What Do You Do?

What do you do when you and your infant daughter are forced to be in the house alone for a week and a half? Well, after all the reading and playing and talking and walking and baby tv watching, you have a fashion show!! I give you.....Evie!

I thought it would be fun to put her in her stocking but she didn't fit. SIGH.
An outfit bought by work friends, the headband was made. So nice.

It is not cold here by any means but it was cool one night to go look at Christmas lights. It gave me an excuse to dress her like a bear in her stroller.

These glow in the dark shoes are great! They fit and are light. A gift from my favorite instructor at the gym!! She loves Evie. See her doing squats? We will work on them.

A gift from another gym friend! Super cute and pink. Evie loves this outfit. She laughed and smiled the whole time she wore it.

It is so hard to find any Christmas outfits that actually fit a 2 month old but this one worked pretty well. A gift from the friend who will be keeping her when I return to work next month.

Don't worry, Evie had a great time. I had fun. It also keeps me out of the kitchen so I do not eat too much. It is in the 70s here today so we will walk the dogs soon. Not easy to do while pushing a stroller, especially if I have to pick up pooh. But I love a challenge! Hope you have a great day!!

Mama's Got a Big Ol' Bump!

30 weeks!! 3/4 of the way there.

Just thought I would do a picture update. I have been up at school working getting ready for the new year. Teacher work week starts Monday. I am tired. Shocker, I know. Otherwise we are doing pretty well. Moved too much stuff the other day and I could feel it. So hubby and best bud were awesome and came up and did lots of manual labor for me. As for the mega boxes of text books to be delivered to me this week, well my co-workers will have to help. Poor souls.

A weird thing happened to me today. I went to the post office to mail my folks a package. It is Saturday. The post office is ALWAYS busy. Not today. And there was only one dude working the counter. When I got up there, he said "When are you due? Hmm....let's see, you are due October 12th with a little girl named Miranda." I just stared at him holding my box. I have never seen this guy before in my life. I did tell him I am due around October 14th with a girl but she does not have a name yet. He said "Huh....I was close." I will TOTALLY crap myself if this kid is born on October 12th.

As for other weird things - let's talk blog comments. When I open up my email and see I received a comment from "Anonymous" I always think - awesome, another foreign message about porn. It is always on an extremely old post. But not the past few weeks. I have been getting anonymous comments on old posts that make me laugh. And they are in English. Mostly they are random and don't make a lot of sense but they humor me. Like one the other day just said "blah". Do you all get these? I find them way funnier than porn comments for mail order brides.

Enjoy your weekend!

Warning for people with dogs....

Remember how I told you a lot happened on Monday? Well one of my lovely dogs was crying. I went to look for her. I found her in the baby's room. With a big pile of loose, bloody stool - on my new carpet! I do care more about the dog but man.....why on the carpet? I could not get into the vet until about 7 hours later. Turns out she has bacteria in her bowels along with a parasite. Then the vet proceeds to tell me that it can be transmitted to me. Just what a prego wants to hear. She may have a parasite. It was after hours so I had to call the on-call doc (just happened to be me doc). No major worries, even if I had it, it would stay in the intestines - yuck!



Dog is on meds and feels better now. I asked how she got it. Could be from soil (she likes to eat dirt) or from puddles of rain water (I let my dogs drink from puddles everyday on walks). SO PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR DOGS DRINK FROM PUDDLES. Unless you want to clean up nastiness.



I also called and got my glucose test results and I passed with flying colors! My score was 82 and they want it under 140. Yahoo!!!



I am going out of town again in about 2 minutes. So I leave you with some nursery pics. Finishing the crib makes it seem so real. Have a great weekend!

Thank You Bloggy Friends!!!

You are awesome!!! You gave me terrific ideas. I just wish I had more time to put some of them together (my bad). I went with Bath and Body Works gift sets. I think I found some to match each person. And in my mind, worse case, if they do not like it, they can shove it in a guest bathroom (or possibly re-gift). I think I know them all well enough that this will work.

Thanks again for all your ideas. I shall save them for the next event. I have my super fun glucose test in the morning. I am not exactly looking forward to sitting in the doc office for over an hour. I also do not have high hopes of passing this test. Not sure why, I have always had normal blood sugar levels. Just a hunch I guess. Maybe I will be wrong (it has been known to happen once).

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend. I plan to post pics from the first baby shower next week. Stay tuned......

Comments Needed Please!!!

I am in a bit of a pickle. I have a baby shower on Saturday. It is the first for our baby. It will be held at my mother-in-law's home, hosted by my sister-in-law and two of hubby's cousins.

Where I come from, when someone hosts a shower for you, the shower recipient gets the hosts (hostesses) a gift. My mother would be humiliated if I did not do this. I want to do this. I like them all. They are beyond SUPER nice. The question is, what do I get?

For my wedding, it was hosted by my MIL and hubby's aunts so we got them patio dining wear. Super cute!

Problem - these ladies all live in different cities very far from me. I do not want to buy them trinkety crap. They are all mothers and have gotten enough of that in life.

I was thinking a pedicure would be a great gift for all of them. However, they all live far (I mean over 6 hours) and I do not know which place they like. I am tempted to give them all some cash to go get pedicures. Too tacky?

Do you have any better suggestions? Please let me know!!!!

Life at my house....

Life at my house is always interesting. Yesterday I was signed up to take a breastfeeding class at the hospital. I signed my husband up too (the computer program made me). I had no intention of making him go. Last week after we left the childbirth class he said he had seen enough boobies. Once I got there, I saw I was the only one there without their husband. I sent him a text to tell him he was a lucky bastard. While I was gone, he made this:

That would be a blurry 3.5 pound cheeseburger. He was inspired by a place he went with his buds this weekend. I worry about the things he will teach our daughter. I know we live in Texas but bigger is not always better.....especially with food.

So when I got home he wanted to know how class was. I told him it was kind of weird because they made us pull our boobs out and they had these life-like dolls that could suck like real babies. Now this was a complete lie. If they asked me to do that, I would have left. The worst I saw was a video of breast feeding. Mostly it was just informative. So I am proud of myself for not laughing while telling him this. This was his reaction:

Hubby: You had to pull out your boob in front of all those other guys?

Me: Yep. Weird, huh?

Hubby: Man I sure am glad I didn't go.

Me: Why? You don't want to see my boob?

Hubby: No. I have seen your boobs. I do not want to see those other people's boobs. And the videos? They find the grossest people for those. Hey, want to see the pictures of my burger?

That is what life is like at my house. I never told him the truth. I am hoping he will tell this story to someone else and they will laugh at him for believing it. Or perhaps he will only ever talk about his epic burger for the rest of his life.

In other news - I am still exercising a lot. Last week I did weight training 3 times (bodypump) and 3 one hour cardio sessions (body attack, turbo kickboxing). I also walked the dogs everyday. I am also eating pretty well. I am all of a sudden not liking fruit again. I am so sick of it (but still making myself eat it for baby girl) that I have turned to drinking fruit smoothies. I did that the past 2 days and today I ate an apple with peanut butter. Something to help me want to eat it. Sad. I am like a small child sometimes.

Hope you all are having a great week!! Stay cool. Cause man is is HOT!!!

Family Circle Magazine

Family Circle magazine is a pretty good magazine. Full of recipes and tips on life. The clincher is that it only cost $1.99 (US dollars). Cheap entertainment and advice. Most issues have a health section that includes a "How I Lost It" story. It is filled with people like us. It is a small blurb with pictures - an interesting read. I used to go through tons of magazines looking for inspirational stories to provide motivation before I found you all. I wanted to pay it forward a little. I am going to be one of the "How I Lost It" blurbs. I just got the email this week that my issue went to print. It will be in the August issue so if you are in the grocery store check out, trying to avoid looking at the candy, pick up an issue and check it out (well, you will have to wait til August if you want to see MY blurb). It is a great magazine - totally worth the $1.99. By the way - I did the initial interview for this little article at the beginning of January. That is how long the process is.

Funny story of the day - My class (1st grade) heard that I was going to find out the sex of the baby this week. They are so excited. We took a poll to see what they thought it would be. I told them they did not have to vote for what they were. Girls could think it was a boy and vice versa. It came back at 14 to 7 favoring a girl. Then the comments started.

Boy #1 said - "You can handle a boy." Why is that, I ask. "Because you don't have to do hair and stuff."

Later in the day, while working at my table next to two girls, boy #2 said - "I hope you have a girl." (Now this is THE biggest trouble-maker I have and he has 2 brothers) Why is that, I ask. "Well (and in a low voice he says), they are so cute. Just look at (and says the name of a little girl sitting at my table with a shy smile)." To this I answer - you are right the girls in this class are quite cute but I am also fond of the boys.

So the general opinion of most (class, co-workers, gym folks) is that it is a girl. I have never asked them what they think, they just offer it. However, those I do ask - mother, best bud, hubby - we are stumped. Can't really say one way or another. I thought once I was pregnant I would have a feeling one way or another. Nope. Just confusion. Even on-line tests tell me it is inconclusive. Too close to tell. Let's just hope the baby cooperates on Thursday so I can know and start decorating.

Enough of my chatter. Hope you all have a great week. 6 more days of class!!! YAHOO!!!!

New Beginnings

So I have a story to tell. I used to have a best friend (I have best bud now but this story is not about her). We met in middle school. We were friends all through high school. We became inseparable our senior year. She went off to college, I went to community college for a year. Then I transferred to the same college she went to - Michigan State. We became roommates. We ended up getting into the same college (inside the University you have to be accepted into a college which will determine your major - ours was business). We had the same classes, we got jobs at the same places, we worked the same shifts, we partied together, we dated dudes who were friends as well. Essentially we lived the same life. She had horrible taste in men and thought they were awesome. At least when I dated a loser I would say "yeah, I know he is a loser but I am just having fun."

It is important to note that she had a great deal of trouble holding her alcohol. I was kicked out of many bars because of her. She would start crying for no reason and if some dude took pity on her and asked her why she was crying she would point to me and whoever I was with and say we were being mean (because we did not respond to her tears) and then those dudes would try to start a fight with us. Ridiculous shit for anyone to have to put up with.

I met my husband through her and one of her loser boyfriends right before our senior year in college began. (These relationships were long distance as well - us girls in Michigan and the boys in Texas) As the year went on, it was obvious that my husband was awesome and her boyfriend was a total loser. He eventually quit calling and dumped her (we were stuck in the middle) and she had a total mental and emotional break down. She ruined MANY nights for us. At the end of the year I made the decision to move to Texas. Her response? "What about me?"

I wanted to say, "what about you?" This is about me. But I didn't. I was far to nice and invited her and another friend to move with me. BIG MISTAKE!!! The "other" friend ended up moving back after 3 months and it ended in a law suit about a year later. But my best friend and I continued on. We had different jobs but she could not handle it. She began to become more outrageous including physically attacking me and breaking in my door if I went in my bedroom and shut the door. Almost always alcohol was involved. I have never been a drama queen so I was VERY resentful by this point. I wrote her a letter and she decided to move back home.

We tried to stay friends. I went home for Christmas in 2002 and that New Year's Eve we went to a party. She was a total bitch. She called my husband names (he was nothing but SUPER nice to her) and then she began to cry. And that was it. I screamed at her in a bar. Later that night, I told her that was it. I would not tolerate it anymore. She left. I then wrote her a letter and said I could not be friends with her any longer. It was a poisonous relationship. I told her not only was she no longer in my wedding, she was not even invited to it.

I had not heard from her since. Over 7 years. Until a few weeks ago. I always knew I would hear from her again, I just assumed that it would be some part of a 12 step program.

She found me on facebook and started with an apology. I have been over this for years but I have no desire to relive a single moment. To my surprise she is married (and not divorced) and now a mother to a 7 month old little girl. She ended the email by saying that she is coming to town at the end of May. She wants to get together.

I was shocked that my husband and mother thought it was a good idea. I mean, seriously, we do not know how stable she is. However, I am all for new beginnings. For a life free from fat, a baby on the way, why not old friendships? We did have lots of fun along the way.

So we started emailing back and forth A LOT. It is hard to catch up on 7 years in email. She comes in next weekend. We will be getting together twice. Once, even at my house for a cookout with the boys and baby.

I am a little weirded out that the past can walk right back to you like that. I wonder how awkward it will be or if it will be like really old, good times.

Either way, it is an experience that life is providing and if I don't do it, I will always wonder about it. I will update you on this situation next weekend. I find it very interesting to think of the possible outcomes.

In a COMPLETELY unrelated story - I get my next ultrasound Thursday. Hopefully the baby will cooperate and we will know what we are having. Also, there are 8 days of school left. HOORAY!!! I am sure no one cares but me, but I REALLY CARE!! And I got in the pool today. Started working on my tan. I heart summer.

Time Out

Well the good news is that I still feel good - stomach wise anyway. Sinus time. That is a little sucky. And I have been totally benched from exercise by the doc for an entire week! That is crazy! My foot has been hurting for 2 weeks. I exercised anyway. Thursday night I did turbo kickboxing. Friday morning my foot hurt so much it was hard to walk on. After school, I went to the doc. More plantars facitis and tendon/ligament problems. It is surprisingly painful. Way worse then when I had it before. Only icing and stretching for me now.



So I decided to go here:

Mayfest in Fort Worth. Lots of walking. I am sure this walking doesn't count, right?

This is my hubby drinking the margaritas that I couldn't. I found this stand funny. Ms. Piggys going places to stuff faces. It sold beans and rice, meat pies and fried oreos. Quite the combination. I got to eat a gyro - I "heart" greek food. There is like no greek food here. I did see LOTS of preggos eating their way through the fest. I felt like I had been called up to the mother ship.



I am off to buy a new ice pack for the foot. Hope you have a super weekend!

My eating has slowed down

Hello friends!

Well I have officially entered my second trimester. One third of the way there. Hooray!! But still, this has been a bad week. I have not done much exercise at all. A few nights and that is it. I was so sore from a double workout I took some time off. Then on Friday I took my class on an awesome field trip. Friday night - stomach pain. Bad. I was just convinced I was going to vomit or have diarrhea at any moment.

Saturday was about the same. Felt a little better at night which is good because I got to go out with best bud and we saw Chelsea Handler. We always have fun. Being around her probably made me feel better because today I am back to feeling like complete arse.

I wish I could barf my guts out just for some relief. The problem is, I do not know if I have the stomach virus from school or if I am one of those lucky people who gets their morning sickness in the second trimester. All I know is, that this sucks and I pray it ends soon.

On the other hand, it has slowed my eating WAY down. Since now my stomach feels best empty. I did force myself to eat some stuff today for the baby but I felt awful after. In fact, the dogs may or may not have finished my food.

I barely accomplished anything today (except I did get my Internet fixed - yay for me!). And I am moments away from dragging my lazy arse to bed. Hubby is gone, so I am left to my own devices as far as going to the store and such. Maybe I can do that tomorrow. If not, I do not care too much, I must say.

School story for you - you know I teach first grade, right? Well at that age the kids get obsessed with things. A vacation they took, a new toy, the color purple, playing with the velcro on their shoes until you want to rip their shoes off and throw them across the room (seriously, just teach your kid to tie their shoes - they are going to look completely retarded in high school when they still can't do it), etc. Well my super obese little girl (whom is beautiful and loves life and is repeating 1st grade - I enjoy her so) has a new obsession. She has been talking about it for weeks. Know what it is? Ponies? Nope, that was a few months ago. Butterflies? Nope, learning about them is just a hobby for her. Her obsession is.....wait for it.....HOT POCKETS.

Yes, I said HOT POCKETS. She wanted her mom to make them for the whole class. Then everyday this week she told me how she was bringing one on the field trip. I tried to tell her that was not a good option but she had her mom heat it up before school and she put it in a baggy. As she ate her hot pocket on the field trip (which I had to get a picture of) she had to tell me about her love of them.

I asked her if she ate them at home. Her answer? Yes, every night. EVERY NIGHT!!

She is very large. In fact, I even approached the subject with her parents. A defensive response is what I got. I have to say that I believe there could be a link between her childhood obesity and eating a pizza hot pocket every night. And that is after a school breakfast and lunch - which are LOADED in fat. Her lunch Friday was the hot pocket and jell-o. I find little to no nutritional value in that meal. That family needed to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I am so sad it is over. I heart Jamie and his efforts to fight obesity.

I think it is okay to nurture a child's love of books or football or dinosaurs but I really have to draw the line at HOT POCKETS. They may kill someone some day.

Hope you all had a rockin' weekend! Just stay away from the hot pockets!

Ups and Downs

It has been a crazy week. Thursday was hectic but pretty good. I went back to the school I used to work at for their science night. I saw so many of my former students and their families. Their jaws dropped because they did not recognize me at first. It was like a great big reunion of my favorite co-workers and students who have forever changed my life.

I heard many - "Oh my god!" and "How did you do it?" and "I would have never recognized you" and "You look great, is it true you are pregnant?"

Two years ago I had a student who I taught for two years. His dad always came to conferences because mom did not speak English. One day, this student came in with a big smile and said "my dad says you are really fat!"

Now I had a few things I wanted to say back (especially because dad was very large) but the student was 6 and we had a talk about hurting people's feelings (even if dad thinks it is okay).

Well, I saw that student. He ran and grabbed his dad. Jaw on the floor. I could see his in his mind he was eating his words. Revenge is sweet.

Later that night I tried on my size 10 jeans and was proud I could still button them. I thought they could live another day until my hubby said "man, those are tight!" He was looking at my arse and legs! Not my ever growing muffin top. So I went to my size 12s. More room in the waist but not the legs. Finally I pulled out the 14s. Total comfort. A little too roomy in the waist but I will dig out a belt and live with it until I have to start with the elastic waist bands. Sounds attractive, I know.

Fast forward to Friday in the lunch line at my new school. My pants and black school shirt fit extremely well. Nothing too tight. A lunch lady (whom I hardly know) said "Man, you are BIG! Are you having twins? Ha, ha, ha!!" How effing rude is that? In front of my class too. Of course, I took it in great stride but I had somethings I wanted to say. Like pointing out that she is a foot shorter than me and has about 50 pounds on me.

I am not sensitive. I almost never cry. But what if I was and I did right there in the lunch line in front of my kids? She should feel like an arse herself!

What is it about being pregnant that makes people think they can say whatever they want? I have NEVER said anything about size or weight to a pregnant woman (or anyone for that matter). Maybe because I have been overweight (okay, morbidly obese) I am more sensitive to other people's feelings where this is involved.

Talk about a 180. From totally nice people and compliments to a totally rude person and insults the next. If I were rude (which I can be at times), I would go up to that lunch lady next week and rub her belly and ask her when she is due and then laugh like she did. Laughing does not make insults okay. And I think after you lose 100 pounds no one should be able to call you "BIG" anymore. She does not know I lost that much weight but if I had an eating disorder (besides my night-time carb loading), that comment could have been a major problem.

Enough bitching.

Hopefully you all had a good week. Rest up today. You deserve it!

Why do I do this to myself?

What is it that I do? Extremes. Especially with eating and exercise. I have gotten better. I never give up the exercise. Even on bad days I do a little something. But I am usually hard-core high intensity or very low intensity. Eating is another beast since this pregnancy.

My breakfast is perfectly balanced, full of fiber, fruit, veggies, calcium and protein. My snacks are portioned and balanced. My lunch today was cucumbers and bell pepper, an orange, 1/2 a turkey sandwich (loaded with veggies), a handful of chips and a bottle of water. But once night hits, watch out friends! I have been eating carbs like cereal and crackers after a healthy dinner to keep my belly from hurting. Not today. A burger sounded good. It tasted good too. It just doesn't sit well. Even now, 3 to 4 hours later.

Was it the burger that made me miserable? Maybe it was after I added the fries. Or perhaps those few onion rings. I know, the regular soda (which I pretty much only drink water and milk right now). The crowning glory? How about not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 low-fat cookies. Oink, oink.

We are talking the kind of misery where you can't even sleep. Just feel the pain in your belly. So what did I do? Exercise. Man did I want to throw up. It was my punishment to myself. I have learned 2 things. #1- my hunger is exaggerated (it feels almost like a panic inside sometimes) and #2 - I should always exercise before dinner.

I used to only do this to myself at cheat meals. I need to learn control at night. That will be a goal for tomorrow as I have to eat out with some old co-workers (totally makes me feel even worse thinking about that). My belly will recover, but what a long painful night!

Randomness...next time a recipe

Many thoughts of randomness today...

1. I do not have a wonky eye. Those pictures from yesterday were pretty bad and I was probably giving my husband a "look" but when I saw my post today I thought "man sure does look like I have a wonky eye." So in case you were wondering (like I would be if I were a reader) no wonky eye here. Just ugly face.
2. I love milk!! Skim milk. LOVE IT!! Before I started losing weight I used to drink a gallon a week by myself. I cut down to one cup a day. Not a full glass, a cup. Which is equal to half of a very small glass. I am giving myself a break. I am pregnant and I say let the baby have milk! And boy is it good. I am not counting the calories either.
3. The texture of my hair has changed. Not for the better. I do not enjoy this part of pregnancy. I wonder if it will ever go back....
4. Thank you SO MUCH to those who suggested I get the book a "Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" I have been reading it on my kindle today and guess what? No mention of miscarriage at all!! Woohoo!
5. There are lots of newbies here is the weight loss blogosphere. WELCOME friends! I have visited your blogs (and enjoyed them). I have added you to my blogroll at the side. Hopefully I have commented on your posts. If not, I have stalked you and read them. I am sure to make a snide comment sometime soon, so be prepared!
6. Some of you have been so kind to give me a shout out on your blog and some even bestowed upon me some beautiful awards. I so appreciate this. I know I do not show it (because I can be a lazy turd) but trust me...I read the super nice things you say (even though I do not deserve it) and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. As time has gone on, it has gotten harder for me to pick people to pass these awards on to. So many are deserving. Especially the one about being "creative."
7. I do not want to hurt anyone's feelings here but it must be said. Those of you who are health food bloggers and take pictures of your breakfast cookie.....well....I have to give you kudos for putting that thing in your mouth in the name of health. To me it looks like somebody already ate that and had a bad indigestion issue on a plate. I laugh as I type this...really loud. I shall burn in hell....I know...no need to comment on that little ditty.
8. I woke up at 5:00 this morning (on spring break) to eat half of a peanut butter and banana sandwich and drink some milk. I also downed some Sun Chips and watched an hour of TV and then went back to bed. And I wonder why I have already gained a few pounds. This pregnancy thing really makes me hungry.
9. For the past 2 days I ran in the daylight and I did not melt. I usually only run using the "vampire method" (see the blog and/or book of the Amazing Adventures of DietGirl - totally awesome) - this is where you get up early and exercise under the cover of darkness so no one can see you or make fun of you. I started this at 270 pounds and just never really stopped (I like to run with the dogs before work). But I have slept in the past 2 days so I ran in the middle of the day. Past teenagers, lots of them. No snickering, no comments. No one cares. Not even me. That is growth!
10. This week I have totally slacked on weight training. I know I need to but the thrill is gone. I am totally loving cardio still. Can't get enough. I ordered a book on weight training for Preggos. Maybe that will get me going again. I do not want to lose my muscle definition or strength but we are talking I would rather eat a breakfast cookie than do it this week.
11. I like to watch 16 and pregnant on MTV. Why? Because no matter how hard I think things will be for me, I will never be 16 with a baby. It makes me appreciate the fact that I waited to have a baby even though I am approaching "advanced maternal age" (damn books).
12. My secret show I watch is Big Love on HBO. I did not see the 1st or 2nd season but when I started, I was hooked. Really good writing. And who doesn't love a freak show? I am embarrassed to say I watch it for fear people will think I support polygamy. I cannot imagine being raised in that. The hair and the dresses alone are fascinate me.
13. Tonight I got a pedicure right by my house. I live about a 15 minute drive from my school. I walked in and sat down next to one of my parents. Thank goodness I really like her but how random and awkward is that? The only thing more awkward is when one of my parents gave me a pedicure. How much do you tip on that?
14. Man what a horribly long post. If you are still reading, sorry. This is 10 minutes of your life you will never get back. But I feel better. Can you tell this post was all about me? Nothing new, it always is.

I found another little gem. This is from Spring 2007. Want to know something really sad? This was one of my favorite outfits and wore it ALOT! This doesn't even look real to me.

I cut my hair today. About 3 or 4 inches. I had to. It was so snarly and tangled. It is growing in thicker at the top. My hairdresser thinks it is the vitamins. I also highlighted it a bit, just hard to tell.

God I take bad pictures. Rather, my husband takes bad pictures and I pose badly. I also got a new driver's license photo today (115 pounds lighter than the previous) maybe now I can make it through security at the airport without snarky comments and suspicion. It only took a 2 hour and 15 minute wait. I waited behind 80 to 100 people. Great people watching!

This crazy bastard is the father of my child (a.k.a. my husband). His St. Patty's Day tradition is to jump into our pool and drink green beer. The pool is 60 degrees. His splash totally got me and my eating pants (yes I was wearing special eating pants....I was hungry). I am glad I got some good sperm already because after today I am not sure there will be much left.

What are your St. Patty's traditions? Tomorrow I will be making Shepherd's pie. Today I wanted nachos. So nachos is what we ate! Homemade pico de gallo....my favorite food ever!!

My weight loss is like house flipping

I was thinking about it today and weight loss can be a lot like house flipping. You get this dilapidated property that has not been well cared for and try to turn it into something others would want (mainly you).

When you first get started you feel like you have no idea what you are doing, some may even tell you that you are in over your head. As the project goes on, you learn from your mistakes. You may start with a time line (I want to lose 100 pounds in a year) and a budget (so many calories per day, so much time spent exercising). And then life gets in the way.

It puts you over budget and throws your timeline out of whack. But you have to keep going because you cannot afford to carry that extra mortgage payment one more month.

In the end, all the upgrades are worth it. Jaws drop and people cannot believe what you have done with the property. It even gets them interested in flipping. And now they want to draw on all of your experience (and who can blame them, you have obviously learned a lot).

All I can say, is that for me, in the end, the net profit was WAY more than I expected it to be. The lost numbers, the clothing size, the ability to complete tough workouts, the sense of accomplishment and pride - it has been amazing. I hope you all feel this way or get to a point where you feel this way because it is worth the hard work and sacrifice and soon just becomes your way of life.

Okay, no recipe today as I have oodles of leftovers which I am fine with. It is a crappy rainy day and I still need to go to the gym and the store. I chose the gym first. We will see where the store falls. I will be posting again tomorrow or Tuesday so stay tuned....

I have not been this sore since fat camp!

I am not all that sore but I may take the day off from working out. A rare occasion for me.

Remember this summer when I made my own version of fat camp (well, if you are new to my blog I am sure you don't)? I was working out 3 or 4 hours a day. Well yesterday was a bit like that.

The classes I love to take at the gym (body attack, bodypump, etc) were created by a dude called Les Mills. He has many classes. They are awesome. Well, yesterday the Les Mills company held its quarterly event. This is where all the trainers get to preview all the new releases. I think there are 8 different programs. This is the first time the public was invited to come. So I signed up (for a small fee of $100 - good lord) and went with the trainers from my gym. It was held at the convention center. Why? Because there were supposed to be about 650 people there.

There were a lot of people but way less than 650. All those people were exercising in one room. And the room? It was set up like a night club. We were pretty much in the dark and there were some colored lights flashing around and smoke machines. A very interesting way to exercise. Imagine hundreds of people exercising, in the dark, all day. It was fun, but a long day.

The last class was hilarious. It was called bodyjam and it is the hip-hop dance class. It did not start til 6 at night so there were not many people left by then. In fact most of the people I went with left right after that class started. This class was awesome for the people watching. People dressed like break dancers from the 80s. And not just the instructors. And they wore glow sticks. There were also confetti cannons. Cheesy and funny. I am a poor excuse for a hip-hop dancer. Oh well, I had fun.

Body Attack (my fav) had a poster that I really liked. It said "Smiling is optional, finishing is not." This is how I feel about exercise.

This morning is pancakes and recovery.

I also must apologize. My last post was #200 for me and I asked you a lame question. Maybe I can think of something better to make it up to you. Just not today. Sorry. If you can think of something I should write about, let me know. By the way, I have been trying your suggestions. So far the winner is something called Crystal Clear. I found it at Kroger and it is carbonated, flavored water. No caffeine, no aspartame, no calories.

No weigh-in this week. I feel bloaty and fat and I think a weigh-in will make me shut down a bit so I am giving myself a break from the scale (also a rare occasion).

I want to leave you with a quote. I know, quotes can be lame but when I read this, it stuck with me. I am reading The Jean Nidetch Story (she is the creator of Weight Watchers). "Those who are successful with the program are the ones who tell themselves that they are not going to let anything stand in their way. People who say they can't succeed spend the rest of their lives proving it."

I think of this in terms of general weight loss, not the weight watchers program. But isn't true?

Winner, winner chicken (soup) dinner

Thank you all who entered. You can be quite clever. I enjoy it. I have some other questionable pictures (not of me or the babies) that I think would be fun (yet tacky) to post for your captioning. Um....I will ponder that.

So the soup winner is A Thinner Katie. If you have not checked out her blog, you should. She just hit 60 pounds lost! Woohoo!!! Inspirational. And she has 2 small children. Amazing. Not sure how you all do it.

This week has been weird to say the least. I must confess I had 3 cheat meals last weekend. Yup, 3. I ate well during the day it was just 3 dinners but then again that is a bit much. I have been in eating mode ever since. Not bad things really just like some extra baked chips here, handful of almonds there, etc.

I have discovered almonds. Yum. I used to be a nut hater. Not anymore. Especially the honey roasted almonds. Addictive.

I also have not been feeling great this week. I am still working out a ton. In fact, Monday I did 2 hours of body attack. My body has been tired ever since. I want to take a day off from work to sleep. When you teach it is not really worth a day off but I want to. I even got a big wave of nausea yesterday. I had ask the kids a few times to back away. Not enjoyable. At all.

I am thinking it is sinuses or lady troubles or a combination. Lucky me! If I still feel yucky after school I might just not workout (I cannot believe I typed that) and take a nap.

Yesterday before I worked out I had to stop at the store and buy some almonds and strawberries to eat. This is how I know I have changed. I am a fruit hater too but man I had to have some strawberries (and a few almonds). I only ate a few but after my killer workout I ate more. Didn't count those calories either. So not like me.

This week may see a huge gain on the scale. Oh well. Maybe next week I will feel like my old self. I am not disappointed in this week though. I guess you just have to deal with feeling different sometimes. This is new to me as I usually always feel the same. I look forward to the weekend and some extra sleep.

Have an enjoyable day!

Just for fun...

I am the fat one.....the pretty blond is best bud.

I came across some old pictures. Man, sometimes I forget how much I have changed. It just makes me laugh to look back. The times were fun but if I could go back at my current size I bet they would be even better. But I will never go back to that size. And to ensure that does not happen I am off for my second workout of the day.

It is so freakin cold here. On Saturdays I usually just walk the dogs before working out instead of running but I had to run just to stay warm (I also had to try to avoid the little bits of ice on the sidewalk so I do not fall and break my face). Hope you all are warm and cozy!

Really? A buffet?

I went out of town for a wedding yesterday. Best bud's brother. It was a nice affair. I got to be on baby duty for the ceremony (they are so damn cute) and drinking duty for the reception (yipee!).

Best bud's family and friends are so nice. They all had nice things to say about my weight loss. A few even felt me up a little (my newly discovered waist - nothing dirty). Even the groom complimented me. How sweet are you to compliment someone else on your own wedding day? Some of my favorite comments:

1. You look......100%.....different.
2. Hey.....where is the rest of you?

It was a fun night although it was filled with the LONGEST wedding toasts I think I have ever heard. They were good speeches just long. I have the attention span of a 6 year old (hence why I am a 1st grade teacher). Afterward we hit up the hotel bar and then had best bud's other best friend and fiance up to our room for some drinks and we all had an in-depth discussion on the merits of rice pilaf. Drunk people are hilarious - dancing and conversation. I enjoy them. However, we did not go to bed until after 4:30 this morning.

We had to get up and drive the 3 hours home this morning. That was a bit painful. I just wanted to eat some pancakes. All the decent places were too busy and I did not want to stop at McDonald's. As we see a sign for a restaurant, Hubby says - that place used to have good breakfast but it is a buffet. The place was called the Sirloin Stockade and I had never eaten at one before. We stopped. HUGE mistake. I have strong opinions about buffets anyway. This place was gross. The food was disgusting. It totally reinforced my prejudices about buffets. Hubby thought I was going to walk out and had I not been really hungry and already paid way too much money for super crappy food, I would have.

Reliving this experience for this post makes my skin crawl. Chewy hashbrowns, dry chicken, unidentifiable meats, no fruit, greasy fat-laddened casserole type troughs of crap. What is it that people find enjoyable about these places? I am sure there are some good ones out there but I have yet to find one. Salad bar places, I like. But these others scare me.

Hubby swallowed a chicken bone and thought he was going to choke. I vowed to avenge his death and then asked if I could file an accidental death claim. He thought it would be more like a murder charge.

This will now be referred to as the trip where we ate at the most disgusting buffet ever. You know how you land mark things that are horrendous. Like, "dinner at restaurant X was not that great but at least it was not like that meal we had that time at the Sirloin Stockade where you almost died from the chicken bone." The only upside is that I have nowhere to go but up. Every meal I have this week will be like heaven now.

The shittiest part is all the calories I probably consumed. I do not mind if it is awesome food, but this was less than stellar. It is haunting.

You are welcome for this cheery post. I hope you all have a super week! Beware of buffets!!!

Can it ever be easy?

Oh I think so. This is yet another food post. I was off work today so I had a little time to play with amongst the cleaning and laundry and working out and sleeping in (of course, which my husband tried to ruin but I got back to sleep - ha!).





I am not a huge dessert or chocolate person but lately I have been craving chocolate mousse. Not sure why but it has been constant for a week or so. Cheat meal this week was at Carrabba's with best bud. We had the most AMAZING dessert that had some chocolate mousse in it (along with LOTS of other sugary, fatty goodness). That made me want it more.





I started looking up recipes for low fat chocolate mousse. Everything seemed so complicated. Draining tofu? Using a candy thermometer? Really? Why do people make things so darn difficult? I am just going to eat it to satisfy a craving, I am not building a nuclear bomb (well I am not sure what is in tofu but I do not think it is bomb worthy). So I scratched all the researched recipes and created my own. Here is where you find out what a simpleton I am.

Low-fat Chocolate Mousse:

1. Mix one package (serves 4) of sugar-free instant Jell-O Chocolate pudding with 1 3/4 cups of skim milk. I just used a whisk in a regular bowl for about 5 minutes (no mixer, no double boiler)
2. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of Cool Whip Lite. That is it. You have chocolate mousse.
3. I divided it into 4 servings (which is a decent size) and chilled for a few hours. They come in at about 130 calories each.

With the ones I still have in the frig for tomorrow I may add some crushed low-fat oreos just because it sounds good (a little more complicated, I know). It will add some calories but other flavor and texture as well. So to all of those chefs who are working for Cooking Light magazine or are authors of low-fat cookbooks, please stop making everything so complicated and expensive to make. My husband and I totally loved this super simple, yummy recipe.

As a random side note, I have a new favorite family to watch on TLC. There is a show called One BIG Happy Family. It is a family that is morbidly obese and trying to fix their situation. They are sweet and hilarious. I love this family and this show. If you have not seen it, you should try to watch one episode. I hope one day I have a family this sweet.

Enjoy the rest of your week!