This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Olay.
The contest is now over. Thank you so much to all who entered. A rep from BlogHer will select a winner randomly and contact via email.Have a fantastic New Year!
Good Morning! It's the week before Christmas, and all through the house:
eh. I'm too tired to rhyme.
Today is the first day of Winter Break, and I'm so happy to have the kids home with me. I hate how much time they're away during a typical school day. Today we're staying in pajamas, watching a Santa Claus(e) movie marathon, and doing puzzles. It'll be lovely.
Right around 2:15 everyone will start shouting and I'll threaten to cancel Christmas.
because we're completely normal.
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It's the 4th week in a row I'm giving out a $100 Visa gift card thanks to the generosity of Olay. I've been using the Total Effects for over a month now, and I'm actually surprised that the bottle hasn't run out. It's not even sneezing yet!
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On a typical weekday, my mornings look something like this:
somewhere between 4 and 5, I’m up with the baby. I always always always have a mental battle about getting up for the day or climbing back into bed. 96% of the time I climb back in bed.
6am alarm goes off for Adam; I usually get up about 6:15 and make the bed quickly so I don’t get back in. :-) I do a quick master bathroom wipedown and gather laundry to start.
6:25 baby usually up by now, so I change and feed her. Big kids usually get up around now, too
6:30 Adam starts coffee and empties dishwasher. Big kids get breakfast—usually yogurt and fruit, rice cake with PB or cream cheese, or cereal
6:45 big kids get dressed, make beds, tidy rooms. I help if need-be, or stick to baby-wrangling
7:00 I put baby in highchair, feed her something and usually have a ricecake with peanut butter or something similar with my coffee
7:15 sometimes I get dressed now, or I start on big kid lunches
7:30 my grandma arrives to help with the baby. I use this time to finish getting dressed, clean the kitchen dishes, finish kid lunches. I’ll flip the laundry if it’s done with the wash cycle
the halfhour between 7:30 and 8 are a blur—the kids let the guinea pigs out (they have an outdoor run) and feed them, the baby poops around now and needs changing, I feed her again. If I’m waiting for an important email I’ll quickly scan the subject lines, otherwise I try hard to not succumb to the temptation to get online.
Grandma listens to the kids read outloud, play instruments, or something along those lines. I’m not really “in charge” right now, Grandma is.
8:00 leave to take big kids to school; Grandma stays with the baby
8:25 I’m back, feed baby, change her and get her ready for a nap. I have coffee with Grandma
9:00 Baby goes down for AM nap, and Grandma leaves. I start work.
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In 2008, when I did my yearlong crockpot challenge, I was working full time from home. I ran the calendar section for Bay Area Parent, and worked 4-5 hours a day for BlogHerads.com. In order to get my professional work done, and still juggle the demands of cooking and posting daily on the crockpot site, along with keeping the kids and Adam happy, I got up every day at 4am. It was nutty, but I found I treasured the alone time I had in a quiet house. It was me and the coffee pot from 4-6am, and I got into a fun little rhythm each day.
Sometimes I did what I called a “split-shift” and went to bed at 8pm, then got up to work from midnight to 4am. I found this middle of the night work really exhilarating---my brain was buzzed and I had a heightened state of awareness.
I am not sure how I made it.
I find it fascinating how your body responds when it’s pushed to it’s limit. Although I know I was tired during this time, I physically felt great, and even trained and completed a half-marathon. I’m sure I LOOKED tired though. I wish Olay Total Effects had been invented!
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stuff I have to include:
Feel like your moisturizer’s fresh feeling can’t last all day? New Olay Total Effects Cooling Hydration instantly cools and leaves skin with a moisturized fresh feeling that lasts from morning to night. The lightweight formula also fights 7 signs of aging for younger looking skin. For more information visit https://www.olay.com
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So there you go. I try really hard to cram a lot in during those wee morning hours. What’s your morning look like? Are you more active in the early morning, or late at night?
Write your answer below and I’ll enter you in a $100 Visa Gift Card giveaway (pretty much the same as CASH! woo hoo!)
Leave a valid email address so I can contact you. I’m not farming your email addresses, nor am I sharing them with BlogHer or Olay. When the contest ends, I’ll delete them all. I promise.
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) Read the official rules for an alternate form of entry.
This contest will end on Monday, December 27 at 5pm pacific. Good luck to all and have a very Merry Christmas!
