Tuesday, July 31, 2007

MDWLC - Week 12

I did it! Another pound gone, woohoo!! And I need that extra cushion this weekend because I'm going out of town to visit Dave's family: good food, good desserts, much snacking, and late night ice cream. But the family joke is that I pretend calories no longer exist when I cross a state line. We are going to try and pack snacks and meals for the car, so that should help. Hopefully I'll have a loss to report next week, but to be honest I would be happy with a no loss/no gain.

And I have discovered a new fruit...well, new to me anyway. I LOVE CLEMENTINES! Oh my gosh, they are so good. And what's even better than the taste is how easy they are to peel. I'm very happy with my new discovery!

Here are my goals for this week:

  1. Upping my walking to 8500k a day (I'll talk more about that tomorrow over at my TFTS post).
  2. Chugging 8oz of water before every meal. I find I eat less when I do this because my stomach is already full.
  3. Eating a 3rd helping of dairy every day.
Check out Tales from the Scales to see how everyone else is doing on the May Day Weight Loss Challenge!

MDWLC starting weight (5/18/07): 158
MDWLC current weight (7/31/07): 157
Loss/Gain to date: -1.0 lb
Goal weight for next week (8/7/07): 156

May Day Weight Loss Challenge - The Whole Schebang - http://sheet.zoho.com

Monday, July 30, 2007

The tag so nice, she did it twice!

Sue at Living My Dream tagged me for two memes last week. This is the first one, I'll do the 2nd one next week!

The first is the Moaning Meme...and I'm just too cynical a person to pass this one up!

4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth.

-Emma's scream (Not Emma herself, just the screech that comes out of her mouth when she's mad)
-Thongs (and I don't mean the shoes)
-Barney
-Rude people at the grocery

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently.

-People who don't acknowledge that I was doing a nice thing when I let them merge into traffic. Hello? Can I at least get a wave??
-Refuse to see more than their own point of view.
-Open up crinkly wrappers or packages during live theatre performances. Can you really not make it through Act I without that piece of hard candy?

2 things you find yourself moaning about.

-Cleaning the house
-Dave's travel schedule

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself.

-That I have not tried hard enough to bend the world to my control.

RULES:

-Link to the original meme at freelancecynic.com so people know what it's all about!
-Be as honest as possible, This is about letting people get to know the real you!
-Try not to insult anyone - unless they really deserve it or are very, very ugly!
-Post these rules at the end of every meme!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Smart Habit Saturday

I'm posting from my wonderful husband's laptop so I have no nifty graphic to give you. But don't be fooled! This is my official SHS post (for what it's worth).


If I can be quite honest, this was a HORRIBLE week for me for habits. What with crazy giveaways and Dave being gone for a week, I was lucky if I showered every day....oh wait. I didn't do that either.


So I'm just going to pretend that this week didn't happen, umkay? I like to remind myself frequently that de-nile ain't just a river in Egypt.


Check out Lara's site for other's habits!


Here are my other habits/goals for 2007:
Post to blog before vistiting others - LOL! I had no idea that I would be sucked in so easily to the crazy giveaways this week! Wait. Who am I kidding? YES I DID!
Limit kids TV time - struggling with
11:30 bedtime - habit
Emma's bedtime routine - habit
Work before computer time - struggling with
8K a Day - slowly returning to this
Wear my pedometer - habit
R-E-S-P-E-C-T - habit
Food Journal and Scrounging - getting better
Increased personal reading time - habit (and loving it!)
Limit personal computer time - working on
1 on 1 kids time - getting better

Friday, July 27, 2007

We have a winner!

Seriously? 351 comments?? If I had any idea that I would be getting 351 comments for the Boca Java giveaway, I would've planned a giveaway for everyday. OF MY LIFE!! I'm astounded at the results! Thanks so much to all who played along!

The lucky winner of 2 bags of Boca Java coffee is Katiebug from Bugs on a Blog! Congratulations Katiebug!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

It's the cheesiest!

Jacob : (reading Children's Bible which has questions at end of each story) Mommy, "What will you give Jesus?"



Me: (Just getting out of shower) Huh?



Jacob: (obviously exasperated) "What will you give Jesus??"



Me: Uh, I will give Jesus my heart. What will you give Jesus?



Jacob: I think I'll give him some macaroni & cheese.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Happy Birthday to....ME!

Well, my birthday is tomorrow, (or today if you are reading this on Thursday) and I'm pretty happy about that. Overall, I say it's pretty cool that I was born. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Dave is out of town so I planned myself a big day for tomorrow (or today)...

1. Take kids to the sitters from 10am-1pm. Hopefully there won't be a spelling lesson.
2. Indulge in reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (I'm one of the crazies who is taking longer than 2 hours to read the 700+ pages)
3. Eat breakfast for lunch. (Drool) Seriously, I may go to Waffle House.
4. Hopefully receive my present from Dave in the mail. (I found out where it's coming from since I'm a freak about checking my card statement)
5. Hopefully go see Evening with some friends...but I have to find a sitter first who can drive so I don't have to wake the kids up at 11pm to take the poor girl home. Claire Danes, Toni Colette, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close....yeah, I really need to find a sitter...

I hope everyone has fun celebrating my birthday in their own special way!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Wordless Wednesday




I know it's cruel, but even when she's sick, she's cute!

For more pics, visit WW or 5 Minutes for Mom

MDWLC - Week 11

Isn't it amazing how when you actually STICK to the goals you set, you see results? Huh. Who'da thunk? Anyway, I am down a pound this week, so that's cool. My self-made journal is done and it's been kind of refreshing getting back to using it, I must say.

Here are my goals for this week (they should sound familiar)...
1. 8k a day
2. No eating after 9pm
3. All boxes filled on journal (5 fruits/veggies, 12 waters, 2 dairy)

Good luck this week!

Check out Tales from the Scales to see how everyone else is doing on the May Day Weight Loss Challenge!

MDWLC starting weight (5/18/07): 158
MDWLC current weight (7/24/07): 158.0
Loss/Gain to date: 0.0 lb
Goal weight for next week (7/31/07): 157

May Day Weight Loss Challenge - The Whole Schebang - http://sheet.zoho.com

Monday, July 23, 2007

Dog Days Giveaway - Boca Java Coffee

UPDATED: COMMENTS FOR THIS DRAWING WILL BE CLOSED AT 2:30PM EST ON FRIDAY THE 27TH. ALL DUPLICATE ENTRIES WILL BE DELETED BEFORE DRAWING. THANKS!

It's here! It's here! Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer is hosting The Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway today. TODAY! Woohoo!

Basically, I post something to give away (as in "totally free to you"). You leave me a comment telling me that you want it. I choose a random commenter on Friday, July 27th. That person wins! Sounds simple enough, right? Right. You don't even need a blog to win! Unfortunately, you do need to live in the U.S. (sorry Canadian friends!)

In honor of my friendly local identity thief, I am giving away 2 bags of some of the best coffee I've ever tasted: Boca Java Gourmet Coffee.

The lucky winner will get to choose any two 8-oz bags from the following list (just a small portion of what Boca Java offers). All coffees listed are available whole bean or already ground, fully leaded or decaf. Just let me know what you prefer. Once we hammer out all the details, I'll order it from Boca Java and have it delivered directly to your door from their warehouse!

And now...the list:

  • Boca Sunrise - Our signature coffee. This medium roast blend of African, Central and South American beans offers a complex full body flavor with a clean finish. One of the best cups of coffee you'll ever drink!

  • Palm Beach Passion - Coffee that unites sophistication and spirit. A combination of medium and dark South American and Colombian coffee. This rich tasting, full body roast is sure to ignite your passion for aroma and flavor.

  • Coastal Costa Rica - Complex, yet smooth coffee. A well balanced medium roast from the tarrazu region of Costa Rica that offers excellent body, complex taste and a smooth finish. A robust richness completes this perfectly relaxing roast.

  • Sumatran Sunset - A medium-dark roast coffee from the highlands of northern Sumatra in the Malay Archipelago of Indonesia. Settle in for the night with the earthy overtones and bold flavors.

  • Hightide Hazelnut - Smooth and creamy toasted hazelnut. A subtle hint of nutty flavor and a nice finish. This coffee will help you sail through the day.

  • Lee's Caramel Kiss Island - Coffee with a caramel and chocolate kiss. Dedicated to Lee Frcek, cherished wife, mother and grandmother, who battled leukemia for thirteen and a half years. A portion of the proceeds from this coffee will be donated to the leukemia and lymphoma society.

  • Surfing Safari - Hang ten with our most popular flavored coffee. An exotic blend of sweet vanilla, rich caramel and tantalizing kahlua. This coffee creates an amazing splash of flavor!

  • Tropical Kiss - Chocolate coffee with a smooch of coconut. Coupled with sweet chocolate and tropical coconut, cupid is sure to take aim at the coffee lover in you!

  • Vacation Villa Vanilla - Coffee with French Vanilla sweetness. Embrace this blend of smooth coffee and soothing flavor. The ultimate vacation for your taste buds.

  • Beach Day Blog - Power your blogging with indulgent chocolate and hazelnut coffee. This rich blend was created by a blogger to fuel all bloggers. Blog on.

Don't you just love the last one! Finally, a coffee especially for bloggers!! Good luck everyone!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Smart Habit Saturdays

Seriously? A month? I can't believe I haven't been to SHS since June 30. Needless to say, my committment has been a bit...uh...lacking, shall we say?

I've done a habit checklist which I am not really keeping up with, but that's a habit for another week.

This week, I'm going to focus on getting a post on my own blog before I go galivanting around reading other people's stuff. I do so much better with my time management stuff if I do my own first instead of hurrying to try and fit it in at the end of the day. So we'll give it a whirl.

Check out Lara's site for other's habits!

Here are my other habits/goals for 2007:
Limit kids TV time - struggling with
11:30 bedtime - habit
Emma's bedtime routine - habit
Work before computer time - struggling with
8K a Day - slowly returning to this
Wear my pedometer - habit
R-E-S-P-E-C-T - habit
Food Journal and Scrounging - getting better
Increased personal reading time - habit (and loving it!)
Limit personal computer time - working on
1 on 1 kids time - getting better

Friday, July 20, 2007

The smallest bedroom


Mary at Owlhaven is hosting a carnival today called My Childhood Home. As soon as I read about it, memories I hadn't dug up in years came flooding back. Some of the bad, but (thankfully) most of them are good.

I could write about the whole house...the ledge in the kitchen that I used to climb on the counter to get to so I could help Mom with the dusting...the chain link fence in the front yard that got knocked down by a car...the sandbox in back that the neighbor cat used as a litter box...my brother's art studio in the basement that used to amaze and scare me at the same time...
But what I remember most is the smallest bedroom. Being the youngest of six kids meant an awful lot of room shuffling as the older ones moved out, and the smallest bedroom was mine for a while. But it was the last occupant that makes the smallest bedroom special for me. It was the first (and only) door on the right at the top of the stairs, and it was his.

In a different life, the room belonged to my sister. It was the only room in the house with cable, which she paid for. Subsequently, she charged us to watch the TV in her room. I remember the little rate sheet and coin box that lived next to the TV. I also remember laughing at her infatuation with Tom Selleck in his Magnum, P.I. days and her obsession with the royal wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, both of which were memorialized in that room.

I'm not sure who had it after she moved out, but eventually it fell into my hands. I remember sitting on the floor, listening to tapes of songs I recorded off the radio and being so mad that the DJs voice is all over the opening instrumental of the song. I would play and rewind a song 100 times trying to write down all the lyrics so I could look cool by knowing all the words.

I remember being allowed to have a TV in my room, an old black and white one that you had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to change the channels. I would feel so grownup as I watched episodes of V and then be too scared to go to sleep.

I remember marveling at the little whole in the floor that the cable for my sister's TV used to run out of. I used to wonder where it led to (nowhere) and if I could tunnel into my sister's neighboring room (I couldn't).

Years later, long after I had claimed another bedroom as my own, my grandfather moved into that room. He had lived in Florida for as long as I could remember but could no longer take care of himself. He wasn't with us for long; he needed assistance in almost everything and it just wasn't something Mom and Dad could handle anymore. But it was how the room looked after his short time there that stays with me.

While he lived with us, I didn't go into his room very often. It seemed disrespectful, although I know he wouldn't have minded. It wasn't until after he died that I really went in there to look around. All I remember is pictures: pictures of him and my grandmother when they were growing up in Denmark, pictures of all the grandkids, pictures of my dad and uncle, old pictures of people I didn't know but were obviously important to him. And the photo albums. They were the old fashioned kind with the black paper pages where the photos were held in with white photo corners. The pages were worn and the pictures faded and to me they were beautiful.

Mom and Dad eventually moved out of that house and took all of my grandfather's things with them. As far as I know, they still have all the pictures and photo albums. To me, that's all that's left of my grandfather.

And on the rare occasion I drive past that old house, the first window I look at is that small bedroom, first door on the right at the top of the stairs.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

FREE STUFF!!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is at it again! On Monday, she's hosting a blog giveaway EXTRAVAGANZA! And you know I'm going to join in! Check back here Monday to see what wonderful spoils you can walk away with for FREE!

Fluid Levels

My poor Emma is sick. She's got a nasty stuffed up nose, which means increased drooling since her mouth is hanging open because she can't breathe. And it all ends up in her hair when she's lying down. And I think she might be teething, too, which only adds to the saliva factory. Oh, and did I mention she's potty training?

I'm up to my eyeballs in Emma's bodily fluids, people, and I forgot my boots and gloves.

We've been potty training for a little while now, if you want to call it that. She kind of took the bull by the horns on this one and one day announced she had to use the potty. I, of course, thought she was kidding so I was thoroughly shocked when she actually went. From that point on, we've had a VERY significant decrease in poopy diapers. But still no pee-pee success. That was about 2 months ago. We have used the last of the Pampers Cruisers and I have bought a few packages of the Pampers Easy Ups and Huggies Pull Ups...mostly because I'm a wimp. But I took the bull by the horns last night and put her to bed (at nighttime, not naptime, mind you) wearing nothing but Gerber All in One Waterproof Trainers.

Yes, I am a brave, brave girl. I thought "Hey, if Lara can do it, I can do it, too!"

I think Lara has more patience than I do. I had to strip the bed at 11:30pm and again at 8am. I either need to get more patience or get more sheets...or both.

And then this morning, armed with a little more confidence, I put Emma in underwear. By the time we left the house at 10:15, she was on her 3rd pair. At least it's only been pee-pee accidents. I took her to sit every time she had one and had her help me clean up the mess, but still no results. I got a little nervous leaving the house and having her only in undies, so I put a pull-up over them. It least the accident would be contained if she had one.

Which she did. But never told me about. And somehow happened after the 132 times I took her to the potty while we were at the park.

And this, too, shall pass...

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

Blue Tongue Jacob
Blue Tongue Jacob 2
Blue Tongue Jacob 3

For more pics, visit WW or 5 Minutes for Mom

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

MDWLC - Week 10

O.K. No lengthy post needed. I lost nothing, I gained nothing. I'm not even all that upset or frustrated with myself because I know what I'm doing wrong and it's just a matter of giving myself (yet another) swift kick in the backside to get things moving again.

Here are my goals this week:
1. No eating after 9pm. I'm starting to fall victim to late night snacking (mostly in the form of desserts) so I need to stop that before it gets any worse.

2. Finish making my homemade WW journal. I've been so bad about remembering to get journals when I go to my monthly meetings. No journals = no journaling. So, I decided to make one on my computer and repurpose an old spiral bound journal I wasn't using anymore. I should have it done by Saturday with enough pages for 80 days. When I run out, I just print more. No more excuses now!

3. Get back up to 8,000 steps a day. I notice that I don't do well if I say I'm going to walk x number of days or that I'm going to get to the gym or anything like that. Wearing my pedometer is definitely a habit, so all I have to do is like at my hip to know whether I've been walking enough. I was doing really well with 8k a day when I first got the pedometer, but that has really dropped off lately ( I averaged 5k a day last week...) so I just need to get back to that 8k a day.

Check out Tales from the Scales to see how everyone else is doing on the May Day Weight Loss Challenge!

MDWLC starting weight (5/18/07): 158
MDWLC current weight (7/17/07): 159.0
Loss/Gain to date: +1.0 lb
Goal weight for next week (7/24/07): 158

May Day Weight Loss Challenge - The Whole Schebang - http://sheet.zoho.com

Monday, July 16, 2007

Show's over, folks!

The show I've been involved with for the last month or 2 closed on Saturday. While it was a great time, I'm kinda glad it's over. There's a kind of exhaustion that sets in when you are doing a show and it's only gotten worse the older I get and the more active the kids are.

Granted, half the exhaustion comes from staying out until 1am drinking and eating fried cheese products, but still...

The show was really well received by all who saw it. It was different than any show I've ever been involved in. The rehearsal process was pretty much me and the director sitting across a table from each other for the first 2 or 3 weeks. Then 2 weeks before the show, I rehearsed with the rest of the cast for the first time. The format of the show lent itself to a lot of down time (while on stage) for each actor so I got to rehearse my "stage freeze"... a lot. By the 2nd weekend, I was limping off stage at intermission and after the show because some portion of my legs are feet had fallen asleep.

The character I played was a 30-something year old girl with a mental disability that put her emotional level at about a 10 year old. Her name was Dori, she loved Barbie, she made wallets, and she wore all pink, all the time. Definitely different than anything I've ever played before. She had her funny moments, but mostly it was great to listen to her story, because in her mind, there was nothing wrong with her. She was constantly teased by her sister (not an actual character of the show, only through the stories Dori told), and in Dori's mind, her sister was the one who was "mental". It was great to see such a character being the "norm" as opposed to the exception.

I'm itching to do another show now, but when we started having kids we would take turns doing shows. So now, it's Dave's turn. There are a lot of great opportunities out there in the coming months, so hopefully he'll be able to juggle his crazy travel schedule enough to do a show.

'Cause then it'll be my turn again.

I'm kidding! Sort of...

Friday, July 13, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Identity Thief

A month or two ago, I got this strange package in the mail. It was an unmarked box that was addressed to me but I didn't recognize the return address. I was a little confused because I hadn't ordered anything online lately and Dave typically tells me when he buys stuff, but I opened it just in case it was something we had both forgotten about. Inside was a bottle of Lipoplex, some weight loss drug. There was no paper, no packing slip, nothing else. It was just this bottle.

Um, yeah. How many of you would take pills from an unknown source that just showed up at your doorstep one day? Anyone? Me neither. Pretty confident that Dave wouldn't order me diet pills (he's so smart), they went right into the trash. I told Dave about it and he had no idea who would've sent them. We chalked it up to some freaky mail thing and didn't think much more about it.

A few days later, I got another package in the mail, but this time it was marked. It was 4 bags of coffee from Boca Java. I've heard of Boca Java before and I knew they weren't the type of company to just randomly send out bags of coffee to unsuspecting folk, so I started to think something bigger was going on. When I opened the package, the packing slip had my name and mailing address on it, but some bogus e-mail address. Plus it said my credit card had been charged.

Um, what? Before the packing slip hit the counter, I was down on the computer to check my credit card statement. Sure enough, my card had been hit with all of these weird amounts. The Boca Java charge was the most expensive at $15.95, but all total, I had 9 charges totaling about $45. Someone had managed to steal our credit card number, even thought the cards were still in Dave's and my wallet. Considering the damage that could have been done, we got off lucky. The idiot that took our card out for a joy ride signed us (well, me) up for a bunch of introductory offers ("don't pay another penny until we start charging you $60 a month unknowingly. What a deal!"), and I subsequently got 7 more packages in the mail over the next several days.

Everything was straightened out with each of the companies and the credit card people, and this story really does have a happy ending. You wanna know why?

Oh my God, the coffee. One of the bags was Surfing Safari whose bag reads "Hang ten with our most popular flavored coffee. An exotic blend of sweet vanilla, rich caramel and tantalizing kahlua. This coffee creates an amazing splash of flavor!" Did you catch that? Vanilla, Caramel, and Kahlua all together in one drink. Shut up. This is some of the best coffee I've ever had, folks. Hands down.

So the moral of the story is, if anyone steals my credit card number again, I'm going to hope and wish and pray that they have the good sense to at least send me some coffee. Yeah, that would be swell...

Thursday, July 12, 2007

I'd like to thank the academy...

Two weeks ago, my friend Christine over at Fruit in Season awarded me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. At the risk of sounding trite, that rocks! But like most things lately, I forgot about it! How's that for appreciation?? My sincerest apologies to Christine! Thank you, I love it!


And in keeping with blog award tradition, I will now pass this award on to others who deserve it more than I do! I am going to honor some participants of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge over at Tales from the Scales. These ladies are doing some amazing work and, well, they rock.

  1. Katiebod at Roses are Red, Violets are Violet - Talk about keeping humor in all things! Katiebod's specialty is leaving encouraging comments in the form of poems and altered song lyrics. She's got a quite an imagination!
  2. Jan at Just a Mom, That's More Than Enough - Jan's success is just amazing and quite an inspiration! You gotta love a woman who's brave enough to post before and after pictures of herself!
  3. Lou at Rattling Around - She's doing the Challenge (like me). She lives in Ohio (like me). She openly confesses her love for Pez dispensers (like me). What more do you need??
  4. Denise at Shortybears Place - Denise is such a faithful comment-leaver, if her name isn't in one of the top 3 comments, I begin to worry that something is wrong! She's an awesome cheerleader, which is evidenced by what she had on her post on Tuesday. Sing it with me! "Lean to the left, lean to the right, peel your banana, and then take a bite!!!"
  5. Robin at Robinznest - She's got her eye on the ball, this one. She has such a great attitude and is another awesome cheerleader on our journey.

So there you have it! I hope everyone is having an awesome day!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Wordless Wednesday


For more pics, visit WW or 5 Minutes for Mom

MDWLC - Week 9

Um, yeah. Didn't do so hot this week. I'm up 3 lbs. Hardly surprising considering what I ate all week. Here's a sneak peek at my, uh, indulgences last week...

Monday : Pint of butter pecan at 11pm (maybe Dave was right about the 2 lbs)
Tuesday: Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks and an Amoretto Sour at 11pm
Wednesday: parade candy
Thursday: 1 or 2 or 10 pieces of parade candy during the day and Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks and an Amoretto Sour at 11pm
Friday: 1 or 2 or 10 pieces of parade candy during the day, 2 no-bake cookies, 3 or 4 pieces of pizza and 2 Amoretto Sours at 11pm
Saturday: A brunch so big that I was still eating a good 10 minutes after Dave was done, 3 no-bake cookies, Tostino Pizza Rolls and Baked Doritos at (you guessed it) 11pm
Sunday: I ate. all. day. And then had 2 more no-bake cookies. And then had 3 pieces of Ferrero-Rocher chocolate. And then went out for a Butterfinger Blizzard that night.
Monday: 1/3 bag Baked Doritos

...and that's just the stuff that I remember. There was a lot of mindless eating going on, folks, and on top of all that, I'm drinking about half of my normal water intake (nothing worse than sitting on stage just praying for intermission so you can go to the bathroom...). My ankles are swollen, my throat is dry, my insides are unhappy, and the scale is mocking me! Pass the tootsie rolls, please. And walking? I laugh heartily at the notion. I walked one day. Go me!

But tomorrow is a new day! I've made my Declaration, and here are my goals:

1. Walk 4 days this week. I don't know why this is getting to be so hard. I've even got a treadmill in the basement about 10 feet away from the computer. Ugh.
2. Fill in all the boxes on my WW journal. One of my problems with this is that I keep forgetting to go to a WW meeting to pick up new blank journals. I've just been using some blank notebook paper and it is totally uninspiring.
3. Get back to 96 ounces of water a day, even if I have to put a little cup next to me on stage if intermission doesn't come fast enough...o.k. that's kinda gross.

Check out Tales from the Scales to see how everyone else is doing!

MDWLC starting weight (5/18/07): 158
MDWLC current weight (7/10/07): 159.0
Loss/Gain to date: +1.0 lb
Goal weight for next week (7/17/07): 158.0

May Day Weight Loss Challenge - The Whole Schebang - http://sheet.zoho.com

Monday, July 9, 2007

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness

On Thursday, I posted at Tales From the Scales about an article I found on Weight Watchers. Being the 4th of July and all, it was all about making your own Declaration of Independence for your weight loss. Those participating in the challenge were then told to come back on Monday and link to their post about their own Declaration.

And I forgot. Yep, I wrote the post and then promptly forgot about it. I didn't remember until I visited Beth today. Go me! That should show you how much I've thought about my weight loss and staying on track this week.

Which is why I really need to do this!! So here it is, in all it's glory...

My Declaration of Independence

When, in the course of my life, it becomes necessary for me to change how I handle certain aspects of my life, I know that I have enough strength and will power to do that.

After all, I have a right to feel healthy, energetic, in control and proud.

I shouldn't have to feel tired, overstuffed and dumpy, and I refuse to feel that way anymore.

I know losing weight is hard. When it comes to food, I have an especially hard time with candy, desserts, and making good choices at restaurants.

But it's worth it to me to dedicate myself to the task of losing weight, and I will do what it takes to meet my weight goal of 153 pounds.

I am dedicated to my plan for weight loss, and to get there, I will keep a food journal, exercise four times a week, and stop eating when I feel full. And I will do all of these things regardless of the speed bumps life throws at me

Now is my time, and I WILL make it happen. This is my Declaration of Independence from the obstacles I struggle with daily. Let the fireworks begin!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Oh my, what a weekend! I'm exhausted! I finally got a halfway decent night's sleep last night, but I still feel like I'm behind. Or maybe I slept too much over the weekend since the kids were gone... My friend Cyndy might describe the feeling I'm having right now as "sleep drunk": I feel like I slept O.K. but I'm still really tired. Gotta love it!



The show went really well, we had about 20 people each night. That doesn't sound like alot but I honestly never saw the show advertised in any of the local newspapers so I consider 20 pretty good (the room will only sit 75). It was good to finally have an audience and get some fresh feedback; I was getting laughs in places the director hadn't laughed at before, but the flip side of that is that when I "expected" laughs, I didn't get them. It was just nice to do it for a fresh set of eyes and ears. As much as I love our director (no matter how much he teases me about doing laundry on my weekend off), it was time for us to let someone else see the show. One weekend down, one weekend to go.



With the kids gone to my parents house over the weekend, Dave and I were able to have a pretty relaxing weekend. Cast get together on Friday night, brunch and movie on Saturday, and a cast party (at our house) on Saturday night. By the end of the weekend, though, we were starting to get a little weirded out by how QUIET the house was. No screaming, no running, no falling things (whether toys or kids)...it was eerie.



When the kids finally did get home, I wasn't able to get much information out of Jacob as to what they did the whole weekend. I know they swam at the pool and he saw fireworks, but beyond that, I have no idea. But there were no visible bruises or open wounds so I call the trip a success!



Tune in tomorrow to see exactly how much weight I gained from ingesting the all too nutritious No-Bake Cookies, Amoretto Sours, and Fried Mozzerella Sticks that became my diet all last week! Woohoo!!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Please bear with me...

Oh my gosh, what a weekend this has been....

The show went great. The kids are home. I've been eating like crap. I feel like crap. I'm unbelievably tired. I made it to the grocery. The laundry's even done!

But now it's time to rest...

Hopefully I'll be back up and running at least enough to write a halfway decent post....

...tomorrow.

Friday, July 6, 2007

must blog, must blog now...

Hello. I have approximately 78 seconds before Jake will be getting up from his nap, so I must blog quickly.

Jake and Emma are going to my parents for the weekend for July 4th festivities (a little late, I know) and Jake is bouncing off the walls so I'll be happy to ship him off he's really excited to go spend time with Mimi and Far-Far. They'll be swimming and walking and huge inflatable things and cheap plastic prizes and ice cream and fireworks. They're heading out right after dinner tonight and my sister will be bringing them home on Sunday.

Tonight is opening night for the show I'm in, and I am SUPER NERVOUS!! The format, content, and style of this show are unlike anything I've ever done before and I just hope people get it. And I hope I do a good job portraying this character, because she really is something special! I've got performances tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday afternoon.

Dave will have a chance to see the show tonight and there is an open panel discussion following the show that he's been looking forward to taking part in. It will be a long night that will hopefully end with the ingestion of alcoholic beverages and fried cheese products.

Hopefully while the kids are away this weekend, we'll be able to take in a movie and go see a local theatre troupe sing a few songs. And if we have some extra time, maybe I'll even go to the grocery so that I can feed my family...

Thursday, July 5, 2007

We'll be back after these important messages...

Hello all!

We've been enjoying the couple days off that Dave has had for the holiday, so there hasn't been much time to post.

I hope you had a great 4th and are reaping the benefits of too much candy from the parades!

Head on over to Tales from the Scales for Thea Thursdays for an article I found that is great for the holiday!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

MDWLC - Week 8

Here we are in week 8! It doesn't seem like 2 months have passed!

Goals. Right. Did I make goals last week? LOL! I'm sure I did, but I'm also sure I didn't follow a single one. Well, that's not true...I did figure out a schedule for myself for when I will weigh in and make new goals. I've decided that I'm going to start a new "points week" on Saturdays, and I'll continue weighing in once a month on Saturdays at my Weight Watchers meeting. I'll also make new goals on Saturday. But I'll also weigh in every Tuesday morning and come and tell you lovely people about it!

I didn't quite make it to the gym or to the treadmill last week, and I didn't do so hot with 2 servings of dairy last week, pudding or otherwise. But I did manage to lose .5 lb this week... despite the pint of butter pecan ice cream I had at 11pm last night. Dave's theory was that I wasn't fully digested and if I weigh myself tomorrow, I'll be up 2 lbs... But I figure, hey, as long as the 2 lbs is gone again by next Tuesday, it's all good.

So here are my goals for this week:

  1. Walk 6 days this week. I found a walking program in an old WW magazine that I'm going to try out. Anything to get me on my feet!
  2. 3 servings of dairy each day (and only one can be a dessert). I had grilled cheese yesterday for the first time in I don't know how long and it was SO. GOOD. And I've already mentioned the pint of ice cream...
  3. Fill in all the boxes on my WW journal. That means 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 servings of dairy, 6 - 8oz glasses of water, and a serving of oil EVERY DAY. But it feels oh so good to mark those little boxes off..

Check out Tales from the Scales to see how everyone else is doing!

MDWLC starting weight (5/18/07): 158
MDWLC current weight (7/3/07): 156.0
Loss/Gain to date: -2.0 lb
Goal weight for next week (7/10/07): 155.5

May Day Weight Loss Challenge - The Whole Schebang - http://sheet.zoho.com

Monday, July 2, 2007

"100 Things" - a post in 3 acts - Act 3

Because I know you are dying to access the first 66 things, please check out Act 1 and Act 2...

67. I typically drink 96 ounces of water every day.
68. I love to bowl.
69. I bowl in a league on Wednesday mornings during the school year with my mom.
70. I was raised to address adults by Mr. and Mrs. _______
71. Anyone I met prior to turning 18, I still address this way (for example, my mom's teammates are Mrs. Young, Mrs. Kessler, and Paula).
72. When my mom uses her friends first names, I have to take a second to think who's she talking about because I'm not used to calling them that.
73. I've never bowled better in my life than when I was pregnant with Emma.
74. I refuse to get pregnant again to improve my bowling average.
75. I currently act as Secretary for the Performing Arts Council of my church.
76. The job makes me want to put my head throught a wall on most days.
77. I have been on 2 cruises in my life.
78. I would love to take a cruise of the Greek Isles.
79. Barbados and Grand Cayman were my two favorite ports of call.
80. I have been through only 1 earthquake in my life...well, I've only felt one earthquake in my life.
81. I was in Japan in our hotel room by myself because I decided I was going to lounge around and relax for the day when the earthquake hit.
82. I choose to never experience another earthquake. They are not relaxing. At all.
83. I do not like seafood or fish very much.
84. I had a little bit of a hard time eating while I was in Japan.
85. I can navigate the Tokyo subway system by myself without getting very lost.
86. I know how to use chopsticks.
87. I drink considerably less than the Japanese men that my husband Dave was doing business with.
88. I live by lists.
89. My brother laughed at me the first time he saw my Master Grocery list (it's a Word Document categorized by aisle)
90. Despite my love for lists, I find this one increasingly difficult.
91. I am slowly turning Jacob into a list lover.
92. I secretly love dressing Emma in pink and "girly" stuff.
93. I was not a girly girl when I was growing up.
94. My costume for the show I'm in right now consists of pink barettes, a pink t-shirt, a pink sleeveless blouse, pink plaid shorts and pink flip-flops.
95. I do not like pink on anything but other people.
96. I used to work for Abercrombie & Fitch.
97. I was not one of their models.
98. I have a shorter temper than people think.
99. I am officially out of things to tell you.
100. I need to go make dinner.

I cannot even tell you how happy I am that I'm all done with that!!