Wednesday, December 1, 2010

And we're onto December...

Yep, I missed a whole month of posting to my blog. What have we been up to? Well let's see, we brought November in with some nice colds. I am happy to report that Nicole who usually has at least a few ear infections per season has made it through two colds now without actually getting one yet. The season is young though but I am hopeful. So far it is better than we have done the past few years. Hello preventative antibiotics...I am looking at you so please stay away.

We have also been busy with school. Both girls love school. Aimee is learning to read and has already made 3 Christmas lists for Santa. It's pretty funny to watch her make out her list and ask how to spell "guitar". She is doing well with it though and I really am proud at how well she is doing reading and writing.

Nicole continues to be a sassy little thing. She loves to tell me no and her latest phrase for emphasis is "I am never not going to...." fill in the blank. Sometimes it's "cry", "put my toys away", " do that for you...." the list goes on. She has tried to embarrass me more times than I can care to count by deciding to scream at the top of her lungs or hurl herself on the ground to get her way. So I have taken to ignoring most of the time and laugh when anyone calls them the "terrible twos" because man, three is definitely much much worse than two ever thought of being.

We are getting ready for Christmas around these parts, complete with an upcoming trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express straight out of the heart of North Conway. The girls are excited as am I. We also have a Christmas dance show where I get to see the fruits of the girls labors in their dance class the past few months. Aimee loves dance as does Nicole so I can't wait to see how they are doing.

So what is new in your neck of the woods. I promise to try and do better at posting but we all know how that goes.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Double, double toil and trouble....

Fires burn and cauldrons bubble....

Yes, Halloween. That glorious time of the year that you go knocking on your neighbors door and ask for free stuff. I know that kids love it, I know I did as a kid. It fell in line with Easter candy and stocking stuffings. All the sickeningly sweet stuff that dentists hate. My own personal favorite is typically the Reeses peanut butter cups but lately I have definitely had an affinity for almond joys. YUM!

But tonight, we changed things up a bit for us. We decided through a chain of events in our family as well as the fact Halloween falls on a school and work night that we would do something different and stay local to trick or treat. The girls had a blast but it was so cold. I missed the 70 -something temperatures of early last week and reminded myself that last year it was also balmy on Halloween itself. But this year it was true fall weather.

We walked across the street and down the cul de sac across from us. It was low-keyed for sure. Then part way through straight of the mouth of babes, Aimee asks "why do we go up to strangers houses and ask them for candy?" I had no good explanation other than it's Halloween tradition and it's just what you do. I have no idea where it came about so I need to do some reading up on that. And it also occurred to me how hypocritical it was of us since we just drilled it into the girls' heads that you don't talk to strangers even though many are very nice, you just don't know who to trust so it's better to just not talk to strangers. And never ever ever take candy from a stranger. So what do we do? Encourage them to go up to strangers houses, knock on their doors, talk to them and take candy. Bravo. There's one for contradiction huh? No wonder my kids give me some strange looks some times. I forget how literal kids can be sometimes and it is always refreshing when they bring me back to Earth.

The girls had a great time. I had a little Belle from Beauty and the Beast with Nicole and Aimee decided to be a sparkly witch. And you know people actually commented on how sparkly her costume was? On Saturday night, we went to the Norwell High School to do Trunk or Treat there. It was a fundraiser for the National Honor Society of NHS so we decided to try it. It was so fun, that could have been enough for them.

I love that they get to wear their costumes so many times. They had a dancing Halloween party, Nicole had a parade at school and we went to the Trunk or Treat. So there are a few donnings right there. Makes me feel like we got our money's worth, you know?

So Happy Halloween to all the ghost and goblins out there. I hope that you had a good one and that all of your frights are over!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Jill of all trades...

Master of none apparently. I can now see why working mothers give up their careers specifically when the kids get to real school. I mean I only work part time so I give the full time working moms with kids in school a real big "hurrah" and "here here" to them. Two weeks ago I was flat out at work. My mom who is always happy to be my fallback child caregiver was away for a week and I needed to work 32 hours. Do you get that? A whole 8 hours more than I normally work. At first I though, that is no sweat - what is 8 hours. Oh, how dumb I was.

My friend Missy was nice enough to come over and watch the girls for me while I was at work that extra day and took up the slack from my mom being away on my usual day in the office that I need child care coverage. Missy and I went to high school together so I have known her for about 20 years. She is also and out of work preschool teacher so she did and AWESOME job with the girls. They had a lot of arts and crafts time, she took no stuff from Nicole who has proven to me that terrible twos are a misnomer but that is a whole different post and the girls have asked again and again when she will be back. So if that doesn't spell great sitter I don't know what does.

Anyway, I had to work 4 days that week and by the end of it I was fall down exhausted, had little patience for the kids and their antics/fighting, particularly at bed time when I was going to be going to bed right on their heels.

What it taught me? That I have yet to master this whole work life balance. I don't really know how anyone does it effectively or maybe that is really the whole idea. Maybe every other working parent I know does it all with smoke and mirrors and their houses are just as much chaos as mine can be. Luckily I married the right guy because he took up the slack I was laying down on my motherly/wifely part of our house such a cooking, grocery shopping, kid pick up and drop off, lunch packing and bill paying. Work has calmed to a respectable level though part of me misses the adrenaline rush of the weeks with so much to do.

So my thoughts still wander to how other people do it? How are there enough hours in the day? How do they fit in the kids, work, personal appointments, *gasp* workouts, etc. Maybe they sleep less or maybe they have children who go to bed at 7:30 on the dot instead of constantly pushing the limit to 8:30ish with the latest demands for water, another baby doll, lovey, etc. Or maybe they go through the same struggles. Maybe they don't sit down to dinner each night as a family as we strive to do. Maybe they don't see their significant other due to opposite working shifts. There are a lot of maybes out there. But it has been comforting to know that some of the families I have met thus far through Aimee's class seem to be in a similar juggle as I am with family watching their kids, one kid here, another one there, mulitple drop offs, extracurricular activities, etc. I just think they do it with more flare, better hair and matching socks.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

September? Gone?

Yeah yeah I didn't get a single post in during September. I stink I know. But it's mid-October and we've been knee deep into things here. I can't even believe that school started and now we are only about 5 weeks from Thanksgiving. CRAZY.

So what have we been up to? Aimee started Kindergarten (sniff) and while I was a little sad that my baby is 5 and getting on the school bus, she loves it and it just makes my heart swell to see her beaming as she gets on the bus. She loves her teacher and is making a lot of new friends and it's just been so so great. Nicole is also loving preschool and her teachers tell me that she is so cuddly and loves to be held on their laps, etc. Luckily she is barely tipping the scales at about 29 pounds so she's easy to hold and carry for the short distances in the classroom. Aimee even loves to come with me to drop Nicole off and see her past teachers from both the 3 year old classroom and the 4 year old classroom. It's such a great school and I am so lucky to be able to send my kids there and to have gone there myself.

What I have found with school starting is that we have so much to do. Every day is a shuffle and it's been stressful trying to make sure we have everyone where they need to be every day. I can see how couples could have friction from this. It sure means that you and your partner have a good give and take relationship and value the other's schedule and needs. I could never ever work my current job without the support of my husband. He does the pick ups and drop offs most of the time so that I can just roll out of bed into my carpool (have I mentioned that yet? I LOVE my carpool) and onto work. I know that it means he gets only two mornings where he can just get out of the house early without responsibilities but he takes it on great.

I am mostly in charge of making sure he only has to pick up the right backpacks and lunch sacks for each child and doesn't have to think about what is in them, just trusting that I have packed adequate lunches and snacks for them. I am the one who makes sure that the library book is packed on Mondays for library day, that sneakers are laid out for Thursdays for gym day. That the correct color is put on for the theme color day of the week and that the clothes laid out for each of the girls will be warm or cool enough for the weather of the day. It isn't an easy step by step process that we go through each night preparing for the next day but it is certainly necessary so that everyone is on time and where they need to be.

And the carpool. Love the carpool. A friend of mine at work who lives a town over from me suggested that we try to coordinate rides into and out of the office on the days I am in the office all day. So on Mondays and Thursdays we share a ride in and I am loving it. I love being able to use the carpool lane and zip past the latest accident or incident on the roadways. I love being able to converse with someone so easily and share funny anecdotes and advices on being a working mother. I love that I am not shelling out as much in gas money too.

So it has been a fun fall so far. Jammed packed with dancing lessons, swimming lessons, after school camps, girl scouts, etc. etc. but everyone seems happy and well adjusted. But if you had asked me 6 weeks ago how this would all work out I would have shrugged my shoulders and given a big "I dunno" but like anything else I have learned as a parent, you just roll with it and somehow it all comes together.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Summer Lovin'

I know that this summer has been a hot one, but I have not complained once about the heat. Even when I was dripping in sweat merely trying to cut Aimee's 5th birthday (which by the way OMG I have a 5 year old) cake at her party. Sure it is hot, but it's summer. Last summer was a continual rain-fest with hardly any nice warm days in.a.row. Sure we had a 90 here and there but that was it. So I am so excited for the next days with back to summer heat for the forecast.

Okay, admittedly I have central air conditioning now and an in ground pool so hey it's not hard to deal with the heat. But I have loved loved loved this summer. It goes by so fast it is crazy. Don't get my wrong, I do love fall with the changing leaf colors, apple picking, pumping carving, etc. but there is something about this time of year that always gets me a little bit blue. The end of summer, flip flops, short pants, Capri's, etc. going back into the closet and sometimes into Goodwill always makes me a little sad.


So I am soaking it all in, the last few days of summer. I know that soon enough we'll be waking up to 40 degree mornings and need jackets before leaving the house. But until then, bring on the heat!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Cutting Costs

This summer we have had some unfortunate house type things bite the dust. The remnants of my husband's bachelorhood in the form of a 65" wide screen TV died (playing of taps here) and while I did a little happy dance that Noah's Ark was leaving our living room I quickly put away my dancing shoes when I realized to replace it with about 10 less inches of viewing screen would be about $1400. Then we needed a stand for the little gem because our mammoth 65" one was all inclusive. So $2200 later we were invested in a nice TV with stand.

Of course, the story doesn't end there. We were having our July 4th BBQ and to get ready for it our grill decided to bite the dust and literally went up in flames. Luckily I remembered a friend of mine (Holla Tricia) had recently commented on how baking soda puts out a grease fire so when my husband was frantically searching for what to do about the shooting flames when no gas was on, I calmly walked out with my box of Arm & Hammer and we smothered the fire but were left with no grill and a party less than 4 days away. So off to Sears to get the on sale Kenmore grill with external burner to the tune of $350.

Now it's been a roasting hot summer and we have loved our pool for every single minute of it. But, our pool cover from last year was no more than an out of shape, hole infested tarp that the previous owners had purchased probably at the dawn of man. This thing was so old and I quivered every time the girls went outside for fear they would somehow manage to excel in their fine motor control and unlock the triple locked pool gate. So we knew we would want one of those put-an-elephant-on-here-pool-covers. Luckily the guy at the pool and patio store let us purchase it on the tax free weekend. Wh0-hoo. But another $2600 gone. I really hope that things happen in 3's because we can't afford another major purchase right now. (knock wood)

So, today I get to thinking of our bills. We will have a slight raise because we are cutting down on daycare costs since Aimee will be braving the public school system in a mere 13 days (sniff sniff) and Nicole is taking a stab at nursery school. So with the promise of my mom to help us out and my continued reduced workweek plus a husband who works for himself we hope to breathe a little easier in September. However I am still looking at how to cut a few costs. So I am putting all non essential kid clothes and outgrown things into a consignment sale, I have some bigger ticket kid items (pack and play anyone?) to go onto Craigslist and today I decided to call the cable company to get a lower package because who needs 100 movie channels?

So I called at 9AM and talked to a very nice woman who walked me through the packages. Now my husband definitely loves his TV so I was unsure how he would like a reduced package. So I was able to get a slight reduction and the promise to keep calling in once in a while because they do run specials. So I called my husband and asked him how many channels he wanted to keep and after careful consideration he decided that he could lose a few. So I went back to the cable company and asked them again what my options were and another lovely woman said she could keep us in the same service level for $50 less per month and would I like to do that? I am sure it's part of the "form" call they need to do but I really think it's a no brainer. So I have effectively just saved us another $50 per month on our cable/Internet/phone. I am doing my own little happy dance here knowing that one second phone call is now going to save us $600 per year! One little phone call and now we're locked in for that year.

So now I am off to said cable company because our DVR isn't working. I was planning on going anyway to trade in our DVR for a regular box because it would save us $15 per month and I just might kiss whoever greets me at the desk.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The First Mile

It amazes me that whenever I talk to a "runner" they always tell me that the first mile is always the toughest. Even if they run marathons or 10Ks regularly, that first mile is always tough. For me, the non-seasoned, tomato faced runner all the miles are tough. I can run well enough on the treadmill, I mean it is propelling me forward so to speak. I can run outside okay and actually prefer it but I have found little time to actually partake in outdoor running. I know, you are saying to yourself...."take the kids in the stroller" but man I can barely run myself let alone pushing a good 70 pounds of kids plus stroller.

I get through my mileage, sometimes it is easier than others. At this point my goal is to actually run the entire 3.5 miles without stopping for some wind sucking to slow down. I can do almost two without stopping. But inevitably I need a break, some time to take regular breaths and just walk for a few moments or even a full minute before I get back into it.

Today I was in my workout room at my office. It's a nice little outfit where they have set up for the employees 2 treadmills, 2 bikes, 2 elliptical machines and a rower. Also included is a set of free weights. So today I had a co-worker who I don't even know on the elliptical next to my treadmill. And don't you know that it made me go further and faster just so I wouldn't have to stop at all during my 3.5 miles. I didn't want to look like an ass because I had to keep stopping so I just went full force and ran my 3.5 miles. And after my cool down and stretch I actually felt good. I felt accomplished and I felt better than I had in a while.

So okay runners. I get it. Get through the first mile....but keep going. The first mile is the hardest, the second is a bit better and mile three is better still. I just wish I was doing this for the love of running instead of to get my ass back into my pre-pregnancy clothes.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Lest August go by....

I didn't want to go without posting at least once in August. Bad bad blogger. It's been such a beautiful summer I haven't wanted to spend any time indoors and on the computer. I hardly even check Facebook anymore save for a few random check ins to get the latest news and even then I miss things depending on who posts when and fills up my news feed. Gah!

Well big things are coming up in our household. My weight loss isn't doing so well. Not sure why or what happened to my motivation but it's basically out the window. I am not giving up though because I know that I can do it based on the success that I already had. So I am stepping it up and going on down....again. But that isn't the biggest news. The biggest news is that we are about to embark into the public school system.

Now I am sure there are moms out there that are members of the who-hoo club when their children go off to school. But to be honest, I think I am a member of the boo-hoo club. Thinking of putting my little girl on the bus to travel all the way around the corner to school is a bit heartbreaking. True, it's a rite of passage and one that every kid takes, but is it bad that I have no recollection of my first day of Kindergarten? Actually I have very little recollection of any of my first days of school except Freshman year in high school. Should I be worried that these were such horrible experiences that I have perhaps blocked them out of my memory? I certainly remember the last day of school in some grades. I bet there is some Darwinian theory in there someplace.

Anyway, I have exactly 2 weeks and 2 days before this event happens and I am not happy at all. Sure I want her to go to school and enjoy it. Hell, I even want her to make new friends and love it. But, it's the end of an era. It's real school. You can't miss real school. It's frowned upon when you take them out for a few days just to go away or the like. Before it was just me missing the pre-paid days of daycare. Now it's real consequence.

But it's really bigger than that. It's hard to fully explain but I feel like a portion of our time together as a threesome is ending. We have had a schedule for the past 3 years (once Nicole entered the picture) of what we would do from week to week and with daycare the seasons didn't really mean a whole lot. Sure we added in preschool but it really just worked into our days. This Kindergarten bit is a new ball game and I am not sure I am ready to play. But like all things in life, time marches on and in 2 weeks and 2 days I will be wadding my Kleenex at the end of the driveway as the bus pulls up and takes away the little creature I have nurtured and watched grow to the best of my ability for the past 5 years.

I am sure by 3 weeks from now I will be over it but the anticipation has me welling up each time I think about it.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Tagged...And Where I Have Been

Oh dear. My good friend over there at McCashew has tagged me to post a photo. The rules state that I must find the 8th photo in my 8th folder and talk about it. Well, unfortunately, I don't have any photos uploaded to my Picasa album (note to self worst.picture.mom.ever) but I do have a photo that my good friend Anelise took a few weeks ago of my girls. I love this picture and think it could go as the one that comes in frames when you purchase them.



So there, I participated but sadly I don't follow enough blogs to pass this fun little contest along so I will have to stop here. Though I know the Suburban Snapshots put up lots of fun traffic now so perhaps Brenna will participate in the fun. If you're reading this Brenna....TAG!

And for my few readers still out there, I am glad to stick with me. I do treasure you and I am happy that you come back to see me here. I would love to say that I am kicking butt in my weight loss war and really I am since I have not been this successful in losing weight in a very long time. But my competition is pretty stiff so I am probably out for the win unless all the ladies gain a few over the fourth. But I wish them no ill will because the contest has been invaluable to me.

My new favorite workout is in the pool. We finally got our pool up and running and looking great so my girls and I have spent a lot of time out there. I can tread water in the deep end for an hour or swim laps back and forth in the shallow end for them to try and catch me and I can tell it's a great workout. Plus it keeps me out of the kitchen and that is always a bonus.

I am so so so close to breaking under the 200 lb. mark that it makes me crazy. I have to resist the urge to step on the scale every single day and move that darn thing around to get the lowest weight possible. I set it up in one spot on the bathroom floor and I step on Monday mornings. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me because before I was an every day scale stepper and it was making me crazy and frankly inhibiting my weightloss because I was hanging my whole day on that number.

So onto the July 4th holiday weekend. We have a big cookout scheduled and I hope that the weather is nice, the fireworks clear and you all enjoy your summer holiday.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Weight Loss War Week #4 & #5

So I slacked a little bit by not letting you all know that I missed a week to check in. Apparently the post about going to bed over took my intentions of another followup on how my weight loss war is going. My apologies because I know you are all dying in your seats to know how much smaller my ass is getting....

It's going, but it's slow and I am finding that if it were not for this war then I would have fallen much further off the wagon than my occasional trips thus far. I have found that on the days I get out of bed and hit the gym right away I am more likely to continue to eat better and watch the ingredient list of things more. But, if I wait until the end of the day...chances are I won't make it to the gym and I won't be as conscious of what is going into my pie hole.

I am still going to the gym but I have found that I am all about cardio when I know in my head that I need to do some weights. I lost a lot of weight once before and I know it was all from the weights but for some reason this road block is really right in my face. It's strange. I did step over it a bit on Wednesday and I walked for 45 minutes and then did 20 minutes of weights. I also felt it the next day but not in a bad way. It was a "you used this muscle and it is getting stronger" type of pain.

So now the weekend is here and the warmer weather is arriving. The pool is open and almost clean enough to swim though the temperature is a frigid 65 degrees. But I plan on doing laps in that baby as soon as I can. I also have my double jogging stroller that I found for a bargain price of $85 on Craigslist. It is now my only stroller as I also sold all of my other strollers on Craigslist. So I have the means and I would really like to get my ass moving more. So I will continue the war. Thus far I have lost 7.5 pounds. I would like it to go faster but apparently to do that I have to stop indulging in a few of the fruit snacks and left overs my kids leave.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Going to bed

We need to find a new routine for going to bed. It seems as though we get through the initial part of the routine okay. On the non-bath nights (no, we don't bathe them every night unless it's summer and the combo of sunscreen and dirt are evident everywhere...judge away) we do the face and hand washing and the teeth brushing without much incident. Bladders are emptied, underpants changed and magnets are on the Melissa and Doug Responsibility Board in hopes of another prize for getting all magnets for the day. Then, the books are read, hugs and kisses abound and everyone is tucked in. Now if it ended there, I would do cartwheels when I got downstairs. But no, this isn't the end, it is merely the beginning. Despite all that I do to try and get the stray doll, toy or must have item upstairs with us on that trip up, apparently I always forget an essential item. I am sure it is equally irritating on their part that I can't quite figure out beforehand what is an essential item to bring up with us each night.

We then go back and forth with additional potty trips, drinks of water, change of pjs into warmer or cooler ones and additional requests to snuggle. I realize these are all boundary pushers designed to test us as parents and to be honest....it's working. After having a day of constant motion with the two of them I can't figure out how they still have any energy left because I certainly don't have any.

Nicole in particular is going through a spell right now where even one little bump in the road in her mind causes an all out crumple onto the floor. Take last night for instance....after all of the above was completed she decided that she needed a Band Aid for a miniscule scab on her toe. Okay, I get it I was the Queen of Band Aids when I was her age and now they make them with any imaginable cartoon on there so they are even more appealing than the brown plastic ones of my youth. So she is able to go downstairs and get the bandaid herself while I stay upstairs and try to whisk one last load of laundry into the dryer for the day. My little love comes upstairs, puts the bandage on her toe and proceeds to tell me that she has to go back downstairs to throw away the wrapper when there is a trash right there in the laundry room that I tell her she can put it in. Well no. That was not what she wanted so tears, big, fat tears are streaming down her face and she is getting that hiccuping crying because she is so upset that I made her throw away the wrapper upstairs and not downstairs like she wanted to. I realize it would have been easier to let her go down and throw it away in the kitchen but it was already 8:40, well past bed time and I wasn't giving in and she was obviously exhausted and needed to go right into bed. I put her in, cuddled for a few and she finally did stop with the crying and went to sleep but by the time I got downstairs to get ready for today it was well after 9PM.

So how do you do it? Are your night times filled with this much hectic-ness? Is there a way to transition from the fullness of the days activities into the calmness needed to go to bed without tears? We have had a few tearless nights and Aimee by far is easier to get to bed at night because I think she realizes that "hey, I am tired and those ballet slipper sheets look pretty good right now..." but I think that the terrible 3's are in our midst right now.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Weight Loss War Week #3

So it's that time of the week again to report how the war rages on. Last week I lost a whole pound. It wasn't quite the result I wanted to see but in past times I had found that I typically gain after a large loss so I am taking it and moving on. This week has proved more challenging to me to get in my workouts and for some reason to eat as well as I would like. I have figured out I am a stress eater. How I fix it is still to be determined. I recognize it and I admit it but I still need to stop it. I think I have reduced the amounts I cram into my mouth, but I still do cram some in during times of stress.


The week for me started with Gary working last Saturday morning which prevented me from going to the gym in the early AM like I wanted. I had a full day with birthday party for Aimee to go to and Gary and I had date night scheduled so I knew the morning was my only chance at a workout. So I popped in my Biggest Loser Boot camp DVD that I borrowed from the library and pumped and burned with past season contestants. I called it a day and went on. Sunday I did make it to the gym to run my 3.5 miles and it was all good.


Monday things got slippery. I went to pick up a double jogging stroller that I found on Craigslist so that I can start taking the girls on walks around the neighborhood, but it was out in Concord, MA. Since starting my scour weeks ago for this elusive stroller I decided that I was going to make the trek and then go to work afterwards in Cambridge because while Concord is far from Norwell it is not far from Cambridge so that was my reasoning. Suffice to say I did not get into work until well after 10AM and I just didn't think it was a good idea to head to the workout room at noontime with only two hours of work under my belt. So I worked through lunch to make up my tardiness and I headed home and got in just after 6:30. So no workout Monday.


Tuesday I had good intentions but they all fell to crap because my head was pounding from what I can only imagine was allergies. Apparently Juniper is very high lately and every time I hear it mentioned on the news I tend to have a headache. So I am self diagnosing and saying I am allergic to Juniper. Tuesday shot.


Wednesday I got up at the crack of dawn, rolled into my workout clothes and headed into work. The construction of the Neponset Bridge has proved really good at lengthening my commute so I get up at 5AM and have everything pre-packed the night before so that on Wednesdays Gary stays home with the girls in the AM and I meet up with him at 1PM and get them from him. Anyway, I went to work, ran my 3.5 miles and called my workout done. So Wednesday was good. Until...night time. Aimee complained her belly hurt after she came in from playing outside with Nicole. I figured that since she isn't good about knowing the telltale signs of intestinal gas and or bathroom necessity as reasons for the discomfort I chalked it up to her having an impending bathroom break. And not having monitored any of her intake that day since I don't see her until 3PM when I pick her up from preschool, I noticed she didn't want dinner and at about 8PM I saw the contents of her stomach all over my living room floor. So she was definitely not up to par which meant that Thursday was not going to be on schedule.


Thursday morning we got up and all seemed fine. No more evidence of the stomach ailments that had plagued Aimee the night before. So I sat her down with some Gatorade and some toast with jelly and watched her. Seemed like it was just something she ate that affected her so we were on with our normal routine after all until an explosive bathroom visit. So I decided not to subject the little kids at daycare to any potential germs though I suspected it was due to an overindulgence the day before. But Nicole went to daycare, I stayed home with Aimee to monitor progress and she was fine so she went off to school at 12:30 but that meant I had to catch up on work I missed so I was again unable to hit the gym.


That brings us to today. We're off for a walk in the neighborhood with my Craigslist find and I hope to hit the gym later on after Aimee's dancing lessons. The rest of the weekend is up in the air for plans but I do plan to get a few gym visits in there.


I haven't seen a ton of progress but I was able to put on a pair of Capri pants that didn't fit me so well last summer and wear them comfortably. Of course they did fit comfortably the summer prior to that but small steps here. My first mini goal is to get under 200 lbs which I haven't seen in about 5 years since I was pregnant with Aimee. I am just over a bag of flour away from that and hopefully I can keep things in tact for the next few days to see another loss on Monday.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Weight Loss War Week #2

So the results of the first week of the war....5-1/2 pounds lost. Who-hoo! But as anyone who watches the Biggest Loser knows that the first week always has the most loss. So with week two the proof will have to be in the pudding as they say. I would like to lose at least 20 pounds over the course of this war. I don't even care about the money though it would be nice to win it. I am all about the fed up with being at my heaviest weight and being uncomfortable in my own skin so I am SO GLAD that my friends decided to do this, it's exactly the kick in the pants I needed.

I have been really going full force with my workouts, measuring and calculating every bite and ensuring that I am getting 7 hours of sleep each night. I won't jinx the sleep club Gods but will say that it's been okay in that department lately. So I am hoping that my over the top exercising will pay off and really it should because...it sucks.

There I said it. Exercising sucks. I know I am supposed to get a high from it and feel all endorphins rush etc. and by the end of the workout I do, I am pumped and it feels great to shower off and know that I am feeling good. But the amount of back and forth arguing I do in my head about whether to go, should I go, can I skip today, I will only do 10 minutes...blah blah. It's awful. The first 10 minutes really do suck. So I make a deal with myself every single time to do at least 10 minutes and re-evaluate and thus far by the time I hit those 10 minutes I am so deep into my ipod that I just keep going. It really is all about taking the first step. Once I step in the right direction towards the gym, I can get the workout done. But getting there, man it's tough sometimes.

It's only been two weeks and I hope I can keep it up and who knows maybe by week 12 I will tell you that I LOVE to exercise. Or at least that I love it because it is a means to my ends to fit my ass back into a size 14 for crissakes. I also think I need to find a nice used double jogger to help with the warm weather that is finally coming back so that the girls and I can get out and about and maybe meet some new neighbors. Stay tuned for week 3.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Weight Loss War - Week One

It hurts everywhere. I am very literally kicking my own ass. I have not missed my daily gym appointment yet this week and while I know that I can't keep it up for an eternity I am loving the deep hurt feeling while I lie in bed knowing that I did good at working those muscles.

Getting up however, is another story entirely. Once I step out of bed I am reminded that I am not 25 any more. Hell, I am not even 30 anymore and there are probably more aches and pains then there should be since I have these extra pounds pushing down on all my joints.

But it feels good and I am pressing on. I have even found some recipes I can't wait to try in my new healthy eating lifestyle. And poor Gary, whether he knows it or not he is in this with me too because I refuse to buy the soda, chips, ice cream etc. that I know he and I love. So I may just be doing this as a two-fer.

I had Gary take a picture and suffice to say I was not happy with the results. Thus far I have taken pictures with the girls conveniently positioned in front of me or cropped out the roll or belly fat in others. But this was a full on head to toe, no one in front of me picture and it was really a wake up to me. I have been reading Bob Harper's Book about "Are you Ready?" and in there it mentions that one woman he worked with only took pictures or looked in mirrors from the neck up. And that is what I have been doing. Or when I did look in a full length mirror it was with squared shoulders and stomach sucked in . But with this picture, it was all out there. So that picture is now is hanging on my refrigerator (though I am sure I will whip it into the drawer these first few weeks so others don't see it) as a little reminder of why I don't need the extra what have you from inside the fridge. I will post it in a month when I hopefully have another, better, slimmer one beside it.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Still here....

I know, I know, I go off and live my life but leave you all hanging here. I left off to conquer the world of weightloss. I didn't do badly but I definately didn't see the results that I wanted. But I realized a few things about myself and where my diet goes down the drain so I am working on that. I didn't step on the scale for about 6 weeks and when I finally did I had lost 3 pounds. At first I was ticked off and wanted to heave the scale out the window but I finally realized that 1/2 pound a week while it isn't the lightning speeds that I want, it's something.

I have also figured out that I need to be consistent in my workouts and eating because it isn't a diet it's going to be a new lifestyle. So to help me on my journey I have joined up with a few great lady friends for a weight loss war. It's very motivating to have a competition and while the prize money would be great, far greater will be the rewards of actually losing the weight. So here I go again....reminds me of that 80s hairband song. Many more posts about this to come, I assure you. The preliminary news is that day one went AWESOME right down to the last calorie and the trip to the gym. Though I had to go to bed at 8PM last night and read just so I wouldn't be tempted to eat anything else. So feel free to leave me any inspirational comments as well as tips that you may have. I will say that going upstairs last night at 8PM allowed me to do a ton of reading in my latest book but that this morning I woke up famished and with my thyroid meds I can't eat for a whole hour after taking them so it's been torture waiting this morning and my stomach is doing something it hasn't done in a while....growling.

In other news that isn't all consuming as my weightloss attempts, the girls and I made a trip to Florida at the end of March. Gary couldn't come because work has been unpredictable and he didn't want to miss out on a big job because he was away. So the girls and I went to visit my parents without him. It was sad not to go with him, definately but I think a small part of me was just as happy to have my parents share in the girls with me for that week. Since my they are my parents and I am an extension of them it's fun to see the youngest generation of "Santoros" (my maiden name) with the older one. My father has waited for grandkids forever and my girls did not disappoint. I even see a bit of the kid in my father as he is down on his hands and knees doing driveway chalk with them.

The girls did awesome on the plane. It was definately a lot of work to get on the plane with them and to have to organize all of our stuff to take as minimally as possible but still be able to entertain them for the 3 hour plane ride. They each had their own backpack with wheels that they could wear or drag through the airport and I took Nicole's car seat on a little dolly made specifically for carseats and we dumped everything into it and hauled it through the airport. I was also able to get gate passes so that Gary could take us to the gate in Boston and my mom could meet us at the gate in Sarasota. Worked perfectly.

The winter thus far in Florida has been nothing great, better than New England definately but still not typical Florida in postcards weather. But when we arrived, my father said it was like a switch, the weather was warmer, we took him to the beach for the first time this winter and we had time to play outside and enjoy the summer-like conditions.

We even came home on Easter and didn't blink an eye because it was just as beautiful in Boston as it had been getting on the plane in Florida. It held for a few days even and my girls were tickled thinking that this was it, summer arrived. Though being the seasoned New Englander that I am I know it was only a tease and the flip flops and painted toes would again make their retreat beneath socks. But my girls have still not given up on their skirts sans tights and short sleeve shirts.

So come on Spring/Summer. Please don't leave us in the cold and wet like last year and show some sun to us that warms us up!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Choices

An Internet chat group that I am proud to be a part of had an interesting discussion a week or so back. Basically there were a few posts that said if you do these things you will make your life healthier. There was also a post in response to it where the poster said that they just could not understand why someone would continue to live at an unhealthy weight knowing all the health risks it poses.

As someone who has struggled with weight my entire life, I of course got hot under the collar when I read this statement. I wanted to shout "Do you think it's easy to desperately want to lose weight and fail over and over?" But I didn't. Then I began to think about it more and more and realized that despite that I didn't want to hear it....she was right. Why am I doing this to myself? Why do I continue to struggle with weight and not able to lose it? How close am I to making this a problem for my children to face as well? Of course it isn't easy to lose the weight. If it were, would there be a popular reality TV show with overweight people stepping on the scale scantily clad in front of America if it was easy?

It made me take a good hard look at myself and realized that I need to make some important choices. I can't change it all in one day. But I know that when things start to get hard or when I am not seeing the progress like the contestants on the Biggest Loser are seeing that I get discouraged and just say I will try it again tomorrow, or Monday or whenever the next easiest deadline I want to give myself arrives.

Well it's here. I have hit it. So instead of making a New Year's resolution I am making a mid-February promise. I am going to get healthy. I am not entirely sure how I am going to do it. I know that Weight Watchers while a great program and one I have succeeded on in the past isn't doing it for me. I also know that the ones like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystems where you get all of your food in ready to eat containers will give you portion control but I like to cook. I want to know that I don't have to depend on cellophane wrapped meals for the rest of my life to maintain a healthy weight. And kudos to those who have undergone the gastric bypass and have been successful, but I don't want to do it that way either.

So far my approach has been to eat less, move more. I stepped on the scale and when I have enough courage I will post the starting weight. Needless to say it isn't pretty and it starts with a "2". But, it's all downhill from here. I have my sparkpeople profile set up. I have my exercise regime started with 5 days per week of doing something whether it's a DVD in my bedroom or actually going to the gym.

So send some encouragement my way. It's going to be a long road. I know that people with thyroid issues that I have can encounter a tougher weight loss but it can be done I am told. So here it goes. I will check in at least once per week and let you know how it is going. Thus far I have run 6.2 miles this week and I have stayed below my 1500 calorie per day intake.

Onward and downward!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Too Much Stuff

As evidenced by my blog title, I work part time. I am lucky enough to have a position that allows me to work 24 hours per week. It's a great gig and I love my position. You would think that having kids, I would have grown a thick skin because almost every request I make of them is instantly met with the word "no". Apparently this is not so because inevitably I still come across the occasional person who in one little sentence can send my day into a downward spiral.

This instance was last week when I was on my way into the office building from the garage underneath. I was walking in with my laptop, jacket over my arm and my pocketbook. We have a key card that grants us access to the building and typically just a quick wave in front of the device will open the door. Knowing that the card was somewhere in my bag and that just a simple wave of my pocketbook in the correct place would open the door, I did a little dance and tried to open the door on the wrong side of my pocketbook apparently. I did eventually get the door to open and managed to get myself inside the building to the elevator where a man was holding the door open for me. I rushed in with all of my items over my arms, etc. and the man inside looked at me in disgust and told me I had too much stuff. If it had been said in jest or with a smile I might have come up with an equally funny retort. Instead I was left to seeth about how he didn't know what I had in my bags and why I had that stuff and thank God I wasn't nursing anymore so that there were no pumps of any sort because I would have gladly explained that to him.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Third Year

While I was on hiatus, we had another birthday here. Nicole turned three on January 9th. In typical me fashion I hadn't quite recovered from the holidays when I realized I should probably get off my duff and arrange for some celebration for her. Good thing she is young. I hope she doesn't think that I jipped her in any way. We are still in the family birthday celebration mode where no outside friends have really been invited yet to our celebrations. Last year for Aimee's birthday we did invite a few of her friends to a paint your own plaster place that was great. But she turned 4 and I think it was warranted. So any readers I have left, be sure that you remind me at Christmas time to prepare something for Nicole's 4th. At least by that time she will be in preschool and have a few friends of her own.

I can't believe that Nicole is 3. Seems like it went by all really fast. It's a good thing that most of my pictures are dated because some I think were taken last year were really taken almost 2 years ago. You would think that I would realize it but my kids are the slowest with getting their teeth and Nicole is so slim I haven't noticed any difference in her facial shape from 2-3, even in pictures. Strange for sure.

We had her 3 year check up and she tips the scales at 27 pounds and is 35-1/4 inch tall. So she is still on the small side but at least she is proportionate.


Happy Birthday little girl....just minutes old...
And then, from her actual birthday day...please note trying to still wear the holiday sweaters....




Jack of All Trades...

And master of none. The least of which is updating my blog. Bad, bad blogger....

To say that we have been busy would be an understatement. I left off back in October I believe. Since then we have hosted Thanksgiving, an open house and Christmas. Not to mention various birthday gatherings in between.

Thanksgiving was awesome. I think it's my favorite holiday of the year. As a child of course nothing compared to Christmas but now that I am older I can appreciate Thanksgiving more. No shopping besides for the meal. The house smells great all day long from Turkey cooking and overall it's just a great time of year.

Then Christmas rolls around. This year we hosted an open house here and I invited about 75 people thinking they would waltz in at all times during the day. Not so. They all stopped by probably at about 2PM. The open house went from 12-5 and everyone came smack dab in the middle. One dear friend of mine from NJ who I was maid of honor for her in her wedding surprised me and came up with her daughter who is about 8 months younger than Aimee. That was the best Christmas present I got this year. It was early but it was just so heartwarming to see her and know that she thought enough to come. I also had a lot of other people I had not seen in a long time show up to visit and overall it was a great day. I think that giving people an outlet to get together is awesome. At one point I looked around my new house and saw no less than about 50 people in my house. Some were in our living room, some gathered around the kitchen and others just mingling about the family room. We have decided to make it an annual event.

Then Christmas itself actually rolls around. We decorated for the open house so we were done early this year. It was also the year where the girls were at the best age. They got it all this year. Santa, the elf on the shelf, writing lists, getting their picture taken, etc. etc. I hope that it lasts like this for a few more years.

Now we are onto January and the new year. So again my resolution is back to what I typically do. Lose weight. It has been on my list forever, even higher up since having kids since the pounds packed on during pregnancy seem to linger still.