Down 60 and still going

I have been hanging out at around 60 lbs lost for a few weeks now.  I think I'm stuck.  It's frustrating because I still feel like I'm working like crazy to lose weight.  I'm working out in some form 5-6 times a week, still counting every calorie, and it absolutely drives me crazy when I hit a plateau.  Sometimes it makes me wonder why I'm still trying, but when I see a picture of what I looked like 60 lbs ago, I'm instantly reminded why I keep trying. 

This weekend, I tried on a pair of shorts that I wore last summer that were actually a bit snug on me then.  They literally fell right off!  That is also a fantastic motivator!  I decided to pull all the clothes out of my closet that no longer fit me.  As a result, my closet is looking rather bare, but I'm okay with it because all of those clothes are too big!



And me in my shorts from last summer:

(Please ignore my shiny face and limp hair.  This was taken post work out, pre-shower.)

I still have more weight to lose, and I have a lot of toning to do and it's easy to get caught up on how far I still have to go and to get frustrated when the number stops going down on the scale for longer than I'd like, but it's good to be able to look at how far I've come.  It keeps me going.

Zoo!

Today, I took my son, my younger daughter, and one of her friends to the zoo. We had a pretty good time.  Here are some of the pics I took:








Then, this evening, while my daughter was at softball practice, I walked/jogged 3 times with Bella around the 1 mile loop that surrounds the park she practices at.  Not a bad day!

Eight!

My baby turned 8 today!  He's growing up too fast! :(  He chose Buffalo Wild Wings for his birthday dinner, but was quite upset that they had remodeled. 

Me and my birthday boy!


Seems like he should still be about this size:

Happy Birthday, little man!

A few pics

Yesterday, I took Bella to the vet for a check up and some vaccines.  Here she is as we were checking out:


Then, I took Molly for a walk.  She always looks up at me when I walk her with what looks like a huge smile on her face.  It cracks me up!


Here's my baby girl on her way to a school dance tonight:


And here are my other two babies taken just a few minutes ago:

Awwwwww!

Getting there!

This long week is half over!  Tomorrow will be a pretty busy day.  I need to work on my paper, take Bella to the vet, my son to the dentist, and my daughter to her class at the YMCA.  Then, Friday, I'll be volunteering in my son's class all day. Of course, I have to take a kid to a birthday party on the other side of town on Saturday, but I'm hoping to maybe do some shopping while I'm out there and buy a new purse!  That always makes me feel better. ;-)

Today, I worked 3 hours this morning then came home and attempted to jog around my neighborhood with Bella.  I always do this and somehow think it'll be better each time.  Sometimes, it goes okay, but today I gave up on trying to make a good time after three, yes THREE, stops for Bella to poop (btw, she always just stops abruptly, too, leaving me to jerk my shoulder out of socket on the other end of the leash) and 2 stops to tie my shoes.  It is hard enough trying to jog with that dog as it is, let alone while also carrying multiple bags of dog crap.  She can't run in a straight line beside me for anything!  She will cut in front of me or bump into my leg.  I don't know how many times I've almost face planted!

I never seem to learn though.  I just feel too guilty to go out to walk or jog without taking her because I know she needs the exercise too.  And if she sees me getting ready, she goes to the front door all excited to go.  If nothing else, it gives the neighbors something to laugh at. :)

I did, however, jog the track at the gym yesterday as opposed to the treadmill.  I didn't have an exact time, but I came in somewhere between 38-39 minutes on my 5K.  Not great, but not terrible considering my fastest time on the treadmill to date is 37:41.  I can only get better, right?

Compliments

So, this older lady that I worked with yesterday couldn't believe that I have a teenager.  She said that I don't look more than about 22 myself.  (Ha!) Then, today, I ran into a guy I went to high school with who works at the company I was at.  He posted on my fb tonight that I "haven't changed a bit & still look fantastic". 

It's kind of crazy.  I'm not used to getting a lot of compliments, but it's nice to hear sometimes...even if they are a bit of a stretch!. ;)

Busy week

I have a few of events to work this week. (Yay, money!)  Today's event is from 11-6, so that will be decent, but tomorrow and Wednesday, they're just from 7:30-10:30 am.  It's ok though.  The problem comes with the fact that I will have to leave my house by 7 am and P will be out of town.   My oldest daughter leaves at 6:45 am, so that leaves my younger 2 to get themselves ready and on the bus 2 mornings in a row.  It always seems to work out this way when I have early events.  Fortunately, my 12 year old daughter is pretty responsible and is good at getting herself and her bother ready.  Good news is that the early events are at my "close" to home  location and bonus....they have their own Starbucks! :)

Then, on Wednesday evening, my son has his first baseball practice of the season.  Thursday evening, my younger daughter has her first iron teens class at the YMCA.  This is a 7 week class for kids 9+ to learn how to use all of the work out equipment in the gym.  After they've taken the classes, they are allowed to use the gym equipment with an accompanying adult.  She's looking forward to that.

I also need to get invitations out for my son's birthday party at the end of this month.  Better late than never, right?  Oh yeah, and I have to write a paper for school on how the ONC-Coordinated Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan is being implemented at my place of employment and include an analysis of my health care facility's plan, progress on this initiative in my health care facility, and my analysis of perceived challenges to patient confidentiality and patient self-determination.  Did I mention I don't work for a health care facility?  I do contract work on a per diem basis as a third party to insurance companies.  Soooo, I'm either going to have to make crap up, or hope that my teacher will alter the assignment for me.  Sigh. :/

Pity Party

I am SO very much hating my life right now.  I hate school.  I hate taking up a majority of my waking hours working on school.  I just found out today that it is going to take me longer than I'd originally anticipated to complete my bachelor's degree because I am going to have to repeat a few courses that did not transfer over from my ADN program.  I was originally thinking/hoping that I could get this done in a year, maybe 18 months max.  Now, I am looking at a minimum of 2 years.  So, it's 6 more months...big deal!  Right?  Well, right now I basically feel like I will never get this done.  I get to look forward to lots of BS dealing with financial aid for multiple schools, transferring credits from school to school, taking multiple classes at a time, and hating my life for the next 2+ years.  I just want to be done!

To top it off, I'm second guessing whether nursing is the right career for me after all.  However, at this point, I feel pretty much stuck with it.  After spending 3 years in school full time and accumulating tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, I don't have a choice now but to ride this out and finish what I started.  To find a job in a field that I might not have much interest in anymore, and deal with it for the next 30+ years until I can retire.  I basically cannot just give up now or all that time, money, sweat, and tears would be a complete waste! 

So yeah, I'm having a little pity party for myself. But it's my blog and I can do that here if I want. :P  Okay, enough of that.  Back to the books... :(

APA can KMA!

I hate writing.  HATE it!  I suck at it.  I really, really do.  Unfortunately, that is basically all this bachelor's completion program is.  Writing papers, writing threads on discussion boards, replying to other people's threads on discussion boards.  All of which have to include several references and be written in APA format, of course.  Ugggghh!  I hate this soooo much!  This might be easy for some people, but I have never been good at writing papers.  It literally makes me cry.  :'( 

On a brighter note, my 5K time today was 38:02.  I walked the first .09 miles then started in at 4.8 for  a few then bumped to 4.9 shortly then went to 5.0 and stayed there for the rest.  I hit 3.1 at that time, but then kept jogging to 3.19 just so I could say I jogged an entire 3.1. ;)  But, since I didn't notice what time it was when I started jogging, I just took the first 3.1 as my time.

I don't get it...

Yesterday at the gym, I jogged/walked a 5K in 39:09.  Not too bad of an improvement from 40:45 on my last attempt (on a treadmill).  What I can't understand is how drastically different it is, at least for me, to jog outside.  I understand that the treadmill is easier.  Obviously the "ground" is moving to help you along on a treadmill, plus there's the whole shock absorption thing they offer (and the nicer the treadmill, the easier it seems to be). 

For instance, my treadmill at home is not as high in quality as the gym treadmills, and jogging on it is quite a bit harder for me than at the gym.  Where I regularly jog 2 straight miles on a gym treadmill, I can barely make it a mile on my treadmill at home without feeling like I'm going to die.  And outside, well, I'm dying by the end of my street!  Seriously, I understand that it would be easier on a treadmill, but those are some major differences there!  I just don't get it. 

Getting my 5K on

I am by no means a runner.  However, as I've mentioned, I recently took up a little jogging.  It's not fast, though my speed is increasing verrry slowly.  I started out at a light jog between 4.3 and 4.5 mph.  Yes, that is a jog for me.  If that's a walk for you then shuttie, it's probably because you have longer legs than I do. :P

I have not been able to go to the gym 5-6 times a week, as I had been doing, due to starting back up with my schooling (sigh, that's a whole other story...I'm officially back to hating life).  I have made it to the gym more like 3 times a week.  So, not to make excuses, but that's why my progress is perhaps slower than it could be.  I try to walk on most of my non-gym days, but that doesn't really help my progress as far as jogging goes.

For the past week or two, I have been jogging at an average of 4.7 mph.  Yes, still slow, but an improvement, nonetheless.  My breakdown for today's jog is as follows (my stated distances are per the treadmill):

Walk at 3.8 mph until .05 miles to warm up
Jog at 4.7 mph for 2 miles
Walk at 3.8 mph for .2 miles
Jog at 4.7 for .25 miles  (blah)
Walk at 3.8 mph for .15 miles
Jog at 4.8 mph, and raising to 5.0 mph for .6 miles
Walk at 3.5 and slowly decreasing speed for .15 miles

So, I went a total distance of 3.4 miles in under 45 minutes.  My time at 3.1 miles (5K) was 40:45.  That is a totally sucky number for a 5K, especially on a treadmill.  But ya know what?  I'll take it.  For now.  Mainly because that is, by far, my best time. Not to mention that is something I would not have been able to do 57 lbs ago! Now I just need to work on improving that time, and perhaps more importantly, working on it on pavement so I have a shot at not making a complete fool of myself next month at the Race for the Cure!

Ah, new baby smell!

I took my kiddos over to visit with their cousins today and see the new baby.  We took over some pizza and just hung out for a few hours. 

Here are a few pics I got (btw, today is not a good hair day!) :






Cousins!

Birthdays

Yesterday would have been my mom's 54th birthday.  It's hard to believe she's been gone over 8 years now!  I still miss her every day. 

However, there was happiness yesterday because my new little niece came into the world!  After 3 boys, my bro and SIL got their little girl!  I got to see her in the nursery last night and watch her get her first bath. :)  Can't wait to take over some pizza on Sunday and get my hands on her and breathe in that new baby smell!!!!



Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Not my day

The day started out alright.  Then, when I got to my car after working this morning, I noticed a scratch along the side about 8-10 inches long.  I don't know if it happened while I was inside, or sometime in the past and I just didn't see it until today.  It's quite possible that it happened in my own garage or driveway with my kids (and their friends) constantly in and out with their bikes.



I stopped at a local body shop on my way home to get a quick estimate for the damage.  Looks like it's going to cost about $225 to fix.  Grrr!  I'm really not happy about that!  There's no way to know how it got there, either.  If it was another car, they're long gone.  If it was one of my kids, there's no way any of them would admit to it.  Either way, I'm just going to have to pay to get it fixed.

Then, as I was driving home on this lovely warm spring day, I stopped to get a lemonade from McDonalds.  Unfortunately, after pulling out onto the street, I took a drink and realized it was majorly watered down and not very lemony at all. :(  Sigh.  I was really wanting me some lemonade!

On top of that, after working out and showering and still in my undies, I opened my bedroom door to ask my oldest if she was getting ready for her orthodontist appointment, and my younger daughter and her friend were standing at the top of the stairs (which just so happens to be right outside my bedroom door...).  I just love having house guests that I don't know are here.

And now, my stomach hurts.  I just want to go lay down in bed and hope tomorrow will be a much better day!

Work

I've got a decent amount of events to work this week and next.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, both this week and next, I'll be at the same place I've been working events the last couple of weeks.  I like this location because it's fairly close to home.  Not to mention it starts at 7:30 as opposed to 7:00. :)  I'll take an extra 30 minutes of sleep any day!  On Wednesday next week, I actually have a second event to work in the afternoon from 2-6 pm.  That will be a nice long day.  I'm not complaining though.  It's decent money and it's so easy!  Bring it!

2 Miles

While I was jogging at the gym yesterday, I got to a mile and thought I should keep going to 1.5 miles.  I'd done that once before but I have just been stopping at 1.  So I did.  When I got there I figured I could keep going so I went for 2.  And, I did it!  Woot!  That was the first time in my LIFE I've jogged 2 miles without stopping.  Maybe that's not a big deal for a lot of people but, for me, it's pretty big.  AND, I did it again today. :)

On another note, I got some new flip flops on Saturday.  It has been awesome flip flop weather lately and I needed a new pair.  The only bad thing about new flip flops is breaking them in.  The tops of my poor feet were all marked up by yesterday afternoon:
 

 They are gel filled on the soles, so once they're broken in they should be nice and comfy!

Frustrated

I would really love to be able to find a real job.  The events that I'm working are okay, it's definitely easy money.  But, they are not reliable.  I will go weeks, at times, between working them.  And recently, several of the events I'm scheduled to work end up getting "decreased" at the last minute and I'm "not needed".  This has happened at least 3 or 4 times now, including one day last week, and today.  I am still scheduled, as of now, to work tomorrow and Wednesday.  Assuming they don't decrease the staffing between now and then.  They already decreased the time by an hour.  Ugh.

It's not for lack of trying though.  I submit resumes and applications several times per week to hospitals, doctor's offices, home health companies, anything I can find.  In the past 5 months, since passing my RN boards, I've been on one interview (just a few weeks ago).  Although that interview went well, the doctor ended up choosing a nurse with 35 years of experience.  I can't compete with that!

Some days I'm fine with it, other days I get a bit frustrated that I can't find anything and worry that the longer it takes, the harder it will be to find something.  I don't know.  Oh well, I guess I'll just do my thing and keep waiting it out.  I start classes for my bachelor's completion program at the end of this month through OU.  Maybe that will help...

Yummy snack!

 
A naval orange and a bosc pear.  I was very hungry.  Now I'm not. :)

Yay me!

Last week I was finally able to start jogging a little bit again.  I hadn't really been doing a whole lot of jogging, but I would now and then.  After spraining my ankle last month, I hadn't been able to jog.  Today, after 30 minutes on the elliptical, I actually jogged an entire mile without stopping.  That's kind of a big deal for me.  I haven't jogged a straight mile since probably my freshman year of high school!  That's not all though. I could have gone longer if I'd pushed myself, but I took a break and walked 0.4 miles then jogged another 0.6.  That's crazy!  Sure, I wasn't sprinting or anything. I was jogging rather slowly, but jogging nonetheless. Woohoo!

New specs

My new glasses finally came in.  I hate waiting!  That's why I usually go to Lens Crafters and get them in an hour.  But, I decided to go to a local eye doctor that is in network with my insurance and save a little money, even if it meant having to wait a week for them to come in.  So, I just picked them up.  For some reason, the contacts I ordered at the same time (that usually come in within a day or 2) are still not in.  Methinks someone may have forgotten to order them.  Good thing I still have some.  They also didn't have a case for my new glasses and I'll have to pick one up next time.  Sigh.  Anyway, here they are:



And the side:


Like I said before, aside from the decorative earpieces, they are very similar to my previous glasses in shape and the main color is brown as opposed to "cranberry".  Apparently my prescription in my right eye changed slightly, so it will take a couple of days to get used to the new strength...

Ew, snot!

I have a head cold.  Blah!  I have felt slightly congested for a while, but last night my nose started running.  It wouldn't stop no matter how many times I blew my nose and I still feel congested.  I actually had to sleep with a tissue stuffed up my nose to keep it from dripping out all over my pillow.  I know...super sexy! 

On a positive note, I had an eye appointment yesterday and ordered some new contacts and glasses.  I like my current glasses, but they are 2 years old and have had a nice scratch across one of the lenses for a year now, and I recently cracked an earpiece.  So, it was time for new ones.  The frames I picked out are similar to the ones I have, but slightly different.  Here is a pic I found online of them (or some that are very close):

Basketball

Since last Thursday, I've been playing basketball quite a bit.  Not well, mind you, but playing.  Thursday evening was my son's last practice of the season and the coach thought it would be fun to have the boys scrimmage their parents. Well, it was me and one other mom and the rest dads against the 2nd and 3rd grade boys.  It was actually pretty fun and I even made a couple of baskets.  One didn't count because the parents were supposed to pass the ball 3 times before shooting, and we'd only passed twice apparently, but whatever.

Since then, I have been shooting around at the gym to mix things up in my workouts.  My shoulders are now really tight.  I know I don't shoot correctly, but it's just for fun, so I can make a fool of myself all I want, right? ;) 

I am glad to be done with having to drive 45 minutes each way to take the boy to practice once a week and again on Saturdays for games, that's for sure!

Food, why do you tempt me so?!

Today I worked from 7am to 2pm. Most events are shorter than that.  Yesterday's was 5 hours, tomorrow's is 4.  It wasn't too bad though, except for the fact that the place I was at today had all kinds of food catered in for their employees and we were invited to partake.

I ate breakfast before going in, so I was able to resist the bagels and doughnuts, etc (though I did have coffee).  All of this food, btw, was set up right outside the room we were in so the smell kept wafting in, making my stomach growl.  By about 1pm, everyone else was eating and my stomach was about to go insane, so I gave into the temptation.

I ate a pulled pork sandwich, maybe 1/2 oz of cheddar cheese, about a 1/2 cup of potato salad and a pickle spear.  Doesn't sound terribly insane, but I HATE having to guess on my calorie intake.  I hate not knowing if I'm actually going over at the end of the day or not.  I know, it really shouldn't matter too much for just one meal, but my weight has finally started to drift down a tad more steadily recently, and I'm hoping to keep it that way.  Of course, I still worked out and tried to leave myself enough room in the calorie department in case I underestimated my lunch, but tomorrow is my weekly "weigh-in" day and I always seem to be up on Thursdays no matter what I do.  Hopefully, I didn't sabotage my weigh-in for this week. :/

Also, when I left at 2:00, there were cookies galore, but I hightailed it out of there before they could woo me with their sugary goodness!

Long day!

-Work 5 hours starting at 7:30 am. Check.
-Drop off a forgotten item to a kid at school. (My kids would all forget their heads if they weren't attached!) Check.
-Take Bella on 3 mile walk. Check.
-Pick up kid from play practice. Check.
-Make and eat dinner. Check.
-Clean up after dinner. Check.
-Fold about a million loads of laundry. Check.
-Help kid with homework. Check.
-Unload/Reload dishwasher. Check.
-Change sheets on my bed. Check.
-Load washer and dryer. (Yes, laundry is never-ending around here!) Check.
-Argue with teenager. Check.
- Shower. Check.
-Read to son. Check.
-Blog. Check.
-Ready to crash at 8:30 pm. Double Check!

Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to make sure my 2 younger kids get on the bus at 8 am the next two days when I have to leave my house at 6:15, my oldest leaves at 6:45, and their dad is out of town...

Lights and kids and work, oh my!

Yesterday, my engine light, VTM4 light, and a little wrench light all came on while I was driving.  So, after my son's basketball practice last night, I decided to stop into the dealer's service department (since I was already on that side of town).  I got there at 7:30 pm and didn't leave until 10 pm!  Ughhh!  I was just wanting an oil change and have them tell me why my lights came on.  I thought I'd be in and out.  Sigh.

Long story short, the engine and VTM4 lights were on because my oil was too low (I was not over my mileage from the last oil change, btw) and the wrench light was because I have scheduled maintenance due.  That one won't go off until that maintenance is done.  That includes oil change, something with the transmission, and a tire rotation.  Unfortunately, it took them so long to figure all of this out that I didn't have time to stick around and have them do the work last night.  My son was already asleep in the waiting room. :(  So, they put more oil in to hold me over until I can bring it back in for the maintenance work.

Today I helped in my son's class again.  The kids are all so cute, but I am glad I am only there 1 day a week.  ;)  Today was their "friendship party".  Basically their Valentine's party.  At the end of the day, the teacher turned on the Cha-Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle.  It was pretty funny teaching the kids the dances. 

Tomorrow, I have to go to a 3 hour class to renew my BLS certification.  It expires this month and I was holding out in hopes that I'd have a job that would pay for it, but...no.

Good news is, I have several events coming up that I'm scheduled to work.  Most of which are at the large financial institution I was at in October and November.  I had thought they were done with events there, but I was apparently wrong.  It's fine with me though, because it's only about 20-25 minutes from my house!  I'll be there this coming Tuesday and then about 4 more times in the first half of March.  I'm glad these events are starting to come back up again.  Before this week, I hadn't worked since the beginning of December!

Stupid ankle!

It really sucks trying to work out with a hurt ankle.  I miss being able to use the elliptical and the treadmill.  I feel like I'm basically stuck using the recumbent bike or the seated elliptical which, unfortunately, I don't seem to burn as many calories with.  So, that is rather frustrating, especially since I feel like I'm working out just as hard.  I feel like like my heart rate should be a good 10% higher than it actually gets on these.  But, it is better than nothing, right?

The cake and the party!

Last night was my daughter's birthday party.  She had some friends come over for pizza and cake then we went ice skating.  I was going to attempt it this time, but my ankle is still sore and swollen, so I didn't think it would be a smart idea.  After skating, we dropped off the one boy that came and the girls came back home with my daughter for a slumber party.  (Always fun...for them.)

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I used red food coloring in white cake mix and white frosting to turn them pink (the red cake is red velvet).  Here are some pictures of how the cake turned out:

Still cooling:


Iced and ready to go:


With the candles:


Cut:

So, it didn't look perfect, but it tasted good!


And here is my "baby" girl skating:

She is obviously a pro! ;)

I tell you what, OW!

In my rush to get out the door this morning I came down the stairs only to step on a pair of boots, that apparently walked to the foot of the stairs at some point on their own, and rolled my ankle.  I heard it crack as I went man-down.  I twist my ankles frequently because 1) I am clumsy and 2) they are both somewhat weak due to past twists and sprains, but usually I can walk it off and am fine within a few minutes.  This time, however, I must have done a pretty good job on it.  It is still swollen and very sore!  I am having trouble bearing any weight on it.  :(

Of course, I had stuff that needed done today, so there was not much time for RICE. With my daughter's birthday party tomorrow night (today is her 12th birthday!), I needed to get her cake made.  That required a trip to the store where I hobbled through Meijer to pick up the rest of what I needed to make the cake as well as a wrap for my ankle.

Apparently my brain was affected by this injury as well, because when I got to the check out and went for my debit card, I realized my wallet was not in my purse.  So, I had to go out to my car to see if it had fallen out in there.  Fortunately, it was there and I went back in and paid for my stuff.  After finishing up the cake, my older daughter called needing me to bring her a part of her practice uniform.  I walked out to the car and got in, only to realize my keys were still inside.  Normally these things wouldn't be that big of a deal, but with an ankle that hurts to walk on, I almost cried!

The checkerboard cake was more tricky than I thought it would be and I made a huge mess, but I think it turned out okay.  At least it looks decent all intact.  We'll see tomorrow what it looks like once it's cut (pictures still to come).

For now, I just popped 800 of ibuprofen and am going to take a few minutes to elevate my foot before starting dinner!

Yum!

I was in Kroger the other day and found this carrot cake yogurt and decided to try it.  Let me just tell you...YUM!  It's the Kroger brand Carbmaster yogurt.  The carrot cake part intrigued me, but I was a little skeptical due to the fact that this is a low carb, low cal, low fat yogurt.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised!  It is actually thicker than I thought it would be, giving it a sort of cheesecake-like feel.  I think I may have to go pick up some more of this deliciousness tomorrow!

On a side note, I took my oldest daughter in for an appointment with a new eye doctor today and one of the ladies that works there actually asked if we were sisters...  Awww, shucks!  But, seriously, who are you trying to impress lady?  Ha!

Strep, boo!

Today I took my younger daughter out on a lunch date.  She hasn't felt well for a couple of days, but she wanted to go.  She had been complaining of a headache, but during lunch, she wasn't able to eat much because she said her throat hurt too badly.  So, we stopped by The Little Clinic on our way home and found out she has strep throat. :(  No fun!

I had wanted to shop for some new black dress pants today because I need them for when I work my per diem job.  I have none that fit me.  I had bought a new pair in October when I started working these events (I haven't worked any since December, but have a few coming up this month).  Last week, I put them on and they literally fell off of me when I walked up the stairs!  I am not complaining, though.  It's a good problem to have.  However, finding pants that fit me well seems to be a very difficult task.  Seriously, it's insane.  Looks like I will have some shopping to do this week!

Going back to 2nd grade

Tomorrow will be another day spent volunteering in my son's classroom.  I imagine I will be doing pretty much the same as I did last week, reading with kids.  He is super excited that I'm coming back!  His teacher has offered me an open invitation to come in any Friday that I'd like to, and my son has told me that he wants me to come in EVERY Friday.  I am enjoying the fact that he still wants me to come in and that he will still give me hugs and kisses in front of his friends (and his entire class)!  Aw, I love my sweet little man SO much!

Lovin' it!

This 50-60 degree weather the past couple of days has been awesome!  I have gone on 2 long walks to take advantage of it while it lasts!  I'm sure by next week we'll probably end up having a blizzard.  :/  Ah, good ol' Ohio weather!

Just a little complaining

 My top 3 complaints at this moment (because I can't think of anything else to blog about): 

- Planning a birthday party for/with a soon-to-be 12 year old girl. This is not fun times. 

- Hunts sugar free gel snacks.  These are not good.  Jello brand = 100% better.

- The new blogger set-up. I still hate it.  It sucks hard.  So many bad things.  Zero improvements.

Basketball

This morning was game 4 of 8 for my son's basketball team.  He still gets very distracted and just doesn't really want to learn how to play. He's there because he has to be.  He does seem like he's trying ever so slightly more than he did 4 weeks ago, but he could definitely pay more attention and try harder...if he chose to.  Anyway, here are a couple pics from this morning's game:


And yeah, mine would be the kid playing basketball in Vans just because his regular sneakers "aren't comfortable". Gotta choose your battles...

Foul shot

At least in this picture he appears to be going after the ball! :)

Ready for bed!

Today, I spent my day volunteering in my son's second grade class.  After making about a million copies for the teacher, I took students out one at a time to go over their sight words with them and let them read to me.  It's amazing the difference in reading levels from one child to the next.  There were a few kids that surprised me a little bit with their reading skills while others, well, not so much.

There was one kid who, when she got to a particularly easy couple of lines that she read decently well, stopped and said "haha, that rhymed".  I realized at that point that this kid had been reading this book for the past 10 minutes and, as a direct result of her poor reading, did not know that the entire book was rhyming! Kind of made me sad.

After school, I forced myself to go work out.  I was really not feeling like being there, but I pushed through.  I spent a little over an hour there, then came home and (after scarfing down some pizza) actually took Bella for a 3 mile walk.  Not too bad for not at all feeling like like doing anything but coming home and sitting on my butt! 

Checkerboard Cake

I have been wanting to buy one of these checker board cake pans and try it out for a while now.  So, since my younger daughter's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, I figured I'd go for it.  I think I'm going to try it with red velvet and white cake (colored pink).  Hopefully it will turn out nicely!  I'll be sure to post a picture of my masterpiece.  Well, unless I screw it up. ;)


Image found here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/checkerboard-cake-pan-kit-9-x15/22248252

Hard to believe!

Today marks 8 years since my mom passed away.  Not a day goes by that I don't miss her and wish she were still around to see her grandchildren grow up and, selfishly, still around for me to talk to and just have my mommy.  :'(

Competitions

Well, I did not end up needing to drive for my daughter's competitions this weekend.  I did, however, go to the one today that was at a neighboring school district to watch her.  They say not to record anything, but I managed to be a little sneaky and grab a couple of short videos of her.

In this one she is the one on the far left:


In this one she is the one that ends up in the middle of the screen at the end:

Just got back from the Y.  I was happy with my work out today.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the recumbent bike and then did some abs and arms.  I was sweating like a pig!

Frustrating!

I hate not knowing how things are going to go. Right now I am out running errands that are taking waaay longer than expected. I did not eat breakfast this morning because I thought I would be eating an early lunch. Now I am starving and cranky and mad that I didn't eat something before leaving my house to get my metabolism going for the day. :(

On top of that my daughter's color guard coach sent out an email earlier in the week saying he was still in need of a parent driver for competitions this weekend (Saturday AND Sunday). I replied the same day saying that I could drive and I never heard back from him. Apparently he told the girls at practice last night that he still needed a driver and my daughter asked if he got my email. He said he did but then did not say anything else about it. So, I still don't know if he is now assuming I will be driving or if he somehow knows I'm a terrible driver and is hoping someone else will step up or what. ;) Seriously though, this is frustrating. I even had my daughter text him to try to find out and still no reply. At this point I'm ready to say eff him, but I don't want to go back on my word I he is expecting me to drive. Ugh!!

Finally...

 After the last several weeks of losing only ~1 lb/week, I finally had a good weigh in today.  3.4 lbs this past week! I think I was holding on to some extra water.  I picked up the number of times I worked out and upped my calories a bit on work out days and that seemed to work out well.  I am finally seeing and feeling the difference.  Clothes that were once snug are now fitting loosely.  I am just over half way to my ultimate goal weight, with a total loss to date of 41 lbs.  If I could lose 35-40 more I will be very happy.  Then it will be a matter of maintaining and toning up my muscles.  At least I know I am on my way to where I want to be!

Ooooh!

It's American Idol time again!  Yay!  Yeah, it's a guilty pleasure of mine. 

Just gotta laugh...

So, I get up to go check on dinner and find this on the counter:


Yes, that is a popcorn sandwich!

Then when I go back into the living room, this is what I find:


Busted! As much as Bella chases Molly around and Molly growls and snaps at Bella in response, maybe there's hope for them after all. :)

Burn, baby, burn!

I sooo didn't want to go out today!  I wanted to stay in my warm, comfy bed.  But, my alarm went off at 7:00 this morning and I realized I hadn't heard my oldest daughter moving around getting ready like I usually do.  I went in to check on her and, sure enough, she was still asleep.  Just an FYI, her bus comes at 6:45.  So, I had to wake her up and after she rushed to get ready, I drove her to school, getting her there just in time.  Good thing too, since this is exam week for her.

I came home and got the other 2 kids up and moving, got them on the bus on time, ate breakfast, and then forced myself to go to the Y and work out.  I hit the grocery store then came home and took Bella for a quick walk.

It worked out well because between my workout and the walk, I completely burned off my breakfast AND lunch calories.  Woo!  Don't worry though, I'll probably make up for it by sitting on my butt all evening! =)

Hmm, decisions, decisions...

I always want to grow my hair out, but when I do, it just starts looking really bad.  So, I'm at a point now where I need to make a decision whether to let it keep growing or get it cut.  I could let it grow out until spring and possibly donate it (though, that would leave my hair a bit shorter than I'd like, I think), or I could just go get a few inches cut off of it now and hopefully not hate it. What to do...?

Stupid Sodium!

While I came in under my calorie goal yesterday, I went way over on sodium and it showed on my scale this morning big time.  I know people always say not to weigh yourself every day, but well, I do.  I can't help it.  I don't have the patience to wait an entire week to see if I'm having any kind of success.  It can, however, be a bit of a bummer to see my weight go up 3-4 lbs in one day. :/  I know that it had to be from too much salt and it will go back down, but it still sucks!

And, while I'm complaining, I'll just go ahead and throw it out there that I am *still* hungry all. the. time.  Sigh. 

What the....

Am I doing something wrong or did blogger change up their entire set-up? I log in and all of a sudden everything looks completely different. I don't like it. I don't like change, blogger! :P

Today...

I had a decent day today. Church this morning with my dad, lunch, then baby shower for my SIL. Came home this afternoon, the neighbor across the street was out with his dog (Bella's buddy) so I took Bella over and let her run off some energy. Then, I hit the gym and came home and took a 15-20 minute walk.

After a shower, I'm now relaxing and watching an episode of Chopped with 2 of my kiddos. In the appetizer basket, the ingredients were frog legs, anchovies, dates, and Bourbon. EW! Nothing about that sounds good to me at. all. Ick!

Next up: lay in bed and watch another episode then go to sleep!

At least I don't feel hungry right now!

I had a decent workout this evening. I did some time on the treadmill (even jogged for 5 minutes straight, woo!), a few arms and abs, and about 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 460 calories in 55 minutes. Maybe that isn't excellent, but it's a little more than usual from just walking (duh!). By the time I got home, I was absolutely starving and craving pasta, so I made some rotini with a little sauce and absolutely inhaled it along with 20 oz of water and now my tummy is not too happy with me. Think I'ma hit the shower and lay in bed with my laptop and a movie! Oh yeah, I gets crazy on Saturday nights!

Feeling discouraged

I have stayed at the same weight now for over a week. I seem to be stuck. (I know I have my other blog for this topic, but I just haven't been using it. I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog anymore anyway.) So, I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I haven't changed anything as far as my calorie goal or anything, so I don't really get why the sudden stasis. I know I need to work out more. I always fall short in this area. I'm not going to lie, I just don't like working out. I don't enjoy it, I don't find it relaxing, or any of that other BS that people say about it, and I really have a hard time making myself work out alone. I have always felt this way, that's nothing new.

I did get a membership to the new YMCA in my area and have been a few times. It is a really nice, brand new facility and there are lots of different things I could do (weights, equipment, track, basketball, swimming, etc), but I just can't seem to feel the motivation I need to get my butt over there! I signed my son up for swimming lessons starting Monday, so for the next 6 weeks, I'll have no choice but to go there at least once a week. Yes, I realize once a week isn't going to do me much good, but it is a start and could perhaps get me into the mood to go more often. Hopefully.

I've got to get out of this rut and get the scale moving down again!

Fruit Bars

I am a big fan of Edy's Fruit Bars! So far I have tried acai blueberry, grape, lime, pineapple, pomegranate, and strawberry. The only ones I didn't love were the lime ones, because they were too sour for my taste. My favorites are grape, strawberry, and pineapple, so far. I like how the ones like strawberry and pineapple have little bits of actual fruit in them! I would love to try them all, but I haven't seen all of the flavors in the stores I frequent. I am going to have to keep an eye out for the new mango and peach flavors. I have a feeling I would enjoy me some those!

Chopped

I never really got into watching the Food Network. I like watching it, but it's just never been my first choice in channels. If I sit down and watch TV, it is usually with the purpose of watching a show I recorded. Well, a friend of mine told me about the show Chopped, and I thought it sounded like something I would like so, I started recording it. I've watched 4 episodes, so far, and I'm hooked! I like the competition, and learning about new foods (some stuff I'd never heard of, or at least didn't know what it was). The only problem is that it always makes me hungry when I watch it. I want to taste the foods! My stomach growls the entire time I'm watching, but I watch it anyway. :)

It's a new year!

My oldest got back from her trip to Florida today. She had a good time at Universal's Islands of Adventure and really enjoyed the Harry Potter stuff there. She was not too excited to return from 60-70 degree weather to super cold and snowy here though, nor is she happy about having to return to school tomorrow. She is, however, glad to be home and no longer on the bus. :)

Right now, I'm getting ready to watch the The Biggest Loser, which starts a new season tonight! It is good motivation. I wish I could be motivated enough to work out 6-8 hours a day. I find it difficult to spend an hour at the gym, but I'm working on it, slowly but surely. I did start out the new year at a weight that I had not seen in at least 10 or 11 years though. So, that's good! Here's hoping 2012 is a good year!

Go, team, go!

Today, I need to do some running around to get my oldest ready for her trip to Florida tomorrow! She's going with her high school band/color guard to perform in the half-time show of a bowl game. She is really excited. I had really wanted to go as a chaperone, but at the time of signing up months ago, I was thinking and hoping I might have a job by now that could prevent me from going. However, I do not, and after going to the parent meeting about the trip, I really wish I could go! It sounds kind of fun! But, it's too late now. (Not to mention, it would be another $1000 for me to go along!) I hope she has fun! I'm glad she gets to go. They are taking a charter bus and the drive is nearly 20 hours! She is one to get car sick, so hopefully she will be in a seat near the bathroom! ;)

Grrrr!

Can I just say...I HATE carpet with a red-hot fiery passion! After about 6 months since having my carpet professionally cleaned, it was about 5 and a half months past due for another cleaning. So, yesterday, I decided to rent a carpet cleaner and do it myself to save a few dollars. Obviously, it didn't do as good of a job as having it done by a pro, but it was better than not having it done at all. All the effort of it (moving rugs and furniture around, hours of drying time, keeping kids and pets off of the wet carpet) and not two hours after returning the cleaner, mud had been tracked in onto the carpet and Bella had diarrhea. Sigh! I'm not sure why I even bother, really.

Movie Date

I'm getting ready to go on a date with my little man. We're going to go see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. I am totally going to sneak in an apple, some grapes, and a SoBe water for my movie time snack. Don't hate! ;)

Love my Bella Boo!

I had a little bit of excitement while out on a walk with Bella tonight. As we were walking around the neighborhood, we passed a house where a man was standing on the porch messing around on his phone. We got about 2 houses down when Bella started walking almost backwards beside me. I turned around to see what her deal was and the guy from the porch was about 4 or 5 sidewalk squares behind me. As soon as I looked at him he asks "he won't bite, will he?". Well I wasn't about to say "why no, strange man walking uncomfortably close behind me, my dog won't bite you", so I just said "ummmm, I don't know. Probably not. But I don't think she's too excited about you walking so close. We'll just go to the other side ".

Usually, she is all about people and gets super excited to see anyone new that might pet her or play with her. This guy obviously made her uncomfortable by walking up so close to us. She didn't growl at him or anything, but she was also not bouncing around, pulling to get to him for petting, or wagging her nubby with excitement. She was just plain staring him down.

I know it's not likely that this guy was out to attack me. Once we had crossed the street, Bella kept her eye on him and he did hurry down the street to his car. So I'm sure he was probably just genuinely in a hurry to get somewhere and was completely unaware of his creeper-like actions. However, it did give me some comfort to know that perhaps Bella isn't just all-trusting with everyone she meets. Even though I know it is highly unlikely that I will ever be attacked while walking in my neighborhood, it makes me glad to have her with me, especially when I walk at night.

Christmas Card

I haven't gotten any professional pictures taken of all 3 of the kids together in quite a while. I had wanted to do that this Christmas, however, I let time get away from me. So, I attempted to take some myself with my non-professional grade camera. Anyway, here are some outtakes from my little photo session:


Girls arguing, son crying.


One good, one red-faced, one teenage attitude


Good, good, aaaand Bella just licked my daughter's face.

Here are the pics that ended up on the Christmas card:






Green-eyed dog pic ended up the smallest on the card because there really wasn't much that I could do to fix it.

And the card:


(I know it's small, but I couldn't get a good picture of the card and the one from where I ordered them was only this big.)

Banana "ice cream"

So, maybe I am late to this game, but I just found this out. You can make "ice cream" with just a banana! What? Yeah, just peel and slice a banana, put it on a plate, freeze it for 1-2 hours, then throw it in the blender and viola! Banana ice cream! I tried it out today and it actually worked. Not to mention, a very tasty treat and great alternative to actual ice cream. Yum!

Christmas Cookies

A group of my friends met on Saturday to bake Christmas cookies and hang out. It has been a long time since we have all hung out together. Unfortunately, I had to decline joining them because my will power is not strong enough to actually NOT eat said cookies. :( It would have been nice to see them all, but I knew I wouldn't be able to go bask in the smell of cookie deliciousness and not partake.

They were, however, kind enough to make me a cookie and text me a picture of it:


Nom Nom Nom!

B-Ball

My son had his first basketball practice tonight. He was excited and nervous to start since he has never played before. He was worried that all the other kids would be good and that he would be the worst player on the team. Well, there's only been one practice so far, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm pretty certain he is not the only kid on the team that has never played before. So, that's good for him (and his confidence).

I had to remind him several times to pay attention to the coach because he can be easily distracted, (I have NO idea where he gets that from...), but hopefully he will enjoy playing! And, I'll be honest, I hope he doesn't suck too bad at it. But, my hopes are not terribly high, at least for his first season. My oldest didn't make a basket during her first season until the very end of her last game. But, by her third season, she had become quite a good little player and made nearly all of her shots. Honestly, she was basically the best player on her team. So, here's hoping! :)

No work!

Well, this stinks! I haven't worked any events since the week before Thanksgiving. I'm pretty bummed about that. No work means no money. :( So, what have I been doing with my time? Well, besides a lot of sitting around, I have applied for multiple nursing jobs, nearly completed my Christmas shopping (mostly online), and started reading The Hunger Games. According to my kindle, I am almost 80% through the first book. I had heard that these books were good, and I must say I am enjoying this one.

The weather has not been incredibly conducive to walking lately, either, which is also a bummer. I'm considering bundling up and putting on rain boots and walking outside tonight anyway!