Pounds that is. I haven't yet hit that age, although I got my notice in the mail that it is time to renew my license so I can feel it breathing down my neck :)
When I was at my starting weight, I never thought I felt that bad. I knew I didn't have much energy but that wasn't that big of a deal because I've always been basically lazy. Even at 150 lbs, I didn't have much motivation to get off my backside and actually do anything. I knew I had trouble getting up and down but I chalked that up more to being not 12 anymore instead of being overweight. Then I joined WW and lost 30 pounds. Now, at school, I'm able to crouch and tie shoes. I can bend over and pick things up. I have more energy but still not motivation to do anything. Last night TB ended up in the Parade of Lights (apparently, my dad commented that the guy driving the old Willard Fire Jeep had a fire suit on. The asked if they wanted a ride and off they went!) After I stood and watched the end of the parade, I walked to the end of the parade route and saw the front of the parade coming down the street. I decided to walk down the street and catch them and just walk back with them. I caught up with them at West Side Park and walked back to the Orpheum, via Main St. Once they got past the reviewing stand, the rest of the parade really picked up the pace. They were done and the people were done and so they took off to get out of the cold. I ended up jogging (despite not being dressed for it in slip on shoes and jeans) from the News-Gazette office to the municipal lot behind the Orpheum to keep up. The driving asked me if I wanted a ride and I was able to tell him that I was doing fine. And I really was. They got off the float and we hoofed it around front to get inside and I was a little winded but not dying. By the time I got my coat off, I was breathing totally fine. Afterward, we went to 1 Main for the tree lighting and TB and I didn't want to mess with 12 layers of clothes just to get there so we raced from the Orpheum down there and again, I was ok. This is practically a miracle since the last time I worked out was when I was walking TB to school each day in September. Being able to do that kind of thing and being ok makes me want to want to exercise. I still don't actually want to but I fell like I should want to. Strange conundrums.
I left WW in August when I felt like the result wasn't worth the cost anymore. My plan was to go it alone and I haven't been terribly successful at it. I've maintained my weight, which is good but I haven't lost much of anything either. Randomly, I'll get blips in my weigh ins that drop me below 180 but by the next day, I'm back over. I'm not really doing much of anything so I can't really complain much (well, I can, because I can always complain, but I shouldn't). I set a goal to have lost another 30 by the end of the year. I am desperately off track for that, needing to lose something like 10 pounds a week to achieve it. I changed my goal time to my birthday, which brought it down to just over a pound a week. The thing is, I'm not sure if I care enough to do it. I didn't realize I felt bad until I had something to compare it too. Would I feel better another 30 lighter? Probably but I feel good now so how much better? I set myself a goal because I felt like I should set a goal but I'm just not sure if I'm going to do it. I'm at the point that without much thought or deprivation, I can comfortably maintain my weight. While I would like to be 30 pounds lighter, I'm not sure that is maintainable goal. Quigs said to me once that to maintain her weight loss, she would have to track food and go to meetings for the rest of her life and I thought "if the choice is meetings and tracking forever or being fat, I think I'll take being fat". I didn't enjoy WW. The meetings were something I felt like I had to do to lose the weight. Karen was riot but even that wasn't enough to make me feel like it was something I WANTED to do. I took no joy in finding lower point sub for favorite foods. I either didn't eat the food or ate a bit less and I did ok with that until I didn't. It seems like my friends who have been successful in their weight loss find joy and happiness in the process of the weight loss. It might not be easy but they don't find it quite the drudgery that I did. They are ok with the lifetime aspect of it, where I never was. My plan was for it to simply be a short term solution. I don't intent to gain the weight back but I'm not sure I can commit to losing further. Maybe in the spring, when I can start grilling food again (I joined in April and lost all my weight during the summer) and find veggies easily. Or maybe not. I was over 200 pounds for 7 years before some switch flipped in my head that made me decide that I was ready to lose weight. I'd like to not take that long this time around but I know me and really, this might be it for my weight loss.
Showing posts with label Excersize. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Excersize. Show all posts
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Whole lot of things
So, basically I suck at blogging. Even Quigs is doing better than me at keeping up with hers and that is saying a lot! :) Since we got back from vacation, nothing much blog-worthy has happened. There have been lots of little things but nothing worthy of a post on it's own so now you get a bullet point list of all the things that have happened in the last month.
-TB started baseball this fall. He has never played before and missed the only two practices of the season because we were on vacation. He jumped right in to playing in a real game and we have been doing 2 games a weeks since then.
-Baseball bores me to tears. I cheer for our team, but I would rather be almost anywhere else. TB feels the same way. He likes to hit but hates being in the field. He is the kid in the outfield, kicking the dirt, chewing on his glove, chasing butterflies, dancing like Michael Jackson, etc. At least twice during every inning the coaches are yelling at him to pay attention
- We are at 3 losses, 2 wins, and 1 tie. I'm surprised that we have done that well because most of these kids are young and not exceptionally good at baseball. Instead of telling them where to make the play, the coach is simply teaching them to get it to the pitcher to stop the play because most of them aren't able to process the situation fast enough to do any good.
-We started school last week. We got the teacher we requested which is fantastic. She is active in the PTA, she taught drama club last year and we both knew her and like her a lot. I think she is the kind of teacher that TB needs and I'm hopeful that she will have a very positive impact on him this school year. Let's cross our fingers for reading by the end of the year!
-I'm babysitting a little boy after school. His mom works with my mom and she was concerned about the after school program. We worked out a deal and I pick him up 4 days a week after school, while I'm there picking TB up. It works out well because he has the teacher TB had for K so she knows me and knows the routine. It is a good deal for all involved. He gets to come and play with the kids and do the other fun things we do after school each day. I get a little a little extra money and she gets someone that she knows watching her kid every day. Good all around.
-We've been spending time with some kids from TB's class. He is thrilled to see more big kids.
-Soccer started last week, but due to conflict with baseball, this is the first practice we've been able to make.
-I can not tell you how much I LOVE soccer. The coach is good, if a little tough. There is at least one other kid who has never played and one girl who isn't interested in played (she spent a lot of time standing around at practice tonight). The coach believes that a sport isn't played by kids alone and requests parents assistant at practices. He asked me tonight if I could help out at future practices since I have soccer experience.
-TB was FAR more engaged in every step of practice than he has been at any point during baseball.
-Poor TB was a red little sweatball when practice was done. Apparently despite the running and playing he does, he is pretty out of shape. We are going to have to work on that.
-Speaking of getting in shape, I think, while it is decent weather, TB and I are going to think about the C25K program. Probably not 3 days a week between soccer games and practices and baseball games but as often as we can. With playing soccer, he is going to need to get in running shape and he wants to play basketball in the winter, which is going to require running. As an added bonus, he is hoping to get faster than the other boys at school because he kind of gets left behind sometimes.
-We are, hopefully, going to take karate this winter as well. Assuming it doesn't conflict with basketball, he and I will sign up for TKD through UPD. He took it through CPD a few years ago and I hated the instructor and I pulled him after 2 classes. I tried to get into the CPD karate class, but could never get the person to call me back about he and I taking it together (it was divided by age, which defeated the purpose of taking it together).
-My weight loss is slowing way down. I've been in the 180s for over a month and I'm SICK of it!! I gained over 5 pounds while on vacation and lost it all but I'm still stuck here. Hence all of the activity increases in our house.
-MT is starting school next week. She is really excited about it and I'm hoping she is keeps that up. She is going to be sad when she finds out that H won't be in her class this year but I'm hoping she will make new friends as well.
-I have a wedding to go to in October. I'm by turns excited about it and irritated by it. I like wedding receptions and dancing. I just hope I have someone to actually dance with. I'm not thrilled with the idea of going to the wedding but it is expected.
-This is the wedding that I had expected to be asked to participate in and then was not only not asked, I feel like I have been actively excluded, despite multiple offers of help. I didn't want to be in the wedding. Being in a wedding party is a PITA and costs more money than I'm willing to spend. Plus, it is usually a lot of work and terribly enjoyable. So yeah, I wanted to say no but I wanted the OPPORTUNITY to say no, instead of not even being asked. This friend and I, although tight throughout school, are in vastly different points in our life. She is just now getting married, working full time, etc where I'm staying at home, have kids in school, etc. Not a whole lot in common anymore but really, being friends since we were 8 should hold some meaning. Done ranting, I'll go to the wedding, I'll have fun and I'll move on. Eventually.
-We were supposed to move upstairs this fall but that isn't happening. My mom decided that RF and I weren't putting forth enough effort to facilitate the move. She said that it didn't benefit them so if we weren't going to do things how she wanted them, then we weren't doing it. Fine. We'll stay in the basement.
-We are supposed to be getting new windows this week. That means tearing apart the bedrooms for a couple of days. That gives me an opportunity to rearrange the rooms which have been pretty set in stone the last 6 years. I'm excited for a new look! :)
-TB started baseball this fall. He has never played before and missed the only two practices of the season because we were on vacation. He jumped right in to playing in a real game and we have been doing 2 games a weeks since then.
-Baseball bores me to tears. I cheer for our team, but I would rather be almost anywhere else. TB feels the same way. He likes to hit but hates being in the field. He is the kid in the outfield, kicking the dirt, chewing on his glove, chasing butterflies, dancing like Michael Jackson, etc. At least twice during every inning the coaches are yelling at him to pay attention
- We are at 3 losses, 2 wins, and 1 tie. I'm surprised that we have done that well because most of these kids are young and not exceptionally good at baseball. Instead of telling them where to make the play, the coach is simply teaching them to get it to the pitcher to stop the play because most of them aren't able to process the situation fast enough to do any good.
-We started school last week. We got the teacher we requested which is fantastic. She is active in the PTA, she taught drama club last year and we both knew her and like her a lot. I think she is the kind of teacher that TB needs and I'm hopeful that she will have a very positive impact on him this school year. Let's cross our fingers for reading by the end of the year!
-I'm babysitting a little boy after school. His mom works with my mom and she was concerned about the after school program. We worked out a deal and I pick him up 4 days a week after school, while I'm there picking TB up. It works out well because he has the teacher TB had for K so she knows me and knows the routine. It is a good deal for all involved. He gets to come and play with the kids and do the other fun things we do after school each day. I get a little a little extra money and she gets someone that she knows watching her kid every day. Good all around.
-We've been spending time with some kids from TB's class. He is thrilled to see more big kids.
-Soccer started last week, but due to conflict with baseball, this is the first practice we've been able to make.
-I can not tell you how much I LOVE soccer. The coach is good, if a little tough. There is at least one other kid who has never played and one girl who isn't interested in played (she spent a lot of time standing around at practice tonight). The coach believes that a sport isn't played by kids alone and requests parents assistant at practices. He asked me tonight if I could help out at future practices since I have soccer experience.
-TB was FAR more engaged in every step of practice than he has been at any point during baseball.
-Poor TB was a red little sweatball when practice was done. Apparently despite the running and playing he does, he is pretty out of shape. We are going to have to work on that.
-Speaking of getting in shape, I think, while it is decent weather, TB and I are going to think about the C25K program. Probably not 3 days a week between soccer games and practices and baseball games but as often as we can. With playing soccer, he is going to need to get in running shape and he wants to play basketball in the winter, which is going to require running. As an added bonus, he is hoping to get faster than the other boys at school because he kind of gets left behind sometimes.
-We are, hopefully, going to take karate this winter as well. Assuming it doesn't conflict with basketball, he and I will sign up for TKD through UPD. He took it through CPD a few years ago and I hated the instructor and I pulled him after 2 classes. I tried to get into the CPD karate class, but could never get the person to call me back about he and I taking it together (it was divided by age, which defeated the purpose of taking it together).
-My weight loss is slowing way down. I've been in the 180s for over a month and I'm SICK of it!! I gained over 5 pounds while on vacation and lost it all but I'm still stuck here. Hence all of the activity increases in our house.
-MT is starting school next week. She is really excited about it and I'm hoping she is keeps that up. She is going to be sad when she finds out that H won't be in her class this year but I'm hoping she will make new friends as well.
-I have a wedding to go to in October. I'm by turns excited about it and irritated by it. I like wedding receptions and dancing. I just hope I have someone to actually dance with. I'm not thrilled with the idea of going to the wedding but it is expected.
-This is the wedding that I had expected to be asked to participate in and then was not only not asked, I feel like I have been actively excluded, despite multiple offers of help. I didn't want to be in the wedding. Being in a wedding party is a PITA and costs more money than I'm willing to spend. Plus, it is usually a lot of work and terribly enjoyable. So yeah, I wanted to say no but I wanted the OPPORTUNITY to say no, instead of not even being asked. This friend and I, although tight throughout school, are in vastly different points in our life. She is just now getting married, working full time, etc where I'm staying at home, have kids in school, etc. Not a whole lot in common anymore but really, being friends since we were 8 should hold some meaning. Done ranting, I'll go to the wedding, I'll have fun and I'll move on. Eventually.
-We were supposed to move upstairs this fall but that isn't happening. My mom decided that RF and I weren't putting forth enough effort to facilitate the move. She said that it didn't benefit them so if we weren't going to do things how she wanted them, then we weren't doing it. Fine. We'll stay in the basement.
-We are supposed to be getting new windows this week. That means tearing apart the bedrooms for a couple of days. That gives me an opportunity to rearrange the rooms which have been pretty set in stone the last 6 years. I'm excited for a new look! :)
Friday, April 17, 2009
Weighty issues
I joined Weight Watchers. Tomorrow is my first meeting and I'm a little freaked out about it. I have never in my life had a "weight problem". I put that in quotes because I've never been skinny but I never had a problem with it. I've always felt that I looked fine and didn't need anyone else's opinion. If someone didn't like how I looked, that sucked for them. I was always happy not to be some little dainty thing who would get blown over in a stiff breeze. I was healthy, I was strong and that was enough for me.
When I got pregnant with The Boy, I gained 50 lbs and tipped the scales at over 200 lbs. I was unhappy that I had to buy all new clothes but I didn't feel like I was that heavy and it still didn't bother me. Over the last year, I've made various attempts to start a regular exercise routine because while I didn't have a problem with the way I looked, I had a problem with the way I felt. I was always sick, could barely breathe, couldn't walk quickly without getting winded, etc. Through various circumstances, none of those attempts have been that long term and with summer coming on, I imagine this one will go down the drain as well. In January, we got the Wii Fit and I made a serious attempt to do it every day. When I started, my weight was 206. April 1st, my gym started a program called "resolution renewal" to get people back working out on a regular basis. If I go 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time for the entire 8 weeks, I get a $30 when I'm all done. In addition to that, I had to fill out a food and exercise log and turn it in each week. At the beginning of the program, I said that my goal was not to lose weight but to feel better. Because of that, the food log was irrelevant and I made most of it up on Monday morning right before it had to be turned in. My first day one the new program, I weighed myself, just to see how I did with no food effort. I made a real effort on the exercise, logging an hour (instead of the required half hour) most days, which included both cardio (5 minutes at 3 mph on the stairs and 35 minutes at 4 mph on the elliptical) and strength (arm and leg machines) most days. When I was strapped for time, I would just do the cardio but I've been there 3 days a week for at least 30 minutes every week since April 1. I weighed in at 210, 4 pounds heavier than I was in January. Fine, no biggie. Over the last 6 weeks, I have added another 8 lbs, putting me at 218 lbs, which is a gain of 12 lbs in 4 months time or 3 lbs a month. Every week, I watch it creep up and creep up. None of my clothes fit right anymore. I put on my shorts from last summer today and I could barely button them. These are the shorts that, last summer, I had to be sure to tie the drawstring on or they would fall off. This is not cool. So I decided that something had to change and obviously I can't exercise the weight away so I'm going to have to change the way I eat.
The problem is that I eat like your basic 2 year old. Plain meat, plain potatoes, very few veggies. Deep fried, covered in cheese, giant bowls of ice cream, etc. I do eat raw veggies occasionally and I'm absolutely addicted to green beans. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how many green beans I can eat every day without having to count the points. Quigs says that 1 pound is 2 points. :) I also have no idea about portion size or even the beginning of figuring calories and points. I need this to be easy. I don't want to spend every spare moment of my day, shopping for food, prepping food, cooking food and writing down food. What is going to end up happening is that I'm going to figure out the points for a handful of items and that is all I will eat. That way, if it is always the same, I don't have to think about it. The other thing I'm sure I'm going to do is, instead of learning to eat new things, is just not eat. For example, tonight we had ribs. I ate my fill because I'm not counting points until tomorrow. In the future when we have ribs, I will eat my point limit and be done. If that is one rib, then that is one rib and I'll end up being hungry. And pissy, but that is nothing new.
I imagine I'll spend my time being hungry because of my lack of flexibility, so if I bite your head off for no good reason, feel free to tell me to eat something and STFU. Also, I am stubborn and obstinate and if someone tells me that I can't do something it makes me more determined that, by God, I damn well will do it. I kept my old busted down couch for years past it's lifespan simply because my MIL made such a big deal about how I needed to get rid of it. If she had just shut up, I probably would have gotten rid of it long before I did LOL So, if you see me, please don't tell me that you think I can do it. If you want to talk about it, you need to be telling me that you are sure that I'm totally over my points for the day and that it is obvious I'm destined for failure. You could also point out the sheer amount of money I'm throwing away and the time I'm wasting for good measure :)
My starting is 201.5. I'll let you know when I get there.
When I got pregnant with The Boy, I gained 50 lbs and tipped the scales at over 200 lbs. I was unhappy that I had to buy all new clothes but I didn't feel like I was that heavy and it still didn't bother me. Over the last year, I've made various attempts to start a regular exercise routine because while I didn't have a problem with the way I looked, I had a problem with the way I felt. I was always sick, could barely breathe, couldn't walk quickly without getting winded, etc. Through various circumstances, none of those attempts have been that long term and with summer coming on, I imagine this one will go down the drain as well. In January, we got the Wii Fit and I made a serious attempt to do it every day. When I started, my weight was 206. April 1st, my gym started a program called "resolution renewal" to get people back working out on a regular basis. If I go 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time for the entire 8 weeks, I get a $30 when I'm all done. In addition to that, I had to fill out a food and exercise log and turn it in each week. At the beginning of the program, I said that my goal was not to lose weight but to feel better. Because of that, the food log was irrelevant and I made most of it up on Monday morning right before it had to be turned in. My first day one the new program, I weighed myself, just to see how I did with no food effort. I made a real effort on the exercise, logging an hour (instead of the required half hour) most days, which included both cardio (5 minutes at 3 mph on the stairs and 35 minutes at 4 mph on the elliptical) and strength (arm and leg machines) most days. When I was strapped for time, I would just do the cardio but I've been there 3 days a week for at least 30 minutes every week since April 1. I weighed in at 210, 4 pounds heavier than I was in January. Fine, no biggie. Over the last 6 weeks, I have added another 8 lbs, putting me at 218 lbs, which is a gain of 12 lbs in 4 months time or 3 lbs a month. Every week, I watch it creep up and creep up. None of my clothes fit right anymore. I put on my shorts from last summer today and I could barely button them. These are the shorts that, last summer, I had to be sure to tie the drawstring on or they would fall off. This is not cool. So I decided that something had to change and obviously I can't exercise the weight away so I'm going to have to change the way I eat.
The problem is that I eat like your basic 2 year old. Plain meat, plain potatoes, very few veggies. Deep fried, covered in cheese, giant bowls of ice cream, etc. I do eat raw veggies occasionally and I'm absolutely addicted to green beans. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how many green beans I can eat every day without having to count the points. Quigs says that 1 pound is 2 points. :) I also have no idea about portion size or even the beginning of figuring calories and points. I need this to be easy. I don't want to spend every spare moment of my day, shopping for food, prepping food, cooking food and writing down food. What is going to end up happening is that I'm going to figure out the points for a handful of items and that is all I will eat. That way, if it is always the same, I don't have to think about it. The other thing I'm sure I'm going to do is, instead of learning to eat new things, is just not eat. For example, tonight we had ribs. I ate my fill because I'm not counting points until tomorrow. In the future when we have ribs, I will eat my point limit and be done. If that is one rib, then that is one rib and I'll end up being hungry. And pissy, but that is nothing new.
I imagine I'll spend my time being hungry because of my lack of flexibility, so if I bite your head off for no good reason, feel free to tell me to eat something and STFU. Also, I am stubborn and obstinate and if someone tells me that I can't do something it makes me more determined that, by God, I damn well will do it. I kept my old busted down couch for years past it's lifespan simply because my MIL made such a big deal about how I needed to get rid of it. If she had just shut up, I probably would have gotten rid of it long before I did LOL So, if you see me, please don't tell me that you think I can do it. If you want to talk about it, you need to be telling me that you are sure that I'm totally over my points for the day and that it is obvious I'm destined for failure. You could also point out the sheer amount of money I'm throwing away and the time I'm wasting for good measure :)
My starting is 201.5. I'll let you know when I get there.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Random anger and a few good things
It makes me really angry when people lie about the time they spend working out. RF's work has a gym, it costs 1/10 the amount of most gyms in town to go to so I do. Occasionally, they run contests for gifts cards to various places for participating for a certain amount of time. They aren't competitions since anyone that completes the program gets a gift card. That is what got me back in the gym this time. They are giving away a $30 Best Buy gift card for working out 3 times a week for 30 minutes per time for 8 weeks. I've already spent the gift card in my head so I have to complete the challenge to get get my stuff. I realize that what other people do has no bearing on my progress (which is 6 minutes at 3 miles an hour on the stairs right now) and "they are only hurting themselves", but when they screw around I want to yell at them. A lot of people fudge their in and out time on the log. I will be in there, 10 minutes into my time on the elliptical and someone will come in, sign in, ride the bike for a few minutes, sign out and leave. Their sign in time is almost always listed as before mine and their sign out after. There is a prox card sensor/lock on the door that you have to scan your ID to get in but I don't know how often that log gets compared to the written one. The other thing they do is come in, piddle around reading the fit facts, do a couple of reps on the weight machines, spent 10 minutes sipping water, do a couple more reps, watch some TV, a couple more, chat with the other people, etc. So they may actually be in the room for 90 minutes but they are only working out 20 minutes of that time. Lame. I think in addition to the door being locked, all the machines should have codes on them and you should have to input your code to turn it on. Then it would log the amount of time, under your account, that you worked out that day. Then no cheating. I've been told I'm the only one that cares and as long as people pretend to complete the program, that is all they care about.
Something else that irritates me is book series. This used to be basically a Sci-Fi thing, where books would have 27 books in the same series. Never bothered me until it bled over into mystery. Of course, I love the hold system at the library and have many series on hold but if it isn't a Champaign book, you might get your hold in 2 days, you might get it in 2 weeks, your book might be working on the first solo hike around the world and you might never get it. So I still end up browsing the shelves, looking for something to fill time until my next book comes in. Of course because everything is a series, you can't just wonder down the aisle and pick up something that looks interesting anymore. If you do, you might end up with the 2nd, 10th or 50th book in the series. RF says "research it before you leave and find the first book" I say, "since I pick books that have interesting covers, that doesn't work, besides even if I did, there is no guarantee that the first book would be on the shelf and then I would back in the hold system again". I'm fine with the concept of series because I like getting to know the characters better and I like knowing that I have more to read. I just don't like not knowing where the book is in the series. Name your book whatever cute, funny, punny title you feel the need to call it. Then in large print, somewhere on the cover say "the 3rd book in the Britt Montero" series (the series I'm currently reading) so I don't end up with book 2 and 4, thinking I have 2 and 3 and wondering WTF is going on when I crack open 4 and it is talking about stuff I have no idea about, leaving the book to languish on my counter for over a month while I wait for book 3 to come in (which is what happened to me with the last bunch of books I got)
We got our new fridge yesterday. We have been telling the landlord since we moved in that that thing was on it's way out. It has always made these horrible creaking and groaning noises whenever it kicked on or off. Recently, it has started having different temperature zones in it. Some areas are a little warm, leaving my pop less than pleasant. Other areas are so cold food is freezing. I can't tell you how much stuff I've had to toss because it froze (stuff that isn't supposed to freeze, like tomatoes). They left the old one so the new one had time to get cold and we could take our time switching the stuff over. I left it plugged in all night and started moving food this AM. We are going from a side by side to a top and bottom. The fridge part is about 4 inches wider than our old one, which I great. It has 3 shelves, instead of 2 and it is taller. The freezer, on the other hand, is teeny, tiny. I fit about half the stuff in our freezer in it. A lot of it was stuff that has been in there for ages (some frozen fruit from when I made smoothies for breakfast when I was working, before I got pregnant with MT) so I threw a lot away. But I also knew that this is about the emptiest the freezer is going to be because grocery shopping is Tuesday. I called the landlord and asked if we could keep the old fridge and put it on the porch. She said sure, they couldn't do anything with it. So they are coming sometime early next week to hook up the water line (new fridge has an ice maker in it) and haul the old one to the porch. I'm going to use it for freezer space and for drink and other stuff that temp doesn't matter in the fridge. Now to clear off the porch to make room for it.
Finally, does it make me a bad mom that I declined to sit upstairs and watch "Bedtime Stories" with my kids because my dad i up there? I did promise TB that I would watch it with him again tomorrow afternoon but I couldn't bring myself to hang out up there all night. Plus, it sounds like they are jumping off things and generally running wild and I'm rather glad I'm not up there right now.
Something else that irritates me is book series. This used to be basically a Sci-Fi thing, where books would have 27 books in the same series. Never bothered me until it bled over into mystery. Of course, I love the hold system at the library and have many series on hold but if it isn't a Champaign book, you might get your hold in 2 days, you might get it in 2 weeks, your book might be working on the first solo hike around the world and you might never get it. So I still end up browsing the shelves, looking for something to fill time until my next book comes in. Of course because everything is a series, you can't just wonder down the aisle and pick up something that looks interesting anymore. If you do, you might end up with the 2nd, 10th or 50th book in the series. RF says "research it before you leave and find the first book" I say, "since I pick books that have interesting covers, that doesn't work, besides even if I did, there is no guarantee that the first book would be on the shelf and then I would back in the hold system again". I'm fine with the concept of series because I like getting to know the characters better and I like knowing that I have more to read. I just don't like not knowing where the book is in the series. Name your book whatever cute, funny, punny title you feel the need to call it. Then in large print, somewhere on the cover say "the 3rd book in the Britt Montero" series (the series I'm currently reading) so I don't end up with book 2 and 4, thinking I have 2 and 3 and wondering WTF is going on when I crack open 4 and it is talking about stuff I have no idea about, leaving the book to languish on my counter for over a month while I wait for book 3 to come in (which is what happened to me with the last bunch of books I got)
We got our new fridge yesterday. We have been telling the landlord since we moved in that that thing was on it's way out. It has always made these horrible creaking and groaning noises whenever it kicked on or off. Recently, it has started having different temperature zones in it. Some areas are a little warm, leaving my pop less than pleasant. Other areas are so cold food is freezing. I can't tell you how much stuff I've had to toss because it froze (stuff that isn't supposed to freeze, like tomatoes). They left the old one so the new one had time to get cold and we could take our time switching the stuff over. I left it plugged in all night and started moving food this AM. We are going from a side by side to a top and bottom. The fridge part is about 4 inches wider than our old one, which I great. It has 3 shelves, instead of 2 and it is taller. The freezer, on the other hand, is teeny, tiny. I fit about half the stuff in our freezer in it. A lot of it was stuff that has been in there for ages (some frozen fruit from when I made smoothies for breakfast when I was working, before I got pregnant with MT) so I threw a lot away. But I also knew that this is about the emptiest the freezer is going to be because grocery shopping is Tuesday. I called the landlord and asked if we could keep the old fridge and put it on the porch. She said sure, they couldn't do anything with it. So they are coming sometime early next week to hook up the water line (new fridge has an ice maker in it) and haul the old one to the porch. I'm going to use it for freezer space and for drink and other stuff that temp doesn't matter in the fridge. Now to clear off the porch to make room for it.
Finally, does it make me a bad mom that I declined to sit upstairs and watch "Bedtime Stories" with my kids because my dad i up there? I did promise TB that I would watch it with him again tomorrow afternoon but I couldn't bring myself to hang out up there all night. Plus, it sounds like they are jumping off things and generally running wild and I'm rather glad I'm not up there right now.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Operation: Clean the damn house (and a few other things)
As part of O:CTDH that I started before Christmas, I spent most of yesterday and part of today getting it back in order from Christmas break. Heaven help us when summer comes but hopefully by then it will be a habit to clean regularly and not such a dramatic thing. My house looked like wild raving animals took it over for awhile. But it is much better now! After I did the generaly clean up, I moved on to scrubbing the bathroom. Usually, I just wipe everything down with Clorox every few days and call that good enough. It disinfects, it gets the toothpaste out of the sink, it is good enough (no matter what, the bathroom with always be my weak spot in cleaning). But today I scrubbed the hell out of it. I got out the "soft cleaner" and attacked that mess. I climbed into the shower and went over every inch of it, getting it clean (don't get me wrong, it doesn't look clean because it is old and stained and I think I might have created some toxic gas trying to get it unstained when we moved in but I assure you that it is, in fact, clean). It makes me smile a little every time I go in the bathroom and see the couple of unstained parts sparkle just smidge :) You know you are truly pathetic when a slightly sparkly shower surrond makes you smile.
Tomorrow, I finish the bathroom, which includes the sweeping and mopping, knocking down cobwebs, and scrubbing the outside of the tub and the walls with the Magic Eraser. If I can manage that in a reasonable amount of time, I'll start on my bedroom, which I'm not looking forward too. I have to move my bed and clean all the crap that has fallen under it over the past however many months. Not appealing in the slightest and a definate factor in saving it for last (and the fact that is has a door that I can shut so no has to see the mess when they come over :) ).
Wii Fit is kicking my butt. According to it, I'm doing nothing but gaining weight (which is somewhat odd, since I haven't gained any weight since I had the kids). I gained 50 lbs with The Boy, never lost it, had Ms Thang, lost a little from being sick but gained it back by the end of the pregnancy. Since then, my weight has fluxed a pound here or there but since I started doing the Fit, I've gained 6 lbs, with no change to my diet or activity level, aside from commiting to 20 on the board each day. Something fishy if you ask me! However, I'm a hula hooping champion and I rock the yoga. My sides are also sore (from hula hooping, I assume) and my let leg hurts so it is doing something at least.
TB was late getting out of school and when I asked him why he said "my teacher held me back and told me to talk to you about *sarcastic mimic*being responsible with my hair" He explained that people want to touch the hawk and he doesn't want them to so he was running in the classroom, trying to get away from someone that wanted to touch him. I told him that if someone wanted to touch it and he didn't want them to all he needed to do was say "do not touch me" at whatever volume he needed to use to get results. He said they aren't allowed to yell in school and I pointed out that he can't run in school or hit in school either so what other choice did he have, really? He probably shouldn't snarl, like I did in a pregnany hormone induced frenzy when some old lady that I didn't know rubbed my belly without asking "How would you like if I walked over and grabbed your boob? You wouldn't like that? Then keep your damn hands to yourself, you old bag" Obviously, I don't deal well with handsy people LOL
When I got home, I had an email from the teacher telling me her side of it. She said that "his hair is becoming a distraction to himself and others" She said that he is rubbing it in people's faces (he says this is in response to people pulling it) and letting some people play with it. I don't know if that meant that he is letting people play with it in class and it is disruptive or if he is only letting some people touch his hair and not everyone. IMO, he can't control what other people do, only himself, so disruptions to other people are not my problem. I did point out to him that he can't let people touch it during class and that he can't rub it on anyone, but that is rude and not a little gross. We shall see what the next few days bring. I get the impression that she doesn't like his hair and is looking of things to gripe at him about it. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe it will go smoothly and this will be the end of it. What I do know is that I won't cut his hair to please her. There is nothing in the school dress code policy preventing it (I checked before I ever did it, just to be on the safe side) and there isn't much she can do about it. Except make him miserable and he already hates school and begs me to switch him classes so I don't think it can get a lot worse.
Tomorrow, I get to go buy socks and a replacement bathroom step stool. I bought some at Target in the dollar section that are great. They cost $2.50, are plastic and are higher than average step stools. TB broke our bathroom one tonight and now has to pay to replace it. Any recommendations for step stools you like? I want it to be plastic (the wooden ones are great but I'm afraid they wouldn't hold up in the wet of the bathroom), inexpensive and tall. The tall was critical when we bought it because MT couldn't reach the sink at all. Over a year later, she is plenty tall enough to reach, even without the step stool, but now she uses it in the kitchen to help me cook and the tall is required again so she can reach the top of the counter.
Tomorrow, I finish the bathroom, which includes the sweeping and mopping, knocking down cobwebs, and scrubbing the outside of the tub and the walls with the Magic Eraser. If I can manage that in a reasonable amount of time, I'll start on my bedroom, which I'm not looking forward too. I have to move my bed and clean all the crap that has fallen under it over the past however many months. Not appealing in the slightest and a definate factor in saving it for last (and the fact that is has a door that I can shut so no has to see the mess when they come over :) ).
Wii Fit is kicking my butt. According to it, I'm doing nothing but gaining weight (which is somewhat odd, since I haven't gained any weight since I had the kids). I gained 50 lbs with The Boy, never lost it, had Ms Thang, lost a little from being sick but gained it back by the end of the pregnancy. Since then, my weight has fluxed a pound here or there but since I started doing the Fit, I've gained 6 lbs, with no change to my diet or activity level, aside from commiting to 20 on the board each day. Something fishy if you ask me! However, I'm a hula hooping champion and I rock the yoga. My sides are also sore (from hula hooping, I assume) and my let leg hurts so it is doing something at least.
TB was late getting out of school and when I asked him why he said "my teacher held me back and told me to talk to you about *sarcastic mimic*being responsible with my hair" He explained that people want to touch the hawk and he doesn't want them to so he was running in the classroom, trying to get away from someone that wanted to touch him. I told him that if someone wanted to touch it and he didn't want them to all he needed to do was say "do not touch me" at whatever volume he needed to use to get results. He said they aren't allowed to yell in school and I pointed out that he can't run in school or hit in school either so what other choice did he have, really? He probably shouldn't snarl, like I did in a pregnany hormone induced frenzy when some old lady that I didn't know rubbed my belly without asking "How would you like if I walked over and grabbed your boob? You wouldn't like that? Then keep your damn hands to yourself, you old bag" Obviously, I don't deal well with handsy people LOL
When I got home, I had an email from the teacher telling me her side of it. She said that "his hair is becoming a distraction to himself and others" She said that he is rubbing it in people's faces (he says this is in response to people pulling it) and letting some people play with it. I don't know if that meant that he is letting people play with it in class and it is disruptive or if he is only letting some people touch his hair and not everyone. IMO, he can't control what other people do, only himself, so disruptions to other people are not my problem. I did point out to him that he can't let people touch it during class and that he can't rub it on anyone, but that is rude and not a little gross. We shall see what the next few days bring. I get the impression that she doesn't like his hair and is looking of things to gripe at him about it. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe it will go smoothly and this will be the end of it. What I do know is that I won't cut his hair to please her. There is nothing in the school dress code policy preventing it (I checked before I ever did it, just to be on the safe side) and there isn't much she can do about it. Except make him miserable and he already hates school and begs me to switch him classes so I don't think it can get a lot worse.
Tomorrow, I get to go buy socks and a replacement bathroom step stool. I bought some at Target in the dollar section that are great. They cost $2.50, are plastic and are higher than average step stools. TB broke our bathroom one tonight and now has to pay to replace it. Any recommendations for step stools you like? I want it to be plastic (the wooden ones are great but I'm afraid they wouldn't hold up in the wet of the bathroom), inexpensive and tall. The tall was critical when we bought it because MT couldn't reach the sink at all. Over a year later, she is plenty tall enough to reach, even without the step stool, but now she uses it in the kitchen to help me cook and the tall is required again so she can reach the top of the counter.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Getting Fit
I got my Wii Fit on Saturday. Of course, I was sick and couldn't play with it. Yesterday I felt a lot better so I was able to see what the big deal was all about. I did the body test and it determined that I was 25! Woohoo, go me. I did 40 minutes of various activites on it yesterday because I'm trying to unlock all the other activities. I may be unbalanced on the balance games, I can do yoga like nobody's business! I scored yoga trainer on all of them! Apparently, years of doing yoga on and off have done something for me. I spent 20 minutes on it today and would have done longer if TB hadn't been all in my face, demanding his turn. I also do a fairly decent job of hula hooping but the best thing I found today was a running game. You hold the Wii remote in your hand and run in place, trying to stay behind the lead runner. TB apparently loves this game and it is perfect for those days when he is crazy and needs to burn some energy. He has his little Mii and he can run wild on the fit. Who says that video games are worthless?
Quigs, my house has gone to hell with the kids being home. Give me a couple of days to get them back to school and get it cleaned back up and then you can come over and play on the fit with me after the minis go to bed :)
Quigs, my house has gone to hell with the kids being home. Give me a couple of days to get them back to school and get it cleaned back up and then you can come over and play on the fit with me after the minis go to bed :)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Yuck
So yesterday was officially a "not good" day. It wasn't terrible, just a few things happened to rank it as not good.
First, over the weekend, I developed a hole in the only pair of comfortable jeans I had. Not a patchable hole either :( When I got to looking at them, even if I could have patched the hole, it wouldn't have mattered because there were holes developing at the corners of the back pockets and on the middle seam. So they had to do in the trash. I decided that I would make due with my uncomfortable jeans, thinking that if I wore and washed them more often, they would soften up and be ok. Well, I wore them for about an hour this morning before I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I decided I had to suck it up and go buy jeans. I hate buying clothes because nothing ever fits right and it costs too much money. I went to Steve and Barry's (BTW, everything is 2.98 or less there right now and they still have a bunch of stuff, especially smaller sizes for the next 4 days) to see if they had anything before they went out of business. I found one pair of jeans in the right size, but they were 4 inches too long. I don't like hemmed pants so I passed (even though I could have probably dealt with it for 2.98 for a pair of jeans) and went to Old Navy. I grabbed my normal size and went and tried them on. I'm very sad to admit that they didn't fit (strange since the pair that ripped was the same size, but whatever) and I had to get the next size up. So not only did I have to buy pants, they just confirmed that I'm a giant fat ass! Did that change my eating habits at all? Of course not! I still had a greasy double cheeseburger, fries and ice cream for lunch and cheese covered enchiladas and beans for dinner. Hopefully, today will be the last day for the cast and I can start going to the gym again. Of course, if I lose much weight, my pants will be too big (they fit fine when they are unstretched but I know they will stretch and be too big, which I would rather have than too small) and then I'll be pissed that I spent the money for pants that don't fit.
RF said I need to become a vampire so that I never change size. I said that I need some kind of wasting illness and lose 100lbs and then become a vampire and never change sizes. :( I bought 2 pairs of pants, spent 3x more per pair than I wanted to spend and had to get a bigger size. It was not a pleasant morning.
Before we left to look at pants, I was playing on facebook and downloading some things. All of a sudden, my laptop shut down. Not too suprising since the battery is toast (I'm getting a new on for Xmas, I just have to suck it up til then) and won't hold a charge. Anytime it is unplugged (and the plug seems to fall out fairly often) it dies. I restarted it and got a blue screen of death. It said to restart and I did and got another blue screen. I had RF look at and he found a file called delself.bat on my desktop, which turned out to be a virus. He ran the anti-virus program and it came up with nothing. He got online and found that other people had had that virus and that it destroys the system registry and the only cure for it seemed to be reformatting and reinstalling :( Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up and the few things that weren't (recent pictures that I haven't moved over to the big drive), I was able to access and transfer in safe mode. I found my disk and it is reformatting. Hopefully, it will be up and running soon because my desktop is a POS. It is getting replaced for Xmas as well, but again, I have to suck it up for a few more weeks.
So, all in all, a crummy day. Hopefully today will be better.
First, over the weekend, I developed a hole in the only pair of comfortable jeans I had. Not a patchable hole either :( When I got to looking at them, even if I could have patched the hole, it wouldn't have mattered because there were holes developing at the corners of the back pockets and on the middle seam. So they had to do in the trash. I decided that I would make due with my uncomfortable jeans, thinking that if I wore and washed them more often, they would soften up and be ok. Well, I wore them for about an hour this morning before I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I decided I had to suck it up and go buy jeans. I hate buying clothes because nothing ever fits right and it costs too much money. I went to Steve and Barry's (BTW, everything is 2.98 or less there right now and they still have a bunch of stuff, especially smaller sizes for the next 4 days) to see if they had anything before they went out of business. I found one pair of jeans in the right size, but they were 4 inches too long. I don't like hemmed pants so I passed (even though I could have probably dealt with it for 2.98 for a pair of jeans) and went to Old Navy. I grabbed my normal size and went and tried them on. I'm very sad to admit that they didn't fit (strange since the pair that ripped was the same size, but whatever) and I had to get the next size up. So not only did I have to buy pants, they just confirmed that I'm a giant fat ass! Did that change my eating habits at all? Of course not! I still had a greasy double cheeseburger, fries and ice cream for lunch and cheese covered enchiladas and beans for dinner. Hopefully, today will be the last day for the cast and I can start going to the gym again. Of course, if I lose much weight, my pants will be too big (they fit fine when they are unstretched but I know they will stretch and be too big, which I would rather have than too small) and then I'll be pissed that I spent the money for pants that don't fit.
RF said I need to become a vampire so that I never change size. I said that I need some kind of wasting illness and lose 100lbs and then become a vampire and never change sizes. :( I bought 2 pairs of pants, spent 3x more per pair than I wanted to spend and had to get a bigger size. It was not a pleasant morning.
Before we left to look at pants, I was playing on facebook and downloading some things. All of a sudden, my laptop shut down. Not too suprising since the battery is toast (I'm getting a new on for Xmas, I just have to suck it up til then) and won't hold a charge. Anytime it is unplugged (and the plug seems to fall out fairly often) it dies. I restarted it and got a blue screen of death. It said to restart and I did and got another blue screen. I had RF look at and he found a file called delself.bat on my desktop, which turned out to be a virus. He ran the anti-virus program and it came up with nothing. He got online and found that other people had had that virus and that it destroys the system registry and the only cure for it seemed to be reformatting and reinstalling :( Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up and the few things that weren't (recent pictures that I haven't moved over to the big drive), I was able to access and transfer in safe mode. I found my disk and it is reformatting. Hopefully, it will be up and running soon because my desktop is a POS. It is getting replaced for Xmas as well, but again, I have to suck it up for a few more weeks.
So, all in all, a crummy day. Hopefully today will be better.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Thoughts on weight loss
"My fitness goals are different than most peoples.Most people want to lose enough weight so they look good in a bathing suit or they want to lower their cholesterol. I just want to lose enough so my stomach doesn’t jiggle when I brush my teeth."
-Kevin James
This is about the jist of my fitness goals. I'm a fat girl and I'm ok with that. I'm going to gym (although that is going to get reduced when I set about bringing more income into this house), not to lose weight, but to feel better. I don't like being out of breath all the time. But honestly, I don't care if I ever lose a pound.
I do wish there were more clothes for fat girls. If I had any sewing skills at all, I would start a line of fat girl clothing that wasn't ugly and didn't cost a fortune. Really, I know that fat girl clothes require more material but $20-$50 more material. Seems like a racket to me!
If I could sew, I would also create a line of maternity clothes. They would include fat girl, tall girl, petite girl, etc clothes because according to popular thought only women who are 5'6 to 5'8 and a size 8 ever get pregnant. And the big thing that it would have? Pockets in the pants. Just because someone is having a kid, doesn't mean they have less crap to carry. In fact, it might mean they have more.
-Kevin James
This is about the jist of my fitness goals. I'm a fat girl and I'm ok with that. I'm going to gym (although that is going to get reduced when I set about bringing more income into this house), not to lose weight, but to feel better. I don't like being out of breath all the time. But honestly, I don't care if I ever lose a pound.
I do wish there were more clothes for fat girls. If I had any sewing skills at all, I would start a line of fat girl clothing that wasn't ugly and didn't cost a fortune. Really, I know that fat girl clothes require more material but $20-$50 more material. Seems like a racket to me!
If I could sew, I would also create a line of maternity clothes. They would include fat girl, tall girl, petite girl, etc clothes because according to popular thought only women who are 5'6 to 5'8 and a size 8 ever get pregnant. And the big thing that it would have? Pockets in the pants. Just because someone is having a kid, doesn't mean they have less crap to carry. In fact, it might mean they have more.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Swimsuits and body image
I'm a fat girl. I know this, but somehow, in my mind, I'm not nearly as big as I actually am. I'm constantly surprised and disappointed when 14s don't fit. You would think after nearly 7 years of being a fat girl, I would be used to this, but I'm not. I'm completely deluded about my actual size. And although, I wouldn't say no to being smaller, I have no desire to change anything about the way I do things. I've been working out, not to lose weight but to get in better shape to be able to chase the kids, play etc. Thus, if I could find a swimsuit with a decent top, I would absolutely buy a bikini. This is the suit we got for Ms Thang and if they made big girl suits with tops like that instead of like this, I would buy one in a heart beat (they also need to have higher rise bottoms but I can find those elsewhere, no biggie). Instead, when I get another suit, I will probably get this one. I want a new suit because I'm not happy with the one I got but it was what I could find, where I was, for what I was willing to spend. Being of the plus variety, that severely limited my choices. Since I just bought it, I will suck it up and wait for it to fall apart (which as often as we swim, should be before the end of summer) and then buy it.
Unfortunately, Ms. Thang has inherited my swimsuit problems. She just has other issues. We tried on 10 suits before we found something that even sort of worked. The one pieces were all too short because she is long waisted. Anything that fit through the butt was way too short and the neck barely hit her mid chest. That forced us into 2 piece terriory which had problems all it's own. Some of them fit across the chest but had huge saggy butts. Apparently, all kids who wear a 5T must still be in diapers because all the suits were cut for the extra baggage. Going smaller to get the butt to fit made the top not fit right. We found one that fit both but flaired across her stomach and would have floated up and been annoying in the water. We finally settled on the above one which fit across the chest and hips and was only a little saggy in her butt.
Unfortunately, Ms. Thang has inherited my swimsuit problems. She just has other issues. We tried on 10 suits before we found something that even sort of worked. The one pieces were all too short because she is long waisted. Anything that fit through the butt was way too short and the neck barely hit her mid chest. That forced us into 2 piece terriory which had problems all it's own. Some of them fit across the chest but had huge saggy butts. Apparently, all kids who wear a 5T must still be in diapers because all the suits were cut for the extra baggage. Going smaller to get the butt to fit made the top not fit right. We found one that fit both but flaired across her stomach and would have floated up and been annoying in the water. We finally settled on the above one which fit across the chest and hips and was only a little saggy in her butt.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Doing the happy
In a change from the grumpy grumpies of the past week, I have a happy post.
First up, we figured out a work around for the scouting issue. There are 4-H groups in town and they have groups for kids starting at 5! We are going to our first meeting May 10th so YAY! Daddy is still taking C to the scout open house and he might end up doing both but being a former 4-Her myself, I'm way more inclined to lean in that direction. There are just so many options that have nothing to do with camping (I HATE camping) and when they do camp, it is in cabins, which still sucks but way less than being in a tent.
Next, I was griping about my "economic stimulus" rebate not being here yet because I seriously want to stimulate the economy in the worst way. I was also missing about $800 from my refund because a form didn't get sent in. I figure we won't get the rebate direct deposited because of the error on our return. We called and found out that they had processed the rest of our refund and are sending it and it should be here in 2-3 weeks, probably closer to 2. YAY!! That means I will have some money to take on vacation with us which is super! Then when I get the rebate, I can pay off my student loan and free up a little more money. Hooray!!
Next up, I toured the preschool that I think we are going to send Lizzie to. It was a little chaotic and kind of crowded, but she seemed to LOVE it. It is at the local high school and it has a head teacher and a bunch of high school students working with the kids. It ends up being 1 or 2 big kids to each little kid so there is a ton of supervision (although, while I observed, I could definately tell who was there for easy credits and who really wanted to work with kids). the first words out of the teacher's mouth were "I don't believe in paper and pencil preschool. Kids this age need to play" and I nearly hugged her! That is so nice to hear. She told me that they go through May 22nd and if Lizzie wants to join them for the next couple of weeks, she can. I'm seriously thinking about doing it. That way, I can see if she likes it and if she does, she will have something to look forward to in the fall. Plus having a few hours a week to do things would be SUPER!
If she does that, I'm having dh join the gym at work and I'm going to get serious about getting in shape since I would be able to run over there for an hour while she is in school and still have time to shower and pick her up before lunch. The only problem is going to be having such a late nap. I'll have to have food in the car for her when I pick her so she can eat on the way home and still get down at a reasonable time.
Finally, I had a dream the other night that K and Looseyfur and I were all in high school together. It was a pretty standard "teen comedy" scenerio where we got up to all kinds of hi-jinks before learning some valuable lesson in the end. Nevermind the fact that we are fairly different ages and wouldn't have been in school at the same time, even if we were from the same place :)
First up, we figured out a work around for the scouting issue. There are 4-H groups in town and they have groups for kids starting at 5! We are going to our first meeting May 10th so YAY! Daddy is still taking C to the scout open house and he might end up doing both but being a former 4-Her myself, I'm way more inclined to lean in that direction. There are just so many options that have nothing to do with camping (I HATE camping) and when they do camp, it is in cabins, which still sucks but way less than being in a tent.
Next, I was griping about my "economic stimulus" rebate not being here yet because I seriously want to stimulate the economy in the worst way. I was also missing about $800 from my refund because a form didn't get sent in. I figure we won't get the rebate direct deposited because of the error on our return. We called and found out that they had processed the rest of our refund and are sending it and it should be here in 2-3 weeks, probably closer to 2. YAY!! That means I will have some money to take on vacation with us which is super! Then when I get the rebate, I can pay off my student loan and free up a little more money. Hooray!!
Next up, I toured the preschool that I think we are going to send Lizzie to. It was a little chaotic and kind of crowded, but she seemed to LOVE it. It is at the local high school and it has a head teacher and a bunch of high school students working with the kids. It ends up being 1 or 2 big kids to each little kid so there is a ton of supervision (although, while I observed, I could definately tell who was there for easy credits and who really wanted to work with kids). the first words out of the teacher's mouth were "I don't believe in paper and pencil preschool. Kids this age need to play" and I nearly hugged her! That is so nice to hear. She told me that they go through May 22nd and if Lizzie wants to join them for the next couple of weeks, she can. I'm seriously thinking about doing it. That way, I can see if she likes it and if she does, she will have something to look forward to in the fall. Plus having a few hours a week to do things would be SUPER!
If she does that, I'm having dh join the gym at work and I'm going to get serious about getting in shape since I would be able to run over there for an hour while she is in school and still have time to shower and pick her up before lunch. The only problem is going to be having such a late nap. I'll have to have food in the car for her when I pick her so she can eat on the way home and still get down at a reasonable time.
Finally, I had a dream the other night that K and Looseyfur and I were all in high school together. It was a pretty standard "teen comedy" scenerio where we got up to all kinds of hi-jinks before learning some valuable lesson in the end. Nevermind the fact that we are fairly different ages and wouldn't have been in school at the same time, even if we were from the same place :)
Monday, February 11, 2008
The haps
Lots going on. C finished roller skating lessons and has requested a roller skating b-day party (nothing like planning for the future LOL). I'm planning to take him a couple of times a month so he can keep practicing. He is also COMPLETELY obsessed with Star Wars. This is from Lego Star Wars. We got this for the Xbox and after playing all 6 episodes, he decided he needed to see all the movies. We are doing "milkshake and a movie" night on Weds and seeing all the episodes, starting with 1 and working towards 6. I haven't ever seen all the movies either so he is excited that I get to see it for the first time with him. He has also started collecting action figures from the movies, so yay, more toys.
Lizzie starts shake and make in a few weeks and she is really excited. She has been so sad since we didn't get into Wiggles and Giggles. She keeps asking when she gets to go to her "school" again. Other than that, she hasn't had a lot going on.
I've been working at the school with the K-3 reading program, which is 100% not as advertised. We were told that it would be a mentoring type program with one or two kids and focused reading instruction. Instead it is 9 kids (on the big day, only 6 the other day). What ends up happening is 1 or 2 kids are paying attention andthe others are laying on the floor or playing with the globe or picking at the carpet and completely not paying attention. I spend more time saying "guys, if you aren't going to pay attention, you'll have to go back to your class" than I do actually doing anything with them. I did stop doing the Wed group, which I feel kind of bad about but I don't enjoy the large group aspect of it. I don't feel like I'm doing any good when only one or two (that seem to already know the material and I wonder why they are in the group) are even getting the information.
Other than that, I've been walking nearly everyday for the last two weeks, no weight lost but I find I'm walking faster and working harder so I must be getting healthier.
As to my other goal of not being so poor, I haven't done the best job of not just spending money, but I'm doing better. I quit just hanging out at Target, which has helped. I need to stop "running by Meijer" for things since every time I go in, I spend $50. It is always stuff I need, but when I say "I'm going to get Jello", there is no need to come out with 5 bags of stuff. I need to do my shopping all at once and just quit going more than once. However, with our taxes, I'm going to pay off my van and then my student loan and that will help a ton!
That is really all, been watching the last season of Gilmore Girls, trying to keep up on the housework, and planning the games for Funfest (which is another thing I'm so not thrilled about but that is another post altogether) and just trying to keep my head above water.
Lizzie starts shake and make in a few weeks and she is really excited. She has been so sad since we didn't get into Wiggles and Giggles. She keeps asking when she gets to go to her "school" again. Other than that, she hasn't had a lot going on.
I've been working at the school with the K-3 reading program, which is 100% not as advertised. We were told that it would be a mentoring type program with one or two kids and focused reading instruction. Instead it is 9 kids (on the big day, only 6 the other day). What ends up happening is 1 or 2 kids are paying attention andthe others are laying on the floor or playing with the globe or picking at the carpet and completely not paying attention. I spend more time saying "guys, if you aren't going to pay attention, you'll have to go back to your class" than I do actually doing anything with them. I did stop doing the Wed group, which I feel kind of bad about but I don't enjoy the large group aspect of it. I don't feel like I'm doing any good when only one or two (that seem to already know the material and I wonder why they are in the group) are even getting the information.
Other than that, I've been walking nearly everyday for the last two weeks, no weight lost but I find I'm walking faster and working harder so I must be getting healthier.
As to my other goal of not being so poor, I haven't done the best job of not just spending money, but I'm doing better. I quit just hanging out at Target, which has helped. I need to stop "running by Meijer" for things since every time I go in, I spend $50. It is always stuff I need, but when I say "I'm going to get Jello", there is no need to come out with 5 bags of stuff. I need to do my shopping all at once and just quit going more than once. However, with our taxes, I'm going to pay off my van and then my student loan and that will help a ton!
That is really all, been watching the last season of Gilmore Girls, trying to keep up on the housework, and planning the games for Funfest (which is another thing I'm so not thrilled about but that is another post altogether) and just trying to keep my head above water.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Morning walks
Some of you might remember my goals for the year. Towards that end, I'm going to start going to this program, anyone want to join me:
Early Bird Walks
All Ages
Come in from the cold. Here’s your chance
to keep moving! Stop by the Leonhard
Recreation Center for an early morning
walk around the gym.
Date Day Time
1/2-3/28 M/W/F 7:30am-8:30am
Location: Leonhard Recreation Center
Questions: Paul, 352-6044
It is perfect for us because school starts at 7:45 and we can go right from dropping off to the gym. Lizzie likes to ride in her stroller and will probably do that it fairly happily for 20 or 30 minutes. I'm also considering joining the "Healthy Striders" at the mall, that way I can walk the other 2 days a week as well. I need to find out the times on it because I like to do my stuff all at once. Once I come home, I don't like to leave again until time to pick up after school. I also need to find out if there is a cost on it since paying to walk sort of goes against the second goal of "not being poor" :)
Early Bird Walks
All Ages
Come in from the cold. Here’s your chance
to keep moving! Stop by the Leonhard
Recreation Center for an early morning
walk around the gym.
Date Day Time
1/2-3/28 M/W/F 7:30am-8:30am
Location: Leonhard Recreation Center
Questions: Paul, 352-6044
It is perfect for us because school starts at 7:45 and we can go right from dropping off to the gym. Lizzie likes to ride in her stroller and will probably do that it fairly happily for 20 or 30 minutes. I'm also considering joining the "Healthy Striders" at the mall, that way I can walk the other 2 days a week as well. I need to find out the times on it because I like to do my stuff all at once. Once I come home, I don't like to leave again until time to pick up after school. I also need to find out if there is a cost on it since paying to walk sort of goes against the second goal of "not being poor" :)
Monday, December 24, 2007
Movement and getting unfat
So days 1, 2, 3, etc haven't gone so good. Not only did I eat cookies for lunch on Friday and then atoned for my sins by eating a salad for dinner (complete with a 42 oz milkshake for dessert), but we had my famiy's Christmas dinner on Sunday, where I scarfed everything in sight and then some for both lunch and dinner. I ate leftovers today (and stuffed myself sick again) then had mass quantities of popcorn at the movie and came home and ate pizza. Besides all the huge amoutns of food I've eaten over the last several days, I have stopped doing Pilates and Yoga. I've been too full at bedtime to do them so I've been skipping.
In getting back on track, we set up our Christmas present tonight. My mom got us a Wii for Christmas and we wanted it to be set up and totally ready to use when the kids found out about it in the morning. Good thing too because it took over 30 minutes to set up and then to sync and so forth. Once we had it all set up, we had to play it to make sure that everything worked right. :) My brother and were playing Wii Sports (the other games are "to be opened" tomorrow morning) and decided on boxing. We played 3 minutes and both of us nearly died in the process! Every time one of use would go down, we were both doubled over, hands on our knees, panting like crazy. I haven't been that active in ever. I'm not sure I even worked that hard when I used to play soccer (which could have something to do with the fact that I was never, in all the years I played, on a winning team LOL). Then we bowled, which was much less active. If I played one of the games (I left the "boys" playing tennis to come to bed) at least once a day, I would drop mad weight and be in killer shape. I'll have to find out if I can play against the computer or if I can play online or if I'm just going to have to get someone to play against me everyday :)
In getting back on track, we set up our Christmas present tonight. My mom got us a Wii for Christmas and we wanted it to be set up and totally ready to use when the kids found out about it in the morning. Good thing too because it took over 30 minutes to set up and then to sync and so forth. Once we had it all set up, we had to play it to make sure that everything worked right. :) My brother and were playing Wii Sports (the other games are "to be opened" tomorrow morning) and decided on boxing. We played 3 minutes and both of us nearly died in the process! Every time one of use would go down, we were both doubled over, hands on our knees, panting like crazy. I haven't been that active in ever. I'm not sure I even worked that hard when I used to play soccer (which could have something to do with the fact that I was never, in all the years I played, on a winning team LOL). Then we bowled, which was much less active. If I played one of the games (I left the "boys" playing tennis to come to bed) at least once a day, I would drop mad weight and be in killer shape. I'll have to find out if I can play against the computer or if I can play online or if I'm just going to have to get someone to play against me everyday :)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Excercize and scrapping
I have started doing pilates and yoga again. I had been doing really good at it and then I got sick and quit (it is really hard to invert when it feels like your head is going to explode when you pick things up off the floor) Then I never got back into it. I need to get the book that I had from the library because the ab workout in it was muxh better. This book I have now is ok, but it is less concentrated (I realize I griped about not liking the other book I already had because it was too specific but there is a happy medium between too specific and not specific enough) than what I want. I've been doing the yoga on and off for a couple of years. If nothing else, I sleep better when I do it, so doing it as often as possible is a good thing.
I've also decided to do something aerobic 10 minutes everyday. If that is swimming with the kids or chasing them around the playground or flailing around wildly to music. 10 minutes a day isn't that hard to commit to. Eventually the plan is to work up to doing 20 minutes a day and then 30 minutes. Over the course of the day, none of that is too much. 10 minutes is seriously nothing. I can do 2 minutes an hour (one song to flail to) and it won't even take all day. Do I want to lose weight? Yes, I would really like to lose 50 lbs. However, that isn't the main focus of this. I want to be in better shape. I don't like not being able to breathe. And I don't like not being able to run and play with the kids without being winded.
As for scrapping, I'm so tired of commenting on layouts. I want the comments on mine (which are boring, I know) but I'm tired of spewing the same pointless drivel at every layout I see. It is rare that I see a layout that really inspires me to say anything real. I always complained about galleries where all that was said was "Nice page,I like your color choices" or "I really like your page, you did a good job with that picture" I always want some kind of constructive critism but I find that hard to offer. I see the layouts and they are "fine", nothing spectacular but nothing wrong either and it is so hard to come up with something that doesn't sound 100% lame. So I may not like the robot comments but at least I understand them now :(
I've also decided to do something aerobic 10 minutes everyday. If that is swimming with the kids or chasing them around the playground or flailing around wildly to music. 10 minutes a day isn't that hard to commit to. Eventually the plan is to work up to doing 20 minutes a day and then 30 minutes. Over the course of the day, none of that is too much. 10 minutes is seriously nothing. I can do 2 minutes an hour (one song to flail to) and it won't even take all day. Do I want to lose weight? Yes, I would really like to lose 50 lbs. However, that isn't the main focus of this. I want to be in better shape. I don't like not being able to breathe. And I don't like not being able to run and play with the kids without being winded.
As for scrapping, I'm so tired of commenting on layouts. I want the comments on mine (which are boring, I know) but I'm tired of spewing the same pointless drivel at every layout I see. It is rare that I see a layout that really inspires me to say anything real. I always complained about galleries where all that was said was "Nice page,I like your color choices" or "I really like your page, you did a good job with that picture" I always want some kind of constructive critism but I find that hard to offer. I see the layouts and they are "fine", nothing spectacular but nothing wrong either and it is so hard to come up with something that doesn't sound 100% lame. So I may not like the robot comments but at least I understand them now :(
Saturday, September 22, 2007
ACDSee and scrapbooking files
I went through, over the last couple of days, and tagged all the scrapbooking files I was able to re-get. It was much easier this time around, since I only have a handful of things to tag. Actually, I just looked in my "paper" file and I already have 163 files in there. I've decided that I won't be downloading things all willy nilly this time around. I don't need all that crap! I had almost 2000 backgrounds before and probably didn't use 5% of them, if that. I can re-color a little bit now so I don't need all 16 million colors that the eye can see.
I am DIGGING ACDSee as well. I resisted it for quite some time because I had Picasa and they were really the same thing, right? Wrong. ACDSee is much better, much easier to tag, much easier to sort, much easier to move files, etc. The only problem I'm having is easily opening things into Photoshop. I can do the tools>open in editor>Photoshop but that is a pain. I marked it as default, but I would like to be able to double click on the item and have it open in photoshop, instead of the ACDSee editor.
I'm really hungry. Are you starting to see a pattern to my posts? I'm always freaking hungry! No wonder I'm 50lbs over weight. :( Hopefully I'll get over being sick soon and then I can start walking and doing pilates again.
Finally, the Illini won today. That is 3 in a row and the first conference road win in 14 years!!! Even the year we went to the Sugar Bowl, we still didn't have any road wins
I am DIGGING ACDSee as well. I resisted it for quite some time because I had Picasa and they were really the same thing, right? Wrong. ACDSee is much better, much easier to tag, much easier to sort, much easier to move files, etc. The only problem I'm having is easily opening things into Photoshop. I can do the tools>open in editor>Photoshop but that is a pain. I marked it as default, but I would like to be able to double click on the item and have it open in photoshop, instead of the ACDSee editor.
I'm really hungry. Are you starting to see a pattern to my posts? I'm always freaking hungry! No wonder I'm 50lbs over weight. :( Hopefully I'll get over being sick soon and then I can start walking and doing pilates again.
Finally, the Illini won today. That is 3 in a row and the first conference road win in 14 years!!! Even the year we went to the Sugar Bowl, we still didn't have any road wins
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Pilates
I've been doing yoga for awhile (at least 3 years, on and off) and I LOVE the book that I have. I don't like the videos because I want to watch something else on TV instead of listening to the soft, sleepy music on the videos (I realize that part of yoga is breathing and relaxing but I don't care for that part of it so much). The book is called "Simply Yoga" and has a complete program laid out from start to finish. I've been thinking for awhile about Pilates but I haven't been able to find anything I like. I found a "Simply Pilates" book at Amazon. It was used for 56 cents plus shipping. I bought it because I like the yoga book so much. It should be here in the next few days so I can start trying it out. In the mean time, I got a book from the library called "The Complete Pilates Body Challenge" It is a pretty nice book and I might pick one up, if I don't like the Simply Pilates book. It has a section called the "tantalizing ten" It is 10 moves that they suggest you do every day. Then then are other things that you can add for specific areas, including abs, lower body, perfect poster, etc. You add these 5 or so moves into the 10 and it takes about 15 minutes to run through the whole set. It works the whole body, which is what I don't like about the other books I've seen. I have one by Denise Austin that has tons of stuff in it, but is grouped by body part so you get 10 arm moves and then 10 leg and to get a full body workout, you have to flip through 300 pages to find the ones you want.
I did the 10 tonight and I'm seriously feeling it. My abs and legs both sort of ache and I imagine I'll feel it even more in the morning. This is a good thing, since I'm about 50lbs over weight. Honestly, my goal isn't to lose much weight (although, if I lose weight, I certainly won't complain), it is to be healthier. When I push the kids on the merry go round, I don't want to be panting and dying when I get done. I don't want to be winded after running up the stairs.
In addtion, I'm thinking taking a TKD class through the park district. They have a set up where if an adult signs up, you can sign a child (over age 6) for $20. C tried TKD last year and didn't do well at it because there wasn't enough supervision in the class. I think, being a year older and having me in the class with him will help and I think he would enjoy it. Couldn't hurt me either :)
I also want to take a belly dancing class because I think that would fun. I don't want to take it by myself though and no one will take it with me. :( Another class I would like to take would be a pop music kind of dance class. Like NSync or Brittney before she went crazy. I like to dance and it would be fun to learn to do some of them :) I saw a video for teens probably 8 years ago that had that sort of thing on it but I would like a class. Too bad all the dance classes are outlandishly expensive, even through the park disrict. I suppose I could just dl those old videos from youtube and teach myself. I'm such a dork LOL
I did the 10 tonight and I'm seriously feeling it. My abs and legs both sort of ache and I imagine I'll feel it even more in the morning. This is a good thing, since I'm about 50lbs over weight. Honestly, my goal isn't to lose much weight (although, if I lose weight, I certainly won't complain), it is to be healthier. When I push the kids on the merry go round, I don't want to be panting and dying when I get done. I don't want to be winded after running up the stairs.
In addtion, I'm thinking taking a TKD class through the park district. They have a set up where if an adult signs up, you can sign a child (over age 6) for $20. C tried TKD last year and didn't do well at it because there wasn't enough supervision in the class. I think, being a year older and having me in the class with him will help and I think he would enjoy it. Couldn't hurt me either :)
I also want to take a belly dancing class because I think that would fun. I don't want to take it by myself though and no one will take it with me. :( Another class I would like to take would be a pop music kind of dance class. Like NSync or Brittney before she went crazy. I like to dance and it would be fun to learn to do some of them :) I saw a video for teens probably 8 years ago that had that sort of thing on it but I would like a class. Too bad all the dance classes are outlandishly expensive, even through the park disrict. I suppose I could just dl those old videos from youtube and teach myself. I'm such a dork LOL
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