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Do You Work a Shift other than Traditional 8-5?

Do you work a non-traditional shift?

Do you work a shift other than a traditional 8-5 day shift? I do, I work nights 2000 to 0800. My first job out of college was midnight to 0800 five nights a week in a lab. Not only did I work nights but I also was a hostess during the lunch rush at a local Mexican restaurant. In my twenties that was not a bad job to have, I had endless energy and I slept by the pool. I could eat whatever I wanted and never gained weight. Today I could walk past a plate of potato chips and gain ten pounds just like that.

When I was part- time at my job I have now I was able to manage a workout schedule and lost 20 lbs. I was so excited and so happy and felt pretty good too. My diet was much better and I ate on a schedule, it was not sporadic like it is now. When I went full-time everything went to pot, I did not feel like I had enough time to workout and do food prep.

Making a concerted effort to do better for myself. . .

Earlier this month I decided to make a concerted effort to do better for myself with regard to my diet and my workouts. I love Mediterranean spices and food and I have followed a Mediterranean diet very liberally for several years. My husband is very quick to respond with regard to the Mediterranean diet about how the Mediterranean people travel either by foot or bicycle. In other words, he is saying that it is not the food they eat that keeps them healthy it is all their daily exercise. I am trying to eat better/healthier and also exercise daily in some form or fashion.

You are what you eat. . .

You are what you eat, how many times have you heard this one? It is true though, you eat nothing but junk and you are going to feel like junk. I am not an extremist and do not endorse any extreme measures to lose weight. Realist, I am a realist. Smoothies are my addiction, I love my fruit smoothie I fix in the mornings for breakfast. Number one smoothie: pineapple, cherry, spinach, beet, ginger, coconut water and some protein powder and blend. This one is designed for reducing inflammation, increasing circulation, and it is very yummy. This one gets me my fruits and some of my vegetables for the day.

The hubbs and I joke all the time that we could live out of our garden except for the occasional animal protein. We both love veggies the hubbs likes his animal protein more than I. A typical dinner for us looks like this: avocado sliced with fresh lime juice sprinkled, a couple boiled eggs sliced, peppers and onions sauted with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I love asparagus and my dear hubby planted some for me, below is the first harvest with some sauted spinach.

When my schedule gets hectic, that is when my eating goes awry. I will be planning more for my meals on days I know I am going to be working. Planning my exercise may pose a more interesting problem. I prefer to walk in the mornings but my regular place to walk is doing some construction so my “flow” is messed up. Have been riding my exercise bike and lifting weights but it does not give me the same satisfaction as my walks. My walks are not only for my physical health but for my mental health too.

Conclusion. . .

This is an on going journey to a better me. Stay tuned for recipes, tips, tricks and updates on results. I would love to hear from my readers, any recipes or personal stories.

Summer Excitement. . .

The boys are officially employed for the Summer. Yayyy!! I feel very accomplished. Add this to the lists of things Mom’s celebrate for their kids. Their first official day of work is this week and the hubbs and I will celebrate with the first quiet night/day at home by ourselves since the pandemic shut down and they both came home to stay!

It is the little things . . .

My post the other day was about all the things we Mom’s celebrate for our kids, this is another one of those. It is exciting to watch the boys out in the work force earning some money for themselves. I remember earning my first income, I remember the satisfaction of buying my own clothes and going out to eat with my friends and being able to pay for my own food. That is a little sappy but still very true. My hope for the boys is that they find that feeling of satisfaction of job well done, and let’s face it the money does not hurt.

Earning their own money. . .

It is important for the boys to have a paycheck so they can open their own IRA and start saving for their retirement. Yes, I said retirement. If you have read anything I post you know that I am a Dave Ramsey fan/follower. I do not want my kids to be in debt and I have preached Dave to them so much that neither of them have credit cards and I do not think they ever will. Thank you Dave Ramsey! Big T is majoring in business so he is all about earning and saving money and he knows about debt. Both boys save up their money for items they want to buy, bless poor Sprat he saved for almost a year to buy his own gaming computer. Sprat is trying to rebuild his savings so he will have money to spend at school this Fall.

Just another moment to Celebrate the Grad. . .

Big T’s graduation ceremony was great, I do believe it was the best I have attended. One of the teachers had created a story that included all the graduates names as characters. She told a Zombie story, which seemed fitting with the year the kiddos endured their Senior year. They surprised the kids with the gentleman that was the Principal their freshman year and who played an integral part in this STEM school getting off the ground and being so successful. These kids loved this guy and had so much respect for him and you knew it when he came on the stage. The other thing that was so cool about this graduation ceremony was they gave each graduate a framed $1 and they said they wanted to be the one to give them their first earned dollar. I am so glad that Big T did not attend a traditional high school, he would not be as prepared for college as he is if it were not for this school and these teachers.

Working Marriage and Family. . .

Before we had kids. . .

My very sweet hubby and I will celebrate twenty-seven years of marriage in a few months, something I am pretty proud of. These days couples just do not stay together, for what ever reason, the marriage ends. Ours is not perfect, we argue and fight, he has his opinion and then there is mine. Our biggest fight was very early in our marriage and was when we bought our first home. He knew what he wanted in a home and I knew what I wanted. Our realtor asked my sister-in-law if we were still together after the first six or so years of marriage. I had to laugh because we used him again when we started looking for our home we are in now fourteen years ago. He is divorced, maybe he should have fought a little more with his wife.

Working marriage. . .

Ours is a marriage of compromise and helping each other. My husband cooks and goes to the grocery store to buy our weekly groceries and has a full time job. We work together in our family and we do things together, not because we have to but because we want to spend time with each other. I shared above, we do fight and argue, I think that is part of being human. It is not all sugar and lollipops but we make it work. Marriage is work, do not be fooled, it takes two people working very hard to keep a marriage and family together.

The boys. . .

While Sprat was at home over Christmas break we had several opportunities to talk about school and growing up. Sprat shared some things with me about how school was going. He opened up about the fact that not all of his friends and acquaintances grew up with the same home life. Sprat told me how thankful he was to have his dad and I in his life. Some of his friends parents were not a part of their lives and some only had one parent.

I am not a helicopter parent although, some have said I was over protective. I have to laugh at the over protective part, especially since my oldest is fourteen hours away in college. Maybe I was “over” protective of my boys when they were little but I have always encouraged them to do what they love and to work hard in everything they do.

Big T has always been like a little adult since he was about three years old. He says what is on his mind and does not apologize for the fact. Both of my boys have very strong opinions on things; life, politics, and rock bands. He wants to go to a college that is ten hours away and play lacrosse, just like Sprat.

Conclusion . . .

Marriage and family life is work and it takes two people to love each other and work together to make it work. We have our ups and downs and we fight and argue but that is what being an adult is about. Stay tuned as my blog chronicles our ups and downs. Please check out my previous posts and leave me a comment so I know you were here.