with a variety of large hard-to-move toys, and toy chests (to keep my crawler away from the machine), I popped in a movie for my older child (in the same room where I have the treadmill) and got in a solid 5K run. Yes, I had to stop a few times to tend to the kidlets, but I did it!

My playlist for the day included:

1. Abel Kader, Algerian Mix (simply hypnotic)
2. Jamiroquai, Canned Heat (you'll love the beginning)
3. Justin Timberlake, Senorita
4. 2Pac, Daz & Kurupt, Ride With Us Remix (not my favorite of today's list)
5. Carrie Underwood, Before He Cheats (this song is great for running sprints... push to the max during the chorus!)
6. No Doubt, Excuse Me Mr. (this song never slows down, so neither will you)
7. Pink, Don't Let Me Go
8. Eagle Eye Cherry, Save Tonight Techno Remix (fun, fun, fun!)
9. *NSYNC, It's Gonna Be Me (I'm ashamed to admit this in my playlist, but it really is good for running)
10. Beautiful, Christina Aquilera (perfect for the cool down and a real confidence booster)

(I love good running music, so please always share your favorites!)

After squeezing in the run, I had the energy to shower, dress, get kidlets ready and make some quick PB&Js so that we could get out the door and off to gymnastics class. After class we hurried back home to meet up with a friend/colleague of mine who was in town visiting. (I made sandwiches on the buns I made on Saturday. How cool is that?) The visit with M. was great; thanks to sunny so. cal. weather we were able to hang on the deck and talk about life with kids. M. is planning to adopt a child from Uzbekistan. You can read all about it on her highly informative blog: Uzbek? Ubet!

We had a great time chatting and catching up while the kids napped, and wouldn't you know it, five minutes after she left my littlest woke up -- so no down time for me! But I did have something to look forward to it. My hubby called to say he planned to be home around 6 (which is super early for him), so we decided to check out this place called Barn Burner in Pasadena. I'd heard it had mediocre BBQ, BUT kids eat free Monday - Wednesday!

We met up at the Barn Burner with a friend and his three-and-a-half-year-old -- who is also my son't best buddy. It was great! An extremely kid-friendly place, which can be really hard to find. It's really loud. It's a big wide open room. They have balloons. There are games (including air hockey) tucked in the back where it is impossible for the kids to escape without detection. The wait staff didn't even bat an eye when our kids went whizzing through their service station and the service was really good. They even give the kids soft serve ice cream cones after their dinner.

Now about the food. Not the *best* BBQ. The meats were a little dry, with the exception of the chicken which was moist, smoky and simply superb! Luckily the BBQ sauce is really good, so you can simply drown any of the dry stuff with it and it's still quite good. The sweet potato fire fries were also excellent. They also served up quart-sized mason jars of beer and a perfectly palatable house wine.

We left at bed time full and relaxed. It was a busy day -- but a fun day!