I. HATE. Chemistry!

That is all.

Date night

I went on a date last night with a super cute guy!  My little man and I went to see the new Pixar movie, Brave.  From seeing the previews, I wasn't sure if I would really like it, but I did.  It was much better than I was expecting.  It was fun hanging out, just me and my boy! :)

My weekend

Saturday my younger daughter's game went very well. They actually had to forfeit because they only had 6 players show up, so they scrimmaged. That being said, they played extremely well and ended up tying the other team. In actuality, they should have won, but near the end of the game, a girl on the other team foul tipped the ball and the ump "missed" it and 2 of their players stole home. So, they got ripped off, but I was crazy impressed with their game. :)

My aunt, uncle, and 2 youngest cousin's are in town this week, so yesterday, we spent the afternoon at my grandma's house for father's day and had a cook-out. Then, it started raining, so my brother, cousins, and oldest daughter started playing music on my daughter's guitar. She got it for her birthday last year and she played around with it some, but then it mostly sat in her room for most of the past year. Recently though, she started looking up how to play and has started learning a little bit. Here's a little video I took of her yesterday:

Well, that's nice...

My son, grandma, and I went to Olive Garden for lunch today.  My son has been begging to go there for at least a week, so I figured today would be a good day to go.  Free salad comes with every meal and I always order my salad with their light Italian dressing on the side.  Well, today, the waiter came back to the table a few minutes after ordering saying that they were out of the light dressing.  What?! Ugghhh!  He rattled off the other options, including squirting lemon on it.  Huh?  Ew!  I said it was okay, I just wouldn't have salad.  Well, the guy disappeared for a few minutes, and came back with 2 side cups of dressing saying "I don't know if you'll like it or not, but I walked next door to Red Lobster and got some of their reduced fat raspberry vinaigrette dressing for you because I felt bad".  That was certainly nice of him.  He didn't have to do that.  I ended up going ahead and using it (even though I couldn't find the nutritional information for it - I just found a generic version of it to go by) and it was decent.

On another note, I got the batteries changed in my heart rate monitor today and when I went to use it for a jog this afternoon, it was still acting stupid, so it must not have been the batteries. Sigh. :(

Busy week!

Between my younger daughter and my son, we have 7 softball/baseball games this week.  Two were tonight.  At the same time, of course.  I took my son to his game, but had to miss my daughter's game.  Next games are back to back on Wednesday, so I'll get to see them both.  Then Friday, they're at the same time again, so I'll have to miss one.  Then Saturday just my daughter plays.  On top of that, my oldest had color guard tonight, and another practice on Thursday.  Sheesh!  I guess it's a good thing I haven't been able to find a job yet!

My grandma is also here to visit for the week.  She got here today and is leaving Friday.  It will be nice to spend some time with her since I don't see her very often anymore.

Fortunately, I finished up spring classes on Friday and am off for 2 weeks!  I don't even want to think about the accelerated chemistry class I have to take this summer! :(

Fried

Yesterday, I took my younger 2 kiddos to the pool for the first time this summer.  Unfortunately, I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs and they got completely fried!  Ouch!  Even though it kind of hurts to move my legs, I was signed up for another 5k this morning, so I sucked it up and ran.  I, once again, felt like I wasn't going to make it, but I did.  I ran the whole time, sunburned legs (and one ear bud not working) and all!  When I crossed the finish line, the official clock said 33:41, which is a minute and 10 seconds faster than my 5k last month.  The people standing at the finish line asked me how old I am, I said 32, they said "well look at you, you're first place in your age group" and handed me this:

Pretty decent!  There must not have been many others competing in my group. ;)

Today is also my oldest daughter's 15th birthday!  Unbelievable!  Here is me and my "baby" girl tonight after her birthday dinner:

HRM

I have become a little obsessed with the whole calorie thing.  I want to know the exact number of calories in the food I'm eating and the exact number of calories I burn.  I know it's pretty much impossible to get exact numbers for both, but a close-enough estimate is good.  The way I have been tracking the calories I burn is by using a heart rate monitor that I wear during exercise.  However, after a month or so of using it, it started acting really dumb.  It would say my HR was 00, would say I needed to check the HR transmitter, or would just get stuck.  For example, it would monitor my HR as 140, but then there would be no fluctuation in the number and would even stay at 140 when I stopped.  Sometimes it will even throw a number at me like 275 when obviously, my HR was nowhere near that.

My point is, it thoroughly pisses me off when these things happen. I know it shouldn't, and I can get a fairly good estimate of how much I burned other ways, but I've really come to rely on this, perhaps a little too much. It actually went quite a while where it seemed to be working as it should.  However, as of the past week or so, it has started acting up again.  I'm going to take it to get the batteries replaced and see if that helps.  If not, it is time for a new one!

Got the leash!

I finally decided on a hands-free leash. I got the khaki color, which looks kind of green to me in the picture, but it is more of a khaki color. I've been able to use it a couple of times now and I've found that I actually prefer it when Bella runs ahead of me and pulls me a little bit.  Makes it easier on me! ;)

I also got some new running shoes:

Image retrieved from: http://www.sport-seasons.com/Womens-Nike-Dual-Fusion-ST-2/PAMIABKDMFOBFCKB/product

They are Nike Dual Fusion ST2.  I love the color and they're really comfortable too!

What?!

One of the benefits of facebook is reconnecting with old friends.  Oh, and having those friends remind you that it was 14 years ago today that you graduated from high school.  Ouch. 

Take me out to the baallll gaaaame...

 It was a good night for some baseball.  My son is doing much better this year and is actually getting pretty good at batting.  He still has some work to do with paying attention in the outfield, but compared to how he played last year (he wasn't really interested) he's doing 100 times better this year already!  Here is a short video of him hitting tonight:


My younger daughter is playing softball again this year, too.  She expressed interest in pitching and has been working on it.  Tonight, she got to pitch in a game for the first time.  She did very well.  She struck out 2 players, and didn't walk anyone!  She also fielded a ball hit back to her to get the girl out at first.  Here are a couple of pics from her game tonight:


On Base

I wasn't able to get a clear picture of her pitching.  This was the best I could get:

Summer is almost here!

Last night was the last high school choir concert of the year for my oldest.  My younger daughter is on her way to 6th grade camp this morning, and tonight is the first baseball game of the season for my son.  The kids have 10 school days left this year, including today. 

In a way, I'm really bummed that I can't find a friggin' job to save my life, but on the other hand, I am glad to be able to stay home with my babies.  It comes in handy on days like today, when my daughter called to say she forgot her water bottle for camp, and I had to take it to her.  Even if I felt a little annoyed that I had to get dressed and leave my coffee...I'm glad I was available to take it to her. 

Race Day

Today was the Race for the Cure 5K.  The serious runners (with chips for timing) started first.  Once they were all on their way, they brought up the people running for fun (my group), then the walkers.  The official time started with the serious runners, so my time is based off my heart rate monitor, which I pressed start on as I crossed the starting line.  I ended up jogging the entire time.  I never expected to be able to do that!  Honestly, even this morning, I assumed I would be stopping to take at least a few short walk breaks.

My oldest daughter stayed with me for the first 15 minutes or so, then she walked for a few and I didn't see her again until the end. She came in about 5 minutes behind me.  My time on the "official" time clock was 40:17 as I crossed the finish line, however as I said, that clock started with the first group of runners.  My time, according to my HRM was 34:51.  What?!  That was not only my fastest 5K to date (AND outside, at that!) but my run keeper app on my phone said the distance I went was 3.4 miles.  So, something wasn't 100% accurate there, but close enough, I guess. 

All in all, I'm feeling really good about this race! :)

Screw it

I have attempted to blog numerous times this week without success.  Just tonight, I have spent the past 15 minutes attempting to formulate a complete thought.  My brain just does not seem to be working this week for some reason.  So, I'm giving up.  This is my post. Goodnight!

Dog stuff

I am in search of a new dog food.  Currently, I feed them the Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain Formula.  Recently, however, they have both become seemingly very uninterested in eating it.  When it comes time for them to eat, they will just kind of stare at it, especially Bella.  For the past 3 days, she has only eaten a little bit of her food, even leaving it down all evening.  She will repeatedly go to her bowl like she is looking for food, sniff at it, then turn and walk away from it.  She eventually will eat it the next morning, probably because she's just so hungry.  (However, there is a fairly obvious reason I feed them in the evenings and not in the mornings. Food = poop, and I don't always have time to stick around long enough for them to go before I have to leave.)  I think maybe they're just getting tired of eating the same thing all the time??  I don't know.

So this, combined with the big Diamond recall (I have verified that the bag I have is not included in this), I think it may be time to search for something different.  I like the idea of  grain-free and not loaded with fillers for them.  Foods with fillers require them to eat more (and poop more - which they do enough of already).  It kind of saddens me, as it took me quite a while to decide on TOTW in the first place.  Now, it's back to researching dog foods. :(

I also decided that I really need something like this:


picture retrieved from: http://www.maxandzoey.com/all-products/nylon-hands-free-leash.html

I have seen people in my neighborhood using these and I really think it would be helpful to not have to hold on to her big retractable leash handle while jogging.  I just hope that it would not make it easier for her to pull me. :) 

Tired!

I am so not feeling being awake today.  I am dragging and I have a headache.  Today is my day to help out in my son's classroom and I have been there all morning.  I came home to grab some lunch and let the pups out for a bit.  I am getting ready to head back to the school for the afternoon then I need to hit the gym and/or walk/jog with Bella and work on my assignments for school that are due this weekend (one by tonight) that I've barely started on. Ugh...I'm not gonna lie, I am counting down the minutes until bed time tonight!

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?