Today I went in the basement to ride on the trainer and watch an episode of Mad Men while Sweet Pea was down for her first nap. I thought I would perhaps take her out for a run with the BOB stroller but when I looked out the window and saw the tree branches swaying violently in the wind I ix-nayed that plan. I will take hills any day of the week over wind. Rain? Bring it on. Heat- I can get up way early or go after dusk. Snow- I’ll wear a hat and brush it off. I ran in rain, thunder, and lightening on the morning of my wedding. But wind? Blech. The feeling of an invisible hand inflating pushing the pace and inflating your ego on the way out, only to crush you like an ant on the way back? Hate it.

Sweet Pea is into this 45-50 minute nap routine, so I did everything I could to be ready to go before I put her down. I got exactly 40 minutes in on the trainer before I heard her whimpering on the baby monitor. I gave it another five minutes before I went up for her. I mean, if I don’t give her a chance to put herself back down to sleep, how will she ever figure it out, right? Yeah, right. I can count on one hand the times she’s gone back down to sleep after waking from a nap. That was not happening and I knew it. I just wanted five more little minutes to myself.

I went up and got her and brought her back down while I did my core work, pushups, and tricep dips. I set her up with a few toys, but she was perfectly content to watch me. She crawled right up to me and giggled while I did my pushups. At least someone was enjoying it. She was especially interested in my Swiss Ball and while I would certainly throw myself in front of a bus for her, I was not about to let her interfere with getting my six pack on. Finally, there was a use for the midget size Swiss Ball I’ve been too lazy to return! Seriously, I got this Swiss Ball that was labelled as being appropriate for persons 5’0″ to 5’5″. Except it’s the tiniest thing. It looks like it’s made for an American Girl Doll. But, as I am wont to do, I kept it around just in case. I have to say, it was pretty cute to watch her peek out from behind it, push it around, pat it, and basically do anything with it but what it was intended for, while I did some ab stuff on our other normal size ball.

The afternoon held the promise of a baby-free rocking good time while I waited for my car while I had my oil changed. I showed up with a book (One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper, which I am about three chapters into and loving, and two Sunset magazines I got from the library), a Luna Bar and my Nalgene full of water. I was 100% ready to bask in all the glory the barren waiting area had to offer while I had some time to myself. If it’s wrong to admit I was excited to wait for my car, then I don’t want to be right. It is hard to convey how disappointed I was in the excellent customer service I experienced there. This is how it went down:

Pam: So what do you think, this will take, like…. an hour?
Mechanic: Oh, hopefully not that long.
P: So… what, maybe 45 minutes?
M: Oh, not even.
P: Well, take your time! I’m in no hurry [opening magazine].
15 minutes later…
M: Miss? Your car is ready.
P: [Trying to hide disappointment] Thanks!

Oh well. Better luck next time, I suppose. Maybe I should troll Yelp reviews for auto shops that have a max of three stars and reviews that say things like “They were good but they took FOREVER!”