What does it really mean?

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine if you will a high maintenance woman. What does she look like? What is she wearing? What are the details about her that make her high maintenance?

I picture long wavy hair, a glowing face, a gleaming smile, a fit body, nice clothes-maybe even a dress (GASP!), killer shoes-high heels (ANOTHER GASP!), accessories and nice nails. I think it probably took hours to put all that together. At least that is how I feel as I try to put my New Year’s resolution into perspective. In the beginning that was what I was aiming for. The point was to prove to my husband just how good he has it being married to me. To show him how life could be married to someone who put themselves first, who cannot leave the house until the total package is put together. As I stated in previous blogs, I am the polar opposite of that image. My morning routine consists of getting out of bed at A: the absolute last minute possible to make it to work no more than six minutes late, or B: whenever one of the boys is making enough noise that I can no longer sleep until I bring them back to bed with me or turn on the TV for them. Next is breakfast. This is one thing I rarely compromise on; not because it is the most important meal of the day, but because I am hungry and I like to eat. Then I take the boys into their bathroom and we go through the various stages of their personal hygiene from brushing teeth to combing hair. From there the routine takes us to their bedroom where they get dressed in whatever clothes we can find that I am 92% sure are clean. Socks and shoes are the last stop on their end of the morning routine. Once all those things are done I turn on the TV then I hop in the shower. Depending on the amount of resistance encountered during the routine, I may only have 10 minutes until it is time to leave the house. I certainly do not have time for frivolous things such as shaving my legs or putting on perfume. I find clothes that I am 92% sure are clean enough. I point the blow dryer toward my hair wishing my hair style is “wash and go”. If I have thirty seconds to spare I swipe on some mascara before I grab my purse and load the boys into the car.

So what gives? What do I change in this routine to make sure I have a little more time to make myself look nice, smell nice, and feel nice? I don’t want to compromise breakfast. After all, it IS the most important meal of the day. I don’t want to skip brushing the boys’ teeth. What is left? There is nothing to cut from what I do for myself.
I guess the first thing I could do is get out of bed earlier. The boys could eat breakfast at grandma’s house. I could have clean clothes set out the night before. My husband could get out of bed and help me with the boys. Really, there are ways I could shave time off here and there yet still get everything done.

That is where I start my journey of high maintenance. Not in looking like the imaginary woman I described above, but in finding time to take for myself eventually working my way to nice clothes, high heels, and accessories. I would love to get my nails done all the time and pamper myself at the spa. I am not so sure how I feel about shopping for clothes and shoes and purses. As of right now I do not own a single dress. I only have one pair of heels, and they are not high. My purse was a $10 impulse buy at Target.

So far on my journey I have rolled out of bed at 6am and got on the elliptical for 30 minutes seven out of the last eleven days. I have pulled my hair into a ponytail zero times. I have left the house without makeup only twice. These numbers are a huge improvement from what I have been letting myself get away with for a long time. So stay tuned for more on my journey. It is sure to be humorous as I experience things that are completely foreign to me. I plan to try new things like teeth whitening. I might even give up Dr Pepper in order to help brighten my smile. Who knows, I just might buy a DRESS!