The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

I am the most impatient, patient person I know; really, it even baffles me sometimes how little patience I have for most things, yet two of my major roles as a social worker and a mother require the utmost patience, which I gladly thrive to provide. Complain to me about how hard/unfair/boring your life is as soon as I get off a day at the shelter I work at, however, and my face will surely tell you that my patience reserves have been depleted. When I was a kid, if an idea popped into my head about something I wanted to play or read or draw I had to do it right then and there and if I was not able to I would not be able to stop obsessing about it until I had it done. Gee, I wonder if there were ever signs of my to-be-diagnosed anxiety disorder and type A personality back then?! Not much has changed; whenever I get a good idea I obsess and have little wiggle room for the deadline in my head which it absolutely must be done, usually about 5 minutes ago. I do this at work: when I get a ...

This weekend as I was packing away some of Maddie's clothes she had outgrown and pulling out some items she's ready to wear I came across her firefighter rain jacket that our dear friends with three amazing little boys had handed down to us. Since it's really trying to be spring I figured we may get some rain so I pulled it out; Maddie was close by supervising me and pulling random things out that she felt she needed to wear (mostly pants on her head) and she absolutely went bonkers when she saw the firefighter coat and demanded that it be put on her immediately, over her pink polka dot tutu and purple shirt. This is what transpired, vampire teeth binky and all. This kid, I tell you, she cracks me up with her fierce sense of style and her strong will to dress herself, feed herself and hit all those independent milestones at light speed. It got me to thinking that I need to spend a blog taking about this fantastic little lady that brings so much joy (and exhaustion!) to ...

My little Irish rose, getting ready for the Parade! Happy Monday! And by happy I mean, I have a cold and I can only breathe out of one nostril and my face looks kind of puffy, but hey, I got a full night's sleep thanks to a certain almost-16-month-old and my first full dose of Ny Quil since before I got pregnant. I woke up with a sore neck from sleeping so soundly, which is a complaint I will happily take some advil and shut the hell up over! This weekend was so much fun but honestly went by really, really quickly. Friday night Matty's cousin and her boyfriend were visiting from NY so we got to have a big Jane-cooked family dinner and hang out with them, which was super fun. Maddie passed out before we left so we did the couch to car to crib transfer and it actually worked! She did, however wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, but I'll take it! I went for a 7 mile run in the sunshine and then we headed down the Cape to visit with Matty's Dad. Maddie had a bla...

Wow, I feel like my mind is going a million miles a minute with all of the things I have going on/coming up/in my rearview. First things first, today is my last day at my current position and on Monday I am starting a brand new one! I am a)completely sad to leave the amazing people that I work with and hang out with 40 hours a week and b) completely elated for this new opportunity that comes with a better title, more money and a whole new set of challenges. I will be a Supervising Case Manager for a team of case managers that work in a shelter helping 58 women and their children get back on their feet and find self sufficiency. The organization is completely women-centric and their mission is to help women find their path to success through education, employment, parenting classes, housing and taking care of themselves. I will be providing clinical supervision to their case managers and assisting with programming and continuing to improve the services and options available to the wom...

Hey guys! I just updated my Bucket List on my blog, crossing out the little item of running the Disney Princess Half Marathon , because I did it! Last Sunday my bffl Kate and I (with fantastic cheerleaders Matty and Maddie) dragged ourselves out of bed at 3 in the morning to go run 13.1 magical Disney miles. It was my first half marathon and the first time I had ever run more than 11 miles and I am quite proud of myself for doing it, considering that this time last year I was stressing out over signing up for my first 5 mile race . Running has been a wonderful addition to my life but the relationship did not start out so loving, and some days we still fight like an old married couple...but at the end of the day I am so thankful to have pushed myself into doing it. My husband is was the real runner in our family, and was my motivation to have started, but the real motivation is the fact that I have lost all of my baby weight plus an extra 20 pounds that was kicking around post-w...