At the risk of looking like I’m ripping off this girl and this girl, I swear I had this post half-started and mentally planned before I read their Friday random musings posts. I just can’t seem to get a regular blogging schedule together these days.

So, in no particular order, here’s what I’ve been doing instead:

1. I’m going to brag on myself for just a teeny moment. You remember how I signed up for Tina Reale’s Best Body Bootcamp a couple weeks ago? Well, this is week 3 and despite the fact that I’ve been battling a nasty head and chest cold for the past week or so, I’ve ALMOST met all my weekly goals. I worked out five days during Week 1, 4 days last week (the cold got the better of me the other day) and four days so far this week with plans of hitting the gym Saturday morning.

That means this girl, the most un-morning person you’ll ever meet in your life, has been setting her alarm for 5:30 every day and actually getting up to be at the gym by 6. My husband even said, with complete respect, that he was so shocked I was sticking with it because I’m SUCH a early-morning hater.

Since my printer is currently out of ink, I’ve been writing the exercises down, and one morning when I got to the gym, I discovered E had left me a little surprise on one of the workouts.

 She said she drew it so “you could look at me while you exercised, Mommy.” It was a nice little boost of fun on a morning that started entirely too early.

I made the mistake of weighing myself today and somehow, I’m UP in lbs, not down. I’m choosing to believe that means I’m packing on muscles. The first real test will come when I take all my measurements next week, after Week 4. In any event, I’m still REALLY glad I signed up for it. I’ll be sharing more thoughts on the program in a later post.

2. Since I’m feeling all fit and awesome (in my mind at least) I signed up for two races this week.

First up is the Lady Track Shack 5K next weekend. It’s near my house, it’s held at a beautiful spot (Mead Gardens) and it benefits chicks. Boom.

In March, I’ll run my second Winter Park Road Race 10K. That race still stands as my PDR (although barely. I have done a few 6-milers lately, but that extra .2 makes WPRR longer). I really should push myself and do the Distance Dare (adding an extra two miles onto it) but I’m neither that dedicated to running right now nor that confident in my ability to do it.

But a lot of friends are doing both races, so it should be fun times all around. Wait, did I just refer to something involving running as fun? I don’t even recognize myself anymore.

3. My birthday is on Sunday. You may recall, I’m not wild about my birthdays. And sure, since I turn 36, that means I’ll now officially be closer to 50 than 20 (gah), so that helps. I’ve got to say, though, this year I don’t seem to have any of the blues that normally accompany the big day. It could be because E is more excited about it than I am. It also helps that we have fun plans in place. On Saturday night, we’re going to dinner at the Ravenous Pig with some friends and on Sunday, the three of us are hitting Magic Kingdom all day because I really want to try and snag some photos with the Long Lost Friends that are briefly here for one of the Limited Time Magic celebrations.

And I also treated myself to a pair of boots that I’ve been dreaming about for at least a year — flat brown boots. Aren’t they pretty?

My mom got me a DSW gift certificate for Christmas, so thanks to that and the birthday coupon they send in the mail, it wasn’t that painful of a purchase for me. I’m choosing to look at them as investment boots. Besides, since my BFF Missy and I are going to Syracuse next month for the ‘Cuse-Georgetown game, I figure I have a bonus month of winter weather so I’ll get extended use out of them this year. That’s one positive way of looking at the weather.

Speaking of Syracuse, check out the cute new shirts Missy ordered for us to wear to the game. I’m SO FREAKIN PSYCHED. I haven’t been back to campus in 9 years and Missy and I haven’t been back together since we graduated (gulp) 14 years ago.

Be sure to tune in to watch Syracuse CRUSH Georgetown on Feb. 23 and see if you can spot us in nosebleed seats. We’ve been known to rush a court or two in our day, so don’t be surprised if we get illusions of grandeur come game day.

4. I’m not the only one aging. E. will only be a 4-year-old for 2 more weeks. How is this even possible? And it’s as if she’s trying to drive that point home, day after day. For starters, I swear she grows an inch a month lately. The other night, she came out to the living room after putting her pajamas on, and a pair of princess pajamas that more or less fit her a couple weeks ago are suddenly ridiculously small on her.

And it’s not just her body that’s changing; it’s her attitude. We were going somewhere last weekend, and I made her sit down so I could comb through her rats nest of hair (seriously, where DO the tangles and knots come from? It’s absurd). I decided to pull her hair up in two pigtails. Doesn’t it look cute?

Nope, she was having none of it. When she realized what I’d done, she promptly informed me to take them out because “pigtails are for babies, Mommy.”

And then I curled up in a little ball and started weeping as she taunted me by acting like any other bratty big kid.

Please, time, slow the f down!

5. This week, we had another fun Central Florida Lady Bloggers meetup. This one was at a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Hoang Minh in Oviedo. It was so much fun, even if I did get terribly lost on the way there. Thankfully, I called my that-side-of-town expert, Michelle, and eventually found my way there.

I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again — we have such a rocking lady bloggers community in Orlando. It’s so nice to get together with other ladies and talk shop.

It’s also nice to get together and eat and drink booze, too. This time, the booze was better than ever thanks to Christine from Cook the Story putting together some Oscar-inspired drinks. She’ll be doing a full post on the yumminess she came up with on her blog, so follow her if you don’t for some great Oscar party ideas!

If you’re looking for some great new reads, these lovely ladies are, from left to right:

— Cassandra of Crave Local

— Margarita of Cupcake Cardio

— Ty of Ty Style Me

— Loi of Oh My Goods

— Kerry of Vinobaby’s Voice

— Danielle of Shikshin Fashion

— J of J’s Everyday Fashion

— Paula of Eat, Watch, Run

— Katy of Katy Widrick and Bug Child

— Christine of Cook the Story

— yours truly

— Colleen of Yelp Orlando

— Michelle of Crazy Running Legs

— Andrea of Run, Eat, Date, Sleep

I almost bailed on the night because I haven’t been feeling great and it’s been SO tough getting up early in the mornings, but man I needed that night. I laughed so hard at times that some pee escaped (stupid post-kid bladder) and had a great time catching up with some old and new friends. It’s so crazy sometimes to think about my first few years in Orlando when I had no girlfriends, and now, suddenly, I find myself with an extravagant amount of them. It’s a luxury and I love it.

6. I think I’m FINALLY starting to see some relief from my cat allergies. This week, I started taking Zyrtec every day and I think it just might be working. It’s hard to tell if this nasty cold I have is allergy-related or not. But I’m not taking any chances so I’ve been using anything recommended to try and get some relief.

When we adopted Blue, the girl at the pet store (Blue was a rescue cat by the way; the pet store was just featuring different shelter pets) suggested something called Allerpet C. I’ve only used it once and surprisingly, Blue didn’t fight me when I was applying it to her coat with a washcloth.

After one of my many Twitter whines about my cat allergies, Kelly from Living the Before suggested I try something called Bioallers. I was so desperate I was willing to try anything.

Yes, the wine helps, too.

I got the Bioallers at Chamberlains health food store. I think this bottle was $10 or $11. The first few times I used it, I wondered how anyone could take it. It’s SO bitter. You’re supposed to put 15 drops under your tongue every three to five hours. But after a few days, I barely even tasted it anymore. I’ve since finished the bottle and need to go get some more. I think it’s definitely helping though. It contains dander from various animals, including cats, dogs and sheep! When I first started taking it, I would sneeze for five straight minutes after taking it. Now, it barely even affects me when I take it.

One thing that has changed is my relationship with Blue. For whatever reason, this cat is obsessed with me. That’s not even a humblebrag. It’s a fact. I swear she’s half dog. She follows me around the house all the time. This morning, I was trying to answer a few emails and she kept finding ways to get closer and closer to me until she finally got my undivided attention.

Well played, kitty.

We’ve been keeping her out of our bedroom because it was my one safe place in the house but yesterday, the bedroom door accidentally got left open for awhile and she bolted in and hid out under our bed. Since she meows outside the door at night until I come out, we decided to finally cave and try and let her in our room last night. That lasted all of 15 minutes because she was all over both of us. She kept going back and forth and stepping right on our heads. She was biting DadJovi’s ear (I think she was trying to get rid of him) and she was nearly suffocating me by sitting right on my throat.

That was the end of the cat in the bedroom experiment.

Damn cat.

7. And finally, it occurs to me that I never told you all that I FINALLY started a Facebook page for the blog. I started it months and months ago but I’m the queen of underpromotion so it doesn’t surprise me if you didn’t realize I have one. Be a doll, will you, and come like it. Since I’ve been not so great at blogging lately, maybe we can hang there from time to time.

I’d love to also connect with you on Instagram. Follow me at jackiec44 and be sure to leave your IG handle in either the comments or by saying hi on IG!

And I’m spent. Have a great weekend everyone!

What’s one random thing from your week? Something your proud of? Something you feel like complaining about?