Meanest Look | Modern Life: Reveries on Parenting, Fitness, Fashion, Entertaining with a (large) Side of Foul Language

Sciatica, Teeth Brushing Squats and The Derby Booty

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Sport

Not ashamed. That is my derby booty coming back. There really is no booty like a derby booty. It’s magical. I’ve been battling sciatica for the last three years. I sorta went like this: I stopped playing derby, got pregnant, got super fluffy to the tune of 72lbs, got super sedentary, and got sciatica. My doctor told me “do squats and lunges.” I did not. And I suffered.

I lost most of my extra weight, but stayed way heavier than I’ve ever been before. In January, something clicked and I got focused on changing my body. I added TRX and yoga back into my daily life. And I discovered YogaCycle, which completely turned fitness classed upside down in my world. For the first time ever I seriously looked forward to working out. And the sciatica finally stopped flaring up.

On top of working out, I heard Ginger Zee of GMA, say that she does squats while she brushes her teeth. Why had I never thought of that? My husband likes to make fun of this new ritual, but it works!

Then those damn Wasatch Roller Girls gave me a sweet, sweet taste of roller derby again. And not just derby, awesome, supportive, fun derby. Cut to that ass pic above. The local Denver rec league The Wreckin’ Rebels have welcomed in into their ranks. Their sweaty, smelly, holy shit the room 114 degrees and we’re doing sprints ranks.

Three tremendous things happened:

1) I am the happiest little Sports Racer you’ll ever meet these days.

2) Ha! I actually forgot what I was going to write here. While I was typing. God damn, maybe I need an MRI.

and 3) That derby booty is commin’ back.

Awww, I missed skating. So seriously, did you welcome some type of fitness back into your life and feel completely reinvigorated?

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Get Shit Done

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Sport

I fall into the same trap that so many people do. I get overwhelmed with the massive amounts of shit I need to do and then I freeze. Like a deer in headlights. <–Is that too cliche or what?

Really, I do. I become paralyzed with the mounting tasks. Well that is simply not conducive with my job or life in general. As such, I started finding ways to manage these tasks so I can knock them out and beat back that feeling of being too overwhelmed to even start one task.

Turns out I needed a little toolkit to get thing in order to get them done. One of my big tools at work is my whiteboard. It has my short-term and long-terms tasks listed. The “Top Three” are the things I need to complete that day. Everything else is shit on the horizon and I don’t touch until my Top Three are done. And then there’s that kick ass turtle Duncan made me. Motivation.

Some of my other tools are:

Obvs- Google Apps: Gmail, Google Drive and Calendar.

#TwitterChats – I participate in at least one Twitter Chat every week. For me, this helps get out some thoughts, and gather lots of new perspectives. I always feel motivated after these chats and end up knocking out a project right quick.

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Yoga with the boy

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Sport

I’m feeling particularly lucky. Not only do I have a yoga instructor and community that welcome Duncan at class, but I have a child who actually wants to go.

It’s fun. Duncan sees it as a chance to “ride the unicorn” which is what we call piggy back rides. Please tell me you all have quirky names for shit.

So I did get an unexpected quads workout thanks to his climbing all over me and still trying to be in downward dog, or warrior, or forward fold.

It may seem obvious to so many parents, but for me it wasn’t. These small things–taking Duncan to yoga with me–are priceless bonding experiences.

There he was on his mat that Grandma Jane got him for his birthday mimicking momma and throwing in his own variations and we were deeply connected in an activity. It was much like when we went to have an “adventure” in New York. These moments of doing an activity together mean so much to him.

And to me.

So here was my big takeaway from this: no matter how busy or hectic things are, no matter how wild the boy acts, it is critical for us to have these little mother-boy dates. I always want Duncan to look back and think of a few things: