Weekender {Baby, Fitness, Beer}

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Well, it’s been a pretty unproductive weekend over here. I’m hoping with the upswing of better weather this week, we’ll have more on our agenda in the coming days!

Friday: We didn’t get out of the house until after lunch. It was really only to head to the mall and return some stuff…so nothing majorly fun. Womp. Wes was a grumpy mister- he really doesn’t like being in the stroller especially when it’s not moving at a constant, rapid pace.

He fought against an afternoon nap, so he was going a bit stir crazy just about the time I had to leave for work. Pro: I didn’t have to deal with a grump baby for a couple of hours. Con: I left my mom to deal with it and felt a bit bad. Ha! Tyler is still chugging away at the multiple home projects (not jealous of that, either).

We didn’t really plan out dinner, so I threw together a bacon grilled cheese sandwich before heading off to work.

Work went pretty well, until I noticed at the end of my shift that I made a big mistake with some cash. It didn’t negatively impact my employment or anything, but I felt pretty crummy about it. Luckily, my boss also felt bad about the mixup and bought me a beer before I headed home.

Saturday: We had a pretty good morning- lots of floor time and snuggles. After breakfast, my mom, Wes and I headed to a used kid’s sale and scored quite a few clothing items for only $5. Only downer was that we were there while it was Wes’s nap time so he was a lovely mix of grumpy and sleepy. He ended up going down really easy once we got back and I was able to take the dogs for a nice long walk.

My mom was able to get some work done too. We have a makeshift sweatshop set up in the guest bedroom so my mom can sew sew sew.

Before I left for work, I got some more snuggles.

My shift this time went a lot better. Thank goodness!

Sunday: I slept like a rock the entire night (this is a rarity lately) and didn’t even hear Wes wake up. I finally opened my eyes at 8:30. Love good sleeps like that 🙂

After Wes’s first nap and a patio picnic lunch, my mom and I walked to the grocery store for dinner stuff. Tyler has been replacing our flooring, so the main living area has been a disaster zone. We have been trying to keep Wes entertained either out of the house, or in alternate rooms- which is a bit tricky.

During his afternoon nap, I was able to walk the dogs and enjoy some sun (AND CAKE) on the patio.

Then it was time to head to the swings!

For dinner, we had chicken kebobs and pasta salad which Wes eagerly attempted to steal off my mom’s plate.

And that’s it! Weekends just fly by I tell ya.

Some other random stuff:

I’ve completed the first four weeks of 22 Minute Hard Corps and love the extra strength it’s given my core, arms and glutes. I’m excited for the remaining four weeks to see if I’ll continue to improve! (PS: If you’re interested in this program… message me for more info!)

The Grapple Toy Tether giveaway is still open! There have only been a few entries, so PLEASE check it out and enter!!! I mean, c’mon who doesn’t love free stuff??

BEERFEST is next weekend! I am judging during the Friday session and working the Saturday session. This is pretty much my dream- not only do I get to taste beer and decide which are best, but I also get to hand out beer to fellow enthusiasts! Man, I’m really loving this whole not-going-back-to-my-desk-job thing.

CIBF_SOBEYSSAFEWAY_2015

And then to top off next weekend, I have been given the best Mother’s Day gift ever–> I’ll be going on the Spirit of Alberta Tasting Tour hosted by Calgary Brewery Tours. YAASSSS. I am beyond excited for this and can’t wait to fill you guys in with more info next week! 🙂

So all this talk makes me think about how random my blogging topics are- I am obsessed with 1) my child 2) fitness, and 3) craft beer. I think it’s a pretty healthy balance (plus, it’s my life so it’s not like I have to please everyone) but then it makes it a bit confusing to readers. Right? I’ve found that my instagram is pretty much all things Wes while my Twitter is beer beer beer. And then I snap (snapchat: nutcaseinpoint) fitness type photos if I remember to take any.

I just wanted to bring it up because I am guessing the variety has caused me to lose some readers? I thrive on the connections- plus, I spend a lot of time typing these things up(!!!) and I feel like I haven’t gotten any of that lately. This might sound selfish to ask, but I LOVE hearing from you guys! And I do my best to try to engage on others blogs as well. Keyword: try.

All this blabbing and I guess all I’m trying to say is I’d love for some feedback! Anything you have to say would be appreciated. Unless it’s nasty, then keep it to yourself 🙂

From the Week

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Boom! It’s Friday….ALREADY! Another week in the books 🙂

Monday wasn’t so fun (for me). I woke up feeling super sick, so I headed to the doctor’s to get checked out. They said it was just a cold, but I definitely felt like death warmed over. Not to mention, the coffee pot was backed up when I tried to start it, so it was like a one two punch of crap right to the face. Not too much else happened….we grabbed some Tims (helllllllo caffeine!), some groceries and a couple of beers for Tyler. I was able to snap some pics of Wes in our bedroom!

He was getting super playful once grandma came in the room and all the giggles made me <3.

We had chili and THE BEST CORNBREAD I’VE EVER MADE for dinner. I had to eat it a bit early and super quick because I had to head out to work.

Tuesday was a better day. I still woke up feeling pretty yucky so my mom was able to help out with Wes until my meds kicked in. I have been SO lucky with my mom being here- thanks to FaceTime, Wes recognized her right off the bat and has been stuck to her like glue her whole time here. He wants to be with her no matter what and even though part of me gets jealous about their bond, I am so happy that they have it because they don’t get to see each other often. <– that makes me sad!

We drove down to Ikea in the afternoon and ended up getting all things for Wes. I don’t want to purchase any house items until Tyler is done with the renos..because you just never know how things turn out!

One of the goodies we picked up (rather, my mom bought. She has been on a buying spree while she’s been visiting!) was a tent with an attachable tunnel. Wes got the hang of it right off the bat, but my mom still wanted to demonstrate. Must’ve been the wine 😉

I had to throw together a random dinner of leftovers and again quickly head out the door for work. It was my first ‘real’ day (not training) and it was so nerve wracking! More hints as to my part-time gig: BEER + AMBASSADOR. A dream job for me because not only do I get to work with beer, but I get to do it part-time. So my days are spent with Wes and only a couple evenings a week I am out adulting! It ended up being a great shift.

I also posted about the Grapple Toy Tether. If you haven’t seen that post yet, check it out! I am giving away one Grapple and the giveaway is open until next Tuesday! If you don’t have a kiddo that could use it, it’s also a great gift option 🙂

Wednesday was pretty darn good. Actually, it was great. Wes woke up in a fantastic mood, I had fantastic pancakes for breakfast, and got in my workout while Wes napped. As soon as Wes woke up, we got in the car and headed out! First stop was to pick up some fabric and odds and ends at Walmart. By the time we finished, it was lunch time so we headed to National Westhills. I had never been to that location before, but I knew that it was similar to the other locations in that they offered an outstanding selection of craft beers PLUS it is very family friendly.

As soon as we got there, I was relieved to see that there were actually several other tables of babies there. PHEW! I didn’t want to risk being the annoying table. My mom ordered fish tacos and some wine while I opted for a flight of beers. Just my luck: I chose all new-to-me beers that were DELICIOUS! Wes was a saint the entire time. He was so happy just looking around and schmoozing the women around us. I kept telling my mom that I was so glad we checked the place out because I think Tyler and I (and Wes) will have to frequent it from now on. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

After lunch, we wandered over to the Carter’s that was nearby and my mom went nuts. Carters= grandma crack. We walked out of there with a ton of new clothes for Wes, lucky kid! The afternoon was so stimulating for Wes that he fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I was able to stop and pick up a couple of groceries and WINE before getting to the house.

Wes was a huge snuggle muffin with grandma AGAIN. Seriously, why don’t I get all those awesome snuggles? I need them. We had mucho burrito for dinner because it was quick and easy and paired well with the wine we bought.

Thursday was pretty good too even if it was a little more slow going. We had breakfast then watched Grandma make a cake.

I was so excited when the mail came because my latest order of Bubbles & Balms bar soaps arrived! I ordered a variety of scents and can’t wait to try out a couple of the new ones. I know they’ll be good, because all the ones I’ve tried so far have been THE BEST. Seriously, the scents are so nice. But what wins me over is that the soaps keep my skin soft even throughout the yucky dry winters.

I recently talked about their baby line of products which are equally great. My favorite is the bath and massage oil. It’s very relaxing for Wes AND I can even use it for my baths!

We hung around the house for a bit after Wes’s nap. His favorite activity these days is to crawl into his room and toss every diaper across the room. I know I could totally prevent this by putting the diapers elsewhere, but I actually don’t mind because it’s so darn cute.

I put him in the crocheted jacket my mom’s friend had made for him while he was in his room and it was just so funny. I can’t tell if it looks more like a bolero or a pimp jacket. Too cute 🙂

We headed up to Airdrie for the afternoon for something to do. Mostly, it was to drive around but we did end up at Bulk Barn and picked up some goodies. Then Superstore on the way back because the kiddo needed more snacks for his snack drawer!

He was happy to just go up and down the aisles and have mama bounce him around.

We had meatloaf for dinner and Wes fell asleep insanely early due to no afternoon nap. This made for a nice evening of adulting. Not productive, but adulting nonetheless.

Have a great weekend!

Weekender

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

It’s 9pm on Sunday night as I finally sit down to type this and it is the first time all weekend I’ve actually just sat to rest. Even though I guess I’m not technically resting if I’m typing this..There has just been so much going on with the home renos, some outings, workouts, phew! I’m excited for my mom to get here this week so I can have maybe just a few more extra ‘me’ minutes every day while she chases after the munchkin. Here’s what we were up to this weekend!–>

Friday: Breakfast on the floor! I love mornings where I get a little extra time to myself so I can make pancakes. Maybe this particular morning I should have been on my game a bit better since the second batch in the pan got a little ‘crispy’. STILL GOOD THOUGH.

After a relatively easy morning with Wes- i.e. lots of Reggie pestering and my workout, I headed down to Rose and Crown for lunch. A lunch (beer included) that I won via twitter thankyouverymuch. It was a perfect day to sit on the patio and I enjoyed the conversation with the people there. I got the turkey and brie sandwich and it was DELICIOUS!

I was only gone a couple of hours and was back on Wes duty for the remainder of the afternoon while Tyler worked his hump off with home renos. Friday he did a lot of wiring stuff and prep for the installation of a fan in the ensuite shower. I don’t dare interject because it’s all at a skill set way above my pay grade.

For dinner, we had salsa verde burgers on the BBQ and I’m pretty sure I inhaled mine in less than 4 minutes. During one of Tyler’s routine home improvement store trips, he managed to pick me up a little surprise and I was a VERY happy wife. It makes up for the lack of together time we get with all these home projects!

Now that Wes is crawling around and slowly perfecting his ability to climb the step up from the living space, he likes to hang with the doggies. Even when they’re begging for a bit of burger from daddy. Please note: they only beg from Tyler and not me because they KNOW they won’t get anything. I’m not that nice to share my food!

In care you’re wondering, the green rag is a Layla drool rag. We have them all over the house because she’s a friggin faucet!

After Wes went down, we watched Amazing Race and the first hour of the Revenant before heading to bed. Sunburns make me tired!

Saturday: When Wes only has one nap he tends to go to bed earlier (woohoo!) but it also means he’ll wake up a bit earlier too (BOOOOOOOOOOFACE). I was up before 7am with him and made sure to get both of our bottles ready before getting him from his room.

The rest of the morning/early afternoon was pretty much a wash- I walked the dogs, did some household stuff and hung out with Wes while Tyler was WORK WORK WORKING on the house. By the time 3pm rolled around, I was on the road to check out an Orange Theory Fitness private class with a bunch of my friends. (I refuse to refer to them as blog friends because that category is just so silly!) The workout was great- the first half was done on the treadmill and the remainder was circuits of strength and rowing.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that we were all geared up with heart rate monitors and could see our progress on the big screens. I thought I was pushing myself, but hardly had any ‘splat’ points (when you’re in the orange zone). I can’t get too down on it though- I just have a really low resting heart rate! I was going 9-9.5mph for some of those sprints, dang it!

Can I just add that this location is sandwiched in between a liquor store and a Fatburger?! If I lived in that part of town I would either be in that shopping center all the time OR I’d avoid it all the time! Haha.

Most of us headed out to dinner afterwards. I have to admit, I didn’t order anything because A.) I’m cheap, and B.) I didn’t really want anything from that restaurant. I was happy to come home later that night and snack on some of Tyler’s leftovers and have a beer while we finished watching the Revenant. I think I earned it after burning 517 calories?

Sunday: Another early as heck morning! I need my mom to get here ASAP so I can at least just lay in bed for a few extra minutes. I’m pretty much awake just before 7am every morning anyways, but a lot of times I just don’t want to get out of bed and adult.

I made my standard BAE breakfast and……YOU GUESSED IT…..hung around with Wes while Tyler worked on the house. Is this post redundant or what?!

Just before Wes went down for a nap I was able to do the Resistance 2 workout from 22 Minutes Hard Corps. I couldn’t tell if it was actually more difficult or if my chest was a tad sore from the heavier weights I used for chest flys at OTF the day before. Either way, it felt good.

During Wes’s nap, I did some of my freelance work then we waited around for what seemed like FOREVER for someone to show up and buy the first Bob stroller we got (the orange one! Loved it, but was able to get a much newer used one for a bargain). She was a total low baller and I was *this close* to just telling her she could leave without it. So annoying.

I made a batch of my favoritest chocolate chip cookies EVER- this time using the mini Hershey kisses and they turned out ridiculously tasty. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not eat them all while they’re still warm?!

While they cooled (and in an attempt to avoid temptation) I walked Wes to the grocery store for some random items we needed. It was a bit cooler out, but felt nice to have some fresh air and to NOT hear the banging of hammers or the whirring of random power tools.

For dinner we had steak. Alberta beef is pretty much the tastiest thing around, and these babies didn’t disappoint. Wes even snagged quite a few bites from my plate even though he already had his dinner!

I would have liked more greens on the plate, but what can ya do. I eat healthy more times throughout the week than not (don’t refer to my chocolate chip cookies, haha).

Wes had a nice long bath then we hung out for a bit before it was his bed time.

I rounded out the evening with a walk with the dogs, a cardio workout (CALL ME CRAZY BUT I JUST HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY) and some more freelance stuff.

Fingers crossed for a good, long sleep tonight!

From the Week

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey friends! Happy Friday! It’s gonna be another gorgeous one over here, and I can’t wait to spend as much time as possible outside to soak it all up! Got a few things on the agenda this weekend, so it should go by in a flash. Bummer. Backing it up…

Monday: Right after breakfast, Wes and I walked to Safeway to pick up groceries for the week. I actually made a meal plan and lucked out that all of our dinners only required minimal additional ingredients.

The rest of our day was pretty laid back (from what I remember). I did day two of 22 Minute Hard Corps and we played in the basement for a while before Tyler got home.

Dinner was zucchini ‘meatballs’. They were pretty good taste-wise, but still a bit mushy. I’l have to simmer the heck out of the zucchini next time! Wes played with one for a while, but didn’t manage to get any pieces in his mouth.

Tuesday: Man, I need to up my picture game so I can remember what the heck we did! The usual morning hang outs..oh right! I actually got up early to do my workout while Wes was still sleeping! I even got in a shower too (perks of being able to shower in 60 seconds).

I had an interview that afternoon and ended up landing the position on the spot! Keeping it on the down-low, so don’t ask! I’ll share eventually 🙂

As soon as I got home, it was time to head out again to attend the media launch for the 2016 beer for Alberta Beer Festivals! I was really grateful to be able to attend AND bring Susie along. We chatted at Pig & Duke downtown until I ran out of time on my parking spot then we headed over to Last Best for another beer. If you haven’t been there yet I HIGHLY recommend checking them out!

I was home in time for dinner- which was Pickle Brined Baked Chicken Tenders then put Wes down and walked the doggies. I even squeezed in a second workout that evening since I had some extra energy.

Wednesday: The best part of waking up at butt crack? Being able to make a pancake breakfast. Only thing that would make it better would be if a handful of bacon was on the plate and a splash of Baileys was in my coffee 😉

While Wes was down for his morning nap (I’ve been lucking out all week with him taking 2 naps a day) I had a quick Skype meeting for a freelance job. Timing worked beautifully and Wes woke up just as the call ended so we had lunch and headed out for a walk and to cross a couple of errands off the list.

In case you didn’t see on my Instagram or Facebook pages, there is a limited time sale on a few of the Focus T25 programs and they are REALLY good prices. The sale started on April 5th, but we don’t know how long it will last. SO….if you’ve been thinking about biting the bullet, now’s the time! It’s my favorite program 🙂

For dinner we had BBQ pork tenderloin which was out of this world delicious. I rounded the day out with a long bath and simultaneously completed some online certifications I need for my job.

Thursday: Man oh man was Thursday a beautiful day. It seems that our ‘day’ doesn’t really start until after breakfast/workout/morning hang outs/nap/lunch and I’m pretty a-OK with that. I love my morning routine with Wes. But after all that stuff was done, we hung out on the patio for a good long while. It seems our patio absorbs the sun’s heat so much that the temperature was a bit warm out there, but none of us were complaining.

After sufficient patio time, I put Wes in the Bob and we walked to the liquor store. You know, as you do with an 11 month old while you’re still on mat leave. In the middle of the day. BUT- it was National Beer Day! And I celebrated by wearing my newest favorite shirt.

We walked back home so I could put the beer in the fridge then headed back out to the park to take advantage the last few weeks we have left with our playground. Apparently the city deems it too dangerous and since our part of the neighborhood doesn’t have enough appropriately aged children to use the area, it’s getting demolished. Wah.

We had Korean Grilled Chicken Breasts for dinner and paired it with a new Wild Rose beer. (Native to Alberta…or should I say, Albeerta?! ha I’m so funny)

Tyler has been full speed ahead on some home improvement projects, so my weeknights usually consist of me managing Wes while he work work work work works. Sorry, that Rihanna song has been stuck in my head all week.

So that’s our week in a nutshell..now on to the weekend!!

Weekender

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Well that went by fast! Faster than usual actually. I blame daylight savings?? And Happy Pi Day! Backing it up from the weekend:

Friday: While Wes was down for his morning nap, I did a quick T25 Beta workout then whipped up a batch of Easter M&M cookies. (balance, right?)

Afterwards, we headed to the mall in hopes of exchanging some socks my parents sent to Wes for a larger size. They didn’t have any, so I’ll just have to hold on to them until we make it to a different location! We did a quick lap around the mall then headed home.

It was a pretty uneventful day, and we didn’t do much except hang around the house for the remainder of the afternoon.

Dinner was a quick meal of chicken burrito bowls (we forgot to put CHEESE on them. WHO DOES THAT!) then Susie came over for a girls night beer tasting. We each contributed 3 beers, but we only opened 3….and didn’t even finish them! I feel like such an old lady sometimes.

Saturday: Here’s some exciting news- I spent the morning doing laundry! Actually, I took a nice bath first then got some laundry done. And Wes helped us make the bed 🙂

After lunch we headed out to check out some flooring options to redo the main level of the house. We think we’ve narrowed it down to a particular one, but it might not get done RIGHT away. That’s ok, it was nice to get out of the house and Wes loved sitting in all the different shopping carts! And snacks. Snacks are always fun.

Oh, and I was dead set on getting a nutella donut from Tims while we were out. Mmm, so good! I haven’t had one of those since the day Wes was born- aka: the day I most deserved a donut.

We ordered pizza for dinner and watched The Other Guy and Concussion before going to bed.

Sunday: After my beloved BAE breakfast, I took Wes for a nice long morning walk. It was early enough that there was still a nip in the air, so he got nice and cozy before we headed out.

He managed to fall asleep while we were out and I successfully got him in the entryway of the house (in the stroller!) and he stayed asleep for about 45 minutes.

A little afternoon play time to be had:

Then we decided to try to go to a nearby provincial park for a long walk. Once we got there though it was way too windy, so we tried heading to another park. Same problem…WIND! Almost immediately after we strapped Wes back into the car he passed out and we ended up driving out to Airdrie to check out some show homes. There were some really nice ones, but then there were also a lot of overpriced homes that didn’t even have nice finishes. Womp.

Wes was a trooper for the FOUR HOURS we were out, and even stayed all smiles for the rest of the evening! He ate a humungous dinner, splashed the heck out of us during his bath, then easily went down at 7:40pm.

Unfortunately for me, since we were out so long during the day and Wes didn’t have a proper nap in his crib, I still had to take the doggies out for a long walk and do my workout afterwards. I hate to admit it but I think I’m becoming a morning worker-outer! Nothing better than just getting it done first thing.

Speaking of workouts, I just wanted to share a photo I posted on Instagram. I really have to attribute a lot of my post-baby body success to my two favorite programs: T25 and 21 day fix EXTREME . Both programs enabled me to get in great workouts in under 30 minutes and there is no better feeling than the feeling of accomplishment- especially when I can see these results AND I feel like a million bucks.

If you’re interested in learning more about these or any other programs, please feel free to email me! jennifer(dot)l(dot)linton(at)gmail(dot)com

Before heading to bed, I whipped up a batch of baked breakfast protein cookies. I’m really hoping they turned out..and if they do, I’ll make sure to share the recipe!

How was your weekend??

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