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Along the same lines as my gym love-fest post last week, I’ve been noticing other little things in my life that I have come to appreciate.

• Crayola Color Wonder markers.  Okay, so they don’t exactly inspire explosions of creative thought.  They’re a little like the “Yes and Know” invisible ink books my parents used to spring on us right before a long car trip — just run your marker over the page and words/pictures appear.  (SO easy to cheat on those books, btw.  My sister and I were experts.)  But Lily is so excited to be allowed to use markers, and I don’t have to worry about stray marks on the table, her clothes, etc.  They’re even less mess than crayons.
• Free cookies in the bakery at Hy-Vee.  Do I need any more reasons to love this store?  Lily knows right where the cookie jar is kept, and that cookie will buy me time all the way to the deli, where she gets a free piece of cheese.  That goes pretty fast, but just long enough to get me to the Health Market section, where there are almost always samples of something — pita chips, flaxseed bars, whatever.  I organize my shopping list by the Hy-Vee layout, and Lil and I have it down to a science.
• Parents as Teachers.  This is such a fabulous program.  Our PAT educator, Laura, is an old coworker of mine from a couple of jobs ago.  She visits every couple of months and gives me great ideas of activities for Lily to help with motor, cognitive, social, and language development.  I love that she always brings very inexpensive or hand-made toys — things like a shoebox with a slot cut in the top in which to insert playing cards, to work on fine motor skills.  Most of what she tells me is not new information, but it helps to hear it and remind me of things we could be doing.  Like getting Lily the plastic Play-Doh scissors so she can start learning how to snip Play-Doh. Or giving her pipe cleaners and beads to work on stringing.  Cheap, easy, educational fun.  Also, our Parents as Teachers program offers all kinds of free activites–like free sessions at Air Zone, the nearby inflatables place, and play groups, and seminars for parents on things like discipline, potty training, baby signing, etc.  The program is fantastic, and FREE.
• Noggin.  Yeah, I said it.  I let my kid watch TV, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Of course we try to limit the amount each day, and we carefully choose which shows we expose her to.  (I try to steer clear of shows that will become a marketing quagmire in another year or two, like Dora.  I figure, if I don’t want to have to buy a Dora bedspread, Dora backpack, and Dora house slippers, then I just won’t allow Dora in our home.  For now.)  But the occasional, well-timed, not-too-annoying kids’ show is sometimes just what I need to get dinner in the oven or jot off a few quick emails for work, so I say, Yay, Noggin!

There are more, but they escape me now.  I should start a list.  These little things keep me sane and thinking postively when I’m sick, sick, sick of the cold weather, and wrestling a writhing toddler, and sore from that cursed Jillian Michaels workout at the gym yesterday.

Oh, and since I didn’t get around to an Easter post, I’ll add a few pics from the big day.  My mom told Lily a week in advance of Easter that the bunny was going to come to our house, and that led to a week’s worth of “Bunny tum-ing!” shouted gleefully to anyone who passed by.  She was probably confused when she never actually saw a bunny at our house, but the confusion was quickly assuaged by “teats!” — treats of chocolate and toys, and one GIANT, hot pink rabbit that the Easter bunny did not consult with me before delivering.

The weather here still kind of stinks.  We’ve had a nice teaser day here and there, but this week it’s been rain, clouds, cold, rain.  So every day but the day I worked, I loaded up Lily and all our necessities and headed to the gym.

Our gym is a nearby community center (I’m talking 7 minutes, in traffic), only a year old.  It is pretty state-of-the-art, with TVs with earphone jacks on every cardio machine, a competition pool and diving well, and a leisure pool with zero entry, waterslide, fountains and such for the kiddies.  We joined about a year ago, and — even though I have taken a week off a few times — I have been going pretty darn regularly.  The best feature is a Child Watch program with caring ladies who Lily has come to like (no small feat).  For two glorious hours, Lily can play while I am FREE to work out.  Whether that means running on the indoor track, or lifing free weights, or even pedaling slowly on the recumbant bike while I watch Price is Right — it’s up to me.  Not many things are up to me these days, so even on a day like today — cold, dreary, rainy — I feel compelled to do what it takes to get us there, just so I can have my two hours.

I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out, but the Child Watch people don’t really care WHAT you’re doing while your kid is in their care, as long as you stay on the premises.  So recently I have begun showering at the gym after my workout.  I don’t mean a quick rinse and throw on some sweatpants.  I mean full shower, makeup, blow drying my hair, even curling my hair.  To have the time to do all of this without my pulse quickening everytime I think Lily is about to wake from her nap, which is what I have to do at home, is a luxury.  And I’m not the only one who has figured it out.  I met another stay-at-home-mom of two in the locker room just the other day, and we blow-dried and gabbed side by side.  I’m guessing by the time I have two kids, I’ll pretty much rent out a locker and move in to the community center.

Now wait, I’m getting to the best part.  The community center also has a spacious lobby with plasma TV, wi-fi, and comfy couches.  One day as I was leaving the gym after my workout, sweaty and weary, I saw a stay-at-home-dad who I see there quite a bit, and he’s all lounged out with a book in the lobby!  I was like, “So this is your workout today?” and he says sometimes he just isn’t up for a workout, so THIS IS WHAT HE DOES WITH HIS TWO HOURS.  I left, mouth agape.  And then I became giddy.  The thought of two hours to, seriously, lounge with a book and eat bon-bons if I want to — can you imagine?  So…tomorrow is the day.  I dangled it like a carrot in front of my nose (rather, a bon-bon) all week:  If I get to the gym three days before Friday and work hard, I will pack my book and my coffee go-mug, drop Lily at Child Watch, and take a two-hour break.  I don’t care if I sit staring blankly at a wall, it’s going to be fantastic.

So, happy Friday!  It may be windy and 40s outside tomorrow, but for me it will be a comfortable 72 degrees and QUIET.