Multitasking Mommy — A Boston career mom's adventures in stay-at-home mommyhood

Princess Half-Marathon: The Recap

March 9, 2010

Once again, I have so much to write about, so I’ll have to split this into multiple posts. I’ll focus on the race for this post, since that’s what is the most interesting…

As you all know, my training was derailed a bit. I didn’t train as much as I’d wanted to, but I did feel pretty ready. Although I do have to admit that next time (yes, I said it) I will train a little more. I think next time I’ll do a 13.1 before the actual race day.

So, the day started with a 3am wake up time. Diane and I got up, put on our layers of running clothes and met up with Jen and Whitney. We headed to the lobby, where we met up with the Disney Sports Media* group, grabbed a snack pack, and then waited in line for the bus. After we got off the bus, we waited in a LONG port-a-potty line, shared some pretty funny moments with the others waiting in line (I’ll spare you the details).

The race started at 6am, and although Whitney and I were assigned Corral C, we decided to join Diane and Jen in Corral D. I was dressed in my “throwaway” clothes, including an old sweatshirt and some flannel pajama pants. While I thought I’d ditch those extra clothes before running, I didn’t toss them until something like mile 5. It was COLD!

When our group took off around 6:15 or so, the start was pretty slow. There were a LOT of walkers. Diane reminded us all to follow our plan (i.e, run 10, walk 1 for me) rather than get hyped up in overexerting ourselves at the beginning, which was great advice. And, quite honestly, while I was pumped up and really excited to run, my muscles were pretty stiff from the cold and standing around.

I felt great miles 1-5, which took us to the Magic Kingdom. Miles 6 & 7 felt wonderful because there was so much going on, and running through Main Street, Fantasyland, Cinderella Castle, Liberty Square and Frontierland felt great. I didn’t really feel pain until mile 9 & 10. I think I walked much of mile 11 because I was starting to fade. And miles 12-13.1 were completed with my mind, not my body. But I did it! I finished. My official time? 3:00:27. I wish it was more like 2:45:00 but I’m happy. I did it! And, remember where I came from? Wow!

I’m not sure what my next step is. No, it’s not a marathon. Probably a few 5ks & 10ks, then another half.

Disclosure: Oh my. This is the most convoluted disclosure ever. I decided to go on this trip myself, and paid for my flight and race registration. Then, I was invited as part of the Disney Sports Media event. So they paid for my meals and hotel stay.

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#FitFriday – Ready or Not…

March 5, 2010

This week was an unusual one for me, because I’M RUNNING A HALF-MARATHON ON SUNDAY!!! OH MY GOSH.

I took it easy last Friday and Saturday, because I’d just had my precancerous mole removed, and I wanted to let it heal a bit before sweating on it.

But on Sunday? I ran eleven miles. As I passed through my town’s center at about 2.5 miles, I looked at myself in the storefront windows, and I saw a runner. It was surprising. I looked legitimate.

On the way back, at mile 9, I looked in the windows again, and saw a pathetic looking exhausted woman half running, half hobbling. I have to say that I’m a little nervous about adding 2 miles to that run, but I’m confident I can do it!

On Monday, I did Your Shape yoga, which felt great. I love stretching those muscles after working them so hard the day before!

I ran four miles on Tuesday, at a nice, steady but light pace. Then on Wednesday, I did Your Shape arms for 30 minutes. I ran two miles yesterday, and now am resting today and tomorrow.

Later today, I’ll board a plane headed to Orlando. No turning back!

Wish me luck!

Disclaimer: I’m participating in a three-month sponsored Your Shape challenge.

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The Week (and a Half) in the Life of a Multitasking Mommy

March 4, 2010

When I quit my full-time job, one of the questions I heard over and over again was “What are you going to do? Are you just going to stay home?”. I decided to chronicle some of my time lately, to see where all of my time goes every day.

Day 1: Wednesday

Kids home all day. Start by running three miles on the treadmill.

While kids fake taking a nap, finish up two loads of laundry, a social media proposal to a large company, and a business plan for a new business I’m the VP of Finance for.

Day Two: Thursday

Fly to Houston for the Mom 2.0 Summit. While waiting for my roommate to fly in, I iron my Mad Men outfit for the party later that night. Briefly consider running but decide not to.

Day Three: Friday

Wake up early and consider running. Realize I now have “conference sore throat”. Decide to sleep in.

Attend conference all day, eat two dinners, and go to sleep.

Day Four: Saturday

Wake up, consider running Run 2.0, realize 2 miles is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to the 9 miles I am supposed to run this weekend, also realize “conference sore throat” is now “burning sore throat”. Roll over and go back to sleep.

Attend conference, get sad when roommate leaves early to go back home. Then realize I.Have.A.Whole.Four.Seasons.Suite.To.Myself. Hang out in room, get ready for Barilla dinner. Eat great food with a great group. Go back to room to get ready for CheeseburgHER. Attend party for a bit. Go back to room and watch TV by myself.

Day Five: Sunday

Don’t even consider running as “burning sore throat” is now a cold. Sleep in and then order the most amazing room service breakfast with watermelon juice. Pack up and have a leisure morning. Then head out to the airport. Fly to Jackson, MS, then BWI, where I almost have a breakdown. Arrive at home at 12:15am Monday….

Day Six: Monday

… slip into bed and try to fall asleep.

Only to be awakened at 1:10am by a sick, stuffy boy. Go into his room and get him back to sleep.

2:30 – boy awake again. Decide to sleep in his bed with him. Cuddle him while he grabs my face and says “mommy, you are home!”. Chat with him for almost an hour until he goes back to sleep.

5:20am awake for the day! Go into my daughter’s room where she jumps out of bed and says, “Mommy, I’m so glad you are here!”. Realize I’m sick and responsible for two little ones all day. ZZZZZZZZ…….

Day Seven: Tuesday

Run the nine miles I was supposed to run on Sunday. Then shower, and pick up my daughter from pre-K to take her to her kindergarten visit. After the visit, go to the Olive Garden where I become the Mayor on Four Square. Hilarious Twitter friend asks if that comes with “unlimited, unlimited breadsticks.” Sadly, it doesn’t. Return daughter to school, work for a few hours, and then go on a job interview with someone who asks my hourly rate. Watch her try to hold back laughter.

Day Eight: Wednesday

Do Your Shape yoga. Take kids to gymnastics, call Dr. to make appointment for son’s wart on hand. Surprisingly get an appointment for that morning, albeit with a different ped. Take kids for donut treat, and then eat in the car while waiting for appointment. See doctor who asks, “oh, what’s that?”. Good question doctor. I thought I’d ask a trained professional.

Day Nine: Thursday

Run 5K. Go to lunch with a friend. Head to derm office to have precancerous mole cut off. Then, while filling prescription, talk to business partner about names for new company. Then go to pick up kids.

Hmmm…. what do I do all day? It’s not the corporate life, it’s not the stay-at-home mom life. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!

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Back to That Mommy Thing…

March 2, 2010

Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked a lot about my multitasking life – from standing on my pedestal to exercising to conferences – but not a lot about the mommy thing. The truth is, the mommy thing really is the majority of my life. And, I love (almost) every minute of it.

Last week, my daughter and I visited kindergarten to do her evaluation, meet a few teachers, and talk to the school nurse. It was really one of the first times we had to fully discuss her allergy with someone who didn’t already know her. While I know my daughter understands her allergy and isn’t at all interested in eating nuts, I will still worry a bit. I do have confidence that they have great procedures, but we’re still learning a lot about how deep her allergy actually is.

A few people asked me if I was emotional about my first-born going to kindergarten, and I’m really not, beyond those allergy concerns. She’s so excited about going and SO ready – she missed the deadline last year by a week, and so she already watched so many of her friends already go.

But her brother? Oh my. He is going to be heartbroken and so sad without his partner in crime. He adores her. He loves her. He follows her everywhere. They are a duo, almost closer than twins, and I’m going to have to make his life extra special for those first few weeks.

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Bad Pitches: Shouldn’t This Be in PR 101?

February 28, 2010

So, I know the topic of bad pitches has been done to death, and honestly, you’d think this wouldn’t even really be an issue. At the Mom 2.0 Summit, my friend Ciaran compared bad pitches to bad pick-up lines, which is an accurate comparison. But, if you are teaching dating tips, you wouldn’t even really talk about bad pick-up lines. Because that should be a given, right?

But with bad pitches, it isn’t. Because I receive SO many bad pitches that it’s really shameful.

….but before I get to them, take a look at our about page. It’s not so hard to see the name of the person who queries should be sent to, right?

Let’s start with the way the emails are addressed:

To: Ms. Chris, Blogger Mom’s Favorite Stuff (huh?)
Hi Ms., (wow, how personal!)
Mom’s Favorite Stuff Ms. Chris Blogger (mail merge FAIL)

Is it THAT hard??

Then, there’s the ubiquitous “I love your blog!”. Wow, really? Thanks! Have you read it? Because you called me Ms. (Note, I’m not referring to those who say – “I love your blog” and then provide a reason or at least know my name. I mean those who obviously include that in every pitch).

Here’s a fun one:

We’d love to invite you and your editorial team to an upcoming screening of our film – would you please let me know who I can touch base with? Below is info. on our upcoming LA screening however we have screenings is various cities should your staff be based elsewhere.

The LA bureau would love to attend. But they are a tough group with lots of demands – they’ll want still Perrier and Christmas M&Ms in their green room…

This author totally forgot who she was writing about…

At any rate, I really hope you will consider this for momsfavoritestuff.com. It’s a great resource for parents (I can say so first hand) and I think it would be great for mommieswithstyle.com readers. It is truly a great find.

Oopsie!

This sounds intriguing, if not entirely editorially appropriate…

I hope this email finds you well. I was just checking up on an email I sent a few weeks back, about one of the most fun and interesting shows to sneak out of Australia, called Puppetry of the Penis – you may have seen them on HBO’s Real Sex or on Leno a few years back. Puppetry of the Penis celebrates the ancient Australian art of genital origami, which has resurfaced thanks to the Morley Brothers – Simon and Justin, who will launch the national tour in NY beginning Aug 4 for the next four weeks.

And….one last one…

Please follow and become a fan of the {redacted}. If you could also tweet or facebook about it we would really appreciate it.

Is that it? Anything else I can do for you?

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#FitFriday – ONE MORE WEEK!

February 27, 2010

A Selection of My Healthy Snacks

Okay, so I’m going to start out this week by ‘fessing up. I gained a few pounds last week when I was at the Mom 2.0 Summit, and I didn’t even do my weigh in this week. How embarrassing. But, the half-marathon is one week away, and I’m excited to accomplish that. Then I can focus more on weight loss.

Last week in the #yourshape challenge, we received a $100 gift card each to shop at Walmart for healthy snacks and fitness supplies. I purchased the snacks/beverages shown in the photo – mostly nuts. I find that they are a great snack IF (and only if) I stick with a small portion. Since we splurged last year on SelectTech weights, I didn’t need free weights, so instead I purchased a step bench. It’s definitely come in handy with the Your Shape game, since that’s one of the options of add-ons.

I did Your Shape three times this week – I did the “get bikini ready” exercise (which kills my abs), the yoga (which is surprisingly difficult yet really fun), and 30 minutes of arm burn. It always amazes me how I get a great workout with this game!

For running, I did my long run (9 miles) on Tuesday, a 5k on Thursday, and will do an 11 miler tomorrow. I had a brief hiatus in running on Thursday and Friday, as I recovered from my skin biopsy.

The half-marathon is next week!! Wish me luck!!

Disclosure: I am participating in a Your Shape challenge sponsored by UbiSoft and Collective Bias.

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Giving It* Away For Free

February 24, 2010

* it = blogging or other social media services

This topic has come up over and over and over again, from back in 2008 when Walmart launched their 11mom program. It’s a source of discord in the blogging world, while some feel that it’s their prerogative to work for free, while others feel it cheapens the entire blogosphere.

Kim Moldovsky, who I highly respect, wrote a fabulous post on this, and I’ve been thinking about this since then. In fact, this has been on my mind quite a bit lately – especially with both conferences happening within two weeks of each other. While I definitely don’t have the final word on this topic, here’s what I’m thinking now.

1 – Getting Paid Doesn’t Always Mean Cold, Hard, Cash…

There’s lots of ways you can get value. From conference sponsorship to free PR, there are loads of options. Even a link back may be worth it to you. But don’t sell yourself short. You need to get a fair trade.

A badge and a hashtag do NOT EQUAL VALUE…

And, I’m not talking about getting paid for reviews. Those will always continue to be editorial (with free products received). I mean campaigns. Videos. Focus groups. Blog posts for other blogs. Consulting – etc, etc, etc…

2 – If You Are Looking on The Outside, You May Make the Wrong Assumption

I had conversations with three totally different people over the past few weeks who had the wrong impression about my relationship with a company. They assumed I wasn’t getting value and were surprised to hear that I was.

3 – Don’t Second Guess Yourself

There will be times you’ll say no. And then dozens of other bloggers will say yes, and you’ll be tempted to feel like you made a mistake. If it feels wrong to you, it’s wrong. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong for everyone.

4 – If You Promote Every Company That Asks, Eventually Your Voice Will be Diluted

Be selective, please? Because if you keep saying yes, at some point your voice will mean nothing.

5 - Don’t Lose Your Community

You are valued because of your community. If you alienate your community, you aren’t valuable anymore.

Opinions? Did I miss anything?

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The Day I Hit My Travel Limit

February 23, 2010

I enjoy traveling. I’m not someone who minds getting on a plane, or having connections. I like experiencing new places and I LOVE HOTELS (just one reason I LOVE writing for Uptake). But this Sunday, I hit my limit.

For some reason, flying from Boston to Houston is expensive. Both times I traveled to Mom 2.0, I booked flights with two stops on the way home. While this totally and completely sucked, it did save some money. Flying direct was almost $500, and with my connections it was $350.

I was sick. I was tired. My daughter was home crying that she wanted her mommy. My husband had a fever and had reached his limit. I was at BWI Airport, and my flight was delayed. The borderline rude Southwest gate agent had no mercy, doling out flight updates in bits and pieces …. nuggets like “delayed an hour for now, but not looking good” and “it says the flight is leaving at 9:30, but that’s not even possible”. Nice. Nothing like withholding information from a tired, sick, mom with a family to get back to. Whatever.

The flight finally left after 10 pm, and I got home after midnight. But I’m not so sure I left with a favorable reputation of Southwest. Delays are unavoidable, but communication and information can make a world of difference in customer service.

I’m home for less than two weeks, then I fly to Orlando for the half-marathon. This time on Delta thankfully, where I rarely have a bad experience!

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Taking a Good Group Picture Can Take a While…

February 22, 2010

Like last year, I find myself continuously rehashing all of the learnings and general awesomeness from the Mom 2.0 Summit. So, expect multiple posts, on both Mom’s Favorite Stuff and this blog.

But now, the story of this photo….

mad-men-photo

That’s Caitlin Melnick from 360 PR, me, Stephanie Schwab from Kaplow PR, and Ciaran from Momfluential.net.

We were at the Mad Men party on Thursday night, a party that was originally supposed to take place by the pool at the Four Seasons but was moved indoors due to the cold (hahahaha!). They had set up a green screen for these photos, which they were printing up as we waited.

We took the first photo. Apparently, someone messed up the green screen. We took a second. The photographer wasn’t thrilled with our positioning in relation to the image. We took a third. Someone blinked. We took a fourth. Someone else blinked. We took a fifth – that’s the photo you see here.

The issue? There was a long line of people waiting to take pictures. And right behind us? Dooce, Maggie, Gwen Bell, Gabrielle…. yes, some of the biggest name bloggers, and the conference organizers as well, probably think we are the biggest photo divas, as they waited a ridiculous amount of time for us to finally get a good picture.

Sigh.

It’s a cute picture though, isn’t it?

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#FitFriday: Saturday Edition – I’m Just Embarrassed

February 20, 2010

I was supposed to get up this morning and run with the rest of the Run 2.0ers. In fact, I even said something like, “Two miles? I need to run more than that”.

Then I slept in.

I’m tired. Jet lagged. A little sick. All of which makes running a half-marathon in two weeks a bit daunting.

Last Saturday, I did the 45 minute Your Shape workout for stronger arms. And for some reason, Jenny had me doing squats and lunges. Sixty of them, to be exact. And by Sunday, I was SORE. Unfortunate timing, because Sunday was my longest run ever – 10 miles.

My parents came over to see the kids, so my husband decided to join me for the run. It was hard, but not impossible. I did it. And this week, I’m back down to nine miles. I think I’ll do those on Tuesday, and tomorrow, hit the gym here at the Four Seasons Houston for a few miles.

Just two weeks before the Princess half-marathon.

Disclosure: I am participating in a sponsored challenge for Your Shape.

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Mom 2.0 Weekend…

February 20, 2010

Early Morning at Boston Logan Terminal E

I’m still here at Mom 2.0 in Houston, and once again, I’m so glad I made the decision. It was difficult to decide to take a weekend away (again), but this conference is important to me, and I get so much out of it.

Things started out bright and early on Thursday, as I headed out to Boston Logan yet again. I am actually starting to recognize the Logan Express drivers. I’m so glad that Southwest is flying out of Boston now, but wasn’t too pleased to hear that they are in terminal E, the International terminal.

But as the photo shows? Not a soul was there…. (I apologize for the blurriness of the photo – I took it quickly so as not too look like a weird airport picture taking terrorist).

Anyway, after two uneventful flights – I arrived at Houston Hobby’s airport (a pit, by the way, but being renovated) early, and faced my first two culture shocks. One, 60+ degree weather. Two, a super-polite cab driver who asked if I wanted A/C or heat (I opted for open window), gave me a choice of music, and politely asked if I would mind him making a quick call to the dispatcher to find out if an accident on the highway had been cleared.

My shared room with Ciaran (an upgrade to a suite) was not ready, so I chose to walk across the street to the “mall” (a VERY generous term) and saw on the directory that there was a Chick-Fil-A, so I was thrilled and walked around and around until I saw this…

The chickens are thanking me for understanding about their renovations.

Seriously?

After THAT disappointment, I gave up on lunch and settled for a early dinner, then a late dinner.

My trend of two dinners continued – on Friday, I ate from the Taco truck at Foto Fest …

Taco Truck at Foto Fest

… and again with some wonderful ladies…

More check-ins at Reef

Ignore the massive Jodi fatness in that first photo on the Whrrl. Baby doll dress plus awkward lean-in plus large dinner equals BAD PHOTO FOR JODI…

Tonight? I really hope I won’t have two dinners….because that photo? Is damaging my mental state.

…speaking of which, I haven’t posted my #fitfriday update, but I will, later today.

Disclosure: Xtra Xtra sponsored part of my trip to the Mom 2.0 Summit.

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Heading Out to Houston!

February 17, 2010

Last February, I attended my very first social media conference, the Mom 2.0 Summit. Well, tomorrow, I’m headed back to Houston, for my second Mom 2.0 Summit!

I’m looking forward to connecting with my friends from last year (although I’m sad a few won’t be there), and meeting all of the new people who are attending.

I also wanted to give a huge thanks to Xtra Xtra, who is sponsoring me to this conference this year!