The weekend

I don't think I'll be weighing in this week, as I work tomorrow. I'm not sure I want to anyway. I had a not so good week. Not like I ate everything in site, but a day or two into it I stopped counting points. My uniform pants are still loose, so I've got that going for me, but I just lost track of journaling. I started again today so everything should be fine. I have to figure out what we're doing for supper today. I need some leftovers for lunch tomorrow at work.

We had a nice weekend. The three kids came over and we spent Saturday at the pool. Its amazing how good of a swimmer Bella has become. She swam underwater the entire width of the pool. I tricked her. I told her to swim to me right before she went underwater. When she started I was standing in the middle. I kept backing up til I was against the opposite wall. When she finally caught me she was so excited to see that she made it all the way across. I was very happy for her. She sometimes gets pushed aside by Brandon's milestones, but this time she did something before he did. You could see just how happy she was. All she wanted to do for the rest of the day was swim back and forth with me. Brian helped Brandon with his swimming. You could tell he was jealous Bella was doing better. Its all part of growing up. He's just used to being the one that does everything before her which leads to him usually being better than her. Taylor, being the little guppy she is, just kept trying to swim between between my legs, as well as Brian's, and trying to flip us over. Oh, and we had our pizza lunch there too. I remembered to put the pizza in the car instead of on it this time. After the pool, the kids found their friend Kylee from next door and they were in and out of the house for an hour. We are actually happy they found her. Its nice having friends around for them. Most of the summer, the girls next door have been staying at their grandparents, so the kids haven't had their friends to play with. My friend Missy came for dinner, as well. It was nice to catch up and to spend a few hours with her. We really should do it more often. By the end of the night the kids were exhausted. We were happy. The girls slept in til 9am on Sunday. We should run them ragged every time we have them just for that purpose!!

Sunday, Brian wanted to go on a family hike and go to the library. Honestly, I didn't feel like a hike. Not because I didn't want to walk, but because I've already been destroyed by bug bites and I didn't feel like getting more in the woods. Brian mentioned Brandon didn't want to go either, so we decided we'd split the kids up. Brian owed the girls a "daddy/daughter" day which meant it was Brandon's turn to go out with me. Brian and the girls went on their hike and to Friendly's for lunch. I'm not sure if they ever made it to the library. Brandon and I went to Putt-Putt Fun Center to play mini-golf and hang out in the arcade. Well, that was after our little fiasco.

Baxter was in a cranky mood Saturday, so Sunday AM, I decided to open the bottom half of the kitchen window for him. He laid in it all morning. Brian and the girls left and then an hour later, we were ready to leave. I went in the kitchen for something and asked Brandon if he saw Baxter. He said no. I looked to the window to see if he was laying there and the screen was pushed out. I didn't think anything of it because, well, I don't know why. Then I realized Brandon said he didn't see Baxter, and Baxter wasn't coming running so I opened the front door and there was no Baxter. No where. I started calling his name and I couldn't find him. Surprisingly I didn't freak out. I knew he had claws so he could fight if he needed to. I prayed he didn't end up in traffic, and I know he loves me to death so he'd have to come home. :) I was more indecisive about what I should do....look for the cat or take Brandon on our day trip. Just when I was about to give up on the cat, I called his name one more time and he jumped out of the bushes. He sat on the neighbors porch and started pawing at their storm door. Then started the chase between he and I. He being smaller and faster was able to maneuver through bushes and weeds while I just looked like a jackass to my neighbors across the street chasing after something that no one can even see. I left the front door open, so Baxter finally got back inside on his own. Ugh, that cat will be the death of me---remember the episode where I thought I lost him in the air duct while I was painting.

Back to our day. In the middle of my cat search drama, I forgot to grab my wallet. So after we drove 25 minutes up to the Putt Putt place, I had no money. Luckily Brian was 10 minutes away so we met so he could give me some cash. Brandon and I finally played our game, in which he beat me. He played some arcade games and after that we had a phenomenal lunch at the Chinese buffet. Brandon picked it, I would have chosen a lovely salad bar or something. Ha. He did in fact pick it and it was delicious. (That was his second choice. His first choice was Bonefish Grill. What six year old picks that? When I was six, I would have picked Burger King or Zack Periwinkle's. That was our Chuck E. Cheese.) We both were so full afterwards and I don't think we really ate all that much. We headed home after lunch and Brian took the kids home. The rest of our day consisted of a nap, the Olympics, and a little bit of studying. Overall it was a very nice weekend.

Today, though, is an ugly Monday. Ugh, so much stuff to get done. We are working on it all and have been fairly productive thus far. We're trying to make it to the pool today, so I guess that is the motivation to get stuff done early.

I know I've posted and a few other people have posted about their skin breaking out. I've had a lot of issues with it over the past few months. I decided to invest in Clinique's Acne Solutions and its wonderful. I started using it 3 or 4 days ago and its wonderful. In just that little bit of time, I can tell a HUGE difference. It was a little expensive ($32 for 4-6 weeks work of product) but in my book, its totally worth it. That was the smaller size package. I didn't want to spend $50-60 on the stuff if I didn't know if it was going to work. But it seems to be working. Along with starting the face wash stuff, I started buying their makeup again. I definitely think its worth it. Its a little more expensive, but in reality its probably not as much as all the crap I've bought and never used. At least I know this stuff matches my face. Look into it, you might be surprised. I was.

Weigh in #2.....

was a success. Even with eating 36 extra points this week and no activity really to speak of. I'm down 1.4 lbs which puts me at 4.2 total. Its amazing how losing only 4 pounds can make you feel so much better. Mentally its a great mini achievement but when it comes to my big girl uniform pants, thats a whole other story. They're loose. Not fall off loose, but they aren't quite the sausage casings they were last week. And in bigger news, I was able to go back to tighten my belt back up to the old hole. (Is that what its called anyway? I'm having a brain fart.) Whatever its called, I'm happy I'm back to the old one. I was even able to roll over in bed and not have my pants get stuck halfway up my butt. (I'm telling you those polyester pants are evil, especially when you add in the friction of the inside of a flannel sleeping bag.)

I'm debating how often I should do my weight loss pictures. Every week? Every month? What's normal?

Wedding bells are ringing

I just found out an hour ago my sister is getting married. On August 30th. This year. This month.

They were supposed to get married next July. Things were getting prepared and I thought were right on track. Apparently it wasn't and stuff was getting stressful, so they decided to cancel the wedding. Not the marriage, just the wedding. I knew they wanted to get married soon with a much scaled down event, but I wasn't sure how soon. I gave my parents house a call this morning and found out August 3oth is the big day. That, of course, falls on my hell weekend which means I have to work 11pm Friday until 3pm Saturday then Sunday for 24 hours. Not that its an easy shift to fill, its especially not easy on Labor Day weekend. Wish me luck.

Oh, BTW, anyone in the market for a David's Bridal terracotta colored dress? It will be new and here on Sept 1st. I can't even get my moneys' worth out of it and wear it to the wedding. How ironic.

Spiderman down

Sometimes I love my job. This morning we got dispatched for a possible pedestrian struck on a major highway. The text of the call read "male wearing full Spiderman costume on the side of the road." A later supplement to the call said, "advised he's laying in the grass, moving a bit. Looks injured." We responded along with a host of other units. My partner and I wondered why in the hell a guy would be dressed up in a costume, but we've seen stranger things, such as people legally changing their name to that of superheroes, so we didn't question it too much. Actually, in a sick, twisted way, we wanted to run a superhero. How awesome would it be to treat someone in a spandex outfit claiming to be Spiderman? A few minutes later, we were all put in service. "State police on scene. Says its a stuffed animal. Place all units in service." How do you confuse a stuffed animal and a man? And to go as far as to say he's moving a little, looks injured? Its hard to say if its a prank or if someone driving 75 mph really thought it was a guy. Only here. Well, then there was the guy a few years back who circumcised himself, although he was already circumcised. That was interesting. I need to start a journal or something.

Still OP

I'm still on plan. Ok, so all of my 35 extra points have been used up for the week, but I'm still on plan. I have 6 points left for today, so hopefully I can make that work. Luckily I'll be at work tomorrow so I will only eat what I bring. Next week, I have to start to work out. This week has been a little crazy and I didn't get up there. Yesterday Brian and I spent ALL day cleaning the house. That had to count towards a few activity points, but I didn't count them since I'm not really sure how many I earned. But, I'm quite certain I ate them all up last night. We met Laura and Blaze at Amicci's in Little Italy last night. It was very good and nice to go out with another couple. Friday, Brian and I went to a Cajun restaurant Friday and then sat out at a free outdoor concert. It was very nice, as well. So, with those two nights out, I kind of indulged a little more than if we ate at home. Luckily, we're on a budget now, so there's definitely a lot more cooking going on at our house which leads to less temptation to eat bad. My weigh in day is supposed to be tomorrow but like I said, we're working, so I guess I'll try to make it (on time) to the meeting on Tuesday and see if any progress has been made. Like I said, this week will bring the gym. Hopefully with two good OP weeks, I'll be pretty motivated to earn some activity points.

I mentioned we cleaned. Holy hell, did we. Its amazing how much dirt your house can hide. And its amazing how much better your place can look when its all cleaned up. We cleaned everything. Baseboards, under the bed, behind the furniture, windows...it was wonderful. (I like to clean when you see progress as you go.) I even organized the closets, linens, laundry, the basement, laundry room. We still have a little more stuff to finish. Right not Brian's outside painting the patio furniture we've decided to recycle instead of buy new. Its really turning out great and saved us a lot of money. I'm still having a hard time finding cushions for the outdoor loveseat. No one seems to have them---only chaise lounge cushions and chair cushions that are too small. So, we'll see how that works out in the upcoming weeks. The patio project is STILL ongoing. I'm not even going to get myself started on that. We're fighting with the patio people. I pray its over soon.

I rock.

I have been so on plan its not even funny. I did finally break down and let Brian take my "before" pictures. I told him I'm not posting them on here until I feel all better about myself and will be proud of my weight loss accomplishments. We decided the best thing was to take them in a bathing suit. The more I think about it, I'm sure Brian had different reasons for that than I, but whatever. I wanted to see how my body actually changes during this process. I just pray to God there are changes!!!

I love the water weight you lose when you start a new meal plan. I have no idea what the scale says but I've been peeing like a race horse. This is the first time in MONTHS that my big girl uniform pants have been baggy. I'm very, very okay with that. Its bad enough to be at work for 24 hours, but to be in sausage casings made of navy polyester...yeah, not good. Add the DC heat and humidity. I might just catch myself on fire from friction.

We are going out to an outdoor concert tonight. We've been talking about it forever, but tonight we're really going to do it. Its free and right down the street from the house. Tomorrow we are going to meet Laura and Blaze in Baltimore's Little Italy for dinner. I can't wait. I love the food there. I just hope between tonight and tomorrow I remember to keep myself on track.

My new fascination? Raccoons. I feel like I've been at work way too much over the past week. (I'm currently on my 34th hour straight as I type this.) Anyway, outside our bay is a dumpster. And the other night I saw a raccoon trying to get himself a little dinner. Then there were two baby raccoons trying to do the same, but they were too short to jump inside the dumpster. It wasn't for a lack of trying. Their little legs were kicking....oh, I'm a sucker to an animal with fur. So, anyway, I was all excited the other night because these 3 raccoons are sitting out back munching on some Popeye's chicken and Ledo's pizza when this way too skinny ghetto cat rolls up. I felt like I was watching live Animal Planet. The cat zones in on the raccoon family and starts to stalk them. I know Bastard Cat does that to me all the time, so I was hopeful there would be a fight. Not because I want to see animals get hurt, but because I want to see what cats do in nature, not what my cat does because someone in white socks just walked by. So kitty sneaks up and gets nose to nose with the raccoon. I don't know if they had some sort of silent conversation, but the cat just looked to the left then high-tailed it out of there. I'm was so disappointed. No fight. I've only seen one raccoon since. Everyone thinks I'm making it up, I think. I think I just need to go home. My entertainment is raccoons. I do have to say part of me wants to go pick it up and give it a hug, but they probably smell bad and I'm mildy afraid it will latch onto my leg and gnaw on it for a while.

I guess I've procrastinated enough. I need to get back to studying. Studying for this promotional test sucks. I feel like I've studied so much but the other part of me feels like I know nothing at all. I asked Brian for a few study dates. We'll see how that goes. Last time I asked him a question we ended up in fight with lots of expletives being said. Ha, it gave us something to talk about at the counselors though. Guess we have to continue working on that communications stuff.

I'm a little bit of an idiot.

I was determined to get to my weigh-in this AM. I told Brian I wasn't getting out of bed, but I finally did after a little encouragement. I got ready and drove 20 minutes to my meeting. I got maybe 3 minutes away and realized my meetings are on Monday's. Today is Tuesday. Ugh. Luckily this place is a WW Center, so they had a meeting at 11:30. They let me in and weighed me but I missed the meeting. Oh, well. At least I weighed in and I was down 2.8 lbs. I was very okay with that. I'm taking this very seriously. I went to Wal-Mart afterwards and stocked up on food for the next week or two or hopefully three for all the money I spent.

I told Brian I'd like him to take weekly pictures of me. I'm kind of embarrassed to do that, but I think if I can see my progress, little by little, that will help keep me on track.

Now I've got all this food and have no idea what to make for supper. Ugh.

Minor editing....

I just reread my last post. Change the 2nd postcard to the 3rd. The half naked Brad Pitt lookalike is not the reason why I don't want to stay in a hotel.

PostSecret

Every Sunday, I read the new postcards from PostSecret. I already have issues staying in hotels. Reading the second postcard now makes me never want to stay in one again.

So much to write, I don't even know where to start.....

This weekend we took Bella and Brandon to my hometown for an annual festival. We got there just in time Friday night to see the fireworks. Saturday, we stopped by Laura's flip house to see the progress that has been made. Laura and Blaze most definitely have a lot of work ahead of them, but it does look good. I hope I can see the final project in person. Afterwards, we went to my mom's store to see her as well as save a seat out front for the parade. I swear, I think Bella and Brandon liked the store better than the parade. They sat at the counter and "worked" for my mom. They wanted customers in the worst way. They all met the "kitty" of the store--a fat cat named Snickers that thinks she owns the place. Most of her time is spent in the storefront window watching people walk by. I guess while Brian and I went up to check out some of the food vendors, Bella went shopping, because we came back to find her wearing a crocheted "corsage" pin and had a cute new purse. Of course, since Taylor couldn't be there (she was with her family in Ocean City for the week) Bella went shopping for her. Taylor will soon be the proud owner of a fuschia satin purse. Brandon had a new American flag pin and a new snazzy visor.

When the parade started at 1pm, the kids wouldn't go outside because they wanted to work. My mom eventually lied to them and said the store closed during the parade. Brandon didn't get the memo my mom was lying to him. As he walked out and my mom wasn't looking, he flipped the sign to CLOSED. After the parade was over, my mom couldn't figure out why no one was coming shopping til an old lady said, "well, your store is closed." Back to the parade.....we all sat out front with my Nana and Pop, sister, and Uncle Jer and my 10 year old cousin, Brad. We quickly found out that besides the Santa parade we take them to every November at a nearby shopping complex, Bella and Brandon have never been to a parade before. They were amazed that people threw candy at them and gave them bags of goodies and balloons.

Brandon quickly attached himself to my Nana, which I know made her feel good. My family doesn't get to see them very often....actually, this may have only been the 3rd or 4th time---and since they aren't biological grandkids and kinda got thrown into three new great-grandkids, I don't think they really knew how to act around them. But anyway, Brandon and Bella were attached to Nana, Pop, my mom, and sister the entire trip. Brandon wanted my Nana (in her 80s) to go in the fun house with him. I don't think he realized she barely got up the hill--there was no way she was going in a funhouse. I think Bella just about peed herself with excitement when my Pop slipped her $5 in her hand so she could go play games. They both won goldfish at the ball toss stand. (Unfortunately, Brandon's fish didn't make it through the night.) Nana took all the kids for ice cream, so she definitely was their new best friend. When they had enough fun, all they wanted to do was go back to the store to work. (I can only imagine what the kids mother thinks of our trip....when they called her to say good night, they didn't mention the parade, but said "we worked at Sarah's mommy's store!")

Brandon played again in the mud and waited patiently for his "friend," Corey, my parents 7 year old neighbor, to come help him build a new mud road. Corey never made it over, but Bella and Brandon did end up swimming with him at his pool. We eventually had to force them to go to bed, which was already past their normal bedtime.

Each morning they got up and help Leigh and my mom make breakfast. They drew up personalized placemats for each person eating and yesterday they made handmade menus. The rest of the time, they were on a constant search for my mom's cats which were pretty smart and hid as much as possible. So, overall the weekend was very good. The kids didn't want to leave---they wanted to stay one more day, but I had to be back for work at 7pm.

In other news, my sister is canceling her wedding. Not the marriage, just the wedding. They just want to be married before Jimi is deployed again and don't want all the hassle of stressing out over wedding plans and money issues. I totally agree with them. I think if I Brian and I ever marry we'll be doing it in front of Elvis in Vegas. Ok, so I'm not really sure about Elvis, but it won't be a huge event. Weddings don't create a marriage. I am a little bummed that a week or two ago I ordered my bridesmaid dress---I don't think the order can be canceled. That's $150 I could use right now, but at the same time, I totally understand why they are doing what they are doing, so I'm not too worked up over losing out on $150.

I know I've posted this ten times over, but today I'm starting over on WW. Last week I weighed in at a new meeting, but to be quite honest, I didn't count a single point. I think I just wanted a reference point to "start" at. But yesterday, after coming home from PA I weighed myself at home and I was 181. Holy hell. 181. I haven't been that heavy in 4 years. Times up. I gotta get crackin. I have my physical coming up in a few months and I have to be 165 or less. Plus, the big girl pants are getting snug and I'm one of those weirdo people who think they look smaller than they are, til you see your picture....yeah, that happened this weekend and it wasn't pretty from my eyes. So, everything is new. New meeting, new leader, even a new WW.com login name. I want nothing from the old me. I can't fall back on the "I lost 70 lbs" thing anymore. That was years ago and I have to work on a new goal. I started journaling again. Its been so long since I've done that. I didn't realize what bad habits I've fallen back into. Like driving home from work this AM I wanted so badly to stop a Panera bread. Just as I got to the exit I remembered today was my start over day and I went home and had 3/4 c of Capn Crunch w/ skim milk and Brian made me two silver dollar pancakes because the kids wanted me to eat with them. I'll probably sleep thru lunch so I'm not worried about that. For supper I'm back to cooking. Brian's working OT tonight so I may cook for a few nights. I forgot how much I liked that WW cookbook from a few months back. I have to get back into some points friendly recipes.

I have to say, this is the most motivated I've been in a long time. I feel awesome. I have that attribute a lot of it to my medicine and sleep. I actually WANT to go to the gym today. How crazy is that? I'm hoping this is a new me and it will continue.

I think that is all my updates. Oh, the patio. Still not done. Well, the patio is, but the fill for the yard isn't here yet, nor has the patio people returned to fix the step. Brian's now has the mission to contact them and ream their asses out. This is ridiculous. Today marks week number 4. So much for a 3-4 day job.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Progress has been made, finally.

Progress has been made with the patio. Our steps from the house to the patio have been put in and they look good. We are going to have to stain the pickets for the railing but that's no big deal. The patio looks much "neater" than it did before. Its nothing spectacular, overall, but its what worked with our budget. We got to keep our flowerbed and Brian came up with a good idea to make two other beds on either side of the steps down to the yard. That way it adds some color and dimension. Although we'd love to have a fancy patio with some teak furniture or something we have to work with what we've got for now. I had two plastic/vinyl Adirondack style chairs from my apartment patio that came with me when I moved in here. We were given a really nice mosaic cafe style table and three chairs from a friends of ours that didn't want it anymore. And Brian brought a few side tables/plant stands and a loveseat from his old house---we just need to get some cushions. None of it really matches and looks kind of crappy right now, but our plan is to paint all the metal items (table base, side tables, cafe' chairs) the same color Rustoleum so it matches and its protected, as well as paint the ugly Adirondack chairs a color that better matches. They are so ugly now, but so incredibly comfortable (as was the price when I bought them).

We planned on replacing the privacy walls, but to save money, Brian is just going to fix whatever is broken, replace a few boards that are warped, power wash them, and then stain to match the steps.

We plan on sprucing up the existing flowerbed, and like I said, making two new ones. Initially we were just going to put flowers in it but after talking with our neighbor, we are considering doing a veggie garden, which would help us save some money next summer on vegetables.

I'm starting to get excited about it. I sat out there earlier tonight to talk on the phone and it was so relaxing. I can't wait til its all done.

You're an enigma

Brian and I went to my ENT appointment this morning. They took us right back and my Nurse Practioner, Doreen, came in and reviewed my case with a new NP shadowing her. She read my CT results, which consisted of a deviated septum with huge turbinates, an impacted wisdom tooth (not causing any problems) and a cyst in my sinus. Ho-hum, just another day in the ENT world. That is, until Doreen put my CT up on the light up board thingy, said, "Oh God!" and proceeded to talk medical talk to her shadow like we weren't even in the room. She went on and on about how horribly crooked my septum was. Then I think she all of a sudden remembered we were sitting three feet behind her. Doreen turned around with a big shit eating grin on her face and said, "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to act like that. I just don't know how you can breath." She ran out and got a doctor in the office so we could talk about surgery. The surgeon, who was very nice, came in looked at the CT and repeated all the same "Oh, God, how can you breath?" phrases we heard already, did a quick exam and then explained how beneficial the surgery will be for me. She explained to all of us in the room what she planned to achieve during the surgery as well as what I could expect afterwards. The doctor told me I wouldn't have any packing but I'd be doublely splinted because my septum is so deviated. I thought Doreen was going to go nuts. She got a huge smile on her face and said, "you're going to double splint her?" she asked Dr. Day. By her reaction, you'd swear she was getting a million dollar bonus in her check next week. I asked her if I'm the weirdo every ENT waits for and she kinda smiled and called me an enigma. When we left the office, Brian hit it on the head. He said he felt like he was living an episode of Grey's Anatomy where all the surgeon's are fighting to get in on the good surgery. We figure they all went in the lounge afterwards and started pestering Dr. Day to assist in putting in my double splint or something.

I'm waiting on a phone call to schedule the surgery. I've been told it will be a week until I can go back to work but after reviewing some paperwork, it looks like I'll be off for two weeks. The paperwork says I can't bend, lift, or strain (including constipation) for two weeks, and that's everything I do at work (minus the constipation).

On a different subject, the patio guys are back. They are building our landing/steps coming from the patio door as I type, so I'm hoping that tonight I could get to my back yard without walking around the house. They are planning on bringing a ton of dirt to make the transition from the steps to the yard a little nicer. Brian and have been talking about it and after hanging out at his parents condo yesterday, we've decided we want the patio to be a sitting area as compared to an eating area. I don't like bugs/flies hanging out with me while I eat, but I'm very okay with sitting out relaxing at night. We've also talked about getting flowers that we can hang off our privacy wall. And once this is all done, we can work on the flowerbed that borders the one side of the patio. Brian wants to put all wildflowers in there. That might have to wait til next year but I do think it will be pretty.