Chronicles of RedDaisy

Moving...

2010-06-17T01:02:00.002-06:00

I am making the move to word press...please follow me at the following link:

http://reddaisytx.wordpress.com/

L- 7 days

2010-06-11T12:25:00.007-06:00

Today calls for a bulleted list:

•THE REUNION IS NEXT WEEK
•A week of late meetings, deadlines and rainy weather
•Foul moods do not make for a productive clean-eating, shredding week
•On Wednesday morning I built myself a carb pyramid, it was one of THOSE weeks.
•Wednesday afternoon I threw most of the carb pyramid in the trash.
•Wednesday evening I couldn’t eat I was so miserable.
•I had only a protein shake for dinner.
•Thursday I was back on track and managed to get in a run and Shred.
•My body thanked me for the exercise and clean food intake by allowing my energy levels to come back and my sinuses to drain less.
•I brought my oldest to work with me today, this is the first time he has seen my work. We’ve had a lot of fun seeing “space stuff”.
•He doesn’t understand the significance now but I hope he will appreciate that he had this experience.
•My youngest is turning 2 tomorrow.
•Where does time go?
•I FAILED on all of my goals for the week.
•I’m not concerned, I’m wearing size 8’s right now and I’m very happy with my progress thus far.
•My fit initiative will not end at L-0 days as I have not reached my goal weight.
•Breathing deeply.
•One day at a time.
•My goal for the week is only one…enjoy every minute of every day.

Have a great weekend.

L-2 Weeks

2010-06-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was starting out with 15 weeks to go? Sure feels like it. But man…I sure don’t look like I did 15 weeks ago. No worries…pictures will be posted shortly after “launch” (the reunion).

Remember in my last post I said to indulge a little? Well…this chicka didn’t waste any time with “a little”. Let’s put it this way…there was some significant damage done by a certain someone to a lemon cooler cake from Costco. It was divine and I have not one regret. On Monday night when I ate my last GYNORMOUS piece...with a BIG OLE glass of skim milk, I went to bed miserable…freakin miserable. Sure the temp in the house was left warmer than normal but I was blaming it all on the cake and my body going…WHAT…THE…HECK! Needless to say I didn’t and still do not have a need to eat cake for a while.

I didn’t work out the entire holiday weekend either…I was kinda bummed about that so I pushed myself to complete my workouts this week.

I ran Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday, I went to change clothes at our gym and a big ole thunder clap sent me back to my car then on to the house in case the weather was clear on my side of town. No joy. I could have done the elliptical but I didn’t. I’ll make up for it on Saturday to get my fourth run for the week in.

Last Friday I graduated to level 2 on the 30 Day Shred. Oh good grief! Jillian loves her plank moves. I like it because it is challenging and different than level one. I can see definition in my legs…from all the squats…and my arms…especially my shoulders. For 20 minutes coupled with a 3 mile run it’s a perfect routine for me.

This weekend we have our first T-Ball meeting to form teams then 2 nights a week during the week will be filled with practice and games. Thinking about it…the month of June is going to be non-stop. My youngest turns 2 on the 12th, pre-reunion party on the 18th, reunion on the 19th, Father’s Day – 20th, Family vacation to California 23rd-29th, my oldest turns 6 on the 26th. Not to mention babies randomly being born...I better start a list.

Food has remained on track since Tuesday, although I did something I’ve never done before…I ate cauliflower and enjoyed it! We had two heads of cauliflower in the fridge so I decided to roast it and it goes like this:

Oven – 425

Chop the cauliflower and place in a baking dish, drizzle a bit of olive/sesame oil, throw in a bit of soy sauce, garlic and sesame seeds and bake for 40 minutes, stirring about halfway through. YUM-O-LICIOUS! I even ate the left over’s. AND I DON’T do raw cauliflower.

Recap of week 2 goals:
•12oz of water with every meal - FAIL
•Shred every day of the week - FAIL
•Limit carbs to 1 a day, before 3 – with only two weeks to go I’m going hard core. – FAIL

That was a big check mark in the FAIL column. Holidays...humprh...Let’s try again.

Goals for week 1:
•12oz of water with every meal
•Shred every day of the week
•Eat Clean everyday

Those are totally manageable.

I’m out to get my run in then shred. Have a great weekend.

Out!

L-3 Weeks

2010-05-27T09:33:00.004-06:00

This week was a very good week. Today will be all about bulleted list…caust that’s how I roll.

Workouts:
•Shredded 5 times this week (week being Sat-Fri) – Advanced from level 1 to level 2 on Friday. I’ll let you know how that went on Monday.
•Ran 3 times this week (Mon, Tues, Fri), I would have liked to have gotten in a run on Thursday but I was fully booked.

Meals:
•I am very happy to report that I stayed on task with my meals all week. No cheating, no bad cravings and I feel great.

Here is what I primarily eat during the week:
•Breakfast
o ½ cup of old fashion oats
o 1 tsp of walnuts
o 1 scoop of Elite vanilla whey protein powder
o 1 pkt of Stevia
o Berry of my choice (this week it was blueberries)
•Mid morning snack
o I must say this week I skipped it mostly…oatmeal keeps me pretty full most of the morning
o If I am hungry I’ll eat edamame or a protein bar
•Lunch (my hubby calls this a freak sandwich)
o All natural oven-roasted Turkey breast deli meat (or ½ of a chicken breast or a salmon patti)
o A wedge of Laughing Cow
o Sandwich Flat (100 calories)
o ½ of red bell pepper
o ½ Luna Bar for dessert
•Afternoon snack
o Other half of the Luna bar
OR
o Beef Jerky
OR
o Protein bar
OR
o Protein shake (when Jodie doesn’t eat all of the ice…sheesh…pregnant women) ;)
•Dinner
o 3oz salmon or ahi tuna filet
o Broccoli
OR
o ½ chicken breast
o Broccoli
OR
o Breakfast for dinner...(my fav)
 Egg whites
 Morningstar Sausage patty
 Ezekiel bread
•Evening snack
o Protein cake (hubby calls this one “freak cake”)
 1 scoop of Dessert protein powder – I have chocolate coconut now…heavenly
 ¼ tsp Baking powder
 1 TBL All natural applesauce
 1 pkt Stevia
 1 egg white
 Mix in a wide, deep cup and cook in microwave for 1:30 sec and you have yourself a nice little protein cake…that is almost as good as the real thing.
 The texture depends a lot on the protein powder you use…I’ve used several diff ones and the best results have been with the Dessert powder…just sayin.

Long and drawn out I know but I thought I should lay out what I’m stuffing in my pie hole.

I put on a size 10 capri’s on this morning and I need a belt to hold them up. It’s way awesome. Operation closet clean up is commencing tonight!

If you haven’t heard STS-132 landed yesterday…it was picture perfect…no really…here is a shot one of my colleagues’ took as she was there to witness landing…if she wasn’t so nice I would tell her she sucked. (I’m just jealous)

I am working on a separate post of all things STS-132 to commemorate my experience.

My oldest bestie (since we were 8 and 9) is coming into town this weekend and a bunch of us are meeting for a little din and shenanigans…I’m way excited. She was in town back in November and we hung out a bit. At one point in our friendship we didn’t talk for ten years. It’s crazy to think there is a reason you connect with someone and more than words can articulate…that reason is for them to be your lifelong friend.

I’ve managed to accumulate several “to do’s” for today so I better get to it.

The crew comes in at Ellington this afternoon and 4 and I’m planning on attending, I’ve never made an effort before, it seems that my opportunities are numbered so I’m going to give it a go.

Before I do…let’s discuss goals:

Recap of goals for week 3:
•12oz of water with every meal– with the exception of 1 or 2 so not EVERY (but doing better) - FAIL
•Shred every day of the week – All but 2 but still not EVERY day - FAIL
•Follow a clean eating meal plan without any deviations – WIN

Note: I’m not a black and white person…I’m about all kinds of shades of gray so even though technically I FAILED I still look at them as wins because I’m doing WAY better.

Goals for week 2: (gonna see some repeats)
•12oz of water with every meal
•Shred every day of the week
•Limit carbs to 1 a day, before 3 – with only two weeks to go I’m going hard core.

Wow…that was wicked long but I apparently had a lot I wanted to say.

It’s a holiday weekend…have FUN, indulge a little, be safe and I’ll catch you on the flip side of May!

2010-05-25T12:23:00.001-06:00

Someone is in single digits!!

That’s right. The fam went to the pool for the first time this season and I was hunting for my bathing suit. I pulled a storage box down from the closet that had all my “skinny” clothes and I didn’t find my suit but I found almost an entire new wardrobe!

Capri’s and shirts and more shirts…shirts that are perfect for our upcoming trip to California. Shirts to wear to wear to work...shirts I haven’t seen or fit into in over 3 years but are still totally in style…that’s how I roll. I’m a classic kind of girl.

I was even able to fit into a size 6…let me qualify…the “Kohl’s” definition of a size 6 which in my opinion is really a size 8. To prove my point I tried on my old school “Old Navy” jeans that are what used to be known as size 8’s and although I could fit into them I had a muffin top but I am well on my way to being muffin topless.

I was excited about my find and I plan on rearranging my closet on Friday…out with the old and in with the new old.

Two posts in one day…I’m on fire…I guess I should crack open my book and study for my PMP (Project Management Professional) exam.

Peace and Love!

Professional Maturity

2010-05-25T12:12:00.001-06:00

Look at me…I’m blogging way early in the week. I told you my schedule would free up. Not that I’m without stuff to do …I have stuff but I’m not really motivated to do any of it.

I am happy to report I am on day 8 of the 30 Day Shred. I’ve even been getting up at 4:30ish…ok…5 in the AM to get my shred on and then I’m able to run after work. It seems to be working out just fine…this week.

Speaking of running…last week I was struggling to run in the heat and looking back there was a combo of things…fueling properly, my lightening quick (faster than I should be going to sustain a consistent) pace and I blamed it all on the heat.

Since I have been struggling with the runs I decided that running during my lunch hour would help alleviate the heat excuse. On Monday, I had a couple of meetings and headed back to my desk to make sure I was good before I headed out when low and behold I had some work to do…and I had a choice…I could go run and do what needed to be done when I got back…but who knew how long it would take and I needed everyone in their brother to review the pitch and the reviewers are on a one hour earlier time zone OR…wait and run after work.

I made the professionally mature (I love that term) decision, stayed and did what I need to do, missing my opportunity to run in cooler temps.

At 4 I go out to the trails and I start out on my 3 mile run/walk and I’m feeling good, really good in fact. I get to the 1.5 turnaround and I’m still feeling strong. I am now attempting to figure out why it is that I’m feeling this strong after a week of struggling and things start to add up.

I ate properly, didn’t miss any meals and I drank my water. I’ve been shredding and I would like to think that had something to do with feeling stronger and then I noticed the lack of my shadow on the ground. YES! There was a cloud following me and not in a dismal, rainy kind of way. A cloud, that shaded me from the death rays of the sun, a glorious cloud that when the wind kicked up made everything a smidge cooler. I swear that cloud followed me from start to finish and kept the temps at least 5 degrees cooler. And I must also mention I intentionally kept a much slower pace than last week.

It could be a mere coincidence but I’m going to think of it as a reward for making a responsible decision earlier in the day.

L-4 Weeks

2010-05-21T14:15:00.001-06:00

No numbers to post this week…and why not…BECAUSE I’m not weighing myself anymore. YAY ME. Numbers don’t mean jack anyway.

What will matter is the before and after pictures I’m going to post to showcase my progress. I’m super duper excited about that.

This week has gone okay in the eating dept…I say ok because I was in training for three days and day one I did well…then day two and three happened. Let’s just say I indulged in the muffins and kolaches…although I didn’t over indulge and that is a positive. As soon as I got home I’ve been eating clean. Such is life.

Due to the time constraints of the week I decided to dust off my 30day Shred DVD. Am I weird that I like to feel the soreness of a good workout? Weird or not…I do. It reminds me of my accomplishment for the day.

I’ve ran twice this week and I’m fixin to embark on run number 3 as soon as this is posted. Man it’s getting hot. Yesterday was rather challenging. (I lied…I’m going to post some numbers) I adjusted my interval times to 2:1. I really missed that extra :30 of rest yesterday.

The STS-132 mission is going great and I got a nice surprise when I came in this morning…an email from space! If you think of it as just an email it’s no big deal but when you try and wrap your head around it…it’s pretty amazing. I never thought I would begin a sentence…”Life on Earth is…”. I have a cool job!

That’s about it…short and sweet for a change. But I can’t leave without a recap of goals.

Recap of week 4 goals:

•12oz of water with every meal – WIN (FINALLY)
•Follow the 14 day clean eating meal plan – FAIL
•Run at least 4 days and lift at least 3 days – half WIN (I changed my plans…I lifted on Monday then decided to Shred) I think that should still count.

Goals for week 3:
•12oz of water with every meal (gotta keep this one there to make it a habit)
•Shred every day of the week
•Follow a clean eating meal plan without any deviations

Off to get my run on…

Out!

L- 6 and L-5 Weeks

2010-05-14T13:01:00.002-06:00

Wow…Time flies when you sleep may or may not be an option busy.

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve updated my progress and progress it has been.

L- 6w I successfully carb depleted. To be honest…it wasn’t as bad as the first time around and I’m down 6 lbs. Eating clean for the past month or so definitely helped ease the transition into a week with no carbs.

Now L-5w…I don’t even want to talk about it. But I’m going to…the last couple of weeks have been out of control crazy at work with launch prep. Launch prep meaning Space Shuttles…or just one in this case. As the lead Flight Data File (FDF) Coordinator for STS-132 my activities go into overdrive at about launch minus 3 weeks. Throw on top of that a kiddo with a double ear infection and “aunt flo” coming way earlier than expected…my head exploded as well as my need to stuff crap in my pie hole.

I’m riding with it…not getting too upset with myself but upset enough not to continue the cycle.

I ran Monday and Thursday and I am really loving it again. I look forward to the “me” time, pushing myself and I’m feeling stronger after every run. I’m not training for anything in particular just enjoying the exercise.

With launch today I am anticipating my schedule will be freed up considerably, without as many distractions, because there are always distractions (refer to double ear infection above) and I can get back to a regularly scheduled lifting and running program.

At L-4w I will begin again…clean eating with a balance of carbs and proteins and working my hiney off…literally. I’m stepping it up a notch now we are in the home stretch.

Off to see my boys launch! God speed ATLANTIS!

Just I’m back from Mission Control and a picture perfect launch, the only thing better would have been to see it in person. My work here is done.

Recap of week 5’s goals:

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal – FAIL
•Carb delete successfully – WIN, down 6.
•Fuel up before working out – PERHAPS? I seriously don’t remember and I didn’t work out last week because of the deplete but I haven’t been feeling nauseous after my runs so let’s say WIN!

Goals for week 4:
•12 oz of water with every meal – (I’ve seen this one before…)
•Follow the 14 day clean eating meal plan
•Run at least 4 days and lift at least 3 days (running and lifting may happen on simultaneous days)

Alrighty…apparently I am attending a post launch happy hour. I’ve got some celebrating to do.

Peace!

L-7 Weeks

2010-04-29T13:48:00.001-06:00

The scale and I had one last rendezvous this morning and success is mine! Down 2.1 and my first 10 pounds are history. Hello new outfit, nice to finally meet you. The scale and I came to an agreement that I will not weigh again until Monday morning and I promise to stay off until next Monday morning for a carb deplete week weigh-in. Let’s talk about carb deplete…

With 7 weeks till my event, I am not thrilled with the rate of weight loss so I’m going to mix things up. I went back and logged the food that eat regularly and I found that I’m not doing a good job balancing my carbs and proteins, my carb numbers are way too high.

As a result I’m going to start a carb deplete week next week and begin the “Crack the Fat Loss Code” way of eating. Last time I had minimal success…I lost successfully the first two weeks then failed miserably. I’m in a better place now with my eating and I’m very confident that this will be just what I need to get me back on target.

Something I learned today…I cannot do upper body then go run 3 miles worth a flip if I haven’t fueled my body properly. Talk about ZERO energy. My 3 mile run turned into mostly a ½ walk ½ run. It was a tough one. Protein shake from now on…I’m going to have to set a daily reminder for the future.

Something else I learned today…BOTH training wheels are going back on. I am SOOO not ready for 3:1’s. But I do know I am ready for a change so it’s 1:5:1.5 for me. I’ll report next week how that worked out.

Report on my goals announced on week 10 for week 9:

• Morning workouts all week – NOPE! But I have been doing them in the evenings or during lunch when time permits. This seems to work and I don’t have to go to bed at 8p to get my 7 hours in.

• Fruit and beef jerky late afternoon snack – NOPE! But I have been eating a Luna bar and drinking 24 oz of water on the way home from work…this seems to have helped.

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal – NOPE! No buts…haven’t done it.

So…goals for week 6:

•12 oz of water with EVERY meal
•Carb Deplete successfully
•Fuel up before working out

Good luck to all the weight warriors out there…keep up the good work.

Peace!

2010-04-28T06:28:00.003-06:00

Not so long ago...the hubby and I expressed opinions regarding each others evening activity...

L-9 and L-8 Weeks

2010-04-28T05:30:00.004-06:00

EEEk…I’m so behind. Whatev, not gonna dwell on it. I’ll sum up the last two weeks…FRUSTRATING!! Net loss is .5 with a total loss of 7.8. URGH! I STILL haven’t gotten to wear my new outfit. BUT…I’ve lost (glass half full baby!)

So…my scale and I are NOT friends anymore. It’s not you…it’s me. We need some space, a trial separation if you will. That’s all I can offer right now. How about we meet up again on June 1st and see if we can salvage this thing…deal!

The numbers are stagnant I’m starting to play mental games by over thinking, adding unnecessary pressure and rationalizing ways to get the numbers down and then I’m a big o ball of stress and really think about giving up. (This is so much harder than it used to be…Getting old sucks!)

As frustrating as it is watching the scale go back and forth 1-2 lbs I am noticing changes in all the right places AND some wrong places too…by the way…If you happen to come across my boobs please tell them I miss them and they are welcome to come back but the extra lbs are not welcome.

My scale is the target of my wrath but it doesn’t feed me or work out for me…I am responsible and suck it up WAYNE…I need to manage my time better to allow myself to workout. Food wise…although I’m eating the right stuff…I’m thinking portion sizes are doing me in and with 8 weeks to go I am really…for reals cutting back my cheat day to a single cheat meal (I think I said that a few weeks ago but I never followed through). According to my scale I am staying on track throughout the week and losing quite nicely then on Saturday, my cheat day, I eat whatever I want…gain 5 lbs and spend the rest of the week taking it off. NOPE!

Jodie convinced me to start running again and oh how I’ve missed thee. I’m starting slow as to not injure myself…not getting younger and one wrong twist and my back is out for a month…did I mention getting old sucks!! I’m doing the C25K program to get me back up to speed…HA! (Did you see what I did there?) It’s been a perfect start, distance wise I go about 3 miles with 1:1.5 intervals. I’ve done that for a couple of weeks and I’m ready to move to 3:1. I find myself almost sprinting (well…sprinting in my book) with the 1:1.5 intervals and I would like to take the training wheels off…perhaps just one wheel and see where I stand.

For those toe grippers out there…I’m WAY BAD. My first run I didn’t have my toe condoms on and holy sore pointer toes…is there a name for your second toe next to your big toe? Ok, so they are not toe condoms they are Digital Caps and you can find them at any Walgreens or CVS. I use these and I seriously cannot run without them. When I was training for my ½ marathon I lost a toenail before I realized what was going on. I thought it was because my shoes were too small…NOPE…I’m a gripper.

It looks like we are California bound the end of June! WOOT! My hubby’s fam lives in San Diego and although the reunion spurred my motivation to get fit again, Cali is now my motivation to work harder…there are BEACHES in San Diego and lots of FIT people and I have summer dresses that desperately need to be displayed on a FIT body…MY FIT BODY.

Last year we went to visit the fam and the hubby and I took a side trip to Vegas and let’s just say I wasn’t in the best shape. HA! (Understatement) Some of those pictures are just gross and I’m not up for a repeat this year.

My pre-flight work for STS-132 is slowing down and time will again be on my side…barring any unforeseen incidents…who am I kidding there are always incidents.

I’ve had a great experience with this crew. They are a fun group of guys and they have really made my job incredibly easy. May 14th is the last shuttle launch of Atlantis. To show you how fun they are…check out their flight poster. Yeah…that’s right…the Juice Box baby! If you blow up the pix I'm in the orange circle...small I know.

Keep your glass half full…I’m out..

L-10 Weeks

2010-04-09T19:00:00.000-06:00

I’ll get straight to the weigh in…. 1.2 lbs…WOOT! I’m 2.6 lbs closer to my new cutie patootie spring outfit in celebration of my 10 lb loss. Of course I’m not there yet so it’s still taunting me in my closet.

Jodie and I were walking during our lunch break the other day and I confessed to her I was a slave to my scale. I’m truly obsessed. Seriously…I need an intervention. I am weighing before bed, in the morning, before I workout, after I workout. I know why I’m doing it…seeing that needle move (totally old school) number decrease is giving me validation that I’m moving toward my goal. Luckily I don’t get depressed when I see a number bigger than I expected, I use it as motivation to figure out what I did wrong and make better choices the next time around. Seems to be working for me right now….I will agree…if at any point I become depressed and want to give up and stuff my face full of cheetoes then I will chunk the scale for the duration. Agreed?

Workouts for the week are not happening on schedule…meaning I’m doubling up on cardio/weight training because I’m missing days. This could be easily remedied if I would do my workouts in the morning. So…there is a goal for week 9… workouts in the AM!

I’m doing well in the food dept…no crazy cravings. (Wait…I did remember I had a handful of chips last night after work…I was STARVING). Chips are my nemesis. Never fear they are gone and will NOT be replaced. The afternoon after work and before dinner I seem to be way hungry and struggling and grabbing whatever is available. This weekend I am going to have more fruit and beef jerky in the house. I just need something to tide me over till dinner without ruining my appetite. Goal #2.

Let’s recap the goals for week 9:

• Morning Workouts all week
• Fruit and beef jerky for late afternoon snack
• 12 oz of water with EVERY meal

I will be interested to see my progress in the weight dept sticking to those goals.

What changes have you made that have given you the biggest results?

Have a fantabulous weekend.

L-11 Weeks

2010-04-06T17:22:00.004-06:00

What I have learned this week…FOOD Journals are critical to weight loss success. When I’m asking myself why the scale only moved a smidge to the left…left right…right? (I am SOOOO left/right dysfunctional. I was the kid that played twister with an L and R written on the back of my hand.) But I digress…

This is the first time I have committed to sticking with a food journal and to calculate my calories and more importantly my macros. I’ve begun using dailyplate.com…thanks janetha! I was using SparkPeople but I found I was going to thedailyplate to get all my nutrition info…who knew! The dailyplate also allows you to input homemade recipes and then calculate the nutritional info. I’m using it as a tool to plan my eating to guarantee I stay in my caloric/fat/carb/protein range. Way coolio!

I’m down .8 for this week. Initially I was sad it wasn’t more…but I am beginning to realize I may have expected too much to soon in the 2 lb a week dept. Regardless it is still a goal and I’m using my journal to look back and see what areas could be tweaked to give myself a better chance of making the weekly goal. Again, the looseness of my clothes is telling me I’m on the right track.

My home is where my workouts are happening…I use free weights, elliptical, bench, a weight machine and a balance ball. For the most part I’m happy with my progress with my arms…I totally hurt for a few days my workouts after but I’m thinking I’m underestimating my leg strength and not challenging myself enough.

The weather is ripe for running outside (for this month) and I’m planning on going tomorrow to renew my gym membership at work so I can have the option of running the trails and not to mention have access to the gym when I can’t make my workouts happen at home. (i.e., mix it up a bit).

Goal for next week…I’ll actually post that tomorrow since I’m sorta a week behind and the goal for next week happened last week and since last week already happened I know right now if I made it or not. :D (I am weighing on Wednesday’s and I didn’t post anything last week but it is only Tuesday so I’m still on last week…this week). EXACTLY!

OUT!

L-12 weeks

2010-03-24T17:55:00.000-06:00

Week one on the BFL program is complete…then I had to go and screw it up over the weekend. I did great during the week, got all of my workouts in and stayed on task with food and water. I went into the early weekend planning to make Friday my cheat day since I was spending the day at the rodeo with my oldest and hello…nachos and funnel cake…and I lost all control from there…

Saturday came around and here I will list the things I could have done differently

…choose egg whites instead of three full eggs. I know this but I was just lazy when I made breakfast for the fam.

…pack food with me for ANY outing so I will not be tempted to eat what is available via fast food…even if it is one nugget and a handful of French fries…not acceptable.

…pass on the cake and chips and rice crispy treat at the birthday party…I already had my cheat day and I need to be make sure I’m not hungry or bring my own food that is within my plan.

Moving on to Sunday

…choose egg whites yet again and the waffle and ham samich can be eaten sans butter.

…Mexican food is OUT OF THE QUESTION on a non-cheat day. I am not to even consider it when asked where I want to eat for lunch.

For those reasons I lost 1 lb. I will so take that win in spite of making bad food choices. Tonight I am so going to measure because the scale may say I lost a 1lb but the clothes are saying…lost some inches and me likes! It’s regrettable I didn’t take measurements in the beginning but oh well…onwards and upwards.

This week is proving a bit tough schedule wise to get my workouts in…I did fine on Monday but new schedule challenges have come my way and mornings are going to be the only way I can get my workouts in…and Wednesdays I will carve out time to hit the gym sometime during the day.

Can’t say there is ever a dull moment around my house. Or lack of sleep…which I have to get so from now on I’ll be going to bed yesterday…every night…I’m actually sleep typing right at this moment.

Luck!

L-13 weeks

2010-03-16T12:40:00.001-06:00

I have officially dusted off my copy of Body for Life (BFL) and put together a little workout plan. With 13 weeks left to the reunion I’m putting myself in a position to rock my cute little black dress.

I began at L-15 weeks giving myself a goal of losing 2 lbs per week. 30 whole pounds! Holy schmoly…I was probably at that number before I met my husband 7 years ago, maybe (I didn’t own a scale back then), but not since. And when I was just out of high school I was athletic skinny but without any muscle definition to speak of. I think it is a perfectly reasonable and attainable goal…heck…it works out on paper…but until this week the execution was sorely lacking.

Making substantial sweeping changes all at once NEVER works out for me. I can plan like no one’s business but I tend to over look the risk management phase of the planning stage. And true to form I became overwhelmed with trying to do EVERYTHING (plan, shop, and make clean meals, plan and actually execute work outs, drink water and give up ALL my bad habits regarding food) and I almost…was this close…had one hand in the cookie jar, the Mexican food jar and the cake jar …but I was able to reign myself in by remembering the bigger picture…cute little black halter dress hanging in my closet.

Thankfully, I still have time on my side and I told myself to take two weeks to get my food on track then I’m going all BFL on myself.

At L-15, by changing only my food choices - NO fast food, desserts or BBQ or MEXICAN and eating clean, for the most part, I was able to knock off an easy peasy 2.4 lbs. HOLLA…2.4 lbs without trying really…really hard!

At L-14 I continued with my clean eating plan and set goals for how I would tackle the next 12-13 weeks. I did really well up until Sunday, I’m finding the weekends are the hardest to stay on task. So here we go…

The BFL way is, in a nut shell, clean eating with portion control and a specific workout regime for 12 weeks and one day a week you can have a cheat day. I live for cheat days…but now I’ve gotta earn it. Earning it means in order for me to have a cheat MEAL…not giving myself a day, yet…I workout at least 4 days that week and one of those days must be Saturday (the day in which I will be partaking in my cheat meal). Needless to say I have not earned a cheat meal but I’m well on my way this week.

On the H2O front I’ve happened on motivation from a couple of blogs I came across…OH! Side note>>

I made a yummy clean bean soup last week and the only thing missing was corn bread…of course I only know how to make my Grandma’s yumicilious cornbread with loads of butter and sugar. I googled “clean cornbread” and happened on a blog of a woman that lives in the Woodlands, about 30 minutes from me who had an incredible weight loss journey and her blog linked to another girls blog that has had huge success on BFL. Crazy how small the internet makes the world. >>

H20, the reason I mentioned that story is because I was noticing that these ladies were drinking at a minimum a gallon of water a day. WHAT!! I gallon…I can’t even get my 8 recommended servings much less a freaking gallon…what… do these people have camel backs attached to them at all times? Then I solved the formula and made it a game…I am so competitive.

1 gallon of water = 128 ounces.

I make myself a Chai tea soy latte in the morning…al la starbucks style but only 120 calories and $5 saved. Before I can drink my tea I have to drink 30 oz of water, usually on my way in to work.

I eat breakfast at work – usually oatmeal featuring Ash’s oats of the month and before I can eat lunch I have to finish 24 oz.

At lunch I have a diet Dr. Pepper…I know not clean but at this point I’ve gone from 3-4 to 1 a day…progress…and baby steps.

After lunch I have another 24oz that must be finished before I leave for the day.

24 oz for the ride home (45 min to 1 hour).

And finally 30 oz before dinner (I originally tried before bedtime but I DESPISE getting up in the middle of the night to pee).

That’s 132 ounces people. IT CAN BE DONE.

Yesterday I managed 102 oz and I was so close I had to figure out how I can make myself WIN…I mean drink a gallon of water daily.

Yesterday’s stats were:

W: BFL Upper Body

B: 1/2c Oatmeal, walnuts, nutmeg, cinnamon and peaches, Chai Latte

L: 15 Bean soup with 1/2c of brown rice, DDP

S: Waffle, almond butter, banana (usually the other half of the one I used in my oats)

D: Ahi Tuna Burger, half a sweet potato

Water: 102 oz

That’s all I got…for today.

Keep on…keepin on.

"...my girls will grow up in a country where they too have to look to the history books to see what this Nation used to be capable of achieving."

2010-03-04T16:04:00.006-06:00

This is long and lengthy but I encourage you to read through it in its entiretly. This is a collegue and he totally ROCKED it. It is refreshing to know that someone stood up and said...wait, there are people affected by your decisions.

Prepared Statement of Michael J. Snyder before the Subcommittee on Science and Space
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation United States Senate Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before your Subcommittee today to discuss the"Challenges and Opportunities of the Proposed FY 2011 Budget for NASA."My name is Mike Snyder and it has been my honor and privilege to work on the Space Shuttle Programfor the past 13 years. I am not a civil servant, a CEO of a major aerospace corporation or even a memberof senior management. I am an engineer and one of the tens-of-thousands of people across America who work daily on this Nation’s efforts in human spaceflight programs. The views you hear today are
my own but I can assure you they are representative and shared by many in the aerospace workforce at large.

It has always been my dream to be a part of the Space Program, and even as a kid, I never wanted to do anything else. This is more than just a job to me. It is a passion. It is about diligence and dedication. It is about service and about being part of something greater than myself. However, my story is not unique as these feelings and beliefs are shared by countless others who make up the backbone of any
undertaking this Nation makes with regard to spaceflight and exploration.

The Space Program is often referred to as a national asset, an asset that has, does and hopefully will continue to set the United States of America apart from all other nations. By extension, that same reference could and should be applied to the men and women that make it all happen. However, I cannot escape the impression now of being taken for granted, of being considered expendable. It seems to be assumed we are to quickly adapt and possibly relocate our families and reorient our lives easily. Perhaps most importantly, in the workplace, we are expected to compartmentalize all the unknowns and concerns about everything we have worked for seemingly slipping away and still do the job, the mission, we know we have to do. Today, I must inform you that morale across the entire human space flight workforce, civil servant and contractor, is extremely low. The lowest I have seen it in all my years of service.

Perhaps the single biggest contributor to the low morale is the perceived lack of any vision, purpose or detailed plans with clearly defined goals, objectives and timetables for the future of human spaceflight. We can all agree that Research and Development (R&D) is vitally important. However, R&D without direction and purpose, without a planned and well-defined operational concept is no more useful or
sustainable than assuming we can explore the solar system and beyond without development of new technologies. I cannot stress enough the importance of having an over-arching program with clearly defined goals that focus these R&D efforts to near term as well as long term capabilities with the intent and strong National will to use them. Congress must not let our Nation fall into the trap yet again that
vaguely ties these technologies and capabilities to some future date, future Administration and future Congress - because that way will ensure, in my opinion, that these expensive initiatives never bear fruit and will serve only as a disservice to this industry’s current and future workforce and to the United
States of America as a whole.

Along these lines, we are all told by our Center Directors, company CEOs, and our senior management that more information will be communicated about the direction of the Agency. However, the problem is that they do not yet know either. What the everyday worker does know is the inescapable fact that two of three of this Nation’s major human space flight programs are proposed to be terminated. We are
told by senior Agency officials that this will ultimately be good for every center, even if that does not make logical sense to us. We also know that it can be a lengthy process to chart a new course, request contract proposals, to negotiate contracts, and to turn that work on so people can do that work.

The question we are left asking is how can all of this possibly happen in any reasonable amount of time? The answer, many of us believe, is that it will not, given the fact we are only seven months away from the proposed end of these programs. With that knowledge, we non-civil servants are forced to choose:
do we risk completing a program that was at one time in the Nation’s best interest, and in which we have personally invested so much, then to find there are no jobs and that our dedication has been at the expense of our families? Or do we leave now, potentially abandoning our careers in a field and in a cause we find important, worthy and noble in order to assure our families are properly cared for? These
are the questions we face and each of us will have to answer individually - but for the Nation the result will be the same: a workforce with valuable and unique skills and experience that will be greatly diminished or lost completely and one that cannot be rebuilt without significant time and effort.

Contributing to the workforce dilemma is the arbitrary 2010 retirement date of the Space Shuttle that is now upon us and all the consequences that brings. Those of us who have worked on this program for the last several years obviously knew the end of the Shuttle era was coming. We had hoped that we could “pass the torch” onto a follow-on program, but now, it looks more like we are simply extinguishing
it. The Space Shuttle’s main reason for existence and its primary mission was the construction and periodic resupply of a space station. By the end of this year, that mission will still only be partially complete. It would be far easier to stand down this unique capability if there were other vehicles ready to fill the void Shuttle retirement will surely create.

However, as of today, no American replacement vehicles exist that are operational and this Nation is hinging the sustainment and full utilization of the International Space Station, our one-hundred-billiondollar investment twenty-six years in the making, on the hope and assumption that Russian, Japanese, European and unproven commercial vehicles will provide adequate personnel and logistic support to the
ISS. In my opinion, this is a strategic mistake of vast proportions and one that requires the utmost reconsideration and serious attention from all levels of government. We are on the verge of giving up the inherently robust and flexible capabilities of the Space Shuttle, capabilities that are unique to this
world and not likely to be duplicated by any nation or any company in the near future, simply because we choose to do so. Instead we have chosen to rely on a foreign nation as the sole method of transport, for an unspecified amount of time, to a space station which owes its very existence to U.S. leadership and has been so heavily funded by the American people. In general, this has been interpreted as a lack of faith from our government in our ability to fly the most capable vehicle to ever orbit and return to the Earth in support of the ISS, all so we can reallocate the approximately eight one-hundredths of one percent that represents the cost of the Shuttle Program to the Federal budget to something else.

Those of us that work on the Shuttle Program daily hear a lot about how the Orbiter is an aging vehicle on the verge of falling apart, that it has outlived its usefulness, that it is inherently unsafe and other more colorful analogies. This is the incorrect perception that constantly challenges us. As someone with intimate knowledge of our processes and procedures, I assure you each Space Shuttle flight is as safe as it can possibly be. Anyone who thinks otherwise, I invite you to Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, our other field centers, our various support and depot facilities or the countless vendors still supporting across this country. Spend a day with the everyday workers and see our attention to detail, how we rigorously test and inspect the vehicle before every
flight, how we work problems to “pound them flat”, how we run countless simulations and how we manage, minimize and accept, or do not accept if the situation warrants, the risk that is and will be associated with sending humans into space for the foreseeable future. It is time to challenge the misconceptions about the Space Shuttle that have been so carefully promoted over the last several
years, simply to help justify using the Space Shuttle budget for other activities.

To help dispel those misconceptions, allow me to cite just a few of the newer capabilities that make the vehicle safer than at any previous time in the Program’s history. The External Tank has been significantly improved to reduce the likelihood of losing foam that can harm the Orbiter. There are cameras on and around the vehicle we did not have a few years ago giving spectacular views never
before seen but, more importantly, provide invaluable data on the performance of the integrated stack during launch and ascent. We have capabilities on-orbit that allow us to know in near real-time the structural integrity of the vehicle and the state of the Thermal Protection System. This allows the opportunity to rigorously evaluate, and if necessary repair in some conditions, all abnormalities long
before ever committing to entry. We have worked an effort for the past seven years addressing all critical and critically redundant component and system level certifications verifying we “fly how we test and test how we fly” and in some cases making the appropriate changes or performing additional testing when discrepancies were found.

All of this, along with other improvements and our normal duties, has led to the fleet performing better than it ever has, and as evidence of this, I point to the just-completed STS-130 mission. Endeavour returned home from a challenging and complex mission, having performed magnificently and with zero major problems and virtually nothing to be evaluated prior to committing to the next mission. That said,
we stand ready to address any problems that may surface and we remain ever vigilant looking for and trying to anticipate that next problem before it even occurs. This is the product of a highly skilled team and a vehicle with history – a history whose final chapter should not be written until we are certain there will be a story on the next page so that full utilization of ISS to 2020, and possibly beyond, can
truly be realized.

When I and others point out the vast improvements in Space Shuttle safety and reliability, we are often labeled as “shuttle-huggers” trying desperately to maintain the status quo for our “government-funded jobs program”. We have heard it all before and I assure you that anyone who truly knows me would not
use the words “status quo” to characterize me. The reality of the situation, in my opinion, is that we need a better and smoother transition that recognizes the new robustness of Space Shuttle performance and one that does not instantly and all at once swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme. We need a transition that not only plans for the future with a detailed program including feasible and realistic timetables for beyond-Earth-orbit exploration but also supports our immediate and
critical mission: full utilization of the International Space Station. We need a transition that takes advantage of the capabilities of multiple commercial providers, in combination with any potential follow-on NASA vehicle, to ensure full utilization of the ISS. At present, this full utilization can only be accomplished with an extension of the Space Shuttle Program. Once these commercial providers or
other vehicles have met the appropriate performance milestones that prove their capability, then that is and should be the trigger for Shuttle retirement. However, if ISS is allowed to degrade or not realize its full potential, the business case for these commercial providers could possibly degrade with it.

Extension of the Shuttle Program also opens up the possibility of a Shuttle-Derived Heavy Launch Vehicle (HLV). Some form of an HLV has generally been agreed to be needed, along with several other potential technologies, to enable exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. It has been suggested that we spend some of the proposed R&D money on technologies to be used for another HLV that may come online twenty or so years from now. However, we have an HLV today and a recombination of the Space
Shuttle elements into a new in-line configuration could yield that capability in just a few years and take advantage of the natural synergies between Shuttle, HLV and their shared infrastructures, potentially driving down the costs of both.

Finally, we have heard a lot about education and inspiring the next generation – an extremely worthy goal no doubt and one I have been fortunate enough to play a part in from time to time and will do so again as my two little girls grow. It is said that the proposed new direction will do just that. However, I believe there are some concerns that need to be considered. In my opinion and experience all young
people will not get excited about only research and development that only offers the possibility of going somewhere, somehow, with something like what may be in a test stand, someday in the future. I believe the best way to inspire the next generation is for them to see real plans in action, with real hardware doing real missions and knowing there is more to come and that they too can be part of it.

I use myself as an example. I was born after the Apollo moon missions and have never seen anyone leave the confines of Earth orbit. My generation inherited the Space Shuttle Program and I am lucky enough to be a part of it and to be involved in the construction of the International Space Station. However, the Space Station Program was first announced when I was ten years old. Today, at thirty six years old, we are just finishing up construction. My fear is that kids who would otherwise do well in this field are ultimately discouraged from entering it by multi-generational programs and the constant threat of policy changes.

We are already seeing the signs of that pattern repeating, where students in college studying engineering and technology today, could be older than I am now when the theoretical HLV under thecurrent proposal finally lifts off the ground for the first time. If we as a Nation are serious about spaceflight, then that is something we together must absolutely change. As I said earlier, I never saw man walk on the moon and that was something already relegated to history books by the time I was born. My real concern with the current proposal is that my girls will grow up in a country where they too have to look to the history books to see what this Nation used to be capable of achieving.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I am happy to respond to any questions from you or Members of the Subcommittee.

Brilliant...just brilliant. (He didn't say that...that's just how I felt after reading it...for the 5th time).

Peace

L-15 weeks - 20 Year High School Reunion

2010-03-02T08:39:00.001-06:00

And there it is…

I worked out this morning…YAY! It so wasn’t pretty and I had to sit down because I thought I was going to throw up as I’m asking myself (Nancy Kerrigan style)…WHHHHHHYYYYYY! … (sob)…(sob)...WHHHHHHYYYYYYYY!

I know it will get better but 1. Getting up sucks it! 2. Right now I feel miserable doing it.

BUT…here comes the positive. YAY for positive!

1. I turned down Mexican for lunch; I should automatically lose 5lbs just for that alone.
2. I had a ton more energy this morning after my heart rate settled below astronomical
3. I got the kids to school on time
4. Even though it was torrential down pours this morning I still made it to work early

Boo-yah!

I have to say I’m already feeling a little twinge of soreness in my legs and that’s not a bad feeling either.

I had pumpkin oats for breakfast and I’m fixin to have a mammoth lunch of veggies, hummus and fruit (not together…that’s just gross) with a side of organic yogurt and I’m looking forward to making Asian Noodle soup for din.

I know it will get easier; I had that dialogue for 20 minutes this morning as I convinced myself to get out of bed.

Waters up!

Out.

NASA - Not About Space Anymore

2010-02-04T14:31:00.004-06:00

I'm a blog stalker. I stalk blogs mainly because I use Google Reader to keep up with my many stalkees and Reader has yet to make it painfully convenient to leave comments and introduce myself...so I lurk.

I stalk a particular person that just so happens to work in the building across the street from me. No, I didn't purposefully seek her out...I think a friend recommended her for motivation during my running and tri aspirations.

I have been in meetings, worked console and stood in line behind my blog stalkee...it just "happens". When I see her around campus I often times think...Hey...it's Sarah... how is the freelance project going? You really should choose a earth tone blue color for the dining room and paint already! As I stood behind her in the cafeteria admiring her tan, shortly after her honeymoon in Belize, I wondered if Belize was as beautiful as it sounded. Stop comparing me to "Single White Female"...my hair was already brown.

Food for thought...we often times put our entire life stories into our blogs for any random person to see and isn't it weird to think that the person in line behind you knows you are searching for a remedy to stop the biting habit of your 19th month old before he is asked to be removed from daycare? (Please leave suggestions in the comment field...I BEG YOU).

I didn't intend this post to be about my blog obsession with Sarah...I'm not obsessed, I enjoy the way she writes and often times we share the same views...not politically, everyone has flaws. :D

The real reason I made an appearance today was to address the life altering decision that our Government leaders made earlier this week regarding the NASA Constellation Program. I struggled most of the week trying to put my thoughts into words and it all came out in more incoherent statements than usual. (See the post below) I wanted to share Sarah's thoughts because she sums it up nicely and I found myself surprised at how dead on our interpretation of the events are.

Unlike Sarah I am not a civil servant, I am a contractor. Although I do work for the ISS program (YAY...funding has been extended until 2020) I do not feel like my job is safe...they have to put those civil servants somewhere. I'm not sure my company will even exist with the latest decisions.

I'm all for change and restructure to utilize the best practice approach but good grief...soften the blow with a good solid vision and direction to foster hope and support. There are people associated with these decisions. Families, careers, life work and overall economics have seemingly been given no regard. Some advice...continuously answering questions with the words BOLD and AMBITIOUS does not create hope and foster change.

I'm not going down without a fight...Watch this little nugget then Write your Congressperson.

Like sands in the hourglass…

2010-02-02T16:48:00.004-06:00

“Like sands in the hourglass…these are the Days of our Lives” oh good grief. I need a day or two or month to recover from the past 30 days.

Uncertainty has the early lead in 2010 with cynicism and apathy gaining ground. Normally I’m a pretty optimistic person, I pretty much see the glass half full of lemonade when life is chunking lemons at me (OUCH…Dadgummit, STOP).

I don’t want to add to the negative dribble that seems to be constantly spewing out of the talking heads. But I wonder…is the pedestal we place these individuals on the epicenter of the world’s negativity? (Really…I’m blaming the media for the world’s negativity…how dramatic…). Is the media a reflection of the dramatics and cynicism we crave?

Do we, ourselves, do nothing but regurgitate negativity and cynicism in an attempt to be heralded more negative than the next person therefore the winner?

The point is one a question that has been asked for centuries…CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??? Seriously…that simple…but…I have questions…

Why are people compelled to kill their follow mankind over a car, a wallet, money?

Why is it we live in a society where one is afraid to open the front door for fear or harm?

When did the pedophiles, rapist, and murders become top stories in the news on an hourly basis?

Why do people make it their life ambition to harm other people or races? What are they attempting to gain?

Why are we obsessed with celebrity? Most seem really...really…really…for reals unhappy, is that the common denominator? We measure our happiness by someone else’s trials and tribulation?

Why can’t we admit when we are wrong and move on when the facts are staring us right in the face so we can just be…? (therapy baby…therapy).

Why can’t we learn to sustain A VISION. A vision that men and women have fought for and continue to fight for, a vision that our founding fathers spelled out for each and every one of us in detail…not the white, black, pink or blue. EVERY ONE OF US…thanks to amendments we have necessarily evolved. World domination is not necessary to fix everyone’s problems…it is not up to our leaders to take on that responsibility.

When did racism become defined as only a “black thing”?

When did environmental phenomena become a lifestyle?

Are we the puppets to the puppet masters we elect to represent our communities and nation only to be trumped by the all mighty dollar…which isn’t so mighty…which may or may not be the plan of our enemy...

I don’t really know where I’m going with this…I’m frustrated with it all and find myself treading water in the swamp of sadness with Atreyu and Artax. AAAArrrrrtaaaax.

Faith (my luck dragon) will swoop in and save me from going under. I act…blessed by the gifts God has given me.

As heavy as this is…it’s out there. If you happen on this and have made it this far, ask yourself what you can do to be honest, kind, compassionate and an overall productive citizen of this world. Not a hoodlum, a murder, a cheater (in any sense), a cynic or a power hungry, moral lacking cancer on society. I’ve got kids people….

Perpetuate the positive and do the right thing, not at the expense of someone else but because it makes you genuinely happy. (Cue music…We are the World…(swaying back and forth)…we are the Children…)

Peace!

I am thankful because...

2009-11-23T13:47:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving this year has in store for the Wayne’s a visit from Nana and Papa, my husband’s step mom and dad. The boys are looking forward to getting spoiled with lots of hugs and kisses, not that they do not get that now but a Grandma and Grandpa hugs and kisses are special.

Scott has meticulously prepared a menu for the feast. The menu has my stamp of approval and items to be purchased for said menu have been logged into the Grocery app. How can you not love a man that uses a grocery app. I bet he can also provide 10 recommendations for said app that he researched prior to purchasing. LOVE HIM!

Tonight we will put the finishing touches on the house…I’ve got some planting to do and I may have to get my flashlight out in order to finish.

I’ve seen many of things people are thankful for via the social sites I follow and I thought I would jot a few of them down as well.

I am thankful for my husband. He is my love, my hero and the father of my two boys. His nuances are endearing…we are different in so many ways…to the point where either one or both of us have just thrown our hands up out of frustration. Yet that man of mine can still make my knees quiver with just one look.

I am thankful for my two sons. It is amazing to watch them both grow and learn in their boy ways. We have tickle fights in the evenings and there is nothing like a house filled with the laughter of children. Our five year old is maturing more and more every day. He is reading, writing and solving math problems. I am so proud of how hard he works at everything…everyday. Our 17th month old is in awe of his big brother and when he is not trying to beat him up he can be seen as a blonde streak running through the house, with one arm just a pumping, chasing after his big brosef. I’ve said it many of times…I never wanted kids until I had them and I am thankful God had a bigger plan and allowed me to experience and grow as a person and hold the prestigious honor of being a mother.

I am thankful for family and friends. Love and support…from family, extended family to the family I got to choose…my friends, I am thankful for them and their kind hearts.

I am thankful for the health of my family, both physically and as a whole. I am thankful our visits to the doctor’s office are from an occasional fever or checkup. I am thankful we are a cohesive unit and when there is something that needs to be dealt with we rally around each other and see it through.

I am thankful to have a job with outstanding benefits to help pay for those occasional fevers, checkup, unscheduled surgeries and emergency room visits.

I am thankful for our neighbors that have become our friends. Whether it is births, babysitting, a stick or two of butter, gasoline for the generator or a reason to get together to be adults for a night…we can always count on our neighbors.

I am thankful to God. We are truly blessed and I thank Him every day .

Reunion Recap

2009-11-11T20:06:00.002-06:00

The hubby and I met up with Mandy and Greg and the high school cafeteria Friday night to begin the La Porte High School class of ’89 festivities. I personally thought it was a great idea to have a homecoming of sorts at the high school. We got a chance to walk the halls and wow…things have changed and I wouldn’t necessarily say for the better…in my opinion of course.

It’s been twenty years and remodeling has been done but everything looks more institutionalized. Zip ties are on the lockers, we surmised that they didn’t use those anymore, adopting the two sets of books philosophy. WHAT??? Isn’t that what half of the experience was about…relationships, sports, social clubs, and lockers, I’ll throw learning in there for good measure.

A name we recognized as we meandered through the hallowed halls was Mrs. Kicklighter. Dang…she was old when I attended that school. She did show up to the dinner, although I didn’t recognize her until later. Picture the old woman from Beetlejuice and when she smoked it would come out of her neck…yep…that’s her. Mr. Nolen was in rare form, as flamboyant as ever. Steve and Kerry Reagan were there, the cool theatre teachers.

The retired Bulldog they used to take to the football games and run it up and down the track when we scored.

After the dinner we decided to ditch the football game and head to Outriggers for the after party. As we were walking to the car La Porte scored and our fight song filled the night air. I couldn’t help but throw an L sign in the air…La Porte Dogs…or Kicks…you know…I never really knew what they said at the end of our fight song.

Outriggers was fun, we were the first group there, had a few drinks and watched as the alum filtered in…we attempted to play a game, the first one who recognized someone had to pick a person to drink. I seemed to have had the advantage facing the door.

We headed downstairs and meeted and greeted those we recognized and those that recognized us…which was at times rather challenging. Not many people from the class of ’90 came; several I know went to Classic and from what I heard the two groups met up later in the evening.

Mandy, Me, Laura Haley, Sally Boldman

Me and Mandy

All in all, from what I witnessed it was pretty tame, no drama to speak of and it was great to see some old faces and catch up with old friends. High school was such a blip on the map of life, it is laughable how we were consumed by the relationships and drama…how can kids comprehend and understand “life” and just be…get along with each other...work hard…and look forward to the future with endless possibilities. Wow…that was deep.

I made a few more facebook friends and Mandy’s (Amanda to everyone else) shawl was so popular it had its own fan page created.
It was great seeing Mandy and meeting Greg. Mandy and I haven’t hung out like that in many o years. I hope it doesn’t take us 18 more to do it again.

No…I didn’t lose ANY weight for those keeping track…oh well…I have time before my “official” to get high school skinny. On to my next endeavor…

EEEKK!!! Mini Reunion next week!!

2009-10-26T19:42:00.000-06:00

My 20 year high school reunion isn’t until next year but the class of ’89 decided to invite back all of the graduating classes from 1980-1990 to take part in their reunion. There is a bevy of activities planned for the weekend. Friday night football, dinner at the cafeteria, catered of course, and an after party at Outriggers. Saturday night is the more formal shindig at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

My oldest and dearest friend is coming in from Dallas for the reunion, she is an ‘89er. And it sounds like her sister is going to come down as well…I believe she may be an ‘84er. It looks like the hubby and I are going to attend the Friday night festivities, minus the football game.

Through the magic of Facebook I have managed to reconnect with most of the people I went to high school with and it still amazes me that most everyone looks the same, plus a few pounds and a lot less hair…both men and women. I haven’t been back to the high school since my sister graduated in ’98. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. It will be a good dress rehearsal for my official 20 next year.

Now…I just need to lose about 20 lbs in less than two weeks. LOL!

Coming out of the Dark...

2009-09-14T19:10:00.000-06:00

I’ve introduced myself to my blog again and it’s like an old friend. No matter how long you have been apart, we catch up and it seems like I never left.

Have you ever had one of those moments where someone says something to you or you read a book and the obvious is stated and for whatever reason that particular time the light bulb comes on and the clouds part and the sunshine just fills you upside? I had that situation occur a couple of times in the last few days. I discovered things about me that I never considered and those things have given me much insight into myself. I know I’m being vague but the specifics do not matter. What matters is that I am succeeding in my quest to better myself on a daily basis.

Wow, organic tastes so much better than, for lack of a better word…,”regular” food. What is the new buzz word? Non-organic, pesticide infused, or contaminated sewage sludge. I’m not a radical so I’ll just go with non-organic. Apparently your utils last longer with organic food.

What is a util you ask? A util is the one thing I learned about in my college economics class that still sticks with me to this day. And my husband is the only other person that has ever known what I’m talking about when I say my utils have ran out without having the statement explained to him…my lobster.

Think of utility. (Here is the definition from Wikipedia - utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility. For illustrative purposes, changes in utility are sometimes expressed in fictional units called utils. ) In laymen’s terms…when you have that first sip of a Chai Pumpkin Latte your utils are at their all time high…almost euphoric. As you continue to consume the latte the 6th, 7th , or 10th sip, although still good, do not bring you the same satisfaction of the 1st sip. That is because your utils are decreasing. If I ever start a restaurant I am going to name it Utils. This concludes your economic lesson for the day.

I inquired about scheduling a session of family portraits today. My co-worker found this gem of a photographer. I cannot wait! Well...I can…but I can’t.

Knowing that family pictures are looming in the near future and wanting to slip into a sexy little number or two when the hubby and I go out this holiday season and or course for the overall benefit of being healthy, I am on a quest to become a lean, mean fighting machine. In an attempt to not bore myself or anyone else that happens on this blog, I am not going to post food/weight details here; I have a notebook for that. I’ll do recaps of the week/weekend and talk about my endeavors. If you are interested in specifics…email me.

For the next four weeks on the exercise front I will be doing Pilates. I definitely need to strengthen my core before I even think about weights, running, or picking up my 15 month old son. My back is already offered its opinion on my sporadic activity level of intensity and it is not good one. Fear not…my chiropractor has seen me more than ever in the last couple of months…but as much as he helps, seeing him is a reminder that I hurt and I am changing that starting today. (cue uplifting music)

I so need a soundtrack, you know one of those cool ones with the obscure music that delicately adds an emotional undertone to each scene. Hmmmm…

Off to fry it up in the pan…healthy frying of course…

Balance is in progress...

2009-07-06T19:11:00.001-06:00

Did you think I was done? Done...done? Nope...just took an extended hiatus.

You know when your life is spinning out of control and in order to gain balance you let certain things go until you can get a handle on them again? That would be me!

I am not committing to be full fledged with daily postings, my life just isn't that interesting and I am not running. Not that that is interesting either.

I just thought I would check in and let those that may wonder where I've been...or not...that I'm still around and I'll be attempting to update my blog more regulary.

Life is going on and as you can see by my tweets sometimes I only need 140 characters or less to define said life!

Running will commence in October. Right now I'm working on...stuuuuffff and about 30 visting vehicle flights, so it is only hree but the challenges make it feel like 30. Oh...and I can't just call them shuttle flights because that would be an incorrect statement.

Balance is in progress...stay tuned.

W2D3, 4, 5

2009-01-30T15:13:00.000-06:00

Wednesday I didn’t do a thing, moving right along to Thursday.

Thursday I attempted to run two miles but my knees had other plans. Jodie and I started out and I didn’t even make 300 meters before I had to stop and walk. It was painful; I can’t even describe the pain other than to say…it freakin hurt. I walked for half a mile, attempting many times to get it up to a jog with no luck. Finally, on the second lap I told myself I was doing this…and yeah it hurt, I took it slow and I either began to get used to the pain or it subsided after awhile but I was able to run .5 miles the entire time…with lots o pain.

I had to leave to take the boy to TaeKwondo so that cut my run, walk, waddle short.

My thought is the knee pain if from shredding but my own fault, not that of the workout itself. POOR FORM. I noticed at the end of my workout on Tuesday I was really…really tired and I was just pushing through and I know my form sucked it. And…yes it did and my knees are telling me so.

I am going to take Friday off…also because I think I’m trying to shake off a cold or some kind of ailment, my body was aching last night and this morning.

I’ll get back at the shredding on Saturday morning; I’m also going to move up to level 2. Here’s hopin it all works out.

Have a good weekend, may the wind be at your back.

Out.

W2D2

2009-01-28T15:11:00.000-06:00

I shredded last evening, it is getting so much easier, my knees are hurting a bit today though, not sure what that is all about, they are prolly just sore from kicking myself in the butt…a lot. I blame Jullian.

A cold front came through and it is windy and 50 so me no runny today. I know you guys up North are telling me to shut it right now…I get it. Suck it up…right. Nope! I don’t have the gear…and just wait until Summer when it 150% humidity and I’m swimming through my run half naked, I’ve got plenty of gear for that…perhaps too much. It all evens out.

On tap for this evening…after my I get my do done will be more shredding. This will be my last workout on level 1. Sniff…sniff. I graduate to level 2 tomorrow, I hope I am worthy.

Oh…and my youngest better figure out how to sleep through the night EVERYNIGHT cause momma is not wide awake at 2 am as no living human being should be. Learn it…love it…DO IT! For goodness sakes…I’m begging.

That’s all I got. Nothing earthshattering.

Out.

W2D1 – Week 1 results

2009-01-27T19:16:00.003-06:00

Here are the numbers:

17JAN09
Starting Weight: 167
Waist: 32.5
Hips: 38
Right Thigh: 23
Left Thigh: 24
Right Calf: 14.5
Left Calf: 15
Right Arm: 12.5
Left Arm: 12.5
Neck: 13.5

26JAN09
Starting Weight: - 2.2
Waist: - 1.0
Hips: - 1.0
Right Thigh: 0.0
Left Thigh: - 0.5
Right Calf: + 0.5
Left Calf: 0.0
Right Arm: - 0.5
Left Arm: 0.0
Neck: + 0.5

So there ya go…I love seeing all those negatives.

Yesterday I forgot my running shoes so I went home and Shredded. I think I’m just about ready to move up to level 2. One more workout tonight should do it. I’ve been using 5 lb weights and I’m even thinking I’m ready to move up to 7.5, in some of the exercising that is. The lateral raises are still tough with the 5lbers so I may have to switch back and forth. Who knows…Level 2 may kick my butt so bad I stay with the 5s.

Overall I’m happy with the results so far…I need to keep my eating in check and I just think about how many more numbers will fall off if I did it every day. Still working on that.

This evening I will be shredding late since I didn’t get my ass out of bed this morning. I was teerd and I love sleep. Sleep…sleep…sleep.

I hope all had good results their first week of the challenge. Keep it up…after this week we are all halfway there.

Out.

W1D5 – D7

2009-01-26T19:53:00.000-06:00

Still shredding, albeit not as often as I would like but such is life. No…really…life so gets in the way of working out. Seriously…could you just be mindful of my schedule please?

Last week I ran 2 miles on Thursday and attempted 3 on Friday but only made 2. You don’t even know how bad of an attitude I had on Friday. I was struggling from the push of the button on the stop watch. Unfortunately I let my attitude win and stopped at 2. I just wasn’t feeling it and the thought of making two more laps around the 800 meter trail was too much for me to handle, on that day.

I was proud of myself that I didn’t go home and wallow in whatever carboliscous thing I could stuff in my pie hole. I had my EZ pizza, which I’m loving and could eat every night. Come to think about it…I think I have.

I didn’t shred on Friday but I did Saturday morning while the hubby and the boy went to karate. Monkey went down for his morning nap and I got a ton of stuff done, it felt good.

Saturday I managed to stay on track food wise but I got derailed on Sunday. Not crazy or anything I can’t recover from, just a few bad habits I’ve picked up along the way that I fell back into. Such as…getting my lunch from McyD’s, it’s only a hamburger happy meal so at least I’m not talking super size me on anything, it could always be worse but nonetheless it is a bad habit. Did I mention I got a chocolate chip cookie too? No, well, normally I have two; I gave the other to the boy. Also, I had cereal after din, but only about half of what I used to eat.

So I consider it a win that I wasn’t as bad as I could have been but I know I need to oust those habits altogether because none of it is “clean”.

I got my three workouts in for the week, barely. I did run 4 times this week, one more than last week. So I’m content…I did much more exercising than I did the previous week and that my friends is progress.

I’m happy to report my hubby is still shredding too and when he is done I kind find him cussing Jillian for the soreness he feelis throughout his body. It’s cute. I guess he told is business partner how tough it was he went out and got a copy.

I’m still doing level one, I’ve read several reviews that mentioned peeps stayed on each level for 10 days. I guess I better get to shredding more frequently if I want to successfully reach level two by WEDNESDAY. Holy cow! I guess I’ll be shredding Monday and Tuesday fo sho.

Next entry will include the numbers from last week and the beginning of this week. All I can tell you is I have good news!

Sassafrass

2009-01-22T19:12:00.001-06:00

This scence took place this morning as I was dropping my boys off at school:

Me: Well monkey is a happy boy this morning...(to Bug) are your a happy boy this morning?

Bug: I'd be alot happier if you weren't asking me all these questions.

I just stood there with my mouth gaping open...this sass from a 4.5 year old. When I eventually caught my snap and picked my chin up off the ground I began to struggle with losing it in anger or laughing it off in admiration.

I chose the latter thinking to myself...good one...impressive.

Not a good sign of what is to come...is it? I also told myself if I blow up he will have even more ammo to use against me when he wants to see if he can spin me up.

Yeah...I know the game...and I consider myself a formidable player. Watch it son.

Challenge W1D4

2009-01-22T19:09:00.001-06:00

Fessing up…I didn’t exercise at all yesterday and I don’t feel that bad about it. I’m trying to learn the best way to get it the Shredding and running all in and I think I’ve got it down.

This morning I got up at 5a (thankfully the monkey has been sleeping through the night) and I shredded. You know I’ve only done it one other time but this time was a bit easier. That’s way exciting. So, even though it sucked getting up early, it really wasn’t that much earlier than when I have to get up with the baby, I felt and feel better for it. So…the hubby and decided to work it out and coordinate our times.

I’m running after work, 2 miles this afternoon, before I meet the boys for Teakwondo. I had the boy’s patches sewn on his jacket, I’m so proud of my bug!! The running should take care of the sushi I had for lunch. There are worse things people AND I didn’t use as much soy as I normally do, so I’m happy I cut back on the sodium. I’ll mention that had the fortune cookies (2)…oops.

I am admitting that I have been weighing myself daily…ok…who am I kidding once in the morning and once at night…and someone has been losing lbs!! I’ll report the official number on Monday.

I hope everyone is sticking with their challenge! Keep it up! It’s 76 and sunny in H-town…a good reminder that bathing suit weather is just around the corner.

Out.

Challenge W1D3

2009-01-21T20:30:00.002-06:00

Technically if you are following along I am reporting on Tuesday's activity so it’s really a W1D2 report…it’s all semantics.

Yesterday I busted out a big 3 miles, 3x1 style in 35:33. Not too bad for an out of shape white girl. I was fighting with my ear buds a few times so I know that slowed me down a bit. All in all everything felt good, I can tell my body is remembering what it was like to run miles and it seems happy.

I got out to the track a bit later than I wanted therefore I finished later, stopped for gas and ran by the alterations place so they could sew patches on the boy’s TaeKwondo jacket before Thursday’s class; which equates to not getting home until almost 6:30, frick.

We tagged teamed getting the kids fed, bathed and off to bed and it is 8:30 before I can figure out what I need to get done the rest of the evening, I still haven’t eaten or Shredded and the house needs to be picked up for our house cleaner coming on Wednesday…and yes, I know I am blessed to have this luxury and I would sacrifice many other luxuries in order to hold on to her…she’s awesome. Bottom line I decided to go ahead and eat my EZ pizza and call it a night. My thought was that I would try and Shred in the morning.

No getty uppy this morning so I’ll use my allocated running time to Shred today, yesterday’s rest day will be today then I’ll pick back up Thursday and Friday. I need to get my ASS out of bed; nights are too hectic to expect to get in a run and Shred. I’ll coordinate with the hubster so we can plan a schedule for working out in the mornings.

Gotta have friends…two of them told me today that my waist looked smaller. I can attribute that to two things…a great pair of black pants I found at Target and I’m not bloated from the crap I was eating prior to this week. Three days does make a difference and its reflecting on the scale (yeah…can’t help it…my name is Sandy and I’m a daily scale watcher). Is there a twelve step for that?

That’s all I got for now…I’m out.

Challenge W1D2

2009-01-20T19:56:00.003-06:00

Two miles in 23:04 (3X1), my music crapped out with 400 meters to go but I think it definitely helped over all; the time seemed to fly by. I was by myself this time and it wasn’t so bad. AND I finally tried out the new ear buds that Santa brought and what a difference, crisp, clear quality sound. AND they fit in my freakishly small ears without falling out, something I’ve struggled with foreva…on console the earpiece I wear never stays in my ears.

I got home and commenced with the Shred. OH.MY.GOSH…it kicked my butt, in a good way. It wasn’t crazy tough but tough enough. I love Jillian…but she scares me. Even though I know she can’t “see” me I have this feeling she can and I don’t want her to yell at me so I work that much harder. She would so make me cry.

I took my measurements and weighed, decided not to do pix. No one, even I should have to look at that. EVER!

After my workout I knew the hubby was aching to do something so I suggested he try Jillian’s DVD. I think even he was surprised at how well it incorporated the strength, cardio and abs training. I challenged him to do it with me for the next 30 days. We’ll have to come up with our own reward…yeah baby…exactly what you are thinking!

Technically today is a rest day on the running schedule but I think I’m going to go ahead and bust out the 3 scheduled for tomorrow. My schedule is catawampus because I take the weekends off, for now. I feel good stepping up to three, especially with yesterday’s accomplishment. I’m trying to figure out the interval training program on my Garmin...whatever I did it wasn’t right because the alarm was going off the entire time. I may just wear my other watch until I get the interval training program figured out.

AND finally, I turned down multiple offers of chocolate covered strawberries from Perry’s Italian. MY FAV! YAY me.

Speaking of food...I read Oxygen magazine and found a supurb quick meal recipe. Quick and very filling but not over done. This is most excellent since I won't be eating until later in the evening. I don't recall the name...I shall call him...EZ Pizza.

I'll edit with the exact ingredient amounts and nutrition data...once I find where I put that silly thing.

EZ Pizza

2 slices of Ezekeil bread
1 chicken or Turkey breast (6oz)
Cottage cheese
Parmasean Cheese
Pinch or Oregano
Pinch of Basil
Pepper
Tomato

Some Assembly required:

Bread
Tomato
Oregano
Basil
Pepper
Chicken (sliced)
Cottage cheese
Parm

Heat in a toaster oven at 400 for 20 minutes.

YUMO-LISCOUS

I’ll attempt to post my measurements in the next couple of days.

Hasta manana!

Challenge W1D1

2009-01-19T19:01:00.004-06:00

I’m very excited to begin the "shredding" challenge today. By
shredding I mean working out to Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD. I am already struggling with getting up in the AM to workout; I’m going to have to resign to the fact that it may be 9pm before I can get my workout in. The baby still isn’t sleeping through the night consistantly and momma needs her sleep. As long as it happens…right? I’ll try it on tonight and see how it fits.

I’ll take my measurements tonight, should have done that this morning but the both boys got up early I barely had enough time to get my running bag packed. Should have done it the night before.

As far as the eats goes…I’m going clean and portion control. I’ll factor in what I know, eat a protein at every meal, control portions and NO SWEETS. The carbs I will limit to one or two a day, I’m not going to go through an entire deplete week so in essense I will use the “Crack the Fat Loss Code” as a baseline but I’m not going hardcore on following the program exactly. I’ll report my experience and of course the numbers won’t lie.

Inches will be the name of the game for this challenge as the scale can be deflating (or inflating). I will of course weigh myself but I’m hoping I can keep it down to once a week (who am I kidding). No really…if the inches are melting I don’t care if the scale is fluctuating 5 pounds in either direction. It’s about being lean.

The weather is absolutely beautiful today and I am thinking about taking advantage of it during lunch to get a quick 2 in as the schedule calls for. Heck I may even get ambitious and bump it to three. What schedule you say? Nothing that I’m prepping for specifically, it just helps to have a schedule and if a race or two pops up that suits my fancy I’ll run it by the hubby and sign up, staying ahead of the curve this year. Acting instead of reacting…that one of my many changes for the year.

So…that’s the plan for the next 30 days. Wish me luck. Oh…and I’m keeping tabs on my competition and just so you know…I’m ultra competitive. YOU. HAVE. NO. IDEA! There ya go…the gauntlet has been laid down!

See ya at the finish line.

Weekend recap

2009-01-19T19:00:00.001-06:00

What a great Saturday. The boy had a friend join him at Tae Kwon Do and they were so excited. The boy is a natural leader. The instructor had to tell him on more than one occasion to let him direct his friend instead of the boy doing it. TOO CUTE. He got his "V" patch (as in vistor) so I'll take his jacket to get his patches and stars sewn on before Thursday.

The weather was beautiful; stuff got accomplished around the house, well, technically the garage, stuff got thrown away, stored in the attic and hey look…there is that extra 5 feet we had added on to the back, I was wondering where we put that.

The boy occupied himself by playing in the back yard most, if not all day. We ended the evening roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit and we all had dinner out on the back patio, even the baby, while music filtered through the speakers and out into the cool night air. Best of all…the TV was not on ALL. DAY. I love our patio, I can’t wait to get it in “entertaining shape”.

Sunday we stopped by my Granny’s house to open up the last of the Christmas gifts. Both boys were great and Granny and Papa just loved them up. I’ll post pix in the next few days.

Week 2 of 2009

2009-01-16T19:05:00.001-06:00

Week 2 went much better than week 1. I RAN! Not once, not twice but THREE times. Jodie kicked my butt with yesterday’s run and we shaved an entire minute off our previous time. I felt it though. That’s what I like about running with someone and especially Jod…I know we will push each other, her usually more than me and I’ll drop dead before I stop. It’s that competitive thing we got going…but not in a bad way.

Next week I begin this challenge. Santa brought me Jillian’s 30 Day Shred for Christmas (because I asked not because he was dropping hints) and I was going to start it hard core on Monday anyways so perfect timing, beginning Monday I will post my progress and list my thoughts of the program daily. I can do this for 30 days but I absolutely HAVE to figure out how to work out in the morning since I’m doing my cardio in the afternoons. I’ll have to think about that this weekend and let you know what the hubby and I figure out. Here’s to shredding…

Weekend plans…the hubby put together my fire pit Santa brought AND he bought some wood so I’m thinking roasted hot dogs and marshmallows tomorrow night. The boy will so love that. I have the greatest Hubby evar! We will also stop by my Granny’s house and do Christmas…I guess I have to finish up the gifts. Slacker I know.

Looks like it will be busy and productive. I’ll be glad to spend time with the fam. During the week the time just seems to get shorter and shorter. Life…I know.

For all those peeps running in the Houston Chevron Marathon and the Aramco Half I’ll be thinking about ya…weather looks to be perfect, may you all PR.

OUT!

Week 1 of 2009

2009-01-11T15:20:00.001-06:00

First full week of 2009 in the books.

AND IT SUCKED.

I was sick the entire week. Sick, sick. I’m thinking I had the flu but a mild case since I had gotten a flu shot.

I ended up losing 2lbs, from the non eating instead of the eating right. Needless to say I didn’t get to do any of the excerise I had planned. I will start again this Monday. Weather is going to be nice and cool all week. Looking forward to getting out and enjoying it for a change.

The fam went to Whole Foods this morning. I LOVE…LOVE Whole Foods. I could stay at that store for hours and find the coolest yummiest things that are so healthy. The hubby and I talked about going once a month to get the stuff we absolutely need for “clean eating” meaning the stuff we can’t find at HEB.

I made Moroccan Chicken with wild rice for din the other night. It was pretty good and I’ll make it again but perhaps add a bit more salt.

I’m still following and cheer on all you “crackers” even though I’m going to follow a different plan, it’s not all that different except for the carb deplete. We’re still in this together.

Oh yeah...still working on those resolutions...

It's a New Year...

2009-01-04T16:13:00.000-06:00

It’s a New Year…we rang in the New Year with our neighbors. It was pretty low key, didn’t even drink that much. We had fun and I’m glad we went. I love our neighbors.

The New Year brings new goals, both personal and for the family. I’m still working on an “official” list so I can gauge my progress this time next year.

First an foremost the working out and eating thing is fo sho. Starting one and stopping the other. Of course not stopping eating entirely, then I would die but doing it right. Eating CLEAN. I’ve got a plan and I’m sticking to it. On February 5th I will give a full report of what I did and my progress, I’m not doing it now in an effort to prevent making sweeping statements that I’ve made so many times before.

My initial plan is to work out in the morning with weight training and do cardio in the afternoon at work. The cardio will be slow going at first since I’ve done no kind of running, except to the fridge the last six months. I can’t wait to get back out there. I’ve got my lunch made for the week and the hubby and I have already planned dinner for tomorrow. I will pack my bag tonight with my running clothes. That’s right…you heard me…RUNNING clothes.

I’ve got a lot of things swimming in my head that I want to accomplish this year but I would like to give them a bit more thought before I actually put them in print and make them final.

Good luck and much encouragement to all that have made their goals this year!

Girly Trip - 2008

2009-01-04T16:12:00.000-06:00

That’s right…we finally had a girl trip! It was only a day…baby steps…baby steps. Nic, Jod, Mel and I headed out to Austin for the day in search of glass for Nic, saving on shipping costs of course.

We left Houston about 5 am and arrived in Austin shortly after 8, the glass shop we were visiting didn’t open until 10 so we stopped off at Target, Christmas was 75% off and they had 7.5 prelit Christmas trees for $75. SCORE. I’ve been wanting a prelit for the last three years now but we couldn’t really justify spending the money when we had a perfectly good tree now. The hubby said if I get one for under $89. Then I could get one. DONE! Only problem, it wouldn’t fit in my Highlander. Ooops. I almost took it back but we decided to strap to the roof instead. Oh we have pics…

After we got the tree secure we headed to the glass store in Georgetown and we had so much fun. The store had an amazing selection and the ladies were so very nice. I’ll have to get the name of the store so I can post a link here. Anyway after three hours and lunch at Wildfire’s right next door and quite a bit of moolah later we were off to the outlet stores.

My favorite store in the entire world, White House/Black Market had a store in the outlet center and they were having an AMAZING sale. I got three capris and three shirts all for just over $100, the entire purchase would have been almost $400 at regular price. I’m very happy about my purchase.

We stopped by another glass shop in Austin Helios and the owner was fantabulous. He was very helpful and happy to share many of the techniques used to create the pieces we saw throughout his store.

Finally, last stop was dinner at Reals, a scrumptious little Italian restaurant owned by ‘Gino’. If you are ever in Austin…GO.

I was paranoid about the Christmas tree and peeps stealing it…I even sat in the car at one point because I didn’t want to take it off the roof…yet again and two guys were totally eyeing my tree.

We made it home around midnight. It was a long trip but it was totally what I needed to recharge the ole batteries.

Thanks to the hubby and Mema for taking care of the boys.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T15:58:00.002-06:00

I’ve been dark for almost a month now…no reason in particular except time, there isn’t any. So…I’m here, in the New Year starting anew. I was pretty consumed with pregnancy last year and I didn’t make any “official” resolutions other than to have a healthy, happy baby. Done and done.

The last month has been busy with Christmas and family in town. The hubby’s mom was in town for 10 days in December. She hasn’t seen the boys since June and she was very excited. She couldn’t believe how much the baby had grown.

I worked until the day before Christmas Eve, it wasn’t too bad, it was very quiet and I actually got ahead, I didn’t get totally organized so I’m thinking I’ll do that tomorrow before I jump into work, shouldn’t be too bad.

On a sad note, my office mate and one of my bestest friends EVER has changed positions and will be relocated into another building, sad. Funny story, originally she didn’t want to be my office mate, she even went to management to request that I be moved, which they did, to my other bestest friends office…lol. It backfired because they eventually moved me back into her office about 5 years ago. Anywho our desks face each other and it going to be sad looking up and seeing emptiness there. Thankfully she is an IM or a walk away. I will miss her…just being there.

Christmas was great. Mema was here for the monkey’s first Christmas and the boys had a great time. If you recall I mentioned before we were going to scale WAY back…yeah that didn’t happen, as you can tell in this picture.

Santa was good to me I got my air compressor I wanted. Yes, I’m a girl and wanted an air compressor, mainly to manage the air pressure in my tires. I HATE going to the gas station to do it. For one thing I’m paranoid of the gas station. At any moment someone is going to car jack me, smash my window and steal my purse and heaven forbid the kids are with me…I’m a nervous wreck. So now I have my air compressor and I can air things up in the comfort of my own garage, if they only had a pink one…

Santa also delivered a fire pit. WHOO HOO!! I so wanted one. I have a vision of a seating area out back complete with a fire pit. As a bonus Santa found one that converts into a table during the summer…can’t wait to fire it up!

We had ham for dinner but nothing formal and after a late night, early morning and opening presents pretty much the entire day we all went to bed early.

Hurricanes and Snow...oh My

2008-12-11T10:43:00.008-06:00

Three months ago we were prepping for a hurricane, today we're all sharing snow stories. A freak and I mean freak snow storm hit Houston last night, 2-3 inches in fact, it was almost 80 the day before...is that crazy or what? When I picked up the kids from school it was starting, the boy and I caught snowflakes on our tongues. The weather report was the snow would not accumulate so we went home and stayed warm. Around 2.5 hours later I glance out the front door and this is what I saw!

The boy was snug in his bed and I ran upstairs and carried all 50 lbs of him down stairs and opened the door so he could see, I thought he would immediately wake up and want to play, I was hoping anyway. Well...said boy pulled his jammie shirt down and said he was cold and snuggled up under my chin. I asked him if he wanted to go play in the snow or go back to bed...he chose bed.

So...this morning when we were on our way to school he was running around in the backyard screeching. I plunked the baby down in the middle of the grass (yes in his car seat, all snug as a bug) and had the boy pose beside him to at least document there was snow.

At school he was hoping they would get to go outside and play, I gave him my gloves I keep in my jacket pocket just in case.

Something interesting...my first Christmas it snowed, I have a pic somewhere of my Dad and I standing next to a snowman he and my mom made. The boy's first Christmas in 2004 it snowed on Christmas Eve and the monkey's first Christmas is snowed...A BUNCH. Weird.

The boy was sad he missed the snow, he told me he really wanted to make a snow angel. I told him we would go to a place one day where there is snow as far as the eye can see. Hmmm...may have to ask Dad what we have planned next Christmas. Christmas in the Rockies sounds mighty fine.

Oh...it took me 2 hours to get to work this morning...I had to take the tunnel that I didn't know how to get to...yes, I've lived here all my life. I work on the other side of the ship channel and it was rather "challenging" to get to work. On the positive side...I now have an "ice route" to work.

I hope all of the Houston peeps had fun last night...don't blink it will be 80 soon enough.

Light Em Up!

2008-11-14T13:33:00.003-06:00

All set for the shuttle launch tonight, weather looks great and my work is finally done for the flight. It seemed really painful this time around; probably because I’m trying to get used to the work thingy with two kids. Yeah…completely different with two versus the one; I’m sure you are like…well…yeah you idiot but understanding it and living it…completely different.

The last couple of weeks have been rather trying on the kid front, between the boy’s stitches, my being sick, an abrupt change in schools for the boy and the monkey getting sick, I’m hanging on to that bottom rung. Well…I was last week. I am doing better this week as it has turned out to be a nominal week (notice I didn’t say normal) and I didn’t have any ‘emergencies’ to tend to.

I finished up Viv’s challenge. Can I get a…hey yo! I finished 5th in the competition and I can’t thank her enough for organizing this motivational gem. The last couple of weeks were tough emotionally so I didn’t do as well as I could have, no excuses though, I’m happy with my result. By the next time I’m hoping to be deep…deep in an exercise routine.

Ahhh…an exercise routine, that is the one thing that I have not figured out how to happen as of yet. I get up at 5ish…ok 5:30 and get home at 6 after picking up the kids. Once home I feed the baby and get him to bed while the hubby tends to the boy and gets him to bed. I finish up around 8 only then do I eat dinner, talk with the hubby a bit and get ready for bed by 10. SOMEWHERE in there I absolutely have to get in exercise. I know it will happen, it may be at 9 pm but I just need to make a commitment to myself and DO IT! I totally miss getting my run on and reading all the blogs I stalk…I mean follow… is getting me more and more ancy to start.

One last nugget of info that I have to share…Non Fat PUMPKIN CHAI LATTE! That right there is a Venti bit of heaven in a cup. Jodie mentioned they had Pumpkin Latte’s at Starbucks so I thought I would cruise on over and try one in my Chai Latte.

First of all when I ordered the guy kept asking if I wanted to add a shot of expresso…uh…no. Coffee sucks. I was concerned what I was going to end up with, especially when I drove around to the window and I saw three faces staring at me in awe. I just look up at them like…what…am I dressed? Check. Then the worst thought ever…I’m a Starbuck’s nerd!! As in…a loser because I don’t go there enough to know how to order…great…more anxiety society is projecting on peeps.

The guy that took my order speaks and asks me where did I get the notion that I could put pumpkin flavoring in a chai latte? I freeze up…and quickly say…I’ve never had it…my friend told me about it…so I ordered it. (like I did something wrong…what the heck was wrong with me?)

He then told me that he was intrigued by my order and he would have to check that out and the two other minions shook their head in unison…yeah…man. Looky there…I’m cool again. Finally.

One more thing...mama went to the Flamingo party last weekend. Let's just say I sang karaoke for the first time...EVER...in my life...with a side of liquid nerves. Good times my friends...good times.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the COLD weather…light em up! (Fireplaces people…fireplaces).

Halloween - 2008

2008-11-02T21:28:00.001-06:00

I think the events over the past week have taken its toll on everyone, even the boy. Halloween ended up being low key. The costume he chose was Optimus Prime and for the Monkey’s first Halloween we was…a monkey. They were both too cute. We made it out the door about 6:45 and the mosquitoes almost carried the baby away. At one point I attempted to bribe a swarm of them with candy but they were having none of it. Most of our neighbors were not home, we went to two houses on our street before the Monkey and I called it a night, he was asleep before the first house. After I put the Monkey to bed I came downstairs to find the boy and the hubby were back. He really wasn’t interested in begging for candy but he was really excited about handing it out to the trick or treaters that rang the doorbell. Thankfully Halloween as uneventful and we were all snug in our beds at a decent hour without experiencing the candy overload.

To me Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season and the stores didn’t disappoint. Christmas music was playing at Sam’s this weekend. Seriously! I am so not ready for this. But the hubby and I talked about a plan for presents for the boys. The last three years we have not been able to finish opening presents on Christmas day because there as been so many. The boy has a crapload of toys and I know there are some up there that he still hasn’t played with, almost a year later.

Here is the plan:

12 presents…one for each month of the year.
3 will be Toys
3 will be clothes
3 will be books
3 will be puzzle or something educational

Of course the boys will still get more presents from the grandparents and such but I am hoping this will reign in the over stimulation and underappreciation. Here’s hoping.

Consider yourself caught up!

Can This Really Be Happening???

2008-11-02T21:27:00.001-06:00

What a difference a week, a day, an hour, a minute makes. This time last week I had spent a pleasant day at the air show with friends and ended that day with a few hours in the emergency room. Yep, I knew being the mother of boys I would have my share of trips to the emergency room but knowing and accepting that fact never prepares one for actually experiencing such an event.

Like I mentioned before we spent the morning at the air show with friends and thanks to RUNGE!! It was a beautiful day, on the warm side; to the point where every speck of shade found an occupant trying to escape the suns wrath. We were no different; there just never seems to be enough tanks sitting around when you need one to provide shade. We didn’t make it to the Thunderbirds and I was fine with that. The kids were hot, the boy was well…being his enjoyable self with complaints that the sun was shining, the wind was blowing, his baby brother was looking at him. It was time to go. We stopped for yummy ice cream on the way home and Jodie got the car unpacked in record time. I was gathering up the kids to head home, the boy and Landon were playing upstairs and I had to go drag him out of the train where he was hiding. We were walking down the stairs (do you see where this is going), the boy has a very bad habit of running to get in front of me, on his attempt get in front of me he tripped and tumbled down the stairs landing smack dab on the corner of the molding that was at the base of the stairs.

It was all slow motion for me. I saw the initial cut beneath his cheek, I was hoping it was superficial...then the blood started gushing out. Holy crap. Jodie came running over after hearing the ruckus and I told her to get a compress. By the time she got back I scooped up my 5o lbs son, she had the baby in the car and we were off to the emergency room lighening fast. Can this really happening? I held it together until we got to the emergency clinic then I lost it as I was giving my information to the lady at the window.

The doctor came in and cleaned the boy's wound and gave him a topical so they could deaden his cheek with the real stuff that included a needle. The boy was pleading his case the entire time to not have a shot. I so wanted to reassure him he wouldn’t get one, I tried to distract him with conversation to no avail. We waited for a long time and the boy and I talked and he even napped. He looked so sad and my heart just hurt for him. I so wished I was the one laying there or somehow the pain could transfer to me. I cried as I looked at him even though I kept telling myself I had to be strong. Yeah…I wasn’t.

Nic came to get the baby and Jodie came in to stay with us. We called the hubby and he was on his way. Fortunately for the boy as a pillar of strength but unfortunately for the hubby he walked in while they were giving the boy shots to deaden the area on his cheek they were fixin to sew up. It took four…count em…FOUR of us to hold down the FOUR year old. He is freakin strong. FOUR. He was wringing with sweat when it was all said and done. It broke my heart. Six stitches later and the hubby was carrying him out to the car to head on home, I had to go get the baby from Jodie’s house, I knew he would be starving…oh the glass bottle I had broke earlier when we were unloading the car. Yeah…this is happening.

I had some time to decompress at Jodie’s, feeding the baby and talking with Nic and Jod before I headed home. I am so greatful for my friends. I don't know what I would have done without them...EVER. As I began to come down from the adrenaline my body ached. I took a shower and the water from the shower hurt. My baby was hurt, I hurt.

I kept the boy home from school on Monday and we had a nice day together. Not as relaxed as I had hoped but we did meet Dad for lunch after we stopped by the pediatrician to make sure everything looked good. We go back on Monday to get the stitches out.

Tuesday I woke up feeling like crap…crappy crap crap. I either have a cold or a bad sinus infection. I decided to stay home to get well. I slept ALL DAY LONG.

Wednesday, I am at work and just before noon I get a phone call from the boy’s school and they ask me to come pick him up, he was out of control. The director asks me to come into her office and in walks the boy’s teacher. Can this really be happening? Did they just tell me to remove my son from their school? W-T-F!

I’m barely hanging on by a string over here and now this. I call the hubby and let him know what has transpired, I call our therapist for "what next" and I call work to let them know I won’t be in the rest of the week. I am spent.

Thursday we talk to KRK, the previous school the boy was attending and make arrangements for him to re-enroll and the hubby and I check out another private school in the area on Friday. The private school is awesome and it is something to consider for Kindergarten but they are full in the four year old class and bottom line, the boy is not ready.

The hubby and I decide the best thing the boy needs is a stable environment while we work on the therapy and the diet and focus on him in order to get him ready for kindergarten. I stop by KRK and talk to the owner to let him know of our plans and he is very supportive. Thank God.

The hubby thinks we are being tested…if so I hope it is for something better and not worse.

On the WOE front…I haven’t been on my game but with all the stress and the NOT eating I still managed to lose. Check the number on the right. Can this really be happening? You betcha!

Zoo Boo

2008-10-25T13:14:00.002-06:00

We just got back from Zoo Boo and it was a beautiful day. I had a minor hiccup on the way to meet the group, I rearended a truck. Seriously??? I hit them going a speedy 10mph as we were waiting for the light. I was doing something for the boy, saw the car next to me go and you guessed it...BAM! Ah...shit.

I got out and their black bumper left a few kisses on mine but nothing at all major. The kids were fine, one even slept through it. I'm just pissed I did something so stupid. They took my insurance info...just in case. Afterwards I called the hubby,he took the news better than I expected and was very glad we were okay.

The zoo was packed. All the kids were running around in their costumes. Holy cow I felt sorry for those that had the monkey, lion or bear costumes. Those lil guys looked miserable. We are home for naps now before we go to our community fall festival.

I must thank Miss Nicole for schlepping the stroller around and Miss Jodie and Mr. Bryan for helping with the boy.

Naps rock!!

Hoping for the best...Preparing for the worst...

2008-10-24T13:28:00.001-06:00

I excercised my 19th Amendment right yesterday and I feel like a big o weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s going to get crazy up in here election day and I get to sit back and watch it all unfold and feel proud that I did what I could. At this point I am hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

This weekend is going to be a jam packed weekend of enjoying the outdoors.

Saturday I plan on taking the kids to ZooBoo to meet up with the Rhodes’ and Nicole along with a few other friends. Saturday afternoon we have our community fall festival that always proves to be a good time. Sunday we will finish up the weekend with the airshow. We have primo VIP passes and I know the boy will LOVE IT! If he isn’t passed out from exhaustion by then. Gotta go find a pair of ear mufflers for the baby.

I received very sad news this morning on the way into work, one of my co-workers passed away during the night. He was near retirment and we had just had a conversation last week about his plans. I am sad he did not have a chance to live out his dreams. He was a good man. Not only was he an interesting bird and he was a fixture in our organization. As I drove by his empty assigned parking place I was saddened by the realization I will never see his blue little truck and him in his 80’s Tom Cruise sunglasses carrying his igloo cooler walking in or going home. Bill…you will be missed.

WOE is going ok. Haven't been perfect but the numbers are still going down. It is still working for me. I try not to get down on myself and think what the numbers would be if I actually stuck with the plan EVERYday. Gah...whatever...numbers are numbers and the less the better. Rock on!

Everyone have a safe weekend and get out and enjoy the weather.

Sum it up in three letters...C-R-A-Z-Y

2008-10-21T09:31:00.007-06:00

Still here but way back when I said things were going to settle down when I went back to work must have been one of those nights I didn’t get much sleep. One I can sum it up in three letters C-R-A-Z-Y…go ask Biden. In order to ease the pain of posting a novel I’m going to bullet my update…to just get it over with.

o WOE update…yes I am still crack a lackin but I hit a wall Wednesday last week, celebrating a birthday on Wednesday that was actually on Tuesday, bosses day on Thursday threw in Friday for good measure and I never recovered. Weird though I ended up at a loss for the week. Whoo hoo!

o For much needed motivation I joined Viv’s challenge. A few months ago I sat on the sidelines and I am so glad she decided to do this again. She does a great job. I need a big push before the holidays.

o Work has been C-R-A-Z-Y. I actually came back at a good time, when things are hot and heavy with flight prep. Thankfully I kept up with things while I was on leave for almost four months or I would have sunk and fast.

o Being back at work I realized that I am at a point in my life that I could have stayed home with the baby. Unlike the first go around with the boy, this time around I was totally enjoying our days and our routines together. Yeah…I said that and it’s in print.

o I NEED TO START RUNNING. With the cooler temps I’m aching for it. I drive by the jogging trail twice a day and they finally cleared all the down trees and I think to myself…one day I’m going to be out there hating that biotch. Soon…

o We took family pictures for Christmas this past weekend and the hubby had to give me perspective to calm me down. LOL…usually it is the other way around in our house. LOL…JC Penny does not equal professional photographer. Yeah…whatever.

o Jodie tagged me oh I don’t know a week, a month or so ago so here is 6 random things about RedDaisy:

1. I am OCD about my food touching…IT CAN’T, must not even come close. I am a constantly searching for designer plates that have dividers. When I can find them…that will be a most excellent day.

2. When I am eating M&M’s, the peanut ones of course. I divide them up by color, eat the odd numbered colors to make them even and finally eat them in order from least favorite to favorite color, suck on them till I crack the hard shell then suck all the chocolate off until only the peanut is left then I eat the peanut. Every time…

3. I have to shower every night before I go to bed. Even if I stayed in the house all day…shower. You hear of new moms not being able to take a shower or shave their legs…I was not one of them. It is the difference of a pleasant night sleep being clean like a bean or a crappy night sleep being all “…stick-he…I hate it when it’s stick he…”

4. My name is RedDaisy and I am a blog stalker. It is not that I don’t want to leave comments but often times I catch up on most of my blogs while feeding the Monkey before putting him to bed on my iPhone. Reading the blogs on my iPhone not putting the baby to sleep on my iPhone. I feel like in order to leave a comment it should be really great and that adds value to the topic at hand. I’m weird.

5. I absolutely didn’t want to have kids…before I had them.

6. I try and find the good in most situations and some have labeled me as a Polly Anna.

o A blog that is finally getting updated more regularly had become one of my favorite Daddy blogs. It is a man writing words of wisdom for his two sons. He is an incredible writer and I think many will be able to identify with his wisdom, struggles and insight. Peruse on over and make sure you have tissue on hand. Ok...I am a little biased but I wouldn't suggest the effort if it wasn't worthy of your time.

Wow…it’s already over. FAST! Now I gotta go update the kids’ newsletters, which I am behind on thanks to Mr. Ike.

Glad to be back on the radar.

Diamond Stud!

2008-10-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

NEIL gets his own section cause when you speak of NEIL you can’t speak in bulleted statements.

The hubby and I went on our first date in six months. Oh boy oh boy did we need it. Back in April the hubby purchased NEIL Diamond tickets for us for my birthday. I was something we connected with while watching American Idol.

Our neighbor babysat the boy and her mom took care of the monkey and of course he was the best baby ever. And I quote…”If I was guaranteed my baby would act like that I would have another one.” That’s right folks…we done good. For now anyway.

The concert was at the Toyota center and we had a romantic dinner preshow that consisted of Subway…in the car. Please…it was a school night and we work over here!

I posted earlier in the year that the hubby and I attended a concert where we were the oldest ones there…and I was pregnant to boot. This night we were one of the youngest ones there…if you don’t count the little girl in the row in front of us. We had a great time. Our seats were on the floor, in the second section from the stage, near a walkway, prime people watching seats folks.

NEIL and his machismo self had an exquisite performance. For a guy in his mid-sixties it was an honor to see an Icon of his proportion perform. He sang all the songs you know and love. Sweet Caroline raised the roof but when he started playing it again…right after we just finished it…I wasn’t feeling it. It was odd. But…it is NEIL. I was a little sad he didn’t wear a shiny shirt. I love me some shiny NEIL.

It was a great night and just what the hubby and I needed, I little escape. Now that we know the Monkey will do ok with a babysitter I think we will take advantage of a bit more outings. Sushi at Chi…here we come.

Back to it…

2008-10-03T09:21:00.004-06:00

This week was my first week “officially” back at work and it actually feels good. I do miss the monkey and planning my days with him and having the house straightened and the laundry done but whatever…it will get done eventually. I have fell right back into pace and being out is just a tiny glint in my already crazy and hectic work “to do” list.

I could not have asked for a better week “trying out” our new schedule. I get as much done the night before as I can, wash and prep bottles, get my food for the next day ready, lay clothes out. I get up at 5 -5:30 to be at work by 8:30. How crazy is that? I must say though the boys have been great.

I figured out a way to get the boy to get himself dressed without constantly nagging…the TV doesn’t go on until he is dressed. Just like that…no arguments, no begging, and no frustrated mom walking out the door, it’s pleasant.

The monkey has been sleeping until I get him up in the AM, except for one morning he got up just as I got up therefore he had to stay up as I got ready for work. He was fine except for the last 15 minutes it took me to make breakfast for me and the boy and get everything…including the kitchen sink in the car. I kept telling him…which I’m sure he understood completey…if he just would have slept later he wouldn’t be so upset now. Two seconds after we were in the car he was out. Buckethead.

The monkey loves daycare…that I can tell anyway cause he hasn’t come out and said “I love daycare”. He hasn’t cried once when I have left him, except for the first day but mom was crying too. They tell me he loves to be talked to that he just smiles and smiles, I love his smile. It totally draws you in with his innocence and genuine nature. They say lately he has been finding his voice and telling stories. I’ve noticed this too and that story about the rabbi, the priest and the blonde…freakin hilarious.

The boy had a better week at school this week. I would even categorize it as a good week. He had one really bad day, an excellent day and good days the rest of the week. Keep your fingers crossed I didn’t jinx today by admitting he’s been doing well. I am hoping we have turned a corner since I am back to work and we are really trying to work with him and pay attention to his needs. Not the needs that are I need another car, another chocolate milk, another story, another five minutes…those are the annoying needs he thinks he ‘needs’. I mean the spending quality time, teaching him the right choices and not letting him get away with the wrong ones. I’m seeing progress, although there are setbacks sometimes which overshadow all the progress but more often than not I’m beginning to see the amazing brilliant boy fight through this…whatever…and shine brightly.

No rest for the weary…the hubby. Sigh…they lost a lot of time and momentum with the business after the hurricane. They are still not up and running at full capacity. I know there is perspective and yes, at least he has enough of a business to get back up and running and I feel deeply sad for those that don’t. With that said…the hubby…he’s been working hard…harder…the hardest. I am proud to see how hard he has worked and rallied around the biz to do what he has to do to get things up and running. No electricity…ha…bought a generator. Chocolate doesn’t do well in heat…ha…got a refrigerated truck. No internet for an internet based company…ha…work at Starbucks and process almost 100 orders in a day with artwork to boot; dyes ordered and customers satisfied. BAM! I have and continue to witness a man that will persevere through anything. Have I mentioned he never once forgot about making sure his wife and two kids were safe and comfortable? A man like none other I’ve known and I’m so very happy to call MY husband. Yep…he’s all mine. Take that chicken soup girl! I love you sweetie and I’m so very proud of you. I want to be just like you when I grow up…you cradle robber you.

We are taking our family pictures this weekend. Green jeans….lol meaning we will be wearing green (sage) shirts with jeans. We all have dark features and look exceptional in green, although it is going to be tough finding stuff for the baby. But here’s hoping. I have some really cute ideas for poses…I’m really excited.

A couple of other things on tap for the weekend…one that may involve a pecan pie…made by me! YUMOLICIOUS.

Mid WOE report!! Staying on track this week…I’ll give a full report on Monday.

Everyone have an outstanding weekend.

**Edit**How could I have forgotten to mention the monkey slept THROUGH the night last night! I turned over and looked at the clock and it said 4:30. I shut my eyes and processed what I just saw and they flew open...4:30! Oh my gosh...something is wrong. What if something is wrong. SIDS...oh many I can't go up there. I can't imagine what is waiting for me. I was almost in tears. I layed there for thirty minutes and contemplated when I was going to muster up enough courage to check on the monkey. I was halfway hoping he would cry out waking himself up. That never happened.

Around 5 I get up and make my way upstairs. Still wrestling with my feelings as to what I was going to find. I open the door, peer over the crib and there my beautiful son is peacefully sleeping. I touch his cheek to rouse him awake and pick him up and nuzzle his head under my chin and breathe in his scent. All was good in the world.

I did the same thing with my firstborn. I think as a mom you get in a routine with getting up during the night and unbeknownst to you at the time there is comfort in those midnight hours when it is just the two of you. The first time that isn't there most moms cannot help but think the worst.

My monkey is safe and beautiful and loving and amazing. Our family is so blessed!

Smiles!

Choices

2008-10-03T09:20:00.000-06:00

When in a person’s life do greed and /or desperation turn them into a criminal? I received some very disturbing news last weekend about a person I knew in my past. Not just an acquaintance or a short lived relationship but someone I once called family. We were family and we were close. I was at his wedding, I was at the birth of his firstborn, and we graduated college together. When I had to leave the family it was him that I was going to miss the most because we were close and I knew we both had to choose. No, we were not a couple; he was my brother in law and very good friend…close to a best friend. It has been almost seven years since I have seen him and almost a year since I talked to him for the first time in six years. It was nice to catch up with he and his family and we fell into the same banter that I had come so accustomed to so many years before.

I was devastated when I found out the news that he had become someone that will now be known as a criminal, a cheat, a felon…allegedly. The choices that he made…allegedly 80 times have not only affected those with losses but will also affect his family, both immediate and extended. 80…80 times he made a choice…allegedly that will and have impacted so many people in a negative way and if convicted he will go to prison. I just want to throw up. Let’s just say he will not do well in prison…he is a good looking man and I’m not saying that jokingly. It really won’t be good.

Again…what drives a person that is successful, honest and upstanding to make such a life changing horrible decision? It just makes me sad.

WOE Week 4 part 3

2008-09-29T15:10:00.001-06:00

Yes, I’m starting week four yet again. I started off ok but didn’t stay on track due to mostly the same reasons as the previous post. I am happy to report that I am officially at work and it has been great…WOE wise anyway. I am able to eat my 4 meals without interruption as opposed to being on the road commuting from Clear Lake to Humble to Clear Lake and back to Humble and ending up finally in Clear Lake…yes my life last week. Thankfully we got our power back on Saturday and I couldn’t pack my crap fast enough.

I have to again thank Jodie and Bryan for taking us in…it was a blessing to have a cool roof over our head and they took care of us as any BFF would. After over two weeks of being a nomad I was ready to get home and get things in order.

Now I have to get caught up on my blogging, for myself and the kiddos, I’m behind on their newsletters. Add that to my ever growing to do list.

The hubby’s business is coming along. They worked their asses off last week to get things back up and running. They moved to a new facility while theirs is under contraction; meanwhile, they are having attempting to try and process orders without power…they are an internet company…so not having power is not a good thing. You found them at any given Starbucks around the city trying to work. Crazy stuff man…crazy. Thankfully they too got power back late last week.

Funny story…Last week I was in the car with my oldest (4) and I was listening to talk radio. No, I’m not in my 60’s and I swear I hated it when my Dad used to listed to that crap but for whatever reason I’m drawn to it….yeah…just go with it, don’t try and analyze it.

We were listening to talk radio and whoever was talking about Barack Obama and the boy asked “Who is Barack Obama?” and I asked him who he thought he was and he said loud and proud…”A rock star”. I almost puked all over the windshield. I said you’ve been listening to the liberal media too much and hanging around your father. I then proceeded to explain…to my four year old…that Mr. Obama was the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States and made sure he repeated it over and over. I threw in McCain as well for good measure.

WOE Week 4 and 5 Results

2008-09-22T21:58:00.000-06:00

I can sum these two weeks up in one word IKE! I am unhappily reporting these two weeks were a bust. I gave in to anxiety and convenience and stopped following the program. No excuses no pity I’m starting week 4 over again today. I weighed a couple of days ago and I was at 162.4. So that is my new week four starting weight. It's all good.

Crack it!

Monday, September 22, 2008

2008-09-22T21:57:00.004-06:00

That would be today…whew…tiring aint it. I was supposed to start work today as my official day back from a three in a half stint on maternity leave. Well…thanks to Ike my plans had to change. Both of the boys’ schools are closed and we over course still have no power. I really want to acclimate the monkey so it won’t be so traumatizing to him to leave him there all day, my days are running out and I really need to get back to it.

Thankfully I spoke to my manager and she agreed to let me telework this week. Thank God.

Oh, I drove around Kemah and Seabrook this afternoon. Crazy…crazy stuff. A week and a half later and there are still boats in people’s yard and the debris of trees is truly amazing. I can’t believe how many trees were lost. I can’t imagine what Galveston looks like in person. They still aren’t letting people on the island…perhaps Wednesday.

I am so thankful I have great friends that have taken us in and have fed us and given us a nice cool, comfortable place to stay.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

2008-09-22T21:57:00.003-06:00

After a good nights sleep we settled in. I watched the boys while Jodie and Bryan took the boards off their windows and mowed. Nic met us and we took the boys to McyD’s so the boys could burn off some of their energy. They really played well together all day and I was happy they could occupy each other.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

2008-09-22T21:57:00.001-06:00

Holy hotness. The fam worked outside to cut down the banana palms that had lost a ton of limbs and just straighten up overall. I did laundry and hung it on a line to dry. The house got up to 85 and we were all miserable. I tried to put the monkey down at night and I couldn’t swaddle him because it was too hot and he would scream when I would put him down in the bassinet, in front of a fan. That’s it…I called Jodie and the boy, the monkey and myself were headed her way…she had power. We got to her house about 10 and it looked like we were moving in…I hadn’t unpacked from Dallas so I zipped up the suitcases and loaded them up.

A/C glorious A/C.

Friday, September 19, 2008

2008-09-22T21:56:00.003-06:00

The first night without A/C was bearable. Thankfully the temps were still down and the house got down to 78 at night. We went out to Costco to pick up a generator for the hubby’s work and get a few fixins for din. Let’s just say it didn’t go well with the boy. He had a meltdown at Costco when we were leaving and the hubby and I had had enough. Let’s just say we talked and sorted a few things out…we will see.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

2008-09-22T21:56:00.001-06:00

We left Dallas at 1 pm and made it to Houston by 5. The boys did great! I only had to stop twice for the baby and that was about right. I, however, don’t think I was prepared for what I saw. Of course I saw the wind damage starting at about Conroe and didn’t see much more until I got to our community. Holy smokes…we ended up losing about 50% of our trees and we live in a heavily wooded area. The hubby said it was much worse when he came in on Monday and they had cleaned up most of the mess. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The neighbors were out barbequing which had become a nightly event. Everyone would bring over their food to cook so it wouldn’t go bad. I so love our neighbors. Do you want to know how amazing our neighbors are…well I’ll tell you but first a little insight to my previous experience with neighbors. Growing up there was a time when all the neighbors knew everyone, we even had a block party one forth of July holiday. That was about the peak of socialization, everyone started moving away shortly after. From then on we never really socialized with new neighbors and kept to ourselves. The same rang true when I moved out. The house the hubby and lived in before our current house I couldn’t tell you one of the neighbors name. It all changed when we moved into our current house and on our very special street.

I’ve mentioned before we have flamingo parties every few months but from the get go all of our neighbors have been truly special and always going above and beyond.

One of our neighbors owns a trucking company and offered a refrigerated truck to the hubby in order for him to store their chocolate and they wouldn’t lose their inventory. Another one of our neighbors gave the hubby gas to put in the generator when none was to be found.

Yet another neighbor showed the hubby how to hook the generator to the fuse box to have power for pretty much everything.

AND finally before we even got home a bunch of the neighbors went up and down the street standing up all the trees that had fallen over and specifically propped our fence back up with another two by four.

I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing there are still good people in the world that are always willing to extend a helping hand without even being asked.

PCL has the best peeps ever. Oh…there is a house for sale on our street. If you are lookin you better jump on it cause it would be the best experience ever. Did I mention we have Flamingo parties!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

2008-09-22T21:55:00.004-06:00

I decided to take the kids to a children’s museum….surely Dallas would have one…right? Right? Well the ‘attractions’ listing that the hotel provided claimed to have a children’s museum right by the Museum of Natural Science out at Fair park…ya know…where the Cotton Bowl is…whatever. It was the poorest excuse for a museum or park or whatever the hell it was. There was workers everywhere and they were setting up for something, which I later discovered was the state fair, and it was totally unuser friendly. I finally got fed up, not to mention frustrated and left. Went back to the hotel and took a nap.

Good news came from the hubby he was getting a generator and we could come home. I was so ready. So I packed up and got everything ready to head out by noon on Thursday.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

2008-09-22T21:55:00.003-06:00

The report from the hubby was the office was better than expected but still bad. They are all but shut down. This is huge blow as they are nominally ramping up to their busy season about now. I have ache in my stomach but I ignore it in order to keep a positive outlook on everything. We have our family…that is the important thing. I tell myself that over and over again.

In the evening I meet Mandy and her three kids for dinner, this was supposed to happen on Sunday but was postponed due to the news on the business. Mandy texted me the address to the restaurant we were to eat at and I was like coolio I’ll just put it in my trusty GPS. One drawback people is you need to make sure you update your GPS every year at least. Mine is a couple of years old and newly developed areas do not register on maps that are two years old. So…the address I was attempting to locate did not exist according to my GPS. FUN! What turned out to be a ten minute commute ended up being an hour. (I only found out it was ten minutes on my way home). Isn’t that special…

Needless to say it was great meeting Mandy’s kids and we had good conversation. I need to plan a girl’s trip one weekend to spend some quality one on one time, with zero distractions.

Monday, September 15, 2008

2008-09-22T21:55:00.001-06:00

The hubby left in the wee hours of the morning and the boys and I were left to our own devices. It was a beautiful day as a cool front had moved through the area and it was necessary for us to enjoy the gift. We headed out to the Dallas Zoo. We had a good time. It was a lot of work for me corralling two kids well…one kid and trying to keep the baby happy but we did it and overall we had a good day. The hubby’s parents called me to check on me and I think they fell out of their chairs when I told them I was at the zoo. Oh well…gotta do what cha gotta do and sitting in a hotel room scared to manage things would have been ten times worse.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

2008-09-22T21:54:00.004-06:00

This day we had to come up with a game plan. We had received word from our neighbors that our house was fine, we lost a gutter, the fence had blown over in a couple of places and our trees were sideways but could be righted with some effort and no electricity. Bad news, the hubby’s office had the roof torn off and their offices had standing water and the chocolate needed to be rescued. Thankfully they were on pallets and off the floor. So a game plan was formed and the hubby was headed out first thing Monday morning with his business partner leaving us in Dallas until things became more stable and hopefully electricity was restored.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

2008-09-22T21:54:00.003-06:00

As soon as I woke up Saturday morning I turned on the news to see what had transpired during the night and needed to know about the storm surge. Thank God it didn’t happen as bad as they predicted. I called my Granny and they were fine and no water to be seen. I checked in with the rest of my friends and family and neighbors and all reports were good, minimal damage in the form of trees, fences, a few shingles and one lone trampoline. I could breathe again. Our neighbors did mention that the eye of the storm came right over our community. It was dead calm for 45 minutes before the Northeast wall came through. Crazy stuff and I’m glad we weren’t there for the experience.

We continued to watch the news to see how bad the storm really was. It is amazing being in another city, looking out the window at a beautiful day and seeing such devastation in your city, the city you grew up in, the city you live and work in, the beaches you grew up on…seeing that all go away in less than 24 hours. It is hard to believe.

Friday, September 12, 2008

2008-09-22T21:54:00.001-06:00

We decided to make the best of the situation and do a little site seeing. The hubby had never seen the grassy knoll so we went a ‘ridin’ and saw it all. One thing I found out during this visit was there are x’s on the street near the grassy knoll that signify where JFK was shot. It was very creepy. I’ll post pix when we get them off the camera. We also drove around Deep Ellum. Too bad the hubby and I couldn’t go see a few bands that evening…that would have been amazing.

The remainder of the day we stayed glued to the news hoping against all hope the storm would turn or move or just fade away as I don’t wish this devastation on anyone. Of course the reports were getting worse and worse and for a city that was barely in the “cone of uncertainty” a few day prior the storm was barreling down straight away. The most disturbing thing I heard was meteorologist telling people to get out because the storm surge was going to be over 20 feet and those left behind were to face certain death. That hit home and hit home hard, my grandparents chose not to leave. They suffered during the Rita evacuation and eventually turned around and went home…this was when Rita was a CAT 5 and headed straight for us my friends. They didn’t want the same thing to happen so they chose to stay. I called many times and ask them to reconsider but my Papa would not. My Granny told me they had a sledgehammer, an axe and life jackets in the attic. I just cried and prayed they would be spared.

Present day, September 11, 2008

2008-09-22T21:53:00.000-06:00

We are evacuating from a little ole hurricane known as Ike. The familia and I packed up and headed to Dallas to escape the storms wrath. You may ask if we live on the coast and the answer is no, no where near the coast but we are concerned about losing electricity for an indeterminate amount of time and in order to spare our four year old and three month old that hardship we packed em up and moved out.

We bypassed traffic by heading up 59 then cutting over to 45 around Cleveland…gotta love GPS. It still took us about 6 hours to get there with the three or four stops we made to console the three month old. I was glad to be out of harms way but worried about my family who had decided to stay in a mandatory evacuation area.

We ate at a crappy Italian place and turned in relatively early. We were all spent from the day’s activities.

September 11, 2008 – Seven years ago today…

2008-09-22T21:48:00.000-06:00

…I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from back surgery I had had the day before

…I turned on the TV and watched the two towers fall on live TV

…I walked to the end of the hospital hall and looked out the window and saw my friends and co-workers evacuating

…I never felt so alone

…I decided it was the beginning of an end.

Family Vacation to Dallas Compliments of Ike

2008-09-10T22:37:00.003-06:00

Looks like the family is heading to Dallas tomorrow in anticipation of Ike making his way pretty close to H-town. We live a decent ways inland unless of course it comes up the ship channel like Alicia did then we're screwed. Nevertheless our concern is tornadoes and especially losing power. With the baby being so new it doesn't sound the least bit fun riding out the storm with a three month old and potentially scaring the bejesus out of our four year old. I have a friend that lives in Dallas and we've already made plans to get together and OMG...the hubby hasn't been to the grassy knoll. WHAAAAA?

So...I'm packing us up and as soon as the hubby gets home tomorrow we're out. We gave two GPSs and we're planning on back roading it to Dallas which honestly I think could be fun. I've lived here my entire life and never took the back roads even though I LOVE going through and stopping in small towns so I look at it as and adventure which I believe it will prove to be spending several hours in a car with two kids under the age of five.

I've called a few of our neighbors on our street and they are all staying but I am concerned about my Granny. She lives about five miles from the coast and next door to the house where I grew up in and when Alicia came through it wasn't fun. Tornadoes hitting all around us. When I spoke with her this evening she did say my Dad had came over and boarded up the house and battened down the hatches. I hope and pray they stay safe.

If you pray say one for us in H-town and the surrounding cities that may be affected.

I'll be reporting in from Dallas. Everyone stay safe!

Did not meet Mr. Crabs

2008-09-10T22:31:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend I made the family go crabbing. We live a minute from Lake Houston and the forecast was to be in the high 60's in the morning and I wanted to get out and enjoy it. Plus I had some extra chicken thighs from a "Crackin" recipe and what better way to get rid of them than to catch some crabs.

Well...there doesn't seem to be any crabs that live in Lake Houston or the water was too choppy...or we were too close to the shore or...we just suck at crabbing. We didn't catch a thing...not even the catfish were interested. Maybe they are boob crabs and prefer breast to thighs? Who knows...but the boy and the hubby seem to have good time exploring and climbing on the rocks along the bank of the lake. Evidently the boy got out on a rock that was slimy and took a quick dip in the water. He didn't seem to mind.

Next time we go to Armand Bayou where I know there are crabs a plenty. I can't wait for the boy to get his first crab and as a kid we always had crab races to see which one would make it back in the water first. FUN Stuff. We took pictures, I'll have to post them next week.

WOE - Week 3 Results

2008-09-10T22:17:00.004-06:00

Still "Crack a Lackin"...lackin in weight that is! Down 1.8 lbs and I'm back in the 150's again...snoopy dance. I was in the lower 150's before I got pregnant and I am very happy with three months postpartum and I can already fit back in my prepregnancy clothes AND I have saggy butt syndrome! Bring it baby.

Funny story...when I weighed in the morning the scale read 160, I dropped my son off and came back and had to...um...go to the bathroom. I then undressed and weighed again and you guessed it...I was snoopy dancin naked when I saw I had lost and additional .6.

The end of week three was a bit tough, I had a gynormous craving for sweets and on Sunday since we stayed in all day and I was bored. I pretty much resisted all urges until the afternoon and I felt like I ate and ate and ate until I remembered there was a chocolate truffle stashed on top of the frig from like six months ago. I found it and it was the freakin best truffle I ever tasted and just what I wanted.

I feel guilty now if I deviate from the plan in any manner, which is good because it keeps me on track but goodness if I have a bowl of cereal...with milk I'm all scared I'm going to get caught and immediately gain 10 pounds. Oh the torture we put ourselves through. I then get on the scale and I still managed to loose. I was worried, the chronic weigher than I am, I thought I wasn't going to see any results but low and behold...I eeked by.

I did measure but there wasn't a change in the waist but I did loose an inch in my hips...so that's something.

Week 4 is so far so good. I'm getting this stuff down and even eating a bit more to stay on track while breastfeeding...it's workin for me...now I just need to get exercising in there somewhere. They may not happen until round two of "Crackin".

WOE - Week 2 Results

2008-09-05T16:01:00.002-06:00

Quicky here...didn't want to get to the weekend without posting my WOE results. Lost 1.8 lbs and 1/2 an inch on the waistline. As you can see results slowed down considerably. I'm not worried adding carbs in this week makes since but I still lost and I am continuing to lose and that is what I am working toward. Whooo hooo!!

Yeppers it's going great and I've been more busy lately that I've having a hard time eating all the meals. So I'm thinking I'm going to start prepping food the day before and carry around a cooler packed with everything I need to eat for the day, cept for dinner of course...I never forget that one. I'm even starting this for the boy...instead of grabbing McDonald's for lunch cause we're out in about I'll have my one version of the burger that I made and know what is in it. I'm even trying my hand at apple fries that Burger King came up with to see how those go over. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Actually it's pretty fun shopping these days, it offers a challenge and just try finding things that don't have sugar, aren't sweented with an artifical sweetner and taste good and must be organic that a four year old will eat. Fun stuff.

Have a good weekend! Keep WOEing!

WOE - Week 1 Complete and the results are in…

2008-08-31T20:52:00.001-06:00

Drum roll please…6 lbs!! Snoopy Dance! AND 2 inches off the waist. Snoopy dancing naked!! (Got a little over zealous there). Now I did have a challenge to overcome and that was breastfeeding. I believe my supply dipped a bit so in order to compensate I ate a tad bit bigger portion and ate two extra servings of cheese a day. I can already tell my supply is back up by making those mods. It should be smooth sailing for the duration since I get to eat me some carbs…in moderation of course but I’m so excited about my sugar free Jell-O with reddi whip tonight!! Oh…and I just made the Crispy Lettuce Wraps…YUM-O! Ok…enough with the exclamation points already.

I visited the dermatologist today and she froze a bunch of stuff that I can’t remember the name of but were brought on primarily by pregnancy and those hormones that come along for the ride. I had a spot on my face that looked like a gynormous sun spot and she took care of it. Only downside is that I get to walk around for about a week with an even darker mark on my face; worth it, totally.

I’m on the downside of week two of WOEing it; yeah…I’m a blogging slacker. Things just come up…and I’m choosing sleep over blogging. I know…and I call myself a blogger. Yeah…yeah…yeah. I bet most of you do your blogging at work and I just can’t seem to fit my updates in as frequently as I used to.

Back to downside to week two, initial thoughts not bad at all except I went a little crazy on Friday and had sushi for lunch, come on I haven’t had REAL sushi in ten months. At least it was for lunch and not dinner and I made it work by switching my carb up days from Saturday to Friday and I got my weight back down. Of course I’ve been weighing myself everyday, which I know you are not supposed to do but I had to see the damage I had done. It was very reassuring to me that I can make mid week adjustments if necessary because life happens and still stay on track. Another thing that helps is the hubby is only eating fish for the next few weeks so for dinner…my protein is pretty much always some sort of fish.

Whey Protein Story…I went to buy more vanilla whey protein powder at our local Mr. Nutrition. Two things, one…I could put the little muscle bound dude in my pocket, I think my newborn is only slightly smaller than he was; and two, the idiot knew nothing about protein powder. Well…let me give him some credit, he didn’t know ALL the things he should know about protein powder. He didn’t even know who Jay Robb was…WHAAA? Nor did he have a clue what the brands he did carry were sweetened with. Seriously. We did buy some crap and I hate it but I’m going to push through, I still have the chocolate flavor from Jay Robb that will be what I drink in my shakes and I will put this crap we bought in everything (oatmeal, crepes, pancakes) so I can hurry up and buy JR’s vanilla flavor again. Aftertaste in anything that isn’t a warm walnut and chocolate chip tollhouse cookie SUCKS. Blah! Pushing through.

Can’t close without mentioning hurricane Gustav. It looks like we in Houston will be spared however those to the east of us…not so much. The weather peeps are saying it is going to be nasty and I am hoping against all hope we don’t see a repeat of three years ago. A good friend of mine has family that lives in Houma, keep them in your prayers as well as all the others sticking around for their own reasons. Heaven help us with the media coverage. I think some of the reporters are actually disappointed it isn’t coming our way.

And finally, Labor Day, Why exactly do we have this holiday? Not that I am complaining it is just we were talking about it with the boy and we couldn’t really tell him why we have the day off; to celebrate Labor? I think we are off the hook this year but next year we really need to be better prepared.

Have a great celebration of Labor…Day!

I’m out.

Childrens Museum

2008-08-24T15:09:00.002-06:00

Saturday the family visited the Houston Childrens Museum and who knew all the exceptionally fun stuff they had there. We decided as a family to plan family outings…other than errands for a change. First outing…the HCM and it was lovely. The boy had a blast. We got there as soon as the doors opened so we were able to enjoy about thirty minutes of a thin crowd then it began to fill up and fast. The boy had sensory overload and kept running from one thing to another.

I see a pattern developing with him and I must say I am guilty of it to and have to make a conscious effort to enjoy the present, I’m always looking for what is next and it is hard for me to stop and smell the roses per se. I see this in the boy and I hope I can find guidance to manage that trait because I don’t necessarily think it is healthy and could lead to an unfulfilling life. Like I said I know this about myself and have to make an effort to keep it under control.

Back to the museum…I had the monkey strapped to me in the Bjorn and we bounced around the place trying to keep up with the boy, I’m thinking it will get real interesting when two are going in all different directions. The hubby and I are working on our tag teaming skills so hopefully will have it figured out in a year or so before the monkey learns to walk.

The hubby and I just finished watching “Crank”, it’s one of those overly violent, indulging popcorn films and I like it. Jason Statham is my new favorite actor. You can see him in the new movie “Death Race” and he was also in “Snatch”. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is I like so much about him but he definitely has presence as a leading man in all of the films I’ve seen. Check out “Bank Job”, the hubby and I saw that last weekend, that was a good one to watch and based on a true story.

I think the monkey is FINALLY on a schedule at night. For the past two nights he has only gotten up once and the first shift of sleep is now four hours I’m so not complaining. I hope to be back in my bed by the months end.

Finishing up the first week of WOE tomorrow is my last day of the deplete cycle thank goodness. Starting Tuesday my meals should be more “normal” of sort and I believe I should be back on track with breastfeeding meaning I can tell there has been a slight decrease in production and my energy level so I’m eating a bit more in portion size and drinking a ton, no…literally a ton of water every day to compensate. I have 500 calories at least I have to make up!

I’ve been weighing everyday and I know I shouldn’t…I’m fixin to throw the scale out the f’n window. Regardless of the numbers I can tell I’m shrinking and that so jazzes me. I’ve promised myself to stay off the scale and wait until Tuesday to weigh and measure…wish me luck.

Look at me posting on a Sunday!! Changes…they are a comin…stay tuned.

I’m out.

2008-08-22T15:57:00.001-06:00

Lunch with the ladies today was wonderful. All of us are doing the WOE and it was great to talk about it and compare notes. I also got caught up on the work gossip as always. Nothing too exciting but I always look forward to the company and conversation…it’s getting me through my maternity leave time…love my girls.

I’m a buckethead and forget to check the diaper bag for diapers and low and behold I go to change the monkey who had a dirty diaper and guess what…no diapers…that’s a problem. Thankfully I use cloth diapers for burp rags and I slapped one of those on the monkey’s bottom and off we went. Of course it took him all of two minutes to wet through the diaper but it was a quick fix until I got home.

This weekend I am bound and determined to have a good weekend with the family. Saturday we’re going to go to the Children’s Museum downtown and I just know the boy will have a great time and it will do the family good.

I planned my menu for next week…OMG…if you don’t have an Iphone GET ONE!! There is an application called Shopper and it allows you to create a shopping list of whatever, even has categories and such. I checked the food I needed based on my menu and emailed it to the hubby in case he goes to the grocery store this weekend!! How awesome is that.

Now I’m attempting to plan the weekend so we can be productive and have quality family time. The boy starts his new school on Monday and he is soooo excited.

I get to exercise beginning Tuesday so I need to plan that too. I will have to stick to the elliptical for now cause the ‘girls’ (e.g. boobs) are not ready to run yet, talk about painful. So I’m planning elliptical and core training.

Have a great weekend everyone…look at me…posting two days in a row!

WOE is me!!

2008-08-21T16:10:00.006-06:00

It's finally time to fess up...I've joined the "Crack The Fat Loss Code" [Way of Eating] bandwagon...My plan was to keep it a secret and surprise everyone with seeing less of me by the time I return to work in a month but that lasted all of one hour. LOL I had to tell somebody and honestly it will help to have the support of everyone during those hard days. Plus a few of the girls are two and three weeks ahead of me and they have been losing mad weight and INCHES. The good thing about this program seems to be it pretty much mimics what I’m doing now but gives more insight to how foods work together therefore I am able to tweak my food to work the best for me. Oh and cut out the sugary cereal before bedtime. Prior to starting this program I’ve felt snacks and lunch were the hardest and the after dinner sweet craving. I am hoping the recommendations in the program will provide me with my cravings but in a healthy way.

I took my measurements today which is what I'm more concerned about than the weight. If I weigh 150 but fit into a size six...who cares about the scale.

Here is my recap of the last few days.

Day 1 (Tuesday) – went well. I ate about every two hours and all six meals. It wasn’t too difficult and I didn’t get all that hungry. I looked forward to the next meal AND I even ate cottage cheese. Thanks to my little friends Splenda and Cinnamon. YAY ME!

Day 2 – struggled a bit. I think I am having feeling the decrease in energy the book talked about...waiting for that surge any minute now...waiting...waiting. All during my pregnancy and up until Tuesday I’ve been indulging in carbs galore. I’ve had a dull headache for the past two days. Also, I wanted bread…I went through the pantry looking for what I could find that was low in carbs. Thankfully I looked at all the labels and finally gave up and had cheese instead. I am experiencing hunger in between meals. The book says if that happens you aren’t eating enough but I am eating the portions they recommend so I’m wondering if it has anything to do with breastfeeding. I’ll experiment on day 3. Oh…I’ve limited myself to one Diet Dr. Pepper a day which is no big deal but while I was out running errands I was hungry and I wanted a DDP and oddly enough Target was sold out of the cold ones. Obviously I wasn’t meant to have one…which would have been two and a total of three servings. Staying on track!

Day 3 - getting there. I woke up a bit groggy...mostly from staying up to watch May/Walsh win gold and then I was up every three hours with the monkey. Around 3ish I think I finally felt the 'surge' she talks about. I read the suggested time in between eating is 3-4 hours...ha...ha...not so much but did go three hours today so perhaps I'm evening out. I made the Turkey Taco Salad...YUMO! Actually all the suggested recipes have been tasty. Oh and cottage cheese three days in a row...you don't even know how big that is for me. I didn't weigh just to see what was going on and down 3lbs...holy cow this may just work.

Go Professor/Beijing Beast (Rogers/Dalhausser) who go for GOLD tonight.

YAY to the USA Women's soccer team who won the GOLD against Brazil. We so rock!

Rock on!

DMB

2008-08-19T10:30:00.001-06:00

Friday night Nic and I attended the Dave Mathews Band concert while the hubby watched the boys. This was the hubby’s first time to be alone with the baby for more than 20 minutes and it showed. The monkey was not happy and cried most of the time, I was afraid that would happen. I was anxious to get home and relieve the stress on both of them. When I walked through the door the hubby was in the recliner rocking the monkey and the monkey was out. I have a very supportive hubby and even under the amount of stress he has been under of late he didn’t hesitate to take on watching a 9 week old baby for six hours along with a four year old to boot. Gotta love a man like that.

The concert was great. Nic had great seats…it was hotter than hell but totally worth it. I’ve seen Dave 5 times since my first in 2001 and each experience has been unique. That is why I keep going back time and time again. This year Tim Reynolds made a guest appearance and Dave played two covers, “Burning Down the House” from Talking Heads and “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel. Now I don’t particularly care for either of those songs but when Dave is playing them they are my most favorite song ever. It also amazed me that for not liking either of those songs I knew every word…thanks to the radio playing them over and over and over and over…back in the day before there were Ipods.

Oh and a super secret great way to get in and get out when attending a concert at the pavilion…valet park at Market Street. Shhhh…the best 5 bucks plus tip ever spent. Just make sure you pick your car up before midnight.

Saturday I took the boy to a birthday party, I can only imagine the hubby looked forward to that time alone, even if he was running around the city all day long. After the party all the young boys took a nap and you know what that means…Mama gets to take a nap too! It was heavenly.

Sunday we ran errands in the morning then napped and watched the Olympics and of course witnessed Michael Phelps get his eighth medal. Oh…I caught the women’s marathon and I was sad to hear Dana Castor had to bail shortly after the race started. Horrible luck after all that hard work to get there.

The week for me will be busy with knocking stuff off my to do list. I’m taking a week off from the exercise; I’ll pick it back up with a vengeance next week.

2 week recap AND the Olympics

2008-08-14T16:30:00.001-06:00

Gots a lot to write about and although old news at this point I absolutely have to bring up the media coverage for Tropical storm Edouard and I can capture the experience in one word…LAUGHABLE. I mean seriously…some yahoo in Baytown was standing in his rain slicker, in the gutter and actually reporting on the water running, make sure you are sitting down for this one, TO THE SEWER. Yes, he was standing in the gutter as the water trickled over his wellies. I hope there is some sort of broadcast journalism award he can be nominated for because although it was normal rain runoff making its way to the sewer he was reporting the shit of out of the experience.

The Wayne’s, yeah, we got water and I kept the boy home from school and that’s about it. We did move the patio furniture in the garage to be safe, I blame that on living on the Gulf coast for most of my living years and being used prepping for hurricanes like no ones business. Thankfully it turned and we received some much needed rain. Let’s hope that will be the worst we get this year.

This weekend we had a family outing and attended Maddox’s third birthday. The theme was Scooby Doo and the cake…YUM-O! It was like a mini wedding cake…one of the good ones. The boys did well, including the hubby, after running to Target to get the formula that I forgot to pack that is… The boy played and the monkey stuck with me in the Bjorn, absolutely a must have with this one. It was nice to socialize with adults and see my friends. We stayed a few hours then headed home. So much more work than it used to be. We were wiped out.

This week as been a flurry of business; Monday and Tuesday were chores and errands. Wednesday was the monkey’s two month doctor’s appointment. Yes, it’s been two months, can you believe it…I can’t. The monkey got a rave review, 10lbs 10oz, 22 inches long and healthy. He got four shots and I think it was harder on me than it was on him. Although he did wake up after his nap and he was hurting. He ate a bit and I just held him as he whimpered. I put a cold pack on his little legs and that seems to help a lot. I thought it was going to be a long night but it turned out to be a decent one.

One thing I absolutely have to talk about is something the hubby and I witnessed at lunch yesterday. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes and for those not in the know it is a soup, salad and some various sides and dessert buffet restaurant. The hubby, myself and the monkey were sitting in the corner eating our salads and we preceeded to watched a kid sitting next to us go back for more food at least six to seven times. Now it wasn’t one or two items he would come back with it was six or seven things with his plates runneth over. In your mind you may be picturing an overweight person participating in such an event. NOPE. The man boy looked like he was anorexic, seriously. The hubby and I think he may be on drugs and he might have been his allocated one time a week prior to going on a bender. There is no possible way a normal human being could consume the amount of food he was eating in one sitting without something abnormal going on, made for good conversation though.

This morning the family went to our local Montessori school so the boy could take a look around and we wanted to gauge his reaction to the new school, looks like we have a winner. We sat in on the class for about 45 minutes and the boy participated in a few class activities and did well. He didn’t have to be instructed more than once and he did what he was told once. I would like to think it wasn’t just because we were there. One thing the hubby noticed was there was not a single toy in the classroom. I think this is the program for us and the boy is going to thrive. The hubby and I did talk to the boy’s current school owner and told him of our plans, he was great and solidified he does what he does for the kids and not to make a buck. He gave us a lot of advice and some things to think about before the boy goes to Kindergarten or first grade.

After our visit it was off to meet the girls for lunch. We had yummy bbq. I look forward to meeting with my girls every week. Tomorrow Nic and I are going to see the Dave Matthews Band. Whoo hoo. I’m so looking forward to getting to be me for a night but it will be the first time I will be without the monkey (expect for 15 minutes once when I went to pick the boy up from school). We will have fun and I hope he does well for the hubby. It will be challenging, not going to sugar coat but I hope that all get through it unscathed.

And finally the Olympics. I love me some Olys! I get the pleasure of watching the games during the day and I love every minute of it. Even the badminton, fencing and archery are fun to have in the background as I’m doing chores. It is getting bad though, I had a dream about Michael Phelps last night, he was levitating and I was walking underneath him. Not saying I’m a Phan but the media is gaga over him so I’m thinking the amount of hours I watch the Olys is starting to take their toll. And those Chinese gymnasts…so not 16! Go for 8 MP!

I’ll try not to wait so long next time in between posts I know it makes for a hard read.

I’m out.

Catching Up and a Tropical Storm to boot...

2008-08-01T13:03:00.007-06:00

Wednesday lunch with the girls was great, I didn't want it to end, good conversation. The hubby asked me later that night what we talked about and I had to think about it and it occur ed to me that I did most of the talking. Oh well, lots to catch up on, thankfully I have IM and I still get to stay dialed in.

I didn't waste any time packing up all the maternity clothes on Tuesday afternoon, I was bound and determined to get them out of my house and back to Jodie. Two boxes of maternity clothes and a additional box of the preemie clothes are officially out of the house. The hubby will be so happy.

I borrowed Jodie's jogging stroller and I was so excited about trying it out on Thursday. First of all the Monkey looked like a spot in that thing, he is still so little. Second, he hated it!! I resigned to the fact that he is still too little for the jogger but it was so nice, even heavenly with it's smoothness and being able to shield the sun with the cover stead of burp cloths. Oh well, back to the carrier and snap n go, temporarily.

I am happy to report I've been walking regularly and doing core exercises all week that is everyday except Wednesday and that's because I met the girls for lunch and it takes like five hours to get anywhere with the monkey it tow. I'm feeling really good about it all, this first week anyway. One week closer to getting my body back.

After lunch I stopped by Granny's work to surprise her, she was so happy to see the monkey and loved him up.

Friday I finally received an email from a blast from my past...Mandy. She and I were best friends growing up, she moved to Dallas my Freshman year in high school and we managed to stay friends until I graduated then we grew more distant.

Mandy still lives in Dallas and coincidentally enough she was coming to Houston on Saturday to pick up her kids from the airport. Turns out her hotel was about 15 minutes from my house and we were able to arrange seeing each other for dinner at mi casa. I was excited to see her, a bit nervous, it's been almost ten years since I saw her last and that didn't go too well. Bottom line I hated her husband and she was the shell of the girl I knew. She got here around 6ish and after about ten minutes it was like we were 16 again, it felt like old times. Turns out we still have so much in common, I've decided I'm going to make an effort to keep up correspondence, she's good people and one should always keep good people in their circle.

Sunday I went to Granny's for a scheduled visit. It didn't go too well, the Monkey was fussy and it wasn't a relaxing visit by any means but I was glad Granny and PaPa and that other boy Donald got the see the boys, especially meeting the monkey for the first time.

Now it seems we are prepping for Tropical Storm Edouard. Fun stuff, I'm keeping the boy at home no matter what, that way I know he is safe. Tornadoes are the big concern and I want as much of my family as possible to be at home and safe.

One more note, the Monkey is going to sleep around 8ish...what a glorious feeling. The hubby and I actually get a hour or so for each other. Now we need to figure out what to do with all that time.

Reporting In

2008-07-29T16:09:00.000-06:00

Still here but I’ve been hella busy! The hubby had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago and we got through it. It was challenging holding down the fort but the hubby was a model patient and I was determined to get through the short term development with my sanity in tact. Here to report…done and done. AND I made my first ever Kasha Varnishkas for the hubby…that’s a Jewish staple for those not in the know. Look at this Chicksa go!

The boys are doing fine. The monkey is growing like a weed, filling out and he started smiling regularly in the last couple of days. It is amazing to see his face light up. Bugamug is having a bit of difficulty of late with school and overall authority. We’re not sure if it is the new baby but I think he is spoiled, strong willed and generally a non-conformist; we rocked his world yesterday and we will so how that goes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed we get a good report from school today.

On the workout front I officially started this week. I walk in the morning, this week about 2 miles; I plan on stepping it up every week and eventually getting my run on. I also weight train and mix in core workouts daily. The monkey has been very cooperative, as long as I meet his demand of food between the walk and weights. We’re figuring it out.

I’m headed to Clear Lake tomorrow for lunch with the girls. I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone. I’m kinda getting used to this staying at home routine, I’m able to get ‘to do’s’ marked off my list left and right. Yeah…no chance this stay at home mom temporary situation becomes permanent.

Short and sweet…but that’s about all I can muster lately, the Monkey is already showing signs of boredom, very loud I may add.

iPhone Snob

2008-07-14T23:48:00.005-06:00

I am now the proud owner of a new, old (gently used) iPhone!! The hubby, a loyal everything Apple consumer, purchased a new iPhone this weekend and I was the recipient of this old (gently used) one. This is quite an event because I’m one of those peeps that only requires her phone to make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, access the Internet and have an alarm, that’s it…nothing fancy. UNTIL Apple came out with the new and improved iPhone and I became next in line for the original. I have been inducted into the Apple club and the hubby can now share his wealth of Apple application knowledge in his quest to convert me to the MAC way of thinking. It’s not that I refuse to go to the other side, I’m slowly getting there. I work with PC’s and before the hubby I didn’t know anyone that publicly admitted to owning a MAC, he’s introduced me to a whole way of thinking…in more ways than one.

For now, I have the pleasure of being an iPhone snob, even if it is the iPhone 1.o and when asked how many states are bordered with four states and to name them, I can whip out my fancy schmancy iPhone and have the answer for you with in minutes. Oh…and I can find out where I parked my car.

Veggin Out

2008-07-14T23:47:00.007-06:00

I’ve become ubermom! I’m pureeing veggies to ‘hide’ them in foods so my son will eat them…without his knowledge of course. We bought Jessica Seinfeld’s book “Deceptively Delicious” last year and I told myself and the hubby I was going to do this but I never made the time and made myself think it was an overwhelming task. Well…I bit the bullet today and took a look at the recipes and discovered I could freakin rock this. Most of the ingredients in the recipes I had and I just happened to be going to the grocery store today and I picked up extra veggies for the purees. I was a veggie buying ubermom, I also threw in Tofu for good measure. I strutted around the grocery store with confidence that’s right…look in my cart, veggies and lots of em, don’t adjust your glasses that’s two heads of cauliflower you are looking at, eat your heart out.

My name is Seth and I approve this message…

2008-07-14T23:47:00.005-06:00

The hubby and I were sitting in the living room and the talking about the veggies I was going to puree and the boy piped up and told me I have to put the veggies in green bags. I ask him how he knows about green bags and he told me in a matter of fact tone that you put the veggies in the green bags so they won’t go bad and you don’t throw your money away. The hubby and I shook our heads and I laughed so hard I was in tears. That’s it…you watch way too much TV. For those that aren’t in the know the boy watches Nickelodeon pretty much every Saturday and Sunday morning and they play that commercial I would say about twenty times each day.

New Mom…Again…Not for the faint of heart

2008-07-14T23:46:00.003-06:00

Someone told me having another child was hard and in the back of my mind I’m like how hard could it be, I’ve done this before, I know what to expect, I got this. Well…not so much. IT IS HARD!

There is a reason you forget about the HARD stuff of bringing up children or people wouldn’t do this child rearing thing over and over again. We forget about labor, forget how it feels to go without sleep for weeks or months at a time, forget about the feeling of inadequacy, of feeling totally alone or we remember but think we can overcome all those feelings this time around.

Me, I didn’t have that much labor the first time around but I sure as heck felt it this time and I would still opt for the drugs. (Attagirl for those women who don’t). Luckily my lack of sleep hasn’t gone more than a couple of days and after a month I’m getting acclimated to getting up two to three times a night, luckily the monkey goes back to sleep fairly easy now. The feeling of inadequacy, yes, there are times when I still feel that way, mostly around three or four in the morning when the monkey won’t stop crying and I’ve nursed for 45 minutes and he still wants more and I’m changing diapers left and right and stuff is still coming out of both ends…all at one time. This is when I feel the most alone and frustrated, in the dark in the middle of the night. I have my entire family in the house with me and sometimes I feel more alone than I do when I’m actually alone during the days.

I AM AN IDIOT

I have a super supportive husband I know I can walk downstairs and give the monkey to the hubby and tell him I need a few and he would gladly take over. I have friends that I could call at any hour and they would talk me through it and tell me I’m awesome but I wait it out because in my mind doing so would admitting my inadequacy. Really…would it, no but I do it to myself over and over again. Thankfully the morning comes, I’ve gotten through it and I actually I feel stronger for getting through the ordeal by myself.

Anyone who reads this would think to themselves, or tell me for that matter, that I need to be on meds. Do I? Probably but not for this reason alone. This is part of the new mom stuff is hard and an adjustment to be reckoned with…I’m adjusting and I'm doing ok, pushing through. The hubby reminded me over the weekend this is as hard as it will be and he is right and I think about that repeatedly during those times when I’m feeling overwhelmed, in the dark.

The reason for the most recent rough night was a standoff between myself and the monkey and our sleeping arrangements. Score one for mom…for now, the monkey has successfully moved to the bassinet and is no longer sleeping on my chest. Last night we both were able to get quality sleep and he seems to be on a 2.5 to 3 hour schedule. What a beautiful thing. Right now it is 1:30 in the am and he's been asleep for 3. hours...of course I didn't go to sleep because I thought he would be up soon. Score one for the monkey.

Sunday, I embarked on my first solo journey with the boy and the monkey and headed down to Clear Lake to have dinner at Jodie’s house. So not the same as it was two months ago. Jodie made a fantastic southern home style meal, recipes from her family’s regular Sunday dinners. Chicken and rice, squash casserole, fried okra and baked apples. It was YUM-O. She even sent me home with left overs and I proceeded to eat the crap out of those for lunch on Monday. The meal was wonderful and the company much needed. I’m glad I went but dang…it’s work but we will keep at it and is is bound to get easier. It really helps to get back to a routine and do the things I did without a thought before the baby. I push myself to prove that I can do this and do it well.

The boy has made things more difficult this past week and weekend. I believe he is acting out, needing…check that…requiring more attention because of his brother is my guess. School isn’t going great but I believe there are more factors than him acting out. A new teacher is closing in the afternoon and she doesn’t know how to handle the boy and the boy senses her weakness and he’s all over it…he even made her cry (wuss). Don’t think he is a terror because he’s not, he’s smart, manipulative and he will freakin negotiate with you for anything and he’s wearing her down. Not to mention neither myself or the hubby got a good first impression of her. Very abrasive; good grief I can see why the boy is giving her a hard time, I would too!

Off to wake the boy and get some much needed z's.

Twins

2008-07-08T14:53:00.006-06:00

Seth in 2004
Sage in 2008

This is my 100th post! I should bake a cake in celebration like they do on TV for the 100th episode.

Remembering...

2008-07-08T14:31:00.000-06:00

4th of July

Today was the Monkey’s first 4th of July. I documented his blog with the event and I couldn’t help but think about my past 4th of July and the ones I have fond memories of.

I am not sure of the year but I had to be in 4th or 5th grade because my sister was still a toddler. A friend of my parents (The St. John’s) had family that had a house in Morgan’s Point right across the street from Sylvan Beach, they launch fire works off a barge in the bay. We were so close ash from the firecrackers rained down on us and my sister was so scared she screamed the entire time.

When I was in high school my Dad worked for the City of LaPorte and he we responsible for lighting the fireworks display. It was so cool seeing the fireworks and knowing my Dad was responsible for them. At the same time I was scared to death one would ignite on the barge, I think I spent more time watching those fireworks being lit than exploding in the sky.

Lake Texhoma 2002 – We had five boxes of fireworks and went to light them on the shore of the lake and a crowd of cars gathered on the opposite side of the shore and when a really good firework would go off they would honk their horns and flash their lights. It was quite a scene.

Russia 2003 – Celebrating the 4th in Star City, Russia was quite memorable, not to mention some other things that went on (everything happens for a reason babe). Being on lockdown due to a sucide bomber at a festival outside the city is something you don’t get in the good ole US of A!

This forth we kept it low key primarily due to the Monkey being so new. The hubby did pick up fireworks for the boys and we invited a few of our neighbors along for the ride as well. The boy had a great time and the monkey slept through most of them. The rest of the day we ran a few errands and the hubby and I watched Kung Fu Hussle in Blu Ray. As weird as it sounds…it is acutally a pretty good watch. Mindless.

Saturday Jod and Nic came over for a visit which was much needed. I missed ‘my girls’. We got caught up on everything and they brought the boy birthday gifts, which he loved and Jod sat with the baby the entire three hours they were here…which the monkey slept the entire time and continued to sleep until about 1:30 in the morning. Minor setback.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful…thankfully not much to report.

The upcoming week will be a series of choreographed events, the boy goes the doc on Monday. I’m taking both boys…by myself, it’s a bit more work than it used to be.

On Wednesday I’m heading down to Clear Lake for a going away ‘happy hour’ party. All the babies will be there and adult socializing…YAY.

Thursday I’m planning on taking both boys to Taekwondo. Should be exciting.

Fun stuff huh. LOL…the life of a temp SAHM.

I’m not mentally ready for the Jodieversary challenge yet, officially. I’m working on the eating habits but I REALLY want to exercise and my body is so not there yet. The doc should release me in a few weeks. Plus the hubby is fixin to have surgery on his knee on the 17th and I want to focus on parenting this two kid thingy right now and that mental challenge is all I can handle today. One day at a time.

Looks like I missed the Houston Half, no worries…it on for Austin!

Settling In

2008-07-02T12:55:00.004-06:00

Time flies when you are having fun or have a newborn. Things have been going ok, Friday was my roughest day; I had my two week doc appmt to check on my incision. I was prepared and got to the doctor's office in plenty of time. I was sitting in the waiting room and all these women were commenting on my baby and how tiny he was then the hormones overcame my will power not to cry and I lost it. Not really sure why I couldn’t compose myself but the factors add up to hormones and being a bit overwhelmed as a new mom…again.

Friday was the first day I was on my own, in the outside world with the baby, late nights, early mornings and being on demand came to a head right there in the doctor’s office. The doc asked if I needed any anti depressants, yes one of the few out there that do not currently take AD meds. I stress currently, just kidding…or not. We made it home but the monkey cried the last twenty minutes of the ride home. Good times.

Saturday I felt much better and got my confidence back, so much so in the evening I went for a car ride and took both of the boys while the hubby made an appearance at the flamingo party. We didn’t ‘go’ anywhere just drove, which I love to do to clear my head every now and again. I gave the boy a bath and put him to bed, I needed to prove to myself that I can adjust to this new way of life and I did a damn good job. The monkey is still up a lot during the night and boy it is taking its toll.

Monday I was the model wife and mom. I had the house straightened up, dinner on the table and the young boys and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Then I was pooped. I was happy I started walking but I could tell that my incision still hasn’t healed 100% because I felt it after all the activity from the day.

Tuesday the monkey had his two week checkup and great news. He weighs 6 lbs 9 ouches and has grown to 19 ¼ inches long. He is in the 10-25% for his weight and 50% for his height. Everything else is perfect and other than the heel stick and more tears from me it was a good day. The hubby and I had lunch at Katz’s before the doc appmt. It was nice to get back to normal, even if the new normal is a lil guy accompanying us for awhile.

Last night the monkey and I had a stand off with sleeping arrangements. Since he has been born he has slept on me (count 18 days), just doing what I had to do to get some sleep. Well…Mom has had enough and last night we went to the spare bedroom and we started sleeping in the co-sleeper. It was a bit tough, he wasn’t happy that 1. He was in a swaddle and 2. He was not on mommy. He hadn’t been comfortable on me for the last few days anyway.

So…it is Wednesday and the monkey is napping in the bassinet, trying to get him on a scheduled as fast as possible, I need this in a big way.

Our plans for the fourth…looks like we’re going keep it low key and meet up with the neighbors in the evening for fireworks for the kids. FUN!!

Now for the Jodieversary Challenge.

The challenge officially started yesterday…I was bad but I’m not dwelling on it…moving on to today, I did weigh and I’m following P.O.M.'s lead and posting my starting weight stats and goal. It was inspirational for me to see that info and know my goal is achievable with hard work.

I am not able to exercise yet…so my plan is to get my eating under control until the doc releases me, prolly won’t make this challenge but I gots to start somewhere.

And finally…there is someone special in my life that I can’t say enough about how special he is to me and the boys…my hubby. He has been spending a lot of time with the boy and keeping him occupied while I get the monkey acclimated to his new life with us. He cooks dinner, makes sure the boy is clean and ready for bed, reads stories and stays with him as long as it takes to get the boy to sleep all the while coping with his business and doing all he was doing before…in a nutshell he is no couch potato and I just want to put it on paper (or web) how important he is to me and I couldn’t even think about doing this without him.

Everything is stressful and a bit chaotic right now but I know one day…it will just be.

Holy cow...just read Steve's comment about the Houston Marathon and Half reaching capacity this weekend. CRAZY!! I am still planning on training and perhaps may look to do Austin or one in the vacinity just can't commit to spending the cashiola and not be able to get there. It will work out as it should.

2008-06-23T13:36:00.004-06:00

The monkey is 11 days old. He is growing AND eating like a wild man. Usually during the night he nurses for 45 minutes and still wants more. We purchased a finger feeder with the boy the first time around and finally broke it out last night. I tried using a bottle but the monkey was having a hard time. I think we are slowly getting into a routine. The monkey only got up officially once last night but stayed up for over an hour cause he was hungry.

One problem...He sleeps on me at night, we are transitioning to the bassinet during the day which helps and starting today I am going to keep him in the bassinet at night, I may move to the bedroom upstairs to give hubby a bit of reprieve before he goes back to work on Thursday.

All in all the monkey is doing well, he doesn’t go to the doc until next Tuesday for his two week checkup but I can tell he’s already gained weight. I should hope so…if his eating pattern is any indication...The monkey will be on solids within two weeks at his current rate of consumption.

Here is a pic of ‘My boys’…LOVE THEM!

Back on the ‘working out’ front...I’m starting a challenge among friends next week that will go from July 1st through July 31st. I’ve already lost 17 lbs of the prego weight. I’m going for getting back in running shape and soon, I miss it so. Walking starts in the AM tomorrow, I think it will be good for me and the monkey.

I am toying with the idea of running the Houston half in January but I’m not signing up until October, if I can’t get in…I’ll figure it out but I do want to start training in September, if not sooner!!

Also, since the pregnancies are over I’m challenging myself to really get serious about my body and change the look of it with hard work. I’ve never really committed to doing this fully, half-ass yes but not fully. This blog is no longer a ‘mommy blog’; I have a blog for each of my sons for that. That’s not to say I won’t mention the boys here but I’m not going to document day in and day out the poop, sleeping patterns and boob stories here. Well…perhaps the poop and boob stories cause they sometimes make for interesting reading.

Watched the Olympic Trails this weekend, I get jazzed for the Olympics. I was home for the 2004 Olympics with the boy. The trials was a good introduction to those that will be in Bejing representing the US. I was watching the diving trials and the boy was captivated. I enjoyed watching him more take it all in for the first time more than I did watching the actual event.

Wimbeldon started...Whooo hoo!! That is another Summer staple for me that dates back to my childhood. Something I would share with my Dad, it got me through the Summer in Russia and it will get me through this Summer as well.

Speed Racer...literally

2008-06-18T16:24:00.005-06:00

Here comes speed racer…speed racer…here comes speed racer. Yes that is the song that served as background noise while I was being driven the hospital (45 minutes away) at 110 mph while during with contractions 2 minutes apart and my four year old in the backseat watching ‘Speed Racer’ and telling mommy everything was going to be ok.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Wednesday, June 11th, 2oo8

My plan for today was to begin wrapping up the odds and ends prior to taking Friday off and beginning my maternity leave on Monday. I went in to work early to stay out of the way of our housekeeper and I planned on finishing up Father’s Day prep and knocking some things off my to do list in the afternoon. I am having contractions but since they are irregular I figure they are Braxton hicks. I didn’t have these with the boy but I did some research on the internet and I felt sure those were they. Plus I was going to see the doc Thursday and she would clue me in as to what I was feeling. Thursday’s doc appmt would never come.

During lunch the girls had a diaper shower for me. It was just what the family needed. There wasn’t much we still need because we kept everything from the boy…I mean everything, nauseatingly so. What we didn’t have were diapers…wha la…we gots diapers. There was a ton of food. Kim made her heath cake and Kim J made peach cobbler from peaches she picked in an orchard we found out was nearby. It was a very nice surprise and each and every diaper will be put to good use covering my son’s hiney hoo.

As the night went on I kept having contractions but again they were not regular. While I was sleeping (yeah right) they started coming more frequently but still not with any sort of pattern. Until…4:15 ish, 20 minutes apart and at 4:30 the mother load hit. We were hoping to make it until 6, when the boy’s school opened but his brother had other ideas. After the whopper at 4:30 they started coming fast and furious. Thankfully all of our stuff was pretty much together and the hubby got the boy up and dressed and off to the hospital we raced…literally.

Not even halfway to the hospital the contractions began coming two minutes apart. HELLO…THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN. Do you know what I do for a living…I plan. Thankfully big brother was occupied by ‘Speed Racer’ and the hubby was focused on NOT delivering this baby in the car and I was doing anything and everything I possibly could to get through the pain.

We finally arrived at the hospital and a barrage of nurses swarmed in to get me in the OR for my C-section ASAP. Could they ask any more questions? In labor over here…Actually the nurses were stellar and things were happening so fast. The hubby and I called the doc on the way to the hospital because we both knew there wouldn’t be much time. My doc is out of town so Dr. Westmoreland, one of her partners took over.

When I got settled and they discovered I was more than 7 cm dilated. I did hear they bumped someone out of the OR for me since I was to have a C-section and the monkey wasn’t waiting. They gave me meds to slow the contractions. THANK GOD. Holy cow, those are not fun. I have the up most respect for woman that go through the birthing experience without drugs but I am not one of them. I am sure if I wasn’t having surgery it would have been to late for drugs.

The anesthesiologist asked if I wanted a spinal or to be put out all together and thankfully I knew what to expect and opted for the spinal. That anesthesiologist is now my best friend in the entire world. All was right in the world about two minutes after he gave me the meds.

I was sad the hubby couldn’t be in the OR with me (he was on boy duty). We did call Jodie to come get the boy and take him to school. Jod and Nic are my BFF…and I knew they would come through for me. But they were woken up and with traffic they were easily two hours away. So hubby sat with the boy. A nurse did grab hubby shortly after the monkey was born and brought Dad in so he could see the baby. It was a far different experience then the first time with the boy. I was aware, looking around and listening to the doc’s talk and intently listening for that first sign of the baby entering into this world with a cry. “I see an ear” the doc said and shortly after I heard the cry. Then my beautiful son appeared over the curtain for a quick peep.

Sage Logan Wayne made his appearance at 7:13 am June 12, 2008, weighing in at 5lbs 11ounces, 18 ¾ inches. 20 days before his official due date and 6 days before scheduled surgery.

The monkey is very healthy and handsome. Hubby got to bring the monkey into the recovery room where the boy got to meet his little brother for the first time. I wish I could have seen the look on this face. The hubby said he had a look of awe on his face.

Jod and Nic made it to the hospital while I was in recovery and took the boy to school. They were a blessing and took an entire day off work to help us out and visit with me. THE BESTEST FRIENDS EVER. Oh…I called my boss and told her I wouldn’t be at work, LOL…she about fell out of her chair that I was calling. When Jod and Nic came back to the hospital they were baring gifts, preemie clothes and diapers, LOL…we so needed those; didn’t plan on the monkey being that small.

The hubby called his mom, who lives in California, to let him know her grandson couldn’t wait until next week and if should could come in sooner. She was able to get on a plane that day and be in Houston by 11:00 Pm. So the hubby picked the boy up from school and took him to dinner to spend some time with him so he wouldn’t feel lost in the shuffle. I stayed at the hospital by myself the first night but didn’t have any problems and everything went smoothly.

The hubby and Mema stopped by Friday morning after dropping the boy off at school. The monkey and I survived the night and thankfully the nurses left us alone. No coming in every 3 hours to take vitals, we actually got to sleep. Very NICE!

Dr. Richter, the other partner came in and mentioned I could prolly go home on Saturday instead of Sunday since I was a model patient and had no issues. YAY…that would be awesome.

The monkey and I hung out, watched a lot of crappy daytime TV and took naps. The hubby came back after the boy was taken care of and settled in with me and the monkey for the night.

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Death by Mayo

Saturday Dr. W stopped by early and said I could go home that afternoon. The hubby was still sleeping on the couch and didn’t even stir when the doc came in. She let us know she was prepping for the circumcision and would be back in ten minutes. Hubby wanted to be there so I attempted to wake him to let him know to get dressed. “Babe…Babe…SCOTT…BABE...” This went on for what seemed like five minutes and the man was not moving. I looked around to see what I had to hurl his way to get his attention and all I could find that ‘wouldn’t leave a mark’ was a package of mayonnaise. I should mention the hubby absolutely HATES mayonnaise anything that has or may resemble mayo. So…I launch the package of mayo and it hits the mark, on his chest. He immediately wakes up and is like what the heck and digs out the package of mayo impaled on his chest and looks at me in horror. I then find out the reason he couldn’t hear me, he had gotten up earlier that morning and put his earphones on. We laughed and I laughed so hard it hurt…which wasn’t hard to do since I had been cut open 48 hours before.

The hubby left again to get the family together to trek back up to the hospital and get me and the monkey to go home.

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The Elevator Disaster

We finally were able to leave the hospital, with me and the monkey in the wheel chair, the hubby filming, the boy directing and Mema bringing up the rear. We get to the elevators and the boy slides in just as the doors were closing WITHOUT US! The nurse makes a half ass attempt to stop the door from closing and fails miserably. At this point I loose it!! My four year old son is in an elevator by himself and I just picture him getting off on one of the 6 floors in the hospital because the doors open. The hubby takes off downstairs to the first floor to intercept him and we’re waiting on the second floor just in case he comes back to us all the while pushing buttons hoping. We actually hear him at one point going up, past our floor crying. I’m tearing up just typing it all out. Finally, the boy shows up on the first floor with a man standing at the back of the elevator pissing his pants knowing what to do with this crying child. Dad was there to rescue him and they make it back upstairs and I try to gather my composure.

We get into the two cars and caravan home. The monkey did great on the way home, slept all the way. It was great to be home and start our routines.

The first night home was a bit challenging. The monkey ended up sleeping on my chest so we could all get a bit of sleep, instead of 15-20 minute increments. It’s working so far but I may be experimenting with some other methods, like perhaps the car seat in the bassinet. He doesn’t like his hands to be down at his side so I will be doing some creative swaddling.

The days since have been one of getting to know each other. Hubby and Mema have been a HUGE help, running errands and taking care of big brother which takes a lot off my mind.

So…that’s our story. Plan…plan and deviate from the plan…in a big way. I should have expected as much. The boy didn’t go with the plan either. That’s ok. All my boys are with me and I love it.

I just want to thank everyone for the love and support during this life changing endeavor. Especially Jodie, Nicole, Tim and Karen and Mema. We couldn't have done this without you!

Cold Stone VS. Marble Slab

2008-06-11T10:59:00.001-06:00

During this pregnancy I can’t recall too many cravings, except for sweets. I would also say that I didn’t hit my ‘ice cream’ craving stride until about 7.5 months in. Then...everything changed. To keep it short, let’s just say I even stooped to programming my GPS for to find the closet ice cream vender after a doctor’s appointment and who knew 2.2 miles away a little piece of heaven was there waiting for me with open arms.

Now, I purposesly didn’t mention which ice cream vendor because I didn’t want to ruin the outcome of the experiement in the first paragraph.

In the beginning…the earth cooled and the dinosaurs roamed…I digress. Fast forward a few eras…my ice cream devotion as always been to Marble Slab. Why you ask, and even if you didn’t, they had what I liked and it tasted the same no matter what Marble Slab I vistited. Sweet cream with Strawberries. I know…I know…the craziest concoction you’ve ever heard of. That’s just what I do, in the wise words of my four year son. I’m the fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl…conforminty be damned. Now back to the ice cream.

When visiting a Marble Slab my order is as follows: ALWAYS…sweet cream with strawberries and sometimes, when I’m feeling really crazy I may ask for reduced fat sweet cream and always in a cone.

Here is where Cold Stone enters the picture. Near my home there is a Coldstone and every now and again the fam would take in dessert at said Cold Stone. I attempted to recreate my creative concoction by asking for sweet cream with strawberries and every time I was disappointed plus I absolutely hated their cones, I tended to find them a little obnoxious with the big ol sweeping top plus..their strawberries are so NOT THE SAME as Marble Slab’s, they needed to soak a little and get good and ripe. I was so bent about the cones I started asking for cups. What was the point? If you can’t already surmise I am very picky about food, combining food, food touching, yes, ice cream is thrown into that category as well. I tried to convince myself I would learn to love it and I failed miserably.

One day I was feeling cheeky and I talked myself up, went to the counter, did a quick scan of the available flavors and knew this time was going to be different. I placed my order…are you ready for this…STRAWBERRY ice cream with now settle down…I know you can’t even begin to fathom what is coming next…with…STRAWBERRIES! Wait…I’m not done yet. IN A CHOCOLATE CONE! ROCK ON! I gently reached across the counter and politely picked the servers chin off the cold surface before it got stuck. They were so impressed with the creativity of my selection they asked if they could name the selection after me. If you go into your nearest Coldstone and see something called The Red Daisy speak of me…and speak of me highly.

That day…I hit paydirt and Coldstone and I became pals, friends even.

Let’s summarize before we move one. In the category of ice cream, Marble Slab is still my first choice.

Now to the cones and the ever important portability of ice cream and the ease of eating while driving. I mentioned earlier I prefer my ice cream in a cone from Marble Slab and in a cup from Coldstone, that is until I discovered the yumminess of chocolate dipped cones. To begin I communte a little under an hour each way to and from work and there just happens to be a Coldstone on my way home and I have frequented there a time or two or twenty and a few times went out of my way to find a Marble Slab. During one experience at MS the ice cream rocked but for whatever reason…say the fact that it was hotter than the face of the sun that day or 150% humidity (which I know is not possible but if it was…that day it was 150%) BUT it started melting before I even left the shop and the bottom of the cone sprung a leak. Needless to say it was a bit cumbersome to eat, and drive and I was not able to enjoy the experience which is key. By the time I got home my steering wheel had a smattering of stickiness all over it and I had to change my shirt to get rid of the remnients that had deposited themselves on my shirt.

Quick recap…In the Coldstone corner…Big o opening and a handy little cup to cover the bottom to keep all the ‘drippings’ in. Now that’s eating ice cream on the go efficiently. More of the ice cream in my mouth and less on the steering wheel, protruding belly, lap, seat belt, window, floor board. I think the picture is pretty clear.

In the MS corner…rockin ice cream but the cone design is lacking.

An the winner is…and it’s a shocker…Coldstone. Duhn…duhn…duhn. EEEEKKKK

I know I’m shocked as well…but the facts don’t lie. Right now…I eat ice cream more in the car than I do sitting in a shop and by that fact alone I would rather have it all in my mouth then all over the front seat of my car. If they were right next to each other I would prolly have to go with MS.

So…really everyone is a winner.

8 Days and Counting

2008-06-09T13:16:00.005-06:00

I love the half days, did I mention that? I’m getting so much done and with most of my work stuff handed over my days are not too pressing, I come in, get some stuff done then it’s time to leave to be productive at home and get a bit of rest, which I’m not getting much of lately, not for more than a few hours anyway. As of next week...welll...someone elese will be making sure I don’t get more than a few hours of sleep at a time. No worries…it will be what it is. And I will have another man in my life to love!!

This weekend was another productive weekend. I HAVE A DINING room. Now that I think about it...I thought we purchased one with the house and I thought we had even bought a new table and décor a couple of years ago but it seems it went missing…for awhile. Lo and behold…we found it this weekend. We took it back from the mess and clutter and what nots and proceeded to spread the mess and clutter and what nots around. I don't know about you but I consider that progress. A couple of eBay auctions, a trip to Goodwill and the mess and clutter and the what nots will be someone elses problem. I am so happy we found the missing dining room, even though it is a room that I have never once eaten in or a table that I have never once sat at but by god we have a dining room.

It would also seem the hubby and I have finally decided on a play yard for the boy’s birthday. We found one that we think would be perfect and about 500 bones cheaper. BONUS. We are just waiting on agreement on the final config (by each other) and measurements to be sure it fits.

Yet another resolution, the popping sound from our A/C; SOLVED. It scares the bejesus out of me every morning around 2a or so. The hubby scheduled the A/C peeps to come take a look-see and when the hubby told the ever so customer friendly, educated person on the other end of the phone what our problem was the person asked if we changed the filters. The hubby let the person know we had, without fail, changed the filters, even recently and the noise was still there. The A/C person replies “I reckon I don’t know what the problem is then, normally the filter is your issue in a situation like that.” The hubby then had to turn to me for a translation as he doesn’t speak ‘redneck’ as fluently as he remembered ; whereas I responded…the filter done did broke and he there don’t know how to fix it otherwise.

With that bevy of knowledge we decided to do some ‘troubleshooting’ with the filter. Basically we took it out. PROBLEM SOLVED. For whatever reason that vent does not like the filter we use, either it is too loose or heck…I don’t know. All I know is last night…at 2am and 3am and 4am…no freaking popping noise, just the melodic sound of the hubby snoring.

The boy and I spent a lot of time together this weekend, mostly at the pool. We laughed and played, of course the playing was not enough by the boy’s standards. I’ve read a couple of places that when a child turns four something magical happens and the tantrums stop, the whining stops and they begin maturing into normal human beings. I think we may be there. The last month and a half has been great, quite enjoyable. For instance we went to dinner, AT a RESTAURANT Saturday night and we had a nice family experience. The hubby and I had a conversation or two and the boy chimed in every once awhile with his two cents. No one was being threatened, or being nagged to GET DOWN OFF THAT TABLE and I MEAN NOW. It was all quite enjoyable. The best part…Cold Stone for desert. Eight days from now, the dynamic all changes. Are we a glutton for punishment? I like to think of it as a growing opportunity as a result of the challenging time that is ahead for all of us.

BTW, I will be blogging about my extensive research on the difference between Cold Stone and Marble Slab I personally conducted during this pregnancy. Stay tuned.
Now I’m off to home to gain paper shredding experience so I will be able to add it to my resume.

OH! Jod brought me my running shoes from our gym locker, I haven't seen them in over 9 months and I believe I teared up a bit right after I hugged them. Glad to see a couple of old friends again. I'll be seein ya real soon!

Week 36 Doc Update

2008-06-05T12:21:00.002-06:00

Lookin good…189 and holding. The monkey looks absolutely fabulous, 1cm and a fingertip dialated.

The doc started the ultrasound low to measure the head in order to determine approx how much the monkey weighs. The hubby remarked…he’s that low and before he could get low out of his mouth I’m like “YES”! All I can say…is thank goodness for alternative methods for birthing because seeing that big o head just made my va jay jay go…WHA.

So to the good part, he is still a boy, got a pic to prove it and he is measuring curently ~6.7 lbs and she expects him to grow to 7.5 to 8 lbs, no worries…the boy was 7.7 so I guess I can give Jo her premie clothes back. The doc said he looked beautiful. We weren’t able to see his face because it was buried in my uterus (and because he is my son I will absolutely not make a comment regarding men and their facination with that area).

I did get authorization to work ½ days up until I go on leave. (I’m trying to get through to my disability provider as I type…good grief I HATE electronic messaging crapiola, I just want a person! I real person, not the pissy “I don’t understand your request” seriously…

Whatever…it’s done!

Breathe in…breathe out. Cleansing breaths. I’m good now.

This morning I officially started my ½ days, 10 – 2. It is glorious. I got to sleep in an extra hour or so, took the boy to school, signed up the monkey for his spot in the infant room, dumped our paper into a community recycling bin, got ready for work, started cleaning my closet, made myself breakfast and got to work on time. Holy cow…I am soooo freaking productive. Now I just need to figure out how to do that after I come back from leave. Yeah…don’t see it happening.

Off to continue my productive day. PEAS out!

2008-06-02T16:02:00.001-06:00

This weekend was pretty good, low key but still productive, as the theme of the last few weekends have been. Saturday we ran a couple of errands in the morning after Taekwondo then cried mercy about midway through. It was FREAKIN hot. I grew up in Houston and I don’t care you still never become ‘acclimated’ or accepting of the heat and being 8.5 months pregnant just adds insult to injury. While in the midst of our trapcing we went to a Kid’s structure store to look at a playyard (swing set back in my day) for the boy’s birthday. We didn’t tell him where we were going and when we pulled up he exclaimed “We’re going HERE!” The hubby and I had to laugh. He was in hog heaven trying out all the different playyards. We’re still deciding and measureing to make sure it will fit. We will see.

My prize for the trapcing around in the ‘hotter than the face of the sun’ heat…a nap in my incredibly dark and cool bedroom before heading south to a friends house for the evening. I never understood the joy of naps until a few years ago. I process improvement at my job will be naps.

Saturday night the hubby had a boy’s night. I was really glad he could do this now…in a couple of weeks his ‘boys’ night’ will take on a entirely different meaning and the alcohol will be his coping method due to the loss of his sanity.

The boy and I meanwhile headed to Mel’s to celebrate her new job. She will be working with me…YAY!! She will do great! (You have a lot to live to Mel)! The boy had fun playing with the other boys and he was great. Very well mannered and used his listening ears. Good grief, especially in situations like Saturday night when he is the oldest by more than a year I see how grown up my boy is becoming.

Sunday the family went to the pool in the morning, I think we will make this a weekend ritual. It is so quiet and relaxing, for now. They boy and the hubby had a blast. It was nice to sit back and watch them and smile. They are such boys!!

The hubby and I watched “National Treasure” while the boy napped. I had never seen the movie but I always heard it was surprisingly good. It did not disappoint. Other than Nicolas Cage’s ridiculous toupee or wig, implants or squirrel on top of his head that was totally distracting it was a good movie. The hubby, true to form fell asleep, that’s just what he does.

After the boy napped we knocked out a couple of to do’s. My office/guest room in ready for the MIL and I set up the pack n play downstairs, we didn’t use it much with the boy but I’m thinking it will get more use now because we live in a two story. We will see, we have it…and I’m sure if it didn’t get set up and stored in the garage I will want/need it on day 5.

Not much else to report and not that any of that was exciting. We did finally finish Grey’s Anatomy last night, sad to see it go. Since most of the shows have ended this season that will force us to go back and catch up on 24 and Lost.

I hope everyone has a great week, I have my doc appmt tomorrow and we are getting an ultrasound. I can’t wait. I won’t have updates until Wednesday.

Stay cool...

Week 35 Doc Update

2008-05-28T08:52:00.000-06:00

Another afternoon appointment…wasn’t happy about it but I treated myself to an ice cream afterwards…and it was totally worth it. Reporting everything is good. I gained a pound, which I’m supposed to be doing, I’m up to 189. Heartbeat was excellent and strong and I’m one fingertip dilated. The doc seemed surprised I was already dilating did the same last time and ended up with a C-section last time, she murmered to herself…”I’m not quick to section, do you remember why?” I thought to myself…um…aren’t you the doctor? Then I mentioned that I thought the cord was wrapped or something like that because every time I had a contraction the boy’s heartbeat would dip. Oh and I WAS THE ONE IN LABOR…like I know.

She looked back and after almost four years I found out the REAL story, I wouldn’t/couldn’t progress and the most likely culprit was my pelvis is too small and he was too big…evidently 7.7 pounds is too big for my pelvis. Ok.

I’ve been cramping the last couple of days and she told me to drink more water that I was prolly dehydrated from the weekend and it turns out she was right. I feel much better today in that regard. I so wanted to ask her to let me go on half day work days but I felt like a pansy. There are women out there that are truly having a rough go at this and I’m just being selfish so I talked myself out of it. We will see which voice wins next time.

I have my final ultrasound next week. I’m excited; it means I get to see the monkey one last time before I actually see him. I don’t recall them doing this last time but it may be new or something to do with my age…everything seems to do with age nowadays.

Last night I slept pretty good for about four hours, after I put my earplugs in then I woke up starting at 4a what seemed like every ten minutes looking at the clock thinking I wouldn’t hear it and oversleep. Normally it wouldn’t matter but I have to work like 26 hours every day this week to make up for the holiday plus get in my forty. It is a tall older especially since I’m FREAKIN TIRED and I don’t have much work on my plate so basically I sit and try to look busy and watch the minutes pass. I hate being bored.

Ok…done bitchin for now. Cruise on over to they boy’s blog. Oh man…he was a trip last night.

Everybody’s Free to Wear Suncreen

2008-05-27T09:10:00.000-06:00

The boy and I made the first of many pilgrimages this summer to the neighborhood pool this past weekend. We went early and it was a beautiful day. There were only two other families there and it was nice and peaceful, because the boy is able to go off on his own with the help of my watchful eye I had a lot of time to reflect on ‘the boy’. I sat on the the edge of the pool and watched my boy and his lean body play on the slide, squirt water at some unsuspecting passerby and pretty much splash around in the water without a care in the world talking to himself. So young and innocent and mine.

A bit later we went in the ‘big pool’ and I had to hold him because he doesn’t know yet how to swim (which we are rectifying in July). He clutched on to me for dear life and I had to practically pry him off of me. I was trying to get him to lie on his back and float but he would have none of that. He kept telling me “don’t let go mommy.” And I would reply “I’ll never let you go son.” Of course me being the hormonal, emotional train wreck I am these days I almost broke down right then and there.

There is something so powerful in those words for whatever reason my thoughts turned to the sadness in that statement…that yes son…one day I will have to let you go and you will have to make your way in this big bad world of ours and I only hope and pray your dad and I have given you the tools you need to be happy and successful in life. Then he splashed me in the face and the impending tears turned to exchanges of laughter and joy that I placed in that proverbial bottle with the memories I want to last forever.

Here is something to for all to reflect on…a blast from the past... Will post Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) later tonight.

Memorial Weekend 2008

2008-05-27T09:09:00.001-06:00

It is officially non-official start of summer. Friday I got a jump on my ‘chores’, that was nice and made a big difference on getting things done during the weekend. Saturday we went to Sam’s and the boy and I had an ok nap. He was figity and didn’t sleep long. I was soooo tired. Also, we have started having this popping noise from our a/c vent over the week and it is freakin loud. It has woken the hubby and I both out of a dead sleep. Well…I wouldn’t consider any sleeping I do of the dead kind. Perhaps a mild coma. Ya know…the kind where you can still hear everything but your eyes are shut. Yep…that’s me.

So anyway…Saturday the hubby grilled some BIG OL STEAKS and corn on the cob. We did our part to contribute to the statistic that Memorial Day is the biggest MEAT eating weekend in the U.S.

Sunday the hubby pressure washed the driveway and back patio while the boy and I went to the pool. We went early and it was nice. Hardly anyone there and the water wasn’t too cool. Needless to say we both spent a bit too much time out in the sun. Poor bug got a sunburn and Mom and one to match. After the pool we headed home for lunch and the boy was so tired he practically went upstairs to take a nap by himself.

The hubby and I watched “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead”. It was ok, I fell asleep. This one didn’t hold my attention. It was one of those where it told and retold the story from each character’s point of view. Normally I wouldn’t mind but I think I just didn’t have the capacity for a long drawn out movie. I like Philip Seymour Hoffman, but with clothes on. Marisa Tomei, I gotta give the girl credit…she looks good for her age, even without clothes which she was missing most of the movie. Ethan Hawke, he was just a pansy and I didn’t have the patience for him. Those are pretty much your highlights.

We went to visit Granny and Papa Boley Sunday night for dinner. It is always an adventure…especially when the hubby joins us; which he can only muster about twice a year. After some visiting I take the hubby and the boy with me to get dinner mostly to give hubby a break and we make our way to KFC, which I later discover no one likes but for whatever reason we ALWAYS go there when I visit. Nice. We place our $30 order at KFC, get to the window and wait about 5 minutes then the guy comes to the window and proceeds to explain the following:

KFC guy: “we have no wing, no breast and no tie”.

Me: “Excuse me, can you repeat that?”

KFC guy: “we have no wing, no breast and no tie”.

Me: “You have no what? Tie?”

KFC guy: “TIE” (because yelling at me is going to make me understand your broken English).

Me: “Oh…you mean Thigh. Um…ok…what do you have?”

KFC guy closes the window and talks to someone in the back for probably two additional minutes. Comes back to the window. “Nothing else”

Me: “You have nothing else? Do you know you are a KFC and you sell chicken?” (He just looks at me and tells me it will be 15 minutes)

Yeah…we’re about frustrated at this time. If they would have put the freakin chicken in when we ordered it and the time they took to explain and for me to understand they didn’t have any ‘tie’s’ the damn chicken would have been done. Good grief…I proceed to tell them to cancel the order and we go to Kroger and get better and cheaper fried chicken, no wings but we got plenty of tie’s. I mean seriously…this town that I grew up in is po dunk!

We make our way back home to eat our chicken and help Granny and Papa with their computer…they are almost 80…how awesome is that. No, they don’t know much but at least they are trying. The hubby is also greatful he won’t have to do this again until December. It will take him that long to recoup and be prepared for this years’ upcoming RenFest pix.

Monday was low key. Since we pretty much wore the boy out on Sunday we stayed around the house and watched movies most of the day and rested up for the week ahead. We finished the monkey’s room. Yes…I have pix!!

Everyone Poops...

2008-05-21T13:26:00.002-06:00

I walk in the bathroom at work and I am just about overwhelmed by the toxic cloud lingering in the smallish area. Hey people that is what the downstairs bathroom is for…much larger space to disperse toxic clouds. I stuck my head in the anteroom and went in for a quick number 1 when the thought occurred to me if someone walks in they are going to thing I am the one responsible for the stank. Oh the horra…and just as I’m finishing up low and behold someone else walks in. That’s just great. I’m washing my heads and I hear the room spray being used AND see her spraying it in the stall I was just in. NOW it is confirmed she thinks I did it…not that she knows who I am. One of my fears was just realized. Not to mention someone came in right after that and she did see me.

Now I’m not so naïve as to think that no one poops…everyone poops…there was even a book written about it. But I am a responsible ‘pooper’ and I 1. go downstairs to the larger bathroom, away from everyone and 2. courteousy flush as to keep the smell from forming a toxic cloud over the bathroom stall. That’s just the kind of considerate girl I am and I am coming to believe I expect way too much from others in the expectation they be just as considerate. Oh well…yet another label I must deal with.

I just found out it was my friend that ‘sprayed me’ and she did think it was me stanking up the place. SEE…I didn’t perceive the situation incorrectly because I would have done the same thing. I’m carrying a sign in next time with the saying ‘it wasn’t me’.

Oh man…I’m still laughing.

Week 34 Doctor Update

2008-05-21T13:26:00.001-06:00

So I drove 1 hour and 10 minutes to the doctor to spend all of 10 minutes actually in the doctor’s office then drove 45 minutes back to my house. Yeah…she is that good and well worth the drive I’m just pissed that I can’t get morning appointments for the duration so I’m going to bitch about it a little bit more.

No, the nurses did not morph into scary crotchety old women after noon and the doc, well she was still her ‘lovely’ self.

The weight, whooo hooo…I only gained 1 pound in three weeks, up to 188. The boy is measuring well and heartbeat was 161. I verified that was a good heartbeat and not too fast and the doctor said it sounded very healthy and the fact that it is able to fluctuate is a good sign of a healthy boy. YAY!

What’s on tap for the next three weeks? Next Tuesday I have my group B strep screening, even though I’m not planning delivering via the vi ja ja it is a ‘just in case’ I go into labor early. On the 3rd I have an ultrasound to check everything out and see how much the monkey weighs, the 10th I don’t remember what she said but I think it is just a prenatal visit but I did remember it was going to be with one of her partners since she will be out of town. The 17th I will get my orders to report to the hospital for blood work and on the 18th…we get to meet the new man in my life. So…I guess I’m really doing this. Ok…yeah…starting to get a little freaked out.

Oh…and the chocolate empire…BIG…BIG…BIG…BIG, bigger than big. I’m so proud of the hubby.

Week 34 (28 days to go)

2008-05-20T12:15:00.000-06:00

I have a doctor’s appmt this afternoon. It totally freaks me out that I have to go in the afternoon. I’ve NEVER in the six years I’ve been going to my OB never gone for an appmt in the afternoon. I don’t know why it matters…but I think in the back of my mind everything changes after noon. The lights dim and the cranky and tired nurses and doctors come out. EEEEEEKkk…Don’t they know it is me…and I SHOULD GET SPECIAL TREATMENT. Actually I caught myself trying to justify why I needed my appmt in the morning, like they even care. Just make the freakin appmt lady. I reckon I’m fixin to start my weekly visits and I’m settling in for afternoon appmts for the duration. Oh well…three more visits…three more visits.

That’s all I got for today. Stay tuned…I’ll report on the doc visit tomorrow, y’all come back now…ya here!

Girl's Day and Making up for lost time

2008-05-20T12:14:00.000-06:00

This weekend was again another productive weekend and not just with chores.

I had the day off on Saturday and it was wonderful. I headed out to Clear Lake in the AM leaving the hubby and the boy to their own devices. We rounded up the troops and went to a co-workers house warming. I was very proud of the 3 Daises for making an effort. This is a huge rung to climb on the social ladder. I would like to think a lot of peeps were pleasantly surprised we all took the time to ‘bless them’ with our presence. Seriously…

More than the social conquest was THE FOOD!! I have never in my life eaten at someone else’s house and felt like my family cooked all the food. It is hard to explain but for me you go to a cookout and there is always that one or two foods that someone prepares that you don’t care for or perhaps the food is cooked with or without some jack upped spices. Not here…everything was YUMOLICIOUS!! The brisket melted in your mouth, the chicken wasn’t dry. The ‘cup’ of potato salad had just the right seasoning without all the onions and celery mucking it up. The beans were barbaquey and sugary and don’t get me started on the punch bowl cake. I literally didn’t want to stop eating and ended up being miserable for it…and I would do it all again and twice on Sunday.

After our two hour appearance the other 2 Daisies ran errands with me, primarily because I was picking up a bookcase for the Monkey’s room and I couldn’t lift it. Then we headed back to Jodie’s house for a nap. Well…Nic and I anyway. Poor Jod had to keep Lan occupied. She was prolly the one pressing the horn on his car thingy and pushing around the popper. (You didn’t think I saw you but I did).

Originally the ‘girls night’ was to make more jewelry but we got side tracked and decided to go to dinner and visit with each other instead, it was nice. Dinner was good and dessert was better and the company and conversation were priceless. I came home and my boys were in bed. They themselves had a fun filled day doing ‘boy stuff’. I really enjoy my time to myself but I found myself most content when I’m in bed, with a sleeping boy upstairs and my hubby by my side, all is right in the world.

Sunday the hubby brought in bagels and I started planning the day, making up for taking a vacation day on Saturday. I started the laundry and then commenced cooking for the next four hours. In an effort to provide myself and my boys with a healthy meal for dinner and healthy lunches as well I decided to do all the cooking on Sunday. I’ve proven time and time again it just doesn’t work with our schedule to make meals that don’t come frozen during the week. Not enough hours in the day. So…I cooked and laundered and managed to squeeze in a nap with the boy…it was lovely.

After naps we preceded to the Monkey’s room for more organizing and making way for the book case the hubby was putting together. The boy kept saying…”hey…these are my toys.” I had to explain they were his baby toys and now the Monkey will need them to grow up to be a smart as he is. He decided he was ok with that explanation. I finished up the room and it looks SOOOOO good. It is not picture worthy yet because I have to hang the curtains I went ahead and purchased and hang a couple of ‘projects’ I’m working on that are expected to be finished this weekend. I’m so anticipating it all finally being done. I started the Monkey’s hospital bag and my bag is halfway packed. I won’t put them in the car until the first week in June, just in case. I work an hour away from my hospital and these are the things I must think about…again…just in case. Oh…and I guess we need to install the car seat. Good grief the list just keeps growing.

And finally…I know these long diatribes are often tedious but things are way more interesting on the weekend of late than during the week. So…I catch up. I haven’t reported on the Boy’s behavior of late and why do you ask…because he has been AWESOME. NOTHING like before, he is enjoying school, getting good reports and at home he has turned the corner as well. His Dad and I are soooo happy and relieved, we had one minor setback last week but honestly I’m not concerned because of the positive change in his behavior overall has been outstanding. The next month will see more changes for him…let’s hope for the best.

Labeled...

2008-05-14T12:46:00.004-06:00

Before I begin I was working on posting yesterday but got busy so you get it today and kick it.

The three daisies had a very productive meeting with a person I will call ‘In The Know’ (INK). We had an opportunity to voice our concerns and get genuine feedback with a side of constructive criticism. It was just what I needed. I did find out that I did indeed have a label around the office and I immediately prepared to defend my actions. I could feel the heat rising as I sat there and listened but then I quickly simmered down when I realized it was true. My label, ‘tough’, that’s what they call me, whoever they is. So I ask…is that a bad thing? My answer I was given…yes and no. It is the yes part that I need to work on. Without going into too much detail I did receive clear perspective and I agreed I could be seen as tough and intolerant.

In an effort to be cognizant of my intolerance one of the daisies made this label for us three…something we can look to and remind ourselves that label could lead to ‘doesn’t work well with others’ and that is just dead wrong and unacceptable.

Week 33

2008-05-14T12:46:00.001-06:00

Tired…tired and more tired. Other than that everything seems to still be movin along…at a snails pace if you ask me. I’ll talk more about the monkey’s room and mom’s day in my weekend recap.

My 4th annual Mom’s Day and another productive weekend

2008-05-14T12:44:00.006-06:00

Sunday was great. I had all my boys with me and although everyday is mother’s day at my house, aren’t you jealous, it was nice to receive the hugs and kisses and be told I’m appreciated.

Sunday morning the boy ended up in our bed due to the storm that came through, truthfully when it storms like that I love when the boy is in bed with us, I feel safe and secure. The other good thing is Sunday’s are my day to get up with the boy so the hubby can have some time for himself in the morning. Thankfully ‘getting up’ means turning over and flipping the TV on for some cartoons while mom get’s another hour of shut eye. This Sunday, the boy’s internal alarm clock went off and at 7a he asked me to turn on the TV. Since he was in our room he had no idea the sun was up and I told him it was still early and he rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour. I love me some sleep.

Around 8 I turned on the cartoons and while I was dozing I felt the boy lean over and give me a kiss on the cheek and whisper “I love you mom”. I just wanted to take that moment, bottle it and stick it in my pocket with all the other memories I want to hold to and remember forever. It was the sweetest gesture and being mom’s day made it that much more symbolic.

The hubby came in a little while later and announced he would be making his famous French toast. My mouth is watering now thinking about it. It has to be the best French toast ever made and I’ve tried a lot. If he was going to make a signature dish for Gordon Ramsey this would be a good second to the chicken marsala. YUMOlishes.
After breakfast the presents were opened and the boys did AMAZING…as always. The monkey got a couple of outfits that had MONKEYS on them. They are SOOO cute. I received a subscription to Oxygen magazine. I’ve never heard of the mag before but it looks great. Not like Fitness Mag, which I love, a bit more hard core. This is perfect because I’m making plans to go hardcore after this pregnancy. I’ve made a commitment to myself to really push myself to see what my body is capable of doing. I’ve never done that…ever. I ran and finished a ½ marathon and I never thought I would remotely do that. So…I’m going for it. That leads to the cookbook the hubby got me from Hungrygirl.com. I didn’t know it existed until then and I flipped through the book. WHA…real like non gourmet recipes one can actually make without going to a specialty herb and veggie store!!

I’ve made my menu for next week and I’m going to the store tomorrow to prepare everything on Sunday. I figured what the heck…no need to wait until after the pregnancy to start eating ‘right’ again. I’ve kinda took the last 8 months off from that enjoying what my heart desired. Well…I no longer desire the junk I’ve been eating. I think that is contributing to the tiredness that I’m feeling more than just the pregnancy.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. I did make it to Babies R Us to purchase my bedding that I finally convinced myself I did indeed HAVE TO HAVE. I had it on my registry and noticed it wasn’t available online anymore and I was panicking all the way to the store thinking that it was discontinued. I do believe they are discontinuing it but I got it and it is PERFECT.

I let the boy pick out a bear for the Monkey. There is history behind this event. I picked out the boy’s bear and unbeknownst to me at the time that bear is his security bear, the one he can’t sleep without. So I wanted to give meaning to the Monkey’s bear. Hopefully it will be just as much a part of him as the boy’s bear has been for him.

Also, I ordered this diaper bag from L.L. Bean. I was VERY proud of myself for deliberating about the purchase for so long, about four months. I finally decided it was the right move when I pulled out the diaper bags we used for the boy. One was WAY too big and the other was more suitable for toddler use meaning containing ‘extras’ for those just in case times. So I pulled the trigger.

Saturday was a most productive day EVER; we started out at Taekwondo and did stuff around the house. After more than two years we put the finishing touches on our bedroom, hung some stuff we didn’t really know where to put until that day. The hubby hung some shelves in his office and during the boy’s nap the hubby and I began our art project for the boy’s room, ten months after we were going to actually start it. We finished it on Sunday but oh my gosh…it is so awesome. Here is the pic...

Jose, our lawn guy installed three more French drains in our lake…backyard. We’ve had issues ever since we moved in. We finally decided it would be nice to actually USE the backyard instead of watching the ducks wade through it after a significant rainstorm. They also tidied up all of our plants and made ready for the additional plants coming on Monday. I finally got my azaleas. Perhaps now we can get the boy a swing set for his birthday.

That evening we attended a graduation party at our neighbor’s house. They rented a moon jumper and it was a hit, although VERY warm. We stayed until about 9 and we were ready to leave. It’s funny, she had a lot of family and other friends over but it is not the same as our flamingo parties, even when the flamingo gang is there. We flock together and just talk, which isn’t a bad thing either. I was bummed I had to miss out on the jello shots though.

Friday the hubby took off work to work on his ‘to do’ list. The Monkey got his name and pictures of us as kids hung in his room. I am working on finishing up the curtains and hopefully we will get a book shelf this weekend and with one more ‘art’ project we should be good to go. I’m not stressing about it but I need to finish up my office before my mom in law…tick…tick…tick. Only four weekends left!

TGIF

2008-05-09T16:05:00.002-06:00

It is Friday...whoo hoo! Here comes the weekend. What is on tap? A graduation party and I am sure what will be a delightful Mother's Day and SLEEP. Dang I am pooped.

Work is off...not sure what is going on or how to handle the vibes I and a few others are getting. Hopefully I will know more by the end of the week next week. BUT...I so don't want to think about next week when it is Friday. FRIDAY!! The best part of the weekend because it is the longest time before the start of a new week. Lovely. We did get some good news but I'm not at liberty to post it here...yet. ALOT of relief is on the way.

I was pretty productive today, I thought it would be slow but actually stacked up to be nice and busy. I wrote my first newsletter to my monkey. That was fun and put a smile on my face.

Nothing interstesting so I'll sign off now. Happy Mother's Day to all.

Be Safe!