I have strayed from my blog, AND my diet, this last week! As for my straying from the blog, I honestly was swamped this week– daycare, cleaning, my own 4 kids had activities almost nightly, I was completely exhausted by the time I had a spare minute to sit. As for my straying from the diet — no excuses, I WAS WEAK! But I didn’t stray terribly far, just a little more sugar than acceptable, and same with the carbs.

Some stressors this week that contributed to my weakness — lack of time to prepare meals/snacks, a pukey virus came through my daycare and I spent most of my spare time cleaning and sanitizing everything, exhaustion, I did not sleep worth a shit all week, and the fact that I was beyond annoyed that there are only 24 hours in a day for me to get all this crap done! Thursday, I chose this coffee mug to pump myself up before the chaos ensued — little did I know I ended up jinxing myself and was so swamped I didn’t even get to finish a half cup of that day. 😕

My new treadmill is up and running, I am working out a circuit type of training routine for me to do each morning in my own basement. That way, I can alternate running, weights, cycling, bands, jump rope, non-weight strengthening. I am going to have to kick myself out of bed everyday by 5:00 to get this done before I need to wake up kids for school and shower (don’t want to scare away my daycare babies!). It can be done. It WILL be done. I am going to have to put massive efforts into going to bed early every night, and actually falling asleep quickly enough to get a full night’s rest. And this HAS to happen in the mornings, I am waaaaaaay to tired at the end of the day for even a smidge of a workout.

So, in other news…I’m having myself some gin tonight. 🍸 I have found a gin tasting nearby that is coming up soon that I really want to attend, I need to find “my” gin. I’m 39 and I still have yet to find my go-to label. Maybe this tasting will steer me in the right direction! I will need to plan out my designated driver for that night…ya see, I am what you might call a “light weight.” My husband teases me that you can tell how tipsy I am by how red my cheeks are, he calls it my drunk-o-meter…and sadly, it is fairly accurate! ☺️ (Psst…my cheeks are looking pretty rosy right now!)

As for my 30-Day Song Challenge, I have a LOT to make up!

For day 23, a song I think everybody should listen to…aaahhhh, there are so many! I’m going to go with the ACOUSTIC version of Charlie Puth’s “Attention.” Everyone has heard the radio edit. But I mean, that acoustic version is hot, just go listen to it and thank me later.

For day 24, a song by a band I wish was still together…ha ha, I’m going to embarrass myself and let you all in on a song I have on my ‘guilty pleasures’ playlist. I don’t know if you all can handle this 90s-ness tonight, by here it is…”I Adore Mi Amore” by Color Me Badd (yeah, that’s right, there are 2 Ds in Badd). Come on, this song even gets bilungual, people! It oozes everything 90s R&B — and I know ev — e — ry — word.

For day 25, a song I like by an artist no longer living…can I just list every Michael Jackson song right here? I suppose if I had to choose just one, though, it would have to be “Human Nature.” This is one of the few songs I have never, ever, EVER tired of listing to. Nothing tops the original, but I do have a favorite cover that I came across of YouTube years ago. A young man named Corey Heuvel does my favorite acoustic cover of this. Click on his name there to go give it a view/listen, you won’t be disappointed.

For day 26, a song that makes me want to fall in love…once again, I love my slow jams, so I have too many, from many decades, from which to choose. I’m going to go with “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. Ed gets it. Ed knows. Ed knows how to write some lovey dovey, romantic lyrics. Also, Ed’s freakin’ coming to Kansas City! I am going to see him perform at Arrowhead Stadium on October 13 — the hubs got tickets for me and the oldest 2 girls for Christmas! We’re coming, my ginger balladeer!

And last, for day 27, a song that breaks your heart…this was another tough choice, but I’m to go with “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel. We’ve all had our hearts broken, some of us more than once, and it hurts just as bad each time — for me, it hurt even more each time. Songs like this connect us all on that common plane of misery. None of us have ever been alone in our heartbreak, even if it was inconceivable during that time for us to think that anyone existed out there who could know the same pain. We’ve all felt it, and it sucks.

Welp, based on the shade of red my cheeks have become, I better stop writing! Tonight, I think I’m opting for a rare night of no herbal tea before bed. More gin? I think so…just one more, I deserve it after this week! G’night y’all!

~~ Amie