Just this week we got news that another person in our neighborhood (or more accurately connected to our elementary school) was diagnosed with cancer. That's 3 that I know of in the past year. 3. One woman is in her late 40's but the others are in their 30's. I continue to try to put myself in their shoes. What must it be like to look at your young children and wonder if you will see them graduate.
Today I went in for a sonogram and mammogram. I'd never had a mammogram before. I'd only heard that they are painful or uncomfortable. If you are putting one off, don't. They really are cake. If you've had babies, this is NOTHING compared to that. With my high risk twin pregnancy, every doctor, nurse, janitor and candy striper within hospital limits saw my who-who during those 8 months and by the end I was ready to show anyone who asked.
A mammogram is seriously nothing. It's definitely not painful and I wouldn't even call it uncomfortable. It just is. It's a relief to know that all is well after my doctor expressed a concern. Clean bill of health in my hands and ready to watch my kids enjoy Christmas. If you have a health concern, don't put it off. It just isn't worth it.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Picture of Creepy
As long as I'm posting perfection, how about down right weird. Here is the Edward Cullen Cat.
There are no words.
There are no words.
The Picture of Perfection
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Food For Thought...
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/
The article was not earth shattering for me as we take on a similar perspective in our home. What WAS shocking was the 58 comments that can be found below. It shocks me to see the anger and protest that is contained. Would love to hear what you think.
The article was not earth shattering for me as we take on a similar perspective in our home. What WAS shocking was the 58 comments that can be found below. It shocks me to see the anger and protest that is contained. Would love to hear what you think.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
It Seriously Took 5 Minutes!
Not sure what got into me but I cleaned out the kitchen "junk drawer" today.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Why do I put this off? How hard was that? I read one day that we put things off because we think it will take so much longer than it will (and sometimes it does!!!) but in this case, Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy as PlayHouse Disney likes to say! Here's a challenge: Clean out that junk drawer today and tell me how it went! If you have a blog, post pics! I want to see. What are the actual contents necessary for a kitchen junk drawer anyway?
Friday, December 3, 2010
Look What I Found...
Guess who found the ring?
Yep, Girl Wondertwin. Hmm. She just happened to find it in a random drawer (full of pictures) in the guest bedroom in the lower level. Guess how long it took her to find it? About 5 minutes. She just "happened upon it". Hmm hmmm.
Waterboarding...? Do you think it will get the truth out of her? Any advice you have will be honestly considered.
Oh yea, and look what else I found!!!
Ever Wonder...
what the inside of your vaccuum bag looks like? Well, I found out.
Gross! I had to voluntarily go into the darkside to find a lost ring. An engagement ring. J's grandmother's engagement ring. For the life of me I can't find this thing (yes, it's insured but I may never be forgiven by the in-laws...ugh!). It really has to be here somewhere...maybe in the same crevice or cranny as my lost Bluetooth. Pray I find the ring. And yes, I cut open the vac bag OUTSIDE as it was a nasty, dusty job Gross!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My Hat...
because I haven't beaten this topic to exhaustion yet. Hubby still hates the hat. Well, hate is a very strong word. For a passive-aggressive like J, hate is not really in the vocabulary unless he's pushed to the brink. Rare, really. So, he's not a fan. We'll put it that way.
When he came home and saw my hat, he said, "So, it's back". I told him it's snowing and as long as it's snowing I get to wear the hat if I so desire. I then told him that I'd gotten 4 compliments on the hat that day.
His response? "Well, from women, right?" Meaning no man would dare compliment a hat like that.
Ha! Of course women. I don't regularly take in compliments from men and I think hubby prefers it that way.
So, we go to dinner. The hostess AND the waitress both told me how much they liked my hat. J makes it a point to say that you'd expect that from a woman. Then, on our way out a perfect female stranger threw out the nicest compliment regarding my choice of sombrero. Take that, J. Somebody (make that 7 somebodies...plus Blogworld) likes my hat! Ha!
And...I can't promise a shower every morning for the rest of the winter so this hat is my new best friend.
When he came home and saw my hat, he said, "So, it's back". I told him it's snowing and as long as it's snowing I get to wear the hat if I so desire. I then told him that I'd gotten 4 compliments on the hat that day.
His response? "Well, from women, right?" Meaning no man would dare compliment a hat like that.
Ha! Of course women. I don't regularly take in compliments from men and I think hubby prefers it that way.
So, we go to dinner. The hostess AND the waitress both told me how much they liked my hat. J makes it a point to say that you'd expect that from a woman. Then, on our way out a perfect female stranger threw out the nicest compliment regarding my choice of sombrero. Take that, J. Somebody (make that 7 somebodies...plus Blogworld) likes my hat! Ha!
And...I can't promise a shower every morning for the rest of the winter so this hat is my new best friend.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Go or No Go???
If you feel so inclined, leave a comment and tell me: Go or no Go on the hat. I won't be offended (for long). I've almost gotten over the feedback from the shoes.
There's always hope...
I was in the customer service line at the grocery (I practically live there...when you use as many coupons and I do, it's inevitable...but you should see how much I save!!!) and ahead of me was an 85+ year old woman. Guess what she was buying?
Yep, lottery tickets! Cracked me up. I wanted to say, "Wow, what will you buy if you win?"
Imagine winning the lottery at 85 or 90! Lucky kids...although her kids would be in their 60's!!!
Yep, lottery tickets! Cracked me up. I wanted to say, "Wow, what will you buy if you win?"
Imagine winning the lottery at 85 or 90! Lucky kids...although her kids would be in their 60's!!!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Insanity Continued...
I posted yesterday (yes, 2 posts in a row!) about my over-zealous daughter who ate her lunch before lunch time and then told the cafeteria volunteers that her mom didn't pack her enough to eat. Here is an excerpt from my dear friend who was in the cafeteria when this all went down:
"Those women in the cafeteria were saying that they were worried about Girl Wondertwin because she was a child without means. I had to set them straight! I didn't want them to think that of her! They just made it up as they were staring at her and saying she probably doesn't get much food at home. I told them to look at her brother's lunch--Boy Wondertwin was sitting at the same table as her but not with her. His lunch was LOADED! I almost snatched it. It was really an eye opener about how opinions are formed with very little information."
Oh goodness. What am I going to do with my sweet daughter? I talked to the office ladies today as I was in the school to volunteer. They are all well aware of my attention seeking, overly dramatic, sanguine daughter. Somehow they thought all of this was cute. Hmm. They don't live with her. Who knows what the cafeteria volunteers are thinking now. Hope I don't meet them.
And no one called CPS. Big sigh of relief.
"Those women in the cafeteria were saying that they were worried about Girl Wondertwin because she was a child without means. I had to set them straight! I didn't want them to think that of her! They just made it up as they were staring at her and saying she probably doesn't get much food at home. I told them to look at her brother's lunch--Boy Wondertwin was sitting at the same table as her but not with her. His lunch was LOADED! I almost snatched it. It was really an eye opener about how opinions are formed with very little information."
Oh goodness. What am I going to do with my sweet daughter? I talked to the office ladies today as I was in the school to volunteer. They are all well aware of my attention seeking, overly dramatic, sanguine daughter. Somehow they thought all of this was cute. Hmm. They don't live with her. Who knows what the cafeteria volunteers are thinking now. Hope I don't meet them.
And no one called CPS. Big sigh of relief.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Ring Ring!
It's Childrens Protective Services on the line.
Just kidding. Hopefully.
Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. I've been pretty busy over at www.4our2cents.com
It's a fun endeavor but it takes a lot of time and energy.
Back to CPS. Let's hope I don't hear the phone ringing. Here's what happened.
Girl Wondertwin (GWT) was "in a mood" this morning when she woke up. She refused to eat her breakfast, taking just one bite of her toast. At school during snack time she ate most of the contents of her lunch, leaving her with just a fruit snack and a half of a sandwich.
"Starving" (remember, she's the dramatic one), she gets the attention of a cafeteria volunteer who looks at her lunch box and judges that I have not packed her enough lunch. After calling over every mom who happened to be in the school at that moment, they all decided that GWT should be sent to the office to call her mom. I was on the treadmill and did not answer.
GWT then begged the secretary to give her more lunch. A lunch was purchased (putting an account I didn't know I had!!! into deficit) and she ate to her heart's content.
Receiving the message on the treadmill I had my husband call the school. He talked to the principal who thankfully knew of GWT's dramatic ways and did not judge us based on this particular situation. At the end of my workout I rushed over to the school to smooth the waters. All was well among the secretary pool but when I arrived at home I got an email from a well-meaning friend who told me that many of the cafeteria moms were sure that I didn't pack enough in my daughter's lunch. Hmm.
Reminding once again...know the whole story before you decide to judge another's life. Thankfully my well-meaning friend knew me well and seemed to stick up for me in this "sticky" situation.
GWT will be paying for half the cost of today's lunch. I struggled with whether or not to punish her but knowing my sweet but overly dramatic daughter, this would surely become a habit. She's now tasted the likes of school lunches and in her words, "Me likey".
The day they start serving lunches with vegetables and fruits I can identify is the day she can buy lunch at school.
Thoughts? This parenting stuff is tricky.
Just kidding. Hopefully.
Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. I've been pretty busy over at www.4our2cents.com
It's a fun endeavor but it takes a lot of time and energy.
Back to CPS. Let's hope I don't hear the phone ringing. Here's what happened.
Girl Wondertwin (GWT) was "in a mood" this morning when she woke up. She refused to eat her breakfast, taking just one bite of her toast. At school during snack time she ate most of the contents of her lunch, leaving her with just a fruit snack and a half of a sandwich.
"Starving" (remember, she's the dramatic one), she gets the attention of a cafeteria volunteer who looks at her lunch box and judges that I have not packed her enough lunch. After calling over every mom who happened to be in the school at that moment, they all decided that GWT should be sent to the office to call her mom. I was on the treadmill and did not answer.
GWT then begged the secretary to give her more lunch. A lunch was purchased (putting an account I didn't know I had!!! into deficit) and she ate to her heart's content.
Receiving the message on the treadmill I had my husband call the school. He talked to the principal who thankfully knew of GWT's dramatic ways and did not judge us based on this particular situation. At the end of my workout I rushed over to the school to smooth the waters. All was well among the secretary pool but when I arrived at home I got an email from a well-meaning friend who told me that many of the cafeteria moms were sure that I didn't pack enough in my daughter's lunch. Hmm.
Reminding once again...know the whole story before you decide to judge another's life. Thankfully my well-meaning friend knew me well and seemed to stick up for me in this "sticky" situation.
GWT will be paying for half the cost of today's lunch. I struggled with whether or not to punish her but knowing my sweet but overly dramatic daughter, this would surely become a habit. She's now tasted the likes of school lunches and in her words, "Me likey".
The day they start serving lunches with vegetables and fruits I can identify is the day she can buy lunch at school.
Thoughts? This parenting stuff is tricky.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Edge of Your Seats
| You are wondering aren't you? What did the boys do during Girl Weekend? Well, this for starters. Yep. It appears that Boy Wondertwin had a fight with a table. Looks like the table corner won. The boys were at a Cub Scout campout when the fateful event occurred. From what I could ascertain, Little Dude was chasing him, he tripped over a chair and hit the corner square on. There was a doctor on the premises and apparently the cut didn't require stitches although it looks pretty bad to me. The eye area is quite swollen and will get worse before it gets better. If I get any more colorful pictures I'll definitely post. J keeps quoting Rocky. "Cut me Mick, Cut me". Leave it to the dad to pull out the Rocky quotes when things get serious. | |||
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Girl Weekend
The day we found out we were having boy/girl twins we began to dream of weekends spent with our little ones. We had plans to do daddy/daughter weekends and mom/son dates. We first tried it when they were 4. We decided that choosing to be miserable is a really silly thing. Guess they were still too young to appreciate our plans.
Well, by default we tried it again. Cub Scout camping weekend sneaked up on us and so we decided to take advantage. J went with Little Dude and Boy Wondertwin while I had the whole weekend to spend with the princess. What would we do, where would we go? Perfect timing. Secretariat came out so we decided to splurge and see a real movie in a real movie theater. Did you know movies are $7.50 during the day now? WHAT???
Anyway, amazing movie. The 6 year olds (3 of them) had a tough time sitting through the whole thing as there was a lot of talking but the 3 moms LOVED it and honestly, if I wasn't such a cheapskate (and it wasn't 85 degrees outside today) I'd go see it again. What an inspiring movie. Phenomenal.
After the movie we ate at a Dave and Busters kind of place and then played games. Girl Wondertwin was in heaven. We rented 2 movies and got ice cream at our fave place.
She was in bed (MY bed) by 11pm and didn't wake me up til 7:30am. We had such a great time and honestly, I think she really did appreciate it. We're growing up.
Well, by default we tried it again. Cub Scout camping weekend sneaked up on us and so we decided to take advantage. J went with Little Dude and Boy Wondertwin while I had the whole weekend to spend with the princess. What would we do, where would we go? Perfect timing. Secretariat came out so we decided to splurge and see a real movie in a real movie theater. Did you know movies are $7.50 during the day now? WHAT???
Anyway, amazing movie. The 6 year olds (3 of them) had a tough time sitting through the whole thing as there was a lot of talking but the 3 moms LOVED it and honestly, if I wasn't such a cheapskate (and it wasn't 85 degrees outside today) I'd go see it again. What an inspiring movie. Phenomenal.
After the movie we ate at a Dave and Busters kind of place and then played games. Girl Wondertwin was in heaven. We rented 2 movies and got ice cream at our fave place.
She was in bed (MY bed) by 11pm and didn't wake me up til 7:30am. We had such a great time and honestly, I think she really did appreciate it. We're growing up.
Friday, October 8, 2010
High School Reinvented?
I live in a bubble. I'm not kidding. It feels like a cross between the little town in Back to the Future and something out of the Real Housewives series. Pick your city. They're all the same.
My neighborhood is about 1000 houses give or take a few hundred. It has an elementary school and a quite lively subculture within the neighborhood. The parents in the school are tight and basically it's one of those places where someone sneezes and everyone else knows about it within seconds. Something about it reminds me of the 1950's or how I imagine the 50's would have been.
Anyway, to call this place social is the understatement of the century. There is always something going on. A party, camp-out, a day spent apple-picking, a pool party. Whatever. It's happening. Every weekend there is something and whether you're invited to the Big Event or not, you hear about it. On Facebook. It's one thing (as an adult) to deal with life, friends, cliques etc. Imagine how it must be to be a teenager in the age of Facebook. I remember when the most evil thing you could do to a friend was use 3 way calling to get her to talk about your better friend who was listening in on the 3 way call. Ooh, that was evil.
Imagine now. Parties, pictures, boyfriends. All of it is splashed all over Facebook. All you have to do is stumble across a status update to see the latest party you weren't invited to or which of your friends are spending the weekend with other friends...without you. But we're adults now, right? We've learned that life isn't fair and when life give you lemons...you know the rest.
But sometimes you still feel just like you did in high school. Can anyone relate?
I think I hate Facebook.
My neighborhood is about 1000 houses give or take a few hundred. It has an elementary school and a quite lively subculture within the neighborhood. The parents in the school are tight and basically it's one of those places where someone sneezes and everyone else knows about it within seconds. Something about it reminds me of the 1950's or how I imagine the 50's would have been.
Anyway, to call this place social is the understatement of the century. There is always something going on. A party, camp-out, a day spent apple-picking, a pool party. Whatever. It's happening. Every weekend there is something and whether you're invited to the Big Event or not, you hear about it. On Facebook. It's one thing (as an adult) to deal with life, friends, cliques etc. Imagine how it must be to be a teenager in the age of Facebook. I remember when the most evil thing you could do to a friend was use 3 way calling to get her to talk about your better friend who was listening in on the 3 way call. Ooh, that was evil.
Imagine now. Parties, pictures, boyfriends. All of it is splashed all over Facebook. All you have to do is stumble across a status update to see the latest party you weren't invited to or which of your friends are spending the weekend with other friends...without you. But we're adults now, right? We've learned that life isn't fair and when life give you lemons...you know the rest.
But sometimes you still feel just like you did in high school. Can anyone relate?
I think I hate Facebook.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Minimalism Redefined.
So I've always claimed to be a minimalist. I like things as simple as possible. I'm not cheap exactly as I like quality. Sometimes minimalism is a few things, sometimes expensive things but just a few. That feeds my frugal side. Well the term "met my match" comes to mind but it doesn't fit. I'm not only NOT in the same league as this individual but not even on the same planet. I liked to call myself a minimalist.
Compared to her I'm the Queen of England. I seriously don't understand how a person gets by on so little.
Your thoughts?
Compared to her I'm the Queen of England. I seriously don't understand how a person gets by on so little.
Your thoughts?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Alone
The thing I've looked forward to for the past 6.5 years is finally being realized. I'm getting a small taste of what it is to be alone. I thought it was just an imaginary thing or maybe something that just the lucky few got to experience. Well, folks, it's happening to me. 12 hours per week I'm free to come and go as I please. I can clean or not. I can shop or not. I can work (uninterrupted) for long hours or grab a cup of coffee. I'm the master of my own destiny. Okay, so that's taking it a little far but really, I'm alone. And I'm enjoying.
Immensely.
Amazing that one could forget the feeling of alone. Not loneliness, mind you. Just alone.
Fear has struck though in the midst of being alone. In 11 months I will be alone for 7 straight hours a day. No one to take to Library Story Time. No one to interrupt my shopping trip with an emergency stop in the bathroom. No nasty poop in the shoes to clean up. All the sweet times that I've enjoyed with my trio over the years are coming to an end. Now I'm...emotional.
I couldn't wait for the twins to go to first grade and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Little Dude and I are living it up. I've already earned a free Menchies Yogurt...that means we've been there 9 times since school started. 9 times.
Yesterday I watched a 40 some year old woman walk out of Menchies with a huge yogurt in hand...alone. That's going to be me. Feeding my Menchies addiction all by myself. I'm going to miss my little buddy. You're wondering why I'm freaking about this in September...a full 11 months before Little Dude goes to Kindergarten. Well I just found out that our district will be installing Full Day Kindergarten in the Fall of 2011 and I was counting on half day. Not sure how I feel about it all yet. I know Full Day will be good for Little Dude. I think he needs it but amazingly I'm going to miss the little guy. A lot.
Immensely.
Amazing that one could forget the feeling of alone. Not loneliness, mind you. Just alone.
Fear has struck though in the midst of being alone. In 11 months I will be alone for 7 straight hours a day. No one to take to Library Story Time. No one to interrupt my shopping trip with an emergency stop in the bathroom. No nasty poop in the shoes to clean up. All the sweet times that I've enjoyed with my trio over the years are coming to an end. Now I'm...emotional.
I couldn't wait for the twins to go to first grade and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Little Dude and I are living it up. I've already earned a free Menchies Yogurt...that means we've been there 9 times since school started. 9 times.
Yesterday I watched a 40 some year old woman walk out of Menchies with a huge yogurt in hand...alone. That's going to be me. Feeding my Menchies addiction all by myself. I'm going to miss my little buddy. You're wondering why I'm freaking about this in September...a full 11 months before Little Dude goes to Kindergarten. Well I just found out that our district will be installing Full Day Kindergarten in the Fall of 2011 and I was counting on half day. Not sure how I feel about it all yet. I know Full Day will be good for Little Dude. I think he needs it but amazingly I'm going to miss the little guy. A lot.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
So, my dear friend at Diagnosis Urine is going to love this. I think of you when I smell urine. Which is quite often unfortunately. Not unfortunately that I'm thinking of you but unfortunate at how often I smell urine.
I walked into my lower level this morning, passing the laundry room and smelled something so wrank. I don't even know if rank is spelled with a W in the traditional form but if not, this smell in the laundry made WRANK earn it's W. It wreaked...to high heavens as my grandma would say. Holy mackerel. Nasty.
I got to the bottom of it in quite a literal sense. At the very bottom of the laundry basket was 2 VERY used Underjams and a knotted up hot mess of shorts, pjs and sheets that were all dripping in urine. Not sure what happened last night in one of the boys' bedrooms but I almost vomited.
Somehow I'm celebrating in all of this. Why? Someone has finally learned to clean up their own wet mess so I didn't have to strip the sheets. We celebrate the little things around here.
I walked into my lower level this morning, passing the laundry room and smelled something so wrank. I don't even know if rank is spelled with a W in the traditional form but if not, this smell in the laundry made WRANK earn it's W. It wreaked...to high heavens as my grandma would say. Holy mackerel. Nasty.
I got to the bottom of it in quite a literal sense. At the very bottom of the laundry basket was 2 VERY used Underjams and a knotted up hot mess of shorts, pjs and sheets that were all dripping in urine. Not sure what happened last night in one of the boys' bedrooms but I almost vomited.
Somehow I'm celebrating in all of this. Why? Someone has finally learned to clean up their own wet mess so I didn't have to strip the sheets. We celebrate the little things around here.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Oh, that lovely scent of...
Mildew. I live in a bi-level which puts the laundry in some la-la land of above and below ground. It's quite a large space for a lower level and the windows are full so there is a lot of light. Since it's half underground though, the air is more damp. This creates issues with laundry. For whatever reason that only a meterologist could fully diagnose, my clothes never seem to be fully dry no matter the timing on the dryer. Usually it's easily remedied with patience but when the clothes begin to pile up they don't always get their necessary allotment in the dry. Thus the odiferous scent of mildew. Pretty sure Jessica Simpson will be coming out with it in her next line of perfumes. I've got to find another shirt. Ick. At least it's my pjs and not some shirt that I'm stuck in all day long. I think I'm going to puke.
And, by the way, I'm making a come back via the web. I've been on the DL with MAJOR computer/printer issues. After wrestling with tech demons, we've given up. The new laptop is configuring itself as we speak. Look for new posts this week. I hope.
In the meantime, my Savings Blog http://www.4our2cents.com/ got several shout outs from the BIG Blogs today so we are enjoying a myriad of hits from all over the country. Stop by 4Our2Cents to see what you can't afford to miss!
And, by the way, I'm making a come back via the web. I've been on the DL with MAJOR computer/printer issues. After wrestling with tech demons, we've given up. The new laptop is configuring itself as we speak. Look for new posts this week. I hope.
In the meantime, my Savings Blog http://www.4our2cents.com/ got several shout outs from the BIG Blogs today so we are enjoying a myriad of hits from all over the country. Stop by 4Our2Cents to see what you can't afford to miss!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Just Plain Weird, Right?
Back to Facebook. Seems like I blog about it a lot. I have this one FB friend from high school who tends to write 9 out of 10 status updates about his wife. He gets mushy about her or tells everyone else on Facebook about how much better his wife and/or marriage is than everyone elses. It's quite odd...I think.
Not to pu pu on his marriage or love for his wife or anything but really. I'd be so embarrassed if my husband was gushing on facebook about me. I'd be devasted, actually. I hid his status updates quite a while ago but somehow ended up on this page today. Again, you guessed it. More gushing or bragging or whatever. It's just...I don't know. Kind of creepy. Seems quite unlike him...or at least who he used to be.
Anyway, weird.
Okay, and I had to add this. My uncle just got on FB and that is strange enough in itself BUT he just put up pictures of some of his friends and titled it "BFFs". Hmm...did I mention he's 60? Weird.
Not to pu pu on his marriage or love for his wife or anything but really. I'd be so embarrassed if my husband was gushing on facebook about me. I'd be devasted, actually. I hid his status updates quite a while ago but somehow ended up on this page today. Again, you guessed it. More gushing or bragging or whatever. It's just...I don't know. Kind of creepy. Seems quite unlike him...or at least who he used to be.
Anyway, weird.
Okay, and I had to add this. My uncle just got on FB and that is strange enough in itself BUT he just put up pictures of some of his friends and titled it "BFFs". Hmm...did I mention he's 60? Weird.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Definitely Worth Reading...
I've been having computer problems as of late. My battery is pretty much non-existant and my plug is shot. All in all, I can spend about a minute or two on the computer before it shuts off. Annoying. My excuse for not blogging.
I have found a blog or two to read in the past few days. Check out this post here and tell me what you think.
I have found a blog or two to read in the past few days. Check out this post here and tell me what you think.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
$40 worth of Neutrogena! Sign up Now!
There is a contest over at 4our2Cents! There are 4 ways to enter so head on over there now to win! By the way, I have this new Neutrogena Skin Care System and it is GREAT stuff!
Good luck!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Adorableness
Last night before bedtime Boy Wondertwin and I were having a little chat. He asked, "Mommy, when you were in Kindergarten or 1st grade did you ever have a boyfriend?" I said, "Yes, I used to chase a little boy all over the playground in Kindergarten". I left out the part about how we used to try to KISS him!!! Ha!
Anyway, I said, "Why, BWT, is there a girl you like?"
"Yes" he said shyly, "The girl who sits next to me and I can't remember her name but she might be my girlfriend soon but she isn't yet."
"Really, Buddy?" I asked, "What makes you think that?"
"Well, she drops her pencil a lot and I have to pick it up for her."
I tried sooo hard not to laugh. The games girls play...and oh those games start sooo young.
Boy Wondertwin is smitten, folks.
Anyway, I said, "Why, BWT, is there a girl you like?"
"Yes" he said shyly, "The girl who sits next to me and I can't remember her name but she might be my girlfriend soon but she isn't yet."
"Really, Buddy?" I asked, "What makes you think that?"
"Well, she drops her pencil a lot and I have to pick it up for her."
I tried sooo hard not to laugh. The games girls play...and oh those games start sooo young.
Boy Wondertwin is smitten, folks.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Oreo Coupons...
Seems like I always post my Oreo deals after the fact. Well for those of you who share my weakness, here's a coupon for a $1 of 2 packages of one of my favorite vices.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
New Revelation
So, here it is. My driver's license is no longer a lie. I'm actually at the weight that the great State of Ohio says I weigh (and I didn't change my DL!). That feels good. Truth will set us free.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
It's Blahday
I guess I should be thankful. I'm not an emotional person. Often I take things at face value without a lot of "to do". I try to make lemonade out of life's lemons and I try to take the perspective that there's something I need to learn from each and every situation. Most of the time I can take the emotion out of it and look at whatever it is with perspective.
Today I'm struggling. It was Meet the Teacher today. After a FABULOUS Kindergarten year for my twins, I'm not so thrilled with the year that is ahead of us. The teacher isn't what I thought she'd be, the classmates aren't who I thought they'd be and if I had the calendar in front of me I could tell you whether this is all PMS.
I do hope that's all it is. I just feel blah. It could be the weather as it's gray and drab today...although the temperature is more than perfect. Too chilly for the pool but the windows are open and the breeze is lovely.
Just had to vent a minute. Anybody with similar feelings about the school year ahead of us? Tell me I'm not alone.
Today I'm struggling. It was Meet the Teacher today. After a FABULOUS Kindergarten year for my twins, I'm not so thrilled with the year that is ahead of us. The teacher isn't what I thought she'd be, the classmates aren't who I thought they'd be and if I had the calendar in front of me I could tell you whether this is all PMS.
I do hope that's all it is. I just feel blah. It could be the weather as it's gray and drab today...although the temperature is more than perfect. Too chilly for the pool but the windows are open and the breeze is lovely.
Just had to vent a minute. Anybody with similar feelings about the school year ahead of us? Tell me I'm not alone.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wait til You See...
Wait til you see my master bathroom people. It is all new and all improved. Just to give you a verbal glimpse, I had a vanity that was missing a door. Apparently the "crazy lady" (We'll call her CL for short.. RIP) who once lived in our home had several BIG dogs. One of the dogs charged through the bathroom and broke off the cabinet door.
Of course she never replaced it because she never cleaned or mowed either. That's a story for another day. Let's just say our neighbors were kissing our feet when we bought thiswreck home and we can do no wrong in their eyes. Always a good position to be in...especially when we have a habit of running a tile saw at midnight. Sorry neighbors.
Besides the door-less vanity we had a decent laminate flooring and one of those ALL in ONE shower deals with SEATS in them. I'm sorry. Is it really necessary to sit down while showering? I've never understood that one. I have a problem with sitting unless there is some sort of fabric between my who-who and the seat. The vanity top was fine. Honestly all of it was fine if you don't mind SCREAMING 80's decor.
The All in One shower had to be replaced though. It was just beyond cleaning in my opinion and it's always nice to start anew when you're moving in a previously occupied home.
This is our last BIG project. Thank goodness! So far (just to bore you a little more) we've torn out most of the drywall (from the 4 foot mark down) out of our lower level. We've carpeted 85% of it and tiled another 15%. We ripped out the shower and vanity and replaced with all new. We've painted the entire lower lever ourselves. The only thing that was done by an outside source was the carpeting.
On the main level we refinished the hardwood floors, installed carpet in all the bedrooms, tore out the kitchen completely (almost to the studs), re-tiled and painted. Replaced all the interior doors and most of the exterior doors. We re-constructed the deck and stained as well as re-graded the back yard AND landscaped. We replaced the windows (did I tell you about the Winter that Boy Wondertwin had icicles growing in his window? The windows were 40 years old and NOT double paned...I'm not even sure I'd call that glass in those windows). We've torn out the bathrooms on the main level and now finally we're knee deep into the last renovation right now.
Thankfully we've found a contractor who does "finishing touches". We're hiring him to do all the trim work and ideally make our "DIY projects" look professional. And no. He's not a miracle worker. We'll see but I plan to post some before and afters....just got to get my act in gear and start praying that my computer decides to function again. Lovely. Did I mention we bought a bank owned property? Stay tuned for how God answered that prayer.
Of course she never replaced it because she never cleaned or mowed either. That's a story for another day. Let's just say our neighbors were kissing our feet when we bought this
Besides the door-less vanity we had a decent laminate flooring and one of those ALL in ONE shower deals with SEATS in them. I'm sorry. Is it really necessary to sit down while showering? I've never understood that one. I have a problem with sitting unless there is some sort of fabric between my who-who and the seat. The vanity top was fine. Honestly all of it was fine if you don't mind SCREAMING 80's decor.
The All in One shower had to be replaced though. It was just beyond cleaning in my opinion and it's always nice to start anew when you're moving in a previously occupied home.
This is our last BIG project. Thank goodness! So far (just to bore you a little more) we've torn out most of the drywall (from the 4 foot mark down) out of our lower level. We've carpeted 85% of it and tiled another 15%. We ripped out the shower and vanity and replaced with all new. We've painted the entire lower lever ourselves. The only thing that was done by an outside source was the carpeting.
On the main level we refinished the hardwood floors, installed carpet in all the bedrooms, tore out the kitchen completely (almost to the studs), re-tiled and painted. Replaced all the interior doors and most of the exterior doors. We re-constructed the deck and stained as well as re-graded the back yard AND landscaped. We replaced the windows (did I tell you about the Winter that Boy Wondertwin had icicles growing in his window? The windows were 40 years old and NOT double paned...I'm not even sure I'd call that glass in those windows). We've torn out the bathrooms on the main level and now finally we're knee deep into the last renovation right now.
Thankfully we've found a contractor who does "finishing touches". We're hiring him to do all the trim work and ideally make our "DIY projects" look professional. And no. He's not a miracle worker. We'll see but I plan to post some before and afters....just got to get my act in gear and start praying that my computer decides to function again. Lovely. Did I mention we bought a bank owned property? Stay tuned for how God answered that prayer.
And So It Begins...
First Grade is a big year I'm sure. I'm already seeing flashes of his future teenage self and in the next moment I see a person who is trying desperately not to revert back to his 2 year old self. 6 is a strange age.
So school starts this week and it's time to get in the groove. The big change for us is the adjustment to full day school. We're ready. We're ALL ready.
I'm not emotional about the all day part. Correction: I'm JUBILANT about the full day part. There are so many things I'd like to accomplish. Mopping the floor has been Mission Impossible over the past 6 years but I plan to tackle that one with a vengenance this school year. I WILL have CLEAN floors!
I'll go into my plans for being ALONE another day but right now I just wanted to say that Puff the Magic Dragon might just be the SADDEST song on the planet. Couple it with my little people growing up and ugh! Sad. Be sure to take a listen and if you have a little boy (or girl for that matter) be ready to cry. And just for nostalgia's sake, check out the Peter, Paul and Mary version!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Eat Pray Love
For a week now I've been meaning to post my thoughts on this book. Since I have yet to pencil them in, I'll post a link to this blog for now. I agree with this post completely...I have much more to say. Maybe I will.
My computer is NOT working well. It shuts off AT WILL for no apparent reason at all. Frustrating. For obvious reasons my blogging has been stunted. Dang it. No wonder I've been grumpy.
Promised link HERE.
My computer is NOT working well. It shuts off AT WILL for no apparent reason at all. Frustrating. For obvious reasons my blogging has been stunted. Dang it. No wonder I've been grumpy.
Promised link HERE.
Huge Milestone!?!?!?
Boy Wondertwin has been wet every night of his life since birth. He's now 6.5 and it's getting old. Have you seen the price on those "GoodNights"? They make me say, "GOODNIGHT" like my grandmother used to do...you know...like an old lady cuss word. Seriously. I think I paid $41 for 3 packs of Goodnights. And that was ON SALE, ONLINE and FREE shipping. Ick.
Well, I hate to blog too soon but I'm thinking we've hit a major milestone. Boy Wondertwin has been DRY for 6 out of 7 nights. You have NO IDEA how happy this makes me! I'll keep you posted.
The master bath remodel is calling my name. Ick.
Well, I hate to blog too soon but I'm thinking we've hit a major milestone. Boy Wondertwin has been DRY for 6 out of 7 nights. You have NO IDEA how happy this makes me! I'll keep you posted.
The master bath remodel is calling my name. Ick.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Um...yes.
So the in-laws were in town for 10 days. Yep. 10 days. My FIL thinks it's cost effective to come 3 times per year and spend a LONG time here when they visit. It's fine. The kids love love love having them and for that I'm thankful.
One thing about my in-laws. For the most part they say what they think...when they think it.
Example.
The kids and I picked them up from the airport. I got out of the car to load their bags and my mother in law says, "Wow, are you pregnant? You look pregnant. Do you have a surprise for us?"
Yep. She did.
You know (if you've been following over the past 2 months) that I've lost 13 pounds which evidently is as noticeable as if I had a centimeter cut off of my hair. I really have no explanation for her "observation" other than I did have somewhat of an umpire (is that how you spell that? surely not.) waist going on with my dress. Really though. You just never say that. Never. Not even to your daughter in law. Especially to your daughter in law. My FIL quickly chimed in with, "Wow, you've lost weight." Hmm.
One thing about my in-laws. For the most part they say what they think...when they think it.
Example.
The kids and I picked them up from the airport. I got out of the car to load their bags and my mother in law says, "Wow, are you pregnant? You look pregnant. Do you have a surprise for us?"
Yep. She did.
You know (if you've been following over the past 2 months) that I've lost 13 pounds which evidently is as noticeable as if I had a centimeter cut off of my hair. I really have no explanation for her "observation" other than I did have somewhat of an umpire (is that how you spell that? surely not.) waist going on with my dress. Really though. You just never say that. Never. Not even to your daughter in law. Especially to your daughter in law. My FIL quickly chimed in with, "Wow, you've lost weight." Hmm.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Perfect Sense
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| Don't you think my picture should be here? |
My nemesis? Oreos. Full packages of Oreos to be descriptive. I need not buy these evil circular objects. They do bad things to me. Why must they be so delectable? I just can't resist. There (was) a package in my pantry. My cooking pantry. I know NOT to keep it in the snacks pantry. That would be ludicrous. They would disappear before I could even finish a row.
Is that bad? I buy Oreos just for me, hide them and eat rows at a time. I didn't used to be this way. Previous to 2010 I hadn't had an Oreo in a few decades...since I was a kid I guess. That FREE package of Oreos did me in. It renewed our love affair and now I can't break it off. That pretty blue box calls my name as I'm innocently picking up Goldfish snacks for the kids. It says, "KP, You know you want me" in this totally irresistible sexy voice that I find so alluring...and I just can't help it. Into the cart it sneaks itself just to have its way with me. Oh, the affair is sweet until the walk of shame in the morning...to the scale. A wretched love those Oreos are. They do as they wish with me and then leave me to pick up pieces and spend yet another morning on that dreadful treadmill, trying to forget my transgressions.
But yet they leave me wanting more. And more.
Dear Nabisco, Post Optionsplease stop offering free and BOGO coupons. You are derailing my life.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Happy Homemaker
I'm not a homemaker. I'm just not. Yes. I've been "home" for 6.5 years. Well, if that's what you call it. I'd say I've been at the Library, Park, Zoo, Science Museum, Red Barn, Water Park, Pool, Sports fields, Bible Study, music/sports lessons and any other possibly imaginable place besides home. Really, who "stays home" with 3 kids 25 months apart? Show me that person and I'll show you someone who is ready to be committed.
I'm not good at much around the house. I'm no Martha Stewart. I do enough to get us by. I cook "just enough", clean "just enough" and buy "just enough". I'd really rather be doing just about anything else besides "keeping house". The kids can tell you. We're out more than we're in and they are going more than they're stopping.
One thing I AM good at is laundry. I can do laundry with the best of them. I'm on the ball when it comes to laundry. Never is more than one load sitting in the basket. I love to throw it in, get it out, divvy it up and send it into the arms of my trio to be put away. I'm all about that. It's the choleric side of me. It's something I can check off. Cooking just makes more mess. Cleaning seems to NEVER be finished, decorating? Well, I'd have to start that to know if it ever finishes. I KNOW renovating never ends. But Laundry. I can do that.
I'm not good at much around the house. I'm no Martha Stewart. I do enough to get us by. I cook "just enough", clean "just enough" and buy "just enough". I'd really rather be doing just about anything else besides "keeping house". The kids can tell you. We're out more than we're in and they are going more than they're stopping.
One thing I AM good at is laundry. I can do laundry with the best of them. I'm on the ball when it comes to laundry. Never is more than one load sitting in the basket. I love to throw it in, get it out, divvy it up and send it into the arms of my trio to be put away. I'm all about that. It's the choleric side of me. It's something I can check off. Cooking just makes more mess. Cleaning seems to NEVER be finished, decorating? Well, I'd have to start that to know if it ever finishes. I KNOW renovating never ends. But Laundry. I can do that.
Monday, August 2, 2010
One of THOSE Days!
It was 11am and I was pretty sure the day couldn't get any worse. After sleeping 9 hours (well...2 bathroom trips of course...rare to sleep 9 STRAIGHT hours after 3 babies...but I digress.)
I got up early, ran to the gym, hit the treadmill for 20 minutes and then took the fastest shower ever, only to be late for my 9am doctor's appointment. Bitter. I even got a LECTURE from my family practitioner. I thought those lectures were reserved for the dentist office.
After the tech left mega bruises all over my arm (drawing blood) I flew home to pick up the kids in order to get to the airport. My in laws are in town. For 10 days.
In a rush I pulled (attempted to pull) into the garage forgetting the car top carrier on my van. Crunch! Thankfully the garage and the car are okay. The carrier is no more. Did I mention we borrowed it from someone else? Yep. Crap.
I enter the house to find my mom explaining to the kids that they needed to say goodbye to her dog (they think he is THEIR dog) because she was heading to the vet to put him to sleep. Yep. Crap.
He was 15 years old. For a 65 pound dog that's a long time. And it was time. Have you ever smelled death? That's what this dog smelled like. For months. He smelled like death and before our eyes he was deteriorating...rotting like a dead, moving corpse. Gross.
Just now I was in Little Dude's room and he said, "We never gonna see Winston again?"
No, Little Dude. He's gone.
He's dead right now? Never again we see him?
No Little Dude.
And then the onslaught of tears. I have a feeling that this will be an on and off thing for the next few days and weeks. Anybody out there have advice when it comes to death of pets and little people? Not easy days around here.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Hi BlogWorld!
I'm alive and well. Just on a trek across the country. 10ish states in 7 days with 3 kids under the age of 6. Ah yea, I'm crazy but having fun fun fun! Will share pics when I return.
Oh yea, and it's VERY impossible to keep away from starches, sugars and fast food while on a 3000 mile trek. Just thought I'd tell you that. We'll see how much the scale loves me when I return.
Oh yea, and it's VERY impossible to keep away from starches, sugars and fast food while on a 3000 mile trek. Just thought I'd tell you that. We'll see how much the scale loves me when I return.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
It's the End of the World As We Know It
Yes, I'm quoting REO SpeedWagon REM and totally loving Gen X Radio. Who doesn't right? Well, my kids don't but it's better than listening to Rush (and I don't been the band!)
You gotta see this. It's convinced me that the end of the world is just around the corner...and no, it has nothing to do with Obama. Check THIS out. Bridal Diapers!
Yes, we all can remember that last minute trip to the bathroom just before going down the aisle. Something about the adrenaline zipping through the veins that necessitates a jaunt to the little girls' room. It's just how the body works but really. Can you even imagine heading down the aisle with a diaper on? Sexy, right?
PLEASE NOTE: I really do know REM. That and U2. The only bands I really do know. I am terrible with music and instead of trusting that I actually knew that REM sang that one I trusted an outside source who was WRONG. Silly me. It will never happen again. The part where I'm wrong I mean. Because that never happens. I wish.
You gotta see this. It's convinced me that the end of the world is just around the corner...and no, it has nothing to do with Obama. Check THIS out. Bridal Diapers!
Yes, we all can remember that last minute trip to the bathroom just before going down the aisle. Something about the adrenaline zipping through the veins that necessitates a jaunt to the little girls' room. It's just how the body works but really. Can you even imagine heading down the aisle with a diaper on? Sexy, right?
PLEASE NOTE: I really do know REM. That and U2. The only bands I really do know. I am terrible with music and instead of trusting that I actually knew that REM sang that one I trusted an outside source who was WRONG. Silly me. It will never happen again. The part where I'm wrong I mean. Because that never happens. I wish.
Monday, July 19, 2010
A Silly Conversation with Little Dude
All while clipping my toe nails...
Mom, does dat hurt?
No Little Dude.
Mom, God is a busy guy.
Yep. He's busy but the cool thing about God is that He always has time to listen to us.
Mom, der are a wot of people in Heaven.
You are right Little Dude.
Do you know people in Heaven, Mom?
Yes, my dad and my grandparents are in heaven.
Mom, I gonna eat oreos all day when I'm in Heaven.
Little Dude, that's my kind of Heaven.
Then he proceeded to clean up my toe nails (EWWW!) and put them in the trash.
I love 4 year olds!
Mom, does dat hurt?
No Little Dude.
Mom, God is a busy guy.
Yep. He's busy but the cool thing about God is that He always has time to listen to us.
Mom, der are a wot of people in Heaven.
You are right Little Dude.
Do you know people in Heaven, Mom?
Yes, my dad and my grandparents are in heaven.
Mom, I gonna eat oreos all day when I'm in Heaven.
Little Dude, that's my kind of Heaven.
Then he proceeded to clean up my toe nails (EWWW!) and put them in the trash.
I love 4 year olds!
Out of Commission
Ugh! I hope you don't get it. It's miserable. Little Dude got hit pretty hard around the 1st of July with fever, listlessness, and no voice. Within 6 days the twins had the same thing but they got a double punch with a bad cough to boot. Thinking I'd escaped the crud, I took a big sigh of relief...make that a big inhale of germs because BLECH! I'm sick.
It hit last Wednesday and I'm still maneuvering a nasty head cold. Of course it's not the kind that puts me in bed, incapable of normal function. It's the kind where you can get through the day...you just feel like crud. Today is day 6 of this nastiness and I'm ready to be better. It won't stop me from enjoying an evening out though. I need it in a big fat way.
Oh, and in case you are curious, I'm maintaining the weight loss and doing quite well in Phase 3. I'm back to a normal calorie load and wish I felt good enough to enjoy it. I still haven't gotten back to my exercise routine but hope to get there by tomorrow. Wish me luck.
It hit last Wednesday and I'm still maneuvering a nasty head cold. Of course it's not the kind that puts me in bed, incapable of normal function. It's the kind where you can get through the day...you just feel like crud. Today is day 6 of this nastiness and I'm ready to be better. It won't stop me from enjoying an evening out though. I need it in a big fat way.
Oh, and in case you are curious, I'm maintaining the weight loss and doing quite well in Phase 3. I'm back to a normal calorie load and wish I felt good enough to enjoy it. I still haven't gotten back to my exercise routine but hope to get there by tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Where to go from here...
So I was on a little blog kick there for a few weeks. I woke up in the morning and actually had something to write about. Not sure that it was "must read" writing but I felt accountable to check in and update. Now things have calmed a little and normalized...well, as normal as life gets in casa de Ventalicious.
It's currently day 3 of phase 3 where I slowly introduce new foods to my diet. I haven't indulged yet nor have I gone above 700 or so calories. I'm supposed to take it slow and I'm really not hungry. I have to be diligent in raising my caloric intake so that the body doesn't go into starvation mode and work against my progress. I've lost another 1/2 pound which more or less takes me to 15 pounds. Yay!
We're going out to dinner tonight to take advantage of free burger coupons from Champps! I love free food and it will be my second restaurant since I started all of this one month ago. I'm definitely ready to jump into the land of the eating again...although I won't be eating the bun...and I'll be asking for broccoli instead of fries. No hardship there though because ever since they took the trans fat out of fries they haven't tasted the same. Trans fat must be good stuff because I rarely eat fries anymore. Remember when they were GOOD? Oh, those were the days.
Best part about the free burgers tonight is that we will be kid free! Ah yea! Evening VBS is a great invention!
It's currently day 3 of phase 3 where I slowly introduce new foods to my diet. I haven't indulged yet nor have I gone above 700 or so calories. I'm supposed to take it slow and I'm really not hungry. I have to be diligent in raising my caloric intake so that the body doesn't go into starvation mode and work against my progress. I've lost another 1/2 pound which more or less takes me to 15 pounds. Yay!
We're going out to dinner tonight to take advantage of free burger coupons from Champps! I love free food and it will be my second restaurant since I started all of this one month ago. I'm definitely ready to jump into the land of the eating again...although I won't be eating the bun...and I'll be asking for broccoli instead of fries. No hardship there though because ever since they took the trans fat out of fries they haven't tasted the same. Trans fat must be good stuff because I rarely eat fries anymore. Remember when they were GOOD? Oh, those were the days.
Best part about the free burgers tonight is that we will be kid free! Ah yea! Evening VBS is a great invention!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
All is Well!
Okay what a weekend! Had tons of fun with friends and even got in a little road trip to see college friends. Yay! So fun to catch up and also it feels good to be out in about 14 pounds lighter. I can't even begin to tell you how different it feels. I wish I'd done this 2 years ago. Oh well. Better late than ever.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
YAY!
I'm down 14 pounds today and it's my last drops day. Yay! I'm so happy to be done. Well, sort of done. Now starts the hard part. 3 weeks of no sugars or starches. Um, yea. Not easy but after the past 3 weeks I can do anything, right? I'm kind of hoping I lose a pound over the next 24 hours so I can claim 15 pounds...just for fun. I'll keep ya posted.
Friday, July 9, 2010
FREE Chick-fil-a TODAY ONLY!!!
PS. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich for myself and only ate half the patty...and still lost 1/2 pound that day. I wouldn't recommend this on a daily basis because of the grease content.
Just for fun, check out last year's visit to Chick-fil-a!!!!
Day 23 is my fave so far!!!
Yep! Lowest point yet! I'm down 13.5 pounds. The strangest thing? Most people are not noticing...or at least commenting. Isn't that amazing that someone can lose 13.5 pounds and no one notices? Does that mean you can GAIN 13.5 pounds and no one notices? Scary, my friends. Scary.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Day 22 My Friends and...
I have good news! I'm down 12 pounds! 12 pounds! Yea! It's been tough going over the past 10 days but I'm seeing real progress again. I knew I needed to stick it out but doing it is easier said than done. It's day 22 and I didn't think I'd make it this far. I think I'll stick with it through Day 24 or Day 25. I haven't decided for sure but if everything goes as planned, that would take me to a total weight loss of 14 pounds or so.
I'm still struggling with my ideal weight. I have no idea what that number is but I do know that I'd like a little cushion as weight tends to oscillate a bit coming off the second phase of this protocol.
Time for my morning coffee which I actually look forward to these days.
Here's a tip I've learned over the past 3 weeks: Do you throw out coffee each afternoon? Here's a great idea. Put leftover coffee in the blender, add 8-10 ice cubes and blend. Next add a few drops of chocolate stevia and vanilla-creme stevia. Grab a straw and enjoy a yummy coffee blend for practically free!
I'm still struggling with my ideal weight. I have no idea what that number is but I do know that I'd like a little cushion as weight tends to oscillate a bit coming off the second phase of this protocol.
Time for my morning coffee which I actually look forward to these days.
Here's a tip I've learned over the past 3 weeks: Do you throw out coffee each afternoon? Here's a great idea. Put leftover coffee in the blender, add 8-10 ice cubes and blend. Next add a few drops of chocolate stevia and vanilla-creme stevia. Grab a straw and enjoy a yummy coffee blend for practically free!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Dang it!
Just an update...no I didn't cheat. Last night while I was working the swim meet I got a ton of sunscreen on my hands (repeatedly) while I was writing names on the swimmers' backs. I washed my hands several times but didn't see any results this morning, meaning I didn't lose and I didn't gain.
Then today I went to the grocery to stock up on my strange food assortments and bought the wrong melba toast. Grr. That's my one "treat" of the day and let me tell you...it tastes just like those toasts babies eat. I bought the garlic roast flavor that has sugar in it. Dang it. I took one bite and knew it tasted way too good to be on protocol. I looked at the ingredients and sure enough, 1 gram of sugar per 3 crackers. That means I had a 1/3 gram of sugar which just might ruin me. If sunscreen can keep me from losing than one little melba toast can wreck it.
It's officially Day 21 so I have some decisions to make. I'm going to stick with it a little longer but I just don't know how long. I'm getting a little hungry...time for 3 ounces of chicken.
Then today I went to the grocery to stock up on my strange food assortments and bought the wrong melba toast. Grr. That's my one "treat" of the day and let me tell you...it tastes just like those toasts babies eat. I bought the garlic roast flavor that has sugar in it. Dang it. I took one bite and knew it tasted way too good to be on protocol. I looked at the ingredients and sure enough, 1 gram of sugar per 3 crackers. That means I had a 1/3 gram of sugar which just might ruin me. If sunscreen can keep me from losing than one little melba toast can wreck it.
It's officially Day 21 so I have some decisions to make. I'm going to stick with it a little longer but I just don't know how long. I'm getting a little hungry...time for 3 ounces of chicken.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
You've Got to See THIS!
It's Day 20 and...
I'm down again! Another 1/2 pound. I'm now at the lowest point I've been yet! Progress, sweet progress. Love it. I have 4 more days ahead of me at least. Help me decide blogworld. Do I go at it for a longer period of time? How does one decide how much they want to/should way? I really don't have an answer to that.
I suppose I could go another 10 pounds if I stayed on for another 3 weeks. I just don't know if that's where my body should be. Part of the reason I've struggled over the past week (I think) is because I may have found the weight that is right for my body. I don't have an answer to this question and google is letting me down. Maybe I'll try Bing.
UPDATE: Here's what I found. Check it out. It's the Happy Weight Calculator. Take it with a grain of salt.
I suppose I could go another 10 pounds if I stayed on for another 3 weeks. I just don't know if that's where my body should be. Part of the reason I've struggled over the past week (I think) is because I may have found the weight that is right for my body. I don't have an answer to this question and google is letting me down. Maybe I'll try Bing.
UPDATE: Here's what I found. Check it out. It's the Happy Weight Calculator. Take it with a grain of salt.
Monday, July 5, 2010
A Question from Blog World
Here's a question from Jen:
I'm desperate to hear all the details on this. Did you get all of their shampoo/lotion/sunscreen/cosmetics? Are you using normal stuff? TALK TO ME! Because my stress eating over the last month hasn't been a great thing...
Okay, so here we go. I stuck with my Pantene shampoo and it hasn't seemed to have any negative effects on weight loss. Don't ask how often I wash my hair though. It probably couldn't hurt to use an oil free shampoo like Neutrogena. I've avoided cosmetics but apparently mascara and lipstick are fine. If you want a sunscreen or lotion make sure it says "oil free". I'm using Neutrogena sunscreen (make sure you do this...the very first day I didn't have an oil free sunscreen so I didn't wear anything...I was so burned!!!)
I'm using Secret deoderant. I wasn't ready to do that crystal stick thing. Those are for the hard core hcg'ers. Secret hasn't hurt me so far. I use Tom's toothpaste. You can find that at CVS or Walgreens. It's not cheap and it tastes kinda yucky but I haven't minded it too much. I think you could probably use a plain Crest but I decided not to risk it.
The thing I like best about this HCG protocol is that it has changed my appetite and restarted my hypothalmus. I no longer crave chocolate after each meal (although it still sounds yummy). Miracle, people. Miracle.
I would stress NOT to cheat. In 12 days I lost 10 pounds. In the past 7 days I've lost and gained (a half pound 2 different times) and I'm still at that 10 pound mark. Why? I cheated 3 times in the past 8 days. I know. Thankfully though I can add on a few days and make up for this. I plan to be good over the next 6 days and see where that takes me. I may go for a few more days depending on the progress I have.
By the way, my cheats consisted of: one chocolate chip pancake and 2 chocolate chip cookies on Day 12, organic mac and cheese on Day 14, and the catered yumminess that I encountered at Red White and Boom on Day 16. It's now Day 19 though and I'm back to my lowest weight so far. Here is a key: Don't let yourself get hungry. If you plan well and constantly eat the allowed foods you won't be tempted to cheat because you won't be hungry. The days I cheated (except for the catered yumminess) were days that I wasn't feeding myself like I should have been. I waited too long between foods and didn't snack appropriately. I have a new resolve now (since the catered yumminess) and I'm finishing strong!!!
I'm desperate to hear all the details on this. Did you get all of their shampoo/lotion/sunscreen/cosmetics? Are you using normal stuff? TALK TO ME! Because my stress eating over the last month hasn't been a great thing...
Okay, so here we go. I stuck with my Pantene shampoo and it hasn't seemed to have any negative effects on weight loss. Don't ask how often I wash my hair though. It probably couldn't hurt to use an oil free shampoo like Neutrogena. I've avoided cosmetics but apparently mascara and lipstick are fine. If you want a sunscreen or lotion make sure it says "oil free". I'm using Neutrogena sunscreen (make sure you do this...the very first day I didn't have an oil free sunscreen so I didn't wear anything...I was so burned!!!)
I'm using Secret deoderant. I wasn't ready to do that crystal stick thing. Those are for the hard core hcg'ers. Secret hasn't hurt me so far. I use Tom's toothpaste. You can find that at CVS or Walgreens. It's not cheap and it tastes kinda yucky but I haven't minded it too much. I think you could probably use a plain Crest but I decided not to risk it.
The thing I like best about this HCG protocol is that it has changed my appetite and restarted my hypothalmus. I no longer crave chocolate after each meal (although it still sounds yummy). Miracle, people. Miracle.
I would stress NOT to cheat. In 12 days I lost 10 pounds. In the past 7 days I've lost and gained (a half pound 2 different times) and I'm still at that 10 pound mark. Why? I cheated 3 times in the past 8 days. I know. Thankfully though I can add on a few days and make up for this. I plan to be good over the next 6 days and see where that takes me. I may go for a few more days depending on the progress I have.
By the way, my cheats consisted of: one chocolate chip pancake and 2 chocolate chip cookies on Day 12, organic mac and cheese on Day 14, and the catered yumminess that I encountered at Red White and Boom on Day 16. It's now Day 19 though and I'm back to my lowest weight so far. Here is a key: Don't let yourself get hungry. If you plan well and constantly eat the allowed foods you won't be tempted to cheat because you won't be hungry. The days I cheated (except for the catered yumminess) were days that I wasn't feeding myself like I should have been. I waited too long between foods and didn't snack appropriately. I have a new resolve now (since the catered yumminess) and I'm finishing strong!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day 18 and...
I'm still paying the price for my indiscretion on Friday night. A catered party, amazing food and drinks...fireworks? I'm not made of steel people. Yesterday I did well. We went to a party and I was not the least bit tempted. Not one ounce! Today our kids were in the parade and we hit the pool for a spell. We're about to go to 3 more parties and then fireworks!! I can hold out. And here is why.
I'm extending a few more days on to the regimen so I can lose 5 more pounds. This will give me a little cushion in case things go a little haywire. I'm supposed to finish out on Wednesday but instead I might finish on Sunday with 3 days of "detox" afterward. I'll keep you posted. Let's see how much willpower I have and what I can lose over the next several days.
I'm extending a few more days on to the regimen so I can lose 5 more pounds. This will give me a little cushion in case things go a little haywire. I'm supposed to finish out on Wednesday but instead I might finish on Sunday with 3 days of "detox" afterward. I'll keep you posted. Let's see how much willpower I have and what I can lose over the next several days.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
It's Day 17 and...
I cheated again! Ugh! It wasn't pancakes or mac & cheese this time. Through hubby's work we were invited to a catered party downtown to watch the biggest fireworks fest in the Midwest. They had the yummiest food and not one drop of it fit into my protocol. Dang it! I had already eaten most of my daily allotment but I still lacked my veggies and fruit. So...I ate the salad. After tasting it though I realized it had an oily (yet yummy) vinaigrette. Did I stop after just one bite? That would be a big fat NO.
Since I'd already ruined the day I had some hummus, bread and maybe a few bites of chocolate chip cookie.
What I have learned from all of this? I have very little willpower and this is not easy!
Today I should be okay but tomorrow we have 4 parties and a parade. Monday we have a few more parties and more delicious food to tempt me. I've got to get my act in gear though. I have 5 full days in front of me with 3 non drop days. Then on to the maintenance phase. I have the option of extending my time. The minimum amount of time on the drops is 21 days but the max is 40 sooo...do I have the willpower?
Since I'd already ruined the day I had some hummus, bread and maybe a few bites of chocolate chip cookie.
What I have learned from all of this? I have very little willpower and this is not easy!
Today I should be okay but tomorrow we have 4 parties and a parade. Monday we have a few more parties and more delicious food to tempt me. I've got to get my act in gear though. I have 5 full days in front of me with 3 non drop days. Then on to the maintenance phase. I have the option of extending my time. The minimum amount of time on the drops is 21 days but the max is 40 sooo...do I have the willpower?
Friday, July 2, 2010
Day 16!!!
I didn't post yesterday. Sorry. I haven't fallen off the wagon, I promise. I'm officially down more than 10 pounds in 15 full days! Yay! The past 4 days have been a bit up and down. Down overall but since my scale doesn't measure in .2 of a pound I can't know for sure. It's been a little discouraging because it's nice to see those full pound drops. I've seen that lower number in the "tens" section of my weight once but it might have been a fluke because of my cruddy scale. Either way I'm a half pound away from new territory. Bummer is that it's the 4th of July weekend and here in my town it might as well be Christmas. We do up the 4th like no other.
I LOVE the 4th of July and totally look forward to the catered fireworks we are attending tonight, party at the pool tomorrow and neighborhood cookouts the 2 days after that. It's going to be tough to stick to the plan. I wish I had the resolve to tell you that I'm going to be "good" but I'm already tempted and I haven't even gotten to the first party yet. If I do cheat (look...I"m already setting myself up to fail!!!) I plan to stay on the protocol a few days longer than the 21 I had planned for. The protocol prescribes 21 straight days of no cheats taking drops 3 times per day. I might be able to get away with a bite or two...Oh, what am I saying? I'm going to try hard...pray for me!
I LOVE the 4th of July and totally look forward to the catered fireworks we are attending tonight, party at the pool tomorrow and neighborhood cookouts the 2 days after that. It's going to be tough to stick to the plan. I wish I had the resolve to tell you that I'm going to be "good" but I'm already tempted and I haven't even gotten to the first party yet. If I do cheat (look...I"m already setting myself up to fail!!!) I plan to stay on the protocol a few days longer than the 21 I had planned for. The protocol prescribes 21 straight days of no cheats taking drops 3 times per day. I might be able to get away with a bite or two...Oh, what am I saying? I'm going to try hard...pray for me!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ah Yea!
Down another 1/2 pound today...or really a pound from my initial post yesterday! Tomorrow (hopefully!!!) I will dip down into new numbers! That will mean that I've dropped over 10 pounds. This is fun!
I just had lunch and it was grilled chicken strips and 10 grape tomatoes. I used Everyday Seasonings from Trader Joes and some sea salt. Have I mentioned how much I love sea salt? That stuff is GOOD!
It's day 14 and I have 10 days left. Not sure if 5 more pounds is doable in that time period but it sounds like a great goal to me. Today I just put on the maid of honor dress that I wore in my best friend's wedding...in 1996! Yes! Again, the damage done by my twins is evident to me but it's funny how clothes tend to hide all of that.
I can't believe it's been 2 weeks now! I have 7 more days on the drops and then 3 without. Day 25 I will venture into an unknown world...that of 1200-1500 calories and EVERYTHING except sugar and starch. Okay so I know that rules MANY things out but I can do it after the past 2 weeks!!! I can do anything.
Update: So I might have had a few bites of organic mac and cheese today. It just looked so yummy and oh, how I've missed cheese and pasta. It was SOOO good and even if I don't lose tomorrow it will have been worth it. Yum, it tasted good.
I just had lunch and it was grilled chicken strips and 10 grape tomatoes. I used Everyday Seasonings from Trader Joes and some sea salt. Have I mentioned how much I love sea salt? That stuff is GOOD!
It's day 14 and I have 10 days left. Not sure if 5 more pounds is doable in that time period but it sounds like a great goal to me. Today I just put on the maid of honor dress that I wore in my best friend's wedding...in 1996! Yes! Again, the damage done by my twins is evident to me but it's funny how clothes tend to hide all of that.
I can't believe it's been 2 weeks now! I have 7 more days on the drops and then 3 without. Day 25 I will venture into an unknown world...that of 1200-1500 calories and EVERYTHING except sugar and starch. Okay so I know that rules MANY things out but I can do it after the past 2 weeks!!! I can do anything.
Update: So I might have had a few bites of organic mac and cheese today. It just looked so yummy and oh, how I've missed cheese and pasta. It was SOOO good and even if I don't lose tomorrow it will have been worth it. Yum, it tasted good.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
You Take the Good, You Take the Bad
You take it all and there you have...the Facts of Life, the facts of life...
Okay, now that song will be in my brain all day. Where did that come from anyway? My friend ran into "Blair" at a local Starbucks a few months ago. She was in town for the Women of Faith conference. What a star siting.
So, why am I humming the Facts of Life tune? Hmm...well, the scale went up today. Yes, up.
Bitter is all I have to say about that. I'm trying to live by the first lines of my inspired 80's sitcom by taking the bad with the good. Seriously. I'm down 9 pounds. I should be over the moon. (Sticking with absurd phrases, just for fun). Really. That should be a happy thing.
I'm looking over yesterday and trying to figure out what would have brought me up. I promise, I didn't cheat. I wanted to. My mom brought Oreos AND those awesome store bought icing cookies. I wanted an oreo more than I wanted my left arm but I resisted. It really wasn't that hard to walk away.
I have a few theories on my 1/2 pound gain. First, I have the crappiest scale on the planet. It could be lying to me. Second, I forgot my HCG drops at 2PM yesterday. I was knee deep in First Grade VBS. Third, it could be my cheat from 3 days ago catching up with me. I really have no idea. I'm not concerned and so far I'm not really phased by the "gain". It appears to be a 1/2 pound on my scale but in reality it could be .02ish.
Time to roll with the punches and pop this circus tent.
UPDATE: Weighed myself again at 9:30am EST and I was down a 1/2 pound. That would put me at yesterday morning's weight. That means no gain or loss. Weird. My scale stinks.
Okay, now that song will be in my brain all day. Where did that come from anyway? My friend ran into "Blair" at a local Starbucks a few months ago. She was in town for the Women of Faith conference. What a star siting.
So, why am I humming the Facts of Life tune? Hmm...well, the scale went up today. Yes, up.
Bitter is all I have to say about that. I'm trying to live by the first lines of my inspired 80's sitcom by taking the bad with the good. Seriously. I'm down 9 pounds. I should be over the moon. (Sticking with absurd phrases, just for fun). Really. That should be a happy thing.
I'm looking over yesterday and trying to figure out what would have brought me up. I promise, I didn't cheat. I wanted to. My mom brought Oreos AND those awesome store bought icing cookies. I wanted an oreo more than I wanted my left arm but I resisted. It really wasn't that hard to walk away.
I have a few theories on my 1/2 pound gain. First, I have the crappiest scale on the planet. It could be lying to me. Second, I forgot my HCG drops at 2PM yesterday. I was knee deep in First Grade VBS. Third, it could be my cheat from 3 days ago catching up with me. I really have no idea. I'm not concerned and so far I'm not really phased by the "gain". It appears to be a 1/2 pound on my scale but in reality it could be .02ish.
Time to roll with the punches and pop this circus tent.
UPDATE: Weighed myself again at 9:30am EST and I was down a 1/2 pound. That would put me at yesterday morning's weight. That means no gain or loss. Weird. My scale stinks.
Monday, June 28, 2010
It's Good News My Friends!
I'm down another 1/2 pound under yesterday's total! That's 9.5 pounds GONE!!! Weird. 11 days and 9.5 pounds. I'm happy to report that I'm now down 1.5 from my pre Little Dude weight and only up 1.5 from my pre twins weight! Yep, 3 more days (hopefully!) and I'll be at my pre baby weight. I'm hoping to go down 4-5 pounds beyond that so I'd be at a total loss of 16 pounds in 24 days. We'll see what my body does over the next 12 days. Apparently the closer you get to the goal, the harder it is to shed the pounds so I really have no idea what to expect but 6 pounds in 12 days seems fairly realistic considering my adventure thus far. I'd really like to have a few pounds cushion as it might be easy to gain a few coming off of this. Also, I have the option to stay on this for as many as 40 days. I can't BEGIN to imagine that amount of time on this but it's allowed. I guess I could push it a few extra days if need be. Oh, that's asking a lot.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
So far So good!
We visited my high school friend's church. He did an AMAZING job preaching and I so wish we could be there every week. It's just a little too far away to make our home church but I was mega impressed.
Anyway, the best part was it was Kid Jam Sunday (or something of the sorts) and they had a bouncy house, face painting, cotton candy, snow cones and HUGE bubbles. My kids had a blast and afterward they offered Chipotle to the adults! Whoohoo! I was pumped because I cracked open my tortilla (oh, it looked good!) and dug out the chicken, lettuce and tomato. It was super yummy and I wasn't tempted to eat the other awesome stuff in it. I did freeze the rest and will (maybe) be able to enjoy it in a few weeks. We'll see how it survives the freeze! Still down in my weight and living up to protocol. Take that temptation!
Anyway, the best part was it was Kid Jam Sunday (or something of the sorts) and they had a bouncy house, face painting, cotton candy, snow cones and HUGE bubbles. My kids had a blast and afterward they offered Chipotle to the adults! Whoohoo! I was pumped because I cracked open my tortilla (oh, it looked good!) and dug out the chicken, lettuce and tomato. It was super yummy and I wasn't tempted to eat the other awesome stuff in it. I did freeze the rest and will (maybe) be able to enjoy it in a few weeks. We'll see how it survives the freeze! Still down in my weight and living up to protocol. Take that temptation!
Wonders Never Cease (Day 11)
So I weighed myself this morning and wonder of wonders, 1/2 pound gone anyway! What? I can't believe it. Now that I've cracked I have a new resolve to get back up and run again. Well, not literally run. I don't have the energy for that. In fact they don't encourage any exercise during this phase other than maybe a 30 minute walk if you're up for it. Without carbs and sugars the energy levels are low and I'd hate to waste the little I have.
Today it's water and coffee for me this morning. We're visiting a friend's church that is having a kids' morning with sugar and donuts followed by Chipotle! This is my kind of church! I might allow myself a little bit (3.5 ounces) of Chipotle chicken but that's it. No rice, beans or tortilla! We're finishing out this 21 day thing flying high and doing it right. Hopefully I don't crack again but you know what, I really enjoyed those english muffins and cookies!
Today it's water and coffee for me this morning. We're visiting a friend's church that is having a kids' morning with sugar and donuts followed by Chipotle! This is my kind of church! I might allow myself a little bit (3.5 ounces) of Chipotle chicken but that's it. No rice, beans or tortilla! We're finishing out this 21 day thing flying high and doing it right. Hopefully I don't crack again but you know what, I really enjoyed those english muffins and cookies!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Cheaters Never Prosper
This morning I was quite optimistic about this whole HCG protocol thing after reaching a weight I hadn't seen since before Little Dude. Well, the day got harder. And harder. I cheated. I really couldn't help it.
I made the kids pumpkin pancakes for dinner. Not a temptation for me. I don't like pancakes and I really don't like pumpkin pancakes. When they had each eaten their allotted pancakes they asked for chocolate chip pancakes. Yep. That did me in. First a bite, then another. Somehow the pancake disappeared before my eyes. It was sooo good I don't even have words.
And then I decided that if I'm going to cheat I'm gonna do it right. I then ate 2 english muffins (with lots of butter) and 2 chips ahoy cookies.
I'm not sure what went wrong today because previous to this I was only tempted one other time and I was able to get past it. Not tonight. Night 10 and whoosh. This is hard.
I plan to get back up on the horse tomorrow and do it all again. Looking forward to Day 11.
I made the kids pumpkin pancakes for dinner. Not a temptation for me. I don't like pancakes and I really don't like pumpkin pancakes. When they had each eaten their allotted pancakes they asked for chocolate chip pancakes. Yep. That did me in. First a bite, then another. Somehow the pancake disappeared before my eyes. It was sooo good I don't even have words.
And then I decided that if I'm going to cheat I'm gonna do it right. I then ate 2 english muffins (with lots of butter) and 2 chips ahoy cookies.
I'm not sure what went wrong today because previous to this I was only tempted one other time and I was able to get past it. Not tonight. Night 10 and whoosh. This is hard.
I plan to get back up on the horse tomorrow and do it all again. Looking forward to Day 11.
It's Day 10!
I am loving my scale lately. Haven't been able to say that in a while. My numbers went down a whole pound last night! I'm down 8.5 in 9 full days! This is Fun!
Friday, June 25, 2010
It's Day 9!
Day 8 and I'm down another 1/2 pound! I'm in utter amazement. I saw it happen for my friend but you know how it is. You always figure things work for other people but of course not for you. Well, it worked for me. Better yet, I went shopping this morning while the banschees were in VBS and I tried on several dresses and tshirts. Get this...I had to go back and get smalls in all the dresses and shirts! I always pick up the medium to start with an then go from there but never (at least not since Little Dude) have I had to go back for smaller sizes in everything I've tried on! That definitely makes today easier as I think about NOT eating Chick Fila that was graciously donated to our evening Vacation Bible School. Oh, how I love Chick Fila!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Mother of the Year Award Goes to...
Not me. Not by a long shot. These kids have been in rare form all week and with my patience dwindling with each passing pound, they are on thin ice.
After a new bottle of extra virgin olive oil got spilled (and broken) all over my travertine kitchen floor and Pillow Pets were cut/shred into pieces all over my lower level (all happened yesterday...the kids were down in the lower level while I was cleaning up the glass from the olive oil. Guess they got bored b/c they went to town)
There was also a total fit thrown at VBS 2 nights ago by an unnamed 6 year old. Really, haven't we outgrown this already?
Today within seconds Boy Wondertwin spilled an entire glass of iced tea all over my wool rug and Girl Wondertwin was caught doing flips on my couch. That was it. I went to GWT's bedroom and emptied the contents of her shelf organizer. Within seconds there were 8 million toys all over her bedroom floor. She was in shock. Next I went to Boy Wondertwin's room and followed suit, choosing the toy box to empty everywhere. He screamed, cried, kicked and had a conniption.
I'm not proud of myself but I'm REALLY sick of cleaning up their (unnecessary) messes constantly. It's all I do. I put up with their fits and clean their messes. I understand that it comes with the territory but really. They are 6. Isn't it time to grow up just a little? Learn a little personal responsibility?
Wonder of Wonders. Little Dude has been a total angel since the twins started their madness.
After a new bottle of extra virgin olive oil got spilled (and broken) all over my travertine kitchen floor and Pillow Pets were cut/shred into pieces all over my lower level (all happened yesterday...the kids were down in the lower level while I was cleaning up the glass from the olive oil. Guess they got bored b/c they went to town)
There was also a total fit thrown at VBS 2 nights ago by an unnamed 6 year old. Really, haven't we outgrown this already?
Today within seconds Boy Wondertwin spilled an entire glass of iced tea all over my wool rug and Girl Wondertwin was caught doing flips on my couch. That was it. I went to GWT's bedroom and emptied the contents of her shelf organizer. Within seconds there were 8 million toys all over her bedroom floor. She was in shock. Next I went to Boy Wondertwin's room and followed suit, choosing the toy box to empty everywhere. He screamed, cried, kicked and had a conniption.
I'm not proud of myself but I'm REALLY sick of cleaning up their (unnecessary) messes constantly. It's all I do. I put up with their fits and clean their messes. I understand that it comes with the territory but really. They are 6. Isn't it time to grow up just a little? Learn a little personal responsibility?
Wonder of Wonders. Little Dude has been a total angel since the twins started their madness.
7 in 7!!
Good news to report! More loss. I really can't believe it and wouldn't if it wasn't happening to me. I had resigned myself to a certain body type (Boo genetics!!!) but there really are ways to transform and sculpt the body. The great thing is all the work I've put in over the past 2 years at the gym is paying off. There really are muscles under there and they might even be visible one of these days. I still have 14 full days on this regimen so we'll see where it takes me. I've heard that the weight loss slows a lot after day 7. Average weight loss in the first 7 days is 8-10 pounds. After that it's 1/4-1/2 pound per day. I think I began my slowing process around day 5 which got kind of discouraging.
I'm so curious to see what my body will do from here. How low can I go? I guess I'll find out because I have to stay on the protocol for 21 full days! We're in for a long ride blog world.
I'm so curious to see what my body will do from here. How low can I go? I guess I'll find out because I have to stay on the protocol for 21 full days! We're in for a long ride blog world.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
You know you want to know what I ate today...
Here we go...
Breakfast: water, tea
Lunch: chicken salad. Now, before you get too excited, I'm including the recipe below. It was so-so. The bummer was I had to eat it in Panera while my friend ate a Caesar salad and her kids ate BAGELS. Oh, those bagels looked good. Honestly though, I really didn't want those things. This HCG stuff is magic.
Snack: 2 Melba Toasts
Dinner: While watching everyone at VBS eat Hot Dogs and chips I ate 1 orange (which I couldn't finish and had to share with Little Dude) and 1 cup of spinach with shredded chicken on top. That salad was actually really good. That could have something to do with all the sea salt I put on top of it! Hmm. It WAS good though. One thing I'm learning through this is ANYTHING is good with sea salt.
So, I was going to have 2 melba toasts for snack but after i tried on my dress from 1998 I decided to forgo the 2 melba toasts. We'll see what the scale has to say about that decision.
Breakfast: water, tea
Lunch: chicken salad. Now, before you get too excited, I'm including the recipe below. It was so-so. The bummer was I had to eat it in Panera while my friend ate a Caesar salad and her kids ate BAGELS. Oh, those bagels looked good. Honestly though, I really didn't want those things. This HCG stuff is magic.
Snack: 2 Melba Toasts
Dinner: While watching everyone at VBS eat Hot Dogs and chips I ate 1 orange (which I couldn't finish and had to share with Little Dude) and 1 cup of spinach with shredded chicken on top. That salad was actually really good. That could have something to do with all the sea salt I put on top of it! Hmm. It WAS good though. One thing I'm learning through this is ANYTHING is good with sea salt.
So, I was going to have 2 melba toasts for snack but after i tried on my dress from 1998 I decided to forgo the 2 melba toasts. We'll see what the scale has to say about that decision.
Crunchy Sweet Apple Chicken Salad
Tammy Skye's The Ultimate HCG Dieter Gourmet Cookbook
100 grams chicken cooked and diced
1 apple diced
3 stalks celery diced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cardamom
Dash of salt
Stevia to taste
Wedge of lemon
Mix ingredients together, sprinkle with stevia and cinnamon. Chill for 20
minutes. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy.
minutes. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy.
Are you sitting down BLOGWORLD?
I just zipped up the dress that I wore to my rehearsal dinner 12 years ago! I was 24 years old then and a size 4 or 6. This dress FITS and I'd actually wear it out in public. I can't believe it.
Obviously my body is quite different now (hello, twin pregnancy!!!) than it was then but it fits! It's just crazy amazing what 6 pounds can do. I'm now where I was when I was first pregnant with Little Dude.
Let's see if we can flash all the way back to 1998! I do have one foreseeable hitch in my plan. When I had the twins irreparable damage was done, namely the rib expander otherwise known as Baby B as well as ripped muscles in my stomach making it so my white stomach will never see the light of day again.
Have you seen those palate expanders that pre-teens have to wear before they get braces? You know, you used to have to use a key to turn it and it literally expanded the roof of your mouth to make room for all of your teeth? That is what my daughter did to me during the 30 some weeks she spent in my tummy. Holy Moly that KILLED! I was BEGGING the doctor to put me out of my misery. Finally he gave me permission to try one of those Therma Care Heat wraps...as long as it was on my ribs and not near her head. So far no brain damage for Girl Wondertwin but wow, was that CRAZY painful. I don't miss those days. As a result my rib cage is a good bit larger than it had been which makes clothes difficult sometimes.
Anyway blogworld, just wanted to share my good news with you.
Obviously my body is quite different now (hello, twin pregnancy!!!) than it was then but it fits! It's just crazy amazing what 6 pounds can do. I'm now where I was when I was first pregnant with Little Dude.
Let's see if we can flash all the way back to 1998! I do have one foreseeable hitch in my plan. When I had the twins irreparable damage was done, namely the rib expander otherwise known as Baby B as well as ripped muscles in my stomach making it so my white stomach will never see the light of day again.
Have you seen those palate expanders that pre-teens have to wear before they get braces? You know, you used to have to use a key to turn it and it literally expanded the roof of your mouth to make room for all of your teeth? That is what my daughter did to me during the 30 some weeks she spent in my tummy. Holy Moly that KILLED! I was BEGGING the doctor to put me out of my misery. Finally he gave me permission to try one of those Therma Care Heat wraps...as long as it was on my ribs and not near her head. So far no brain damage for Girl Wondertwin but wow, was that CRAZY painful. I don't miss those days. As a result my rib cage is a good bit larger than it had been which makes clothes difficult sometimes.
Anyway blogworld, just wanted to share my good news with you.
Darn Scale
I might have the cruddiest scale on the planet. I've known this for a really long time. Every time I set it in a different part of the house it tells me a different weight. Generally I put it in the place that gives me the most favorable response of course. This time I had hubby (who weighs himself at the gym often...in public, oh the horror!) find the place that was the most accurate as opposed to the most flattering.
Anyway this dang scale is telling me that I've lost 5.5 pounds in 6 days. And no, I haven't moved it to make my numbers look better.
Last night I saw my friend's mom at Vacation Bible School. The mom told my friend, "Wow, there is really something different about KP. She looks so nice tonight." My friend responded, "Oh, she got her hair cut today." The mom said, "Oh, that must be it".
I'm going to pretend she noticed my 5.5 lost pounds. (And even my hubby didn't notice the haircut!)
Anyway this dang scale is telling me that I've lost 5.5 pounds in 6 days. And no, I haven't moved it to make my numbers look better.
Last night I saw my friend's mom at Vacation Bible School. The mom told my friend, "Wow, there is really something different about KP. She looks so nice tonight." My friend responded, "Oh, she got her hair cut today." The mom said, "Oh, that must be it".
I'm going to pretend she noticed my 5.5 lost pounds. (And even my hubby didn't notice the haircut!)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
It's Like Eden Around Here
Why isn't anyone wearing any clothes? At what age should boy/girl twins stop sharing EVERYTHING? I just heard my daughter say to her twin, "No, I don't want that Xylophone Silly Band back...it was just wrapped around your penis". Never thought I'd ever hear those words or any combination close.
The funny thing is that there is no shame. My trio can run around with no clothes in front of each other...maybe the entire neighborhood for all I know and they feel no embarrassment. The Garden of Eden is alive and well in our home, among the kids only of course. Women try on 14 outfits before they go to a party but kids can be naked and care less. I miss those carefree kid days but goodness. Maybe I need to be more careful with my naked boys and girl. I don't blame her...I wouldn't want that Silly Band back either!
The funny thing is that there is no shame. My trio can run around with no clothes in front of each other...maybe the entire neighborhood for all I know and they feel no embarrassment. The Garden of Eden is alive and well in our home, among the kids only of course. Women try on 14 outfits before they go to a party but kids can be naked and care less. I miss those carefree kid days but goodness. Maybe I need to be more careful with my naked boys and girl. I don't blame her...I wouldn't want that Silly Band back either!
Big News Blogworld...
There was no sign of tummy this morning...um, well, when I was laying down anyway. Ever since I had the twins there was always a small bump near my belly button. It was just a little "hill" so to speak but I couldn't understand how I could have a pooch while laying down. Come on gravity, what are you here for anyway?
So this morning when I woke up my stomach was flat. Not like how I want it but progress people.
Once I stood up it was a different story but hey, I'll take what I can get. I'm only 6 days in so I'm happy. Well, almost. Today I didn't lose. Boo. It's hard to know for sure since I have the cruddiest scale on the planet. It was advised to get a scale that measures by .2 pounds so you can REALLY see your progress. Hubby is really pushing this one so maybe he'll buy me a scale today. I could have lost as much as .4 without the scale recording it so I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt. Surely I didn't go through a day on 500 calories without losing SOMETHING. It goes to show how important it is to follow the protocol though (and to a T). I messed up yesterday by eating WAY too late and that might have made a difference as well. Hopefully we see progress today. Hopefully.
So this morning when I woke up my stomach was flat. Not like how I want it but progress people.
Once I stood up it was a different story but hey, I'll take what I can get. I'm only 6 days in so I'm happy. Well, almost. Today I didn't lose. Boo. It's hard to know for sure since I have the cruddiest scale on the planet. It was advised to get a scale that measures by .2 pounds so you can REALLY see your progress. Hubby is really pushing this one so maybe he'll buy me a scale today. I could have lost as much as .4 without the scale recording it so I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt. Surely I didn't go through a day on 500 calories without losing SOMETHING. It goes to show how important it is to follow the protocol though (and to a T). I messed up yesterday by eating WAY too late and that might have made a difference as well. Hopefully we see progress today. Hopefully.
Monday, June 21, 2010
It's Day 5! 16 Days to Go!
Sorry about the delayed post. It's VBS week which means we are out the door early. Not too early for my daily weigh in though. I lost another pound yesterday for a total weight loss of 5 pounds in 4 days! Whoo Hoo! I'm really in utter shock every day as I see the number on the scale. My body is starting to feel a little (just a tiny bit) different and that feels good too!
Today was harder since I was on the go all day. Thankfully I had some prepared protein and veggies so I packed that to eat on the go. I had shredded chicken with 2 melba toasts and 5 cherry tomatoes for lunch just before I picked up the kids from VBS. After some fun with friends at the park I came home and ate a cucumber and tomato. The swim meet came right after that. I was there for 4-7:30 and had to book it to our evening VBS (yes...we're doing 2 VBSchools this week...ugh!). I finally got home at 8:30 and shoved a very small burger in my mouth. That was the hungriest I have been yet and it was because I didn't eat according to protocol. They aren't kidding when they advise to follow this thing to a tee.
It's 9:15pm now and I'm sitting here still hungry. I really shouldn't have waited this long to eat. I've learned my lesson. It's now time for the drops though and that will take care of the hunger. Amazing how this stuff works.
I'll update in the morning if I have time!
Today was harder since I was on the go all day. Thankfully I had some prepared protein and veggies so I packed that to eat on the go. I had shredded chicken with 2 melba toasts and 5 cherry tomatoes for lunch just before I picked up the kids from VBS. After some fun with friends at the park I came home and ate a cucumber and tomato. The swim meet came right after that. I was there for 4-7:30 and had to book it to our evening VBS (yes...we're doing 2 VBSchools this week...ugh!). I finally got home at 8:30 and shoved a very small burger in my mouth. That was the hungriest I have been yet and it was because I didn't eat according to protocol. They aren't kidding when they advise to follow this thing to a tee.
It's 9:15pm now and I'm sitting here still hungry. I really shouldn't have waited this long to eat. I've learned my lesson. It's now time for the drops though and that will take care of the hunger. Amazing how this stuff works.
I'll update in the morning if I have time!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Spillin' the Beans
Okay people. If I hadn't posted about my latest craze I wouldn't even know that I had any readers. I have heard from so many people (albeit privately) inquiring as to my latest antics. I'm glad you're curious but a comment on the blog here and there wouldn't kill anyone. =)
So here it goes. Out of fear that someone would decide to try this out without the original protocol, I'm coming out and will explain what I'm doing.
2 months ago a friend shared with me that she is doing what is called the HCG Protocol. Over the next 6 weeks she lost 20 pounds. Her friend she did the protocol with lost 27 pounds. It all depends on your body, how true you are to the diet and how long you stay on it. While they stayed on for 40 days I only plan to do this for 21. I'm not interested in losing 20 pounds and I'm not sure I could do it. More power to them though. I won't go into specifics here because you can read www.diyhcg.com for almost anything you'd want to know regarding HCG.
In a nutshell, HCG is a hormone that is found in pregnant women. It is THE hormone that got me through my twin pregnancy. From week #6 I was sicker than sick. There aren't even words. So sick that my doctor prescribed Zofran (a very expensive drug that was created for those who were enduring Chemo. It is supposed to settle nausea and keep the patient from throwing up). It did very little for me during my pregnancy days. Zofran was/is the strongest anti-nausea drug on the market and let's just say I spent a lot of my pregnancy in the bathroom...up until I had the twins at 33 weeks.
So, how did I have 2 babies weighing in at 5 pounds 1 ounces and 5 pounds 10 ounces if I couldn't keep anything down? That's what I wondered too. Now I know. It's HCG. It allows the body to provide nutrients to a fetus whether or not the mother is eating the things the baby needs. There were many days during my pregnancy that the only thing I could possibly think of eating was mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC. That makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it now.
I owe it all to HCG. It allowed my twins a healthy pregnancy while it ate away at any stored fat that I had. After I had the twins I saw my legs for the very first time. They looked like toothpicks. The pregnancy had eaten away at my fat reserves. One of the only benefits to my twin pregnancy...besides the twins of course.
This HCG protocol allows a person to eat very little while feeling full and satisfied. The body lives on fat reserves instead of what is coming in which explains the rapid weight loss. There you go. That's the gist. See the above mentioned website for details regarding the protocol. It is controversial to say the least and I'm not recommending it to anyone. My blog updates are simply a personal journal to track my progress and vent vent vent. I'd love to hear from you though. Are you aware of this protocol? Do you know anyone who has done it? Can't wait to share many of the things I'm learning about myself regarding food, cravings and self control. Stay tuned.
So here it goes. Out of fear that someone would decide to try this out without the original protocol, I'm coming out and will explain what I'm doing.
2 months ago a friend shared with me that she is doing what is called the HCG Protocol. Over the next 6 weeks she lost 20 pounds. Her friend she did the protocol with lost 27 pounds. It all depends on your body, how true you are to the diet and how long you stay on it. While they stayed on for 40 days I only plan to do this for 21. I'm not interested in losing 20 pounds and I'm not sure I could do it. More power to them though. I won't go into specifics here because you can read www.diyhcg.com for almost anything you'd want to know regarding HCG.
In a nutshell, HCG is a hormone that is found in pregnant women. It is THE hormone that got me through my twin pregnancy. From week #6 I was sicker than sick. There aren't even words. So sick that my doctor prescribed Zofran (a very expensive drug that was created for those who were enduring Chemo. It is supposed to settle nausea and keep the patient from throwing up). It did very little for me during my pregnancy days. Zofran was/is the strongest anti-nausea drug on the market and let's just say I spent a lot of my pregnancy in the bathroom...up until I had the twins at 33 weeks.
So, how did I have 2 babies weighing in at 5 pounds 1 ounces and 5 pounds 10 ounces if I couldn't keep anything down? That's what I wondered too. Now I know. It's HCG. It allows the body to provide nutrients to a fetus whether or not the mother is eating the things the baby needs. There were many days during my pregnancy that the only thing I could possibly think of eating was mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC. That makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it now.
I owe it all to HCG. It allowed my twins a healthy pregnancy while it ate away at any stored fat that I had. After I had the twins I saw my legs for the very first time. They looked like toothpicks. The pregnancy had eaten away at my fat reserves. One of the only benefits to my twin pregnancy...besides the twins of course.
This HCG protocol allows a person to eat very little while feeling full and satisfied. The body lives on fat reserves instead of what is coming in which explains the rapid weight loss. There you go. That's the gist. See the above mentioned website for details regarding the protocol. It is controversial to say the least and I'm not recommending it to anyone. My blog updates are simply a personal journal to track my progress and vent vent vent. I'd love to hear from you though. Are you aware of this protocol? Do you know anyone who has done it? Can't wait to share many of the things I'm learning about myself regarding food, cravings and self control. Stay tuned.
Not the Yummiest Thing on the Planet
So, you're supposed to have 2 different kinds of protein in a day. I started lunch with grilled talapia and asparagus with 5 grape size tomatoes. This was so delish...I don't even have words. Fab is all I can say. Unfortunately I was thinking about dinner and didn't sufficiently thaw which left me with a 1/2 can of tuna for dinner. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have had 2 kinds of fish in one day. Hope that doesn't mess me up.
And...I cheated just a tad. I picked up a free brisket sandwich for hubby for Father's Day and just had to take a bite. It would be legal to eat 3.5 ounces of brisket (cooked at home) but this was Hoggy's and YUM! It was greasy. Hope that tiny bite didn't set me back a day. Like I've mentioned, this protocol is mega strict and there's no messing around with a bite here and there. Even oils from lotion can keep you from losing that day. My girlfriend put neosporin on her son's lips and didn't lose an ounce that day. Yikes. We'll see what my tiny bite of brisket did (plus all that grease on my fingers!)
So, without anything yummy thawed I was left with the tuna and some pickles. If I was allowed mayonaise I would have been quite happy but boo. No mayo allowed.
Off to eat my 2 pieces of melba toast and maybe a few strawberries. Getting wild!
And...I cheated just a tad. I picked up a free brisket sandwich for hubby for Father's Day and just had to take a bite. It would be legal to eat 3.5 ounces of brisket (cooked at home) but this was Hoggy's and YUM! It was greasy. Hope that tiny bite didn't set me back a day. Like I've mentioned, this protocol is mega strict and there's no messing around with a bite here and there. Even oils from lotion can keep you from losing that day. My girlfriend put neosporin on her son's lips and didn't lose an ounce that day. Yikes. We'll see what my tiny bite of brisket did (plus all that grease on my fingers!)
So, without anything yummy thawed I was left with the tuna and some pickles. If I was allowed mayonaise I would have been quite happy but boo. No mayo allowed.
Off to eat my 2 pieces of melba toast and maybe a few strawberries. Getting wild!
Temptation
It's weird though. If it was right in front of my I wouldn't take a bite. It's not like I'm hungry for it. It's more that I CAN'T have it. I'm not good at denying myself.
Off to make an iced coffee with chocolate stevia drops. Maybe some vanilla drops too if I decide to get crazy.
Beginning of Day 4
After 72 hours of this craziness I've lost 4 pounds. 4 pounds in 3 days. Outside of pregnancy I've never seen 4 pounds lost in a month let alone in 3 days. Keep in mind I've never dieted. So far this protocol is doing it's job and I'm doing mine. It really hasn't been painful.
I messed up last night though. Since you can only have tea, water and coffee on this thing, I've been loading on stevia packed caffeine. Last night I was up til 4AM. Ugh! Sleep is a major part of this as well. It's essential that the body has 8 hours to fully recover from the day. (Hmm...good luck, right?) My body is not a fan of caffeine and therefore I'll be switching to de-caf. Good idea but the problem with that is even decaf tea has a little bit in it. I'm just going to have to cut out everything but water after 4PM.
Besides surviving on 4 hours of sleep and eating 500 calories, it's Father's Day and time to pamper the father in my family! Happy Father's Day to All and I will be providing details regarding this protocol in future blog posts. Have a great day!
I messed up last night though. Since you can only have tea, water and coffee on this thing, I've been loading on stevia packed caffeine. Last night I was up til 4AM. Ugh! Sleep is a major part of this as well. It's essential that the body has 8 hours to fully recover from the day. (Hmm...good luck, right?) My body is not a fan of caffeine and therefore I'll be switching to de-caf. Good idea but the problem with that is even decaf tea has a little bit in it. I'm just going to have to cut out everything but water after 4PM.
Besides surviving on 4 hours of sleep and eating 500 calories, it's Father's Day and time to pamper the father in my family! Happy Father's Day to All and I will be providing details regarding this protocol in future blog posts. Have a great day!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
End of Day 3
Do I've survived 72 straight hours...hey wait...80 hours really since I stopped my binge at 10pm-ish.
So, wanna know what I ate today??? Hmm...it won't take long to list.
3.5 ounces of steak
4 glasses of tea with stevia
4 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee with stevia, chocolate & vanilla stevia drops
1 large tomato with sea salt
4 pieces of asparagus (pieces??? uh...stalks?)
1-2 strawberries
3.5 ounces of tilapia
More water.
Yep. That was my day. We'll see what the scale has to say tomorrow.
Today was my toughest of the 3. Not sure why. I was very tired. I think it could be because I took a very long walk last night. 90 minutes! I didn't mean to walk that long but a friend and I are big talkers and we just talked and walked. It goes against this particular protocol to exercise very hard. 30 minute walks are encouraged. Pretty sure 90 minutes can do more damage than good...as evidenced today. I'm done with big workouts although I do plan to get some exercise. Light weight lifting and grocery shopping. I think I can handle that. Speaking of grocery shopping, GREAT deals tonight at Target, Walgreens and Meijer. Those are posted at www.4our2cents.com when I get a chance.
So, wanna know what I ate today??? Hmm...it won't take long to list.
3.5 ounces of steak
4 glasses of tea with stevia
4 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee with stevia, chocolate & vanilla stevia drops
1 large tomato with sea salt
4 pieces of asparagus (pieces??? uh...stalks?)
1-2 strawberries
3.5 ounces of tilapia
More water.
Yep. That was my day. We'll see what the scale has to say tomorrow.
Today was my toughest of the 3. Not sure why. I was very tired. I think it could be because I took a very long walk last night. 90 minutes! I didn't mean to walk that long but a friend and I are big talkers and we just talked and walked. It goes against this particular protocol to exercise very hard. 30 minute walks are encouraged. Pretty sure 90 minutes can do more damage than good...as evidenced today. I'm done with big workouts although I do plan to get some exercise. Light weight lifting and grocery shopping. I think I can handle that. Speaking of grocery shopping, GREAT deals tonight at Target, Walgreens and Meijer. Those are posted at www.4our2cents.com when I get a chance.
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