The big picture – untidy circles of colour which make me smile despite their mess.

Labelling individual puzzle pieces.  Good idea in theory but not so much in toddler reality.

Which hasn’t miraculously made everything go to plan but it has made life more manageable and dare I say it fun.  Rather than fight against the surprises of the day, I’ve worked with them with surprisingly positive outcomes for all involved.  Instead of swearing  like an Iggy Azalea rap, I’ve dug deep and found the silver linings in the numerous (there always seem to be more of them in your head than if you were to write them down on paper) things that haven’t gone to plan.

The ongoing saga of trying to get ID and a parking permit for my second work site will, from now on, be handled with level headed zen.  Should I be given the all clear today, my day off, to go and get it all done, I shall do so clad in my perfectly worn in boyfriend jeans.  Paired with a crisp white T and a bit of makeup, I will look fine for my ID head shot whilst still be able to head off afterwards for day care pick up and the completion of various ‘day off’ chores.

And it’s true what they say pumping iron.  It does wonders to your soul to have something heavy to life as you exhale the negative.

As an aside, things went well at the gym today.  It’s been a week since I’ve last been and in the interim, I’ve been doing those Neila Rey body weight work outs I blogged about last week.  I was able to keep up my treadmill sprints and comfortably lift the same weight in my upper body program today as I had been lifting prior to the break.

The Neila Rey workouts have been very easy to incorporate into both my days off and on (work, I mean, not parenting).  Because I don’t have to leave the house to complete them and they require no equipment set up, I can fit them in during nap time at any time of the day.

I’ve been keeping things simple in the kitchen.  Sticking to the tried and tested and resisting the urge to dial for home delivery or to drive through Maccas (though I think I’ll be celebrating making it to this Friday with some Thai for dinner…).  Apricot chicken is up for dinner tonight and I’ve made the controversial decision to add both Moroccan seasoning and curry powder to the apricot sauce.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Toddler SSG’s current favourite song is ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ so I’ve used that as inspiration at the dining table with fruit faces based on the second verse of the song.  It also turned out to be a handy way of repurposing the barely touched fruit he often decides to unpeel and then lose interest in.

And with that, it’s back to the daily grind for me.  But with a cheerier take on it all.  At least the sun is shining through the clouds and it’s warm.  So the laundry will dry by this afternoon!

Cheerio!