We're Walking

With Spring finally showing up around here, I decided to start taking the older puppies with me on walks to Gianna's school to pick her up. (Emma still needs to be leash trained)

Riley was over the moon to explore new places. She thought we were going for a ride but was so happy to walk! She was practically dragging me! 

Piper had her turn the following day and loved it too. She's just a tiny bit more reserved than Riley. ;)

I have hopes to do this as much as possible so that I can get some exercise in. Working out every day hasn't been happening much since I can't bring the puppies into the basement with me while I hit the treadmill. I figure this is a win win for all of us. So happy for the nicer weather! 

My Goal

It's now August, and I'm starting to feel the crunch of our impending vacation at the end of the month. In other words, I need to lose some weight. Since I don't have a lot of time, I'm opting for 7lbs by the time we go away. 

I know it doesn't sound like a lot but considering I have only lost 2 lbs this summer I'll take it. I need to see the numbers move down on the scale. I figure 7 lbs is a decent start and hopefully obtainable.

I've been trying to push myself to workout more consistently lately. Trying to increase the speed or work more incline depending on how I feel that day.

                                  

The last two nights Joe wanted to go to the diner and I was a good girl and had this salad. It's huge! And very filling! 

So that's where I'm at. Trying to be good. Story of my life! 

I Tried...

I tried to have my Week 5 Project Life post ready to share today but it just didn't happen. Close but no cigar!

I tried taking pics of a LO to share today but the lighting and my shakiness make it horrible. I need to find the perfect time for good lighting.

                                       

What I managed to accomplish today was over 5+ miles on my exercise bike for the second time in a row.  I've been trying to do everyday but some days are just going to be busier than others.  I think I managed 3 or 4 workouts in this week and feel good about it.

We are expecting to get hit tonight with a Blizzard, or as they're calling it "Winter Storm Nemo".  The snow has been softly falling since around 6am.  The girls have a half day at school and they hope to get out there later and play in the snow.  Bought spray bottles from Target yesterday so they can color the snow with food coloring mixed with water. 

I tried coming up for new ideas for Joe's birthday next week. I'm not sure what to get him once again.  The man has no time for hobbies other than watching movies and while I did get him a few I don't know what else to get him.  I'd really like to find him a good cologne but the last one I tried he wasn't thrilled with. Suggestions appreciated.

I tried to go to bed earlier every night this week but Thursday nights I always seem to stay up later than I should.  I think it has to do with knowing I don't have to work the next day...

I tried talking Joe into having tacos for dinner a few times this week but he's not interested.  Trying to find new recipes that we all like.  We eat a lot of pasta and I'd like to change that.  I've been saying that I want to buy a crockpot since seeing so many yummy looking recipes on Pinterest.  Yes, I may be the only person around that does not own a crockpot.  Sad, I know!

Now I must try to finish last weeks pages for Project Life before pick up time from school!

My First Rambling Post of the Year

I am starting 2013 with great intentions.  I refuse to use the word "resolution", since I haven't been the best at keeping them. 

I am not jumping on the "exercise bandwagon", since I have been working out in some way throughout the year....just not consistently enough.  I'll do good for a few weeks, a couple months then WHAM! Life gets in the way and my routine becomes a memory.  The little progress I've made vanishes.  I would like to see more consistency and progress.  I refuse to get discouraged when I don't have time to workout since that's always been a problem for me in the past.  I would like to workout an hour a day but some days (like today) I only have time for a 1/2 hour session.  That's OK, just got to make it count.

I am also going to eat more salads on the days when I've havent' been good during the day.  Like today.  I stopped at Dunkin Donuts after going food shopping and had a Bacon, Egg & Cheese Croissant, with hash browns.  **GUILTY**  But I also didn't eat again until 3:30.  Then had a salad at dinner.

Like I said I'm not perfect.

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On a completely different note, I've decided to do Project Life again this year.  There will be a few changes to my approach but nothing that crazy.  

My weeks will go Monday to Sunday, instead of Sunday to Saturday.  I found that I had a hard time breaking up the weekend.  I'm just OCD with that. ;)

Another change is using papers from my stash to make my own kit (along with some 3x4 & 4x6 grid journaling cards from Becky Higgins). I haven't got it put together yet, but I've got a few ideas.  This mostly happened when I was going through some papers that needed to be purged but I still liked them enough in small bits.

 

I often wasn't thrilled with the original "Cherry" edition that I have been working with and often looked to my stash for something more inspiring.  So why not??  I always feel guilty when I don't use my supplies so this kills two birds with one stone.

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Last but not least, I would like to be a better blogger again.  I had a slow start to it this year but lately I find my self enjoying it again.  I'm not as dedicated to it as I was a few years ago or the one year that I had 300+ posts, but I know I can do better than the last two years.  I'm not promising a daily post nor will it always be something crafty.  I also want to remember the daily happenings that I see when I randomly read my older posts.  Everybody does that right?  Not just me?? 

With that I am off to squeeze in my half hour on the exercise bike. I need to feel the burn! (trying to pump myself up. bleh!)

Annual January De-Cluttering & Other Ramblings

Today is the first Friday of the new year. In honor of my tradition in our house, I've been de-cluttering. Also known as "Organizing".

My main objective is to tackle the chaos that is our guest room. It's the room we toss stuff in when we don't have another place for it. It also holds the clean laundry that needs to be put away. Please tell me everyone has a room like this!

Unfortunately, this room is starting to look like a room you'd see on "Hoarders". Don't ask me when our show will be aired because I don't know when exactly Hell is due to freeze over.

Obviously, we don't have a lot of house guests since the room has been allowed to go to crap. Mostly my younger sister Chet uses it when she's babysitting & we get home too late for her to drive home. Obviously, she hasn't babysat in a long time either. Still love her. Though I wouldn't say no to a night out. HINT HINT HINT!!! Oh, & in case you're wondering, I still haven't seen Breaking Dawn. Yes I know how much I love the Twilight books & would really, really like to see the movie BUT that would require a sitter.......

So back to the room...

When I go through the girls' closets to determine what they've outgrown, I deposit the clothes into the guest room until I can pack what I want to save since I'm a sentimental sucker, pass it on to a friend, or donate to goodwill.

This is an awfully slow process for me since I procrastinate. However a few weeks ago I packed up what I'd like to keep, leaving the other 2 piles for another day. That day came today.

I made a pile of clothes to pass onto my friend's little girl & the other stuff is set to go to Goodwill.

It feels good to see the furniture again.

Joe has also been talking about getting rid of the furniture & turning it into my scraproom. Does this sound familiar? That's because I've mentioned it before in THIS POST. Once again I have outgrown my scrap area in our Den. Would I like being upstairs? Yes & no. But I would like to be able to leave projects out when we have people over without having to clean it up since my scrap area is sorta open to people walking through the room. I think overall it would be a win-win situation.

So that's been my main objective today. Tomorrow my girlfriend (whom I haven't seen in awhile) & her kids are coming over. It'll be good to catch-up as the kids play.

Sunday will hopefully bring the official start of "De-Christmas-izing the house. Yes, I do have all my decorations still up. It's the same every year. I don't take any of it down until after New Year's. When I was a kid we didn't pack it up until after my older sister Marie's birthday on the 12th. While I don't wait till the twelfth to take it down it just seems like there's other projects that need more priority.

Another thing I've added to my plate is I started walking on the treadmill again. Yes I started last January & did good until about June. Life was just too busy & when I finally re-surfaced I didn't have the "oomph" anymore. This time I hope to be more motivated. Just last night we booked a trip to Disney (again) for Easter/Spring Break in April. At the end of April, Gianna will receive her First Holy Communion (OMG! I can't believe it! It's seems like Marissa just received hers.). So there is plenty of motivation for me to lose some weight. I'm setting my goal small so it's more obtainable, to lose 10lbs by April. More would be great but I don't want to give up hope.

So if you're wondering where I am for a few days, you might not have read this entire post & I probably don't blame you since I tend to ramble on, but next time I'll make the post "pretty" with something to look at. ;)

I'm Walkin....

Yes indeed!

This year I decided to MOVE MORE (a `la Cathy Zielske). Now I wouldn't call it my "resolution" for 2011 to get in shape, exactly. I just want to fit better in my clothes, have more energy & feel better. And I'm not following the whole Move More Eat Less program. I just try to make a point to workout. Sometimes it's just a quick 30 mins. The next day might be 45 mins with some incline. Today I even went for broke & walked for an HOUR!! I walked 3 miles in 1 hour! Yes I am patting myself on the back.

So my days have involved time with my treadmill. Things I have discovered are to:

• make sure I have enough water with me.
• make sure to tie up my hair BEFORE starting to walk.
• make sure to have something to watch on TV besides Food Network. (it defeats the purpose)

Some things I need to find are:

• a good water bottle. I have a few but nothing that's easy to drink from as I walk.
• a good sports bra...you know to keep the ladies in check.

And before there are any grand visions of me running on the treadmill, let me make one thing clear....I.DO.NOT.RUN. I walk. FAST. I'm not a runner. I couldn't run if I wanted to. The treadmill is in the basement & the ceiling isn't high enough for me to run.

Besides I only run if someone's chasing me!! ;)

I'm not one of those people that loves to exercise. Not by far. I hate it. I'd rather do other things with my time. Something that's helped me is the "Lose It" app on my iphone. At first I was just going to use it to log my workouts. I keep a small notebook near my treadmill to keep track of my workouts so I added that to the app. Now these last couple of days I started using it to keep track of my food intake. Yes it's totally cheat-able, but who would I be cheating besides myself?

In the past when I've started working out, I'd do good for awhile, then things got in the way & I'd give up. Somehow I feel THIS IS MY YEAR. And now I have to make sure not to eat my words... ;)

Calgon...where are you??? The Earring Story. ....Loonnnngggg post!!

Today started like normal. Was going OK, taught the girls how to play "Guess Who", but only really taught Marissa who was a little bummed because I kept guessing who she had (Gianna kept blabbing who our person was).

I play no favorites & show Marissa that in "reality" she doesn't always win. I'm ruthless like that...especially when playing "Monopoly" then it's a no holds barred death match!! Finally they changed games & tried playing together without me. Bad idea. It wasn't long before they started fighting over the new game. So I had to break that up....fun.

Finally I got time to sort out my next batch of pics to print for my next set of LO's. Just when I start printing my black ink ran out but luckily I had a spare. It prints a page then my printer runs out of color ink. Crap, I'm all out. **SIGH**

Gianna had a 3pm appt. for her annual checkup at the Dr's office. I had planned on going out after that to get a birthday gift for one of Marissa's friends that's having a party tomorrow (Yep, I like to wait until the last minute). I wanted to do this in one "outing", but now I "needed" my ink. Thought it over & opted to get her gift at Target so I could go to Staples after & get my ink. Mission accomplished.

The only glitch was the annoying lady behind me on line at Staples. There was only 1 line & I was behind 1 person. Then a guy opens another line & says "I'll take the next customer" so that person goes over to him. Now I'm next waiting patiently when this lady says "are you going over to that line?" I said "I think they're taking next in line" so she shuts up. Then before I know it she says "Now there's a line forming over there". I turned to her & said "Do what you want. I don't care". WHAT THE HELL? Is she in THAT much of a rush?? I only had 1 item but you didn't see me flustered. It wasn't worth it.

Next was Gianna's appt. She was anxious about getting her finger pricked but the tech wasn't sure if she would need it since she had it done last week so we went into the exam room after a quick "eyes & ears" test. Then the nurse told me she'd be getting 4 shots today.

Lovely.

I was telling Gianna about it so it wouldn't be such a shock & told her it'd be like getting a pinch. This brought on her wanting her ears pierced because we had told her that's what it felt like. I asked her if she wanted them done today & she said yes. I kept telling her it would hurt but only like a pinch just to make sure but this is something she has wanted for awhile now & there was no stopping her. I asked the nurse if the Dr. had the time to do it today & she found out that she did. Meanwhile the tech comes in & says Gianna does need her finger pricked after all.

Oh this is gonna be a LOUD appt!!

The Dr. did the exam & her pneumonia checks out OK & everything else is just right on target for her age & her blood work came back good (it wasn't too bad of a finger prick but the tech made her laugh). Fantastic, that's what I like to hear! Then the Dr. says we'll do her earrings 1st or she'll be traumatized from the shots & won't do it. OK, I'm game.

She starts by cleaning her ears with alcohol & then it starts. Gianna was not liking the cold on her ears & started fussing. Great. We asked her if she still wanted her ears pierced & she said yes. She knows what's important in life! LOL!

The Dr. proceeded to mark her ears with a marker to gets the holes even & Gianna wasn't liking that but wasn't too bad. Until I had to hold her. The Dr. tells her she's gonna hear a "crunch" & then she'll have beautiful earrings. I tell her how it's gonna sound like her cereal, trying to downplay it, when it happens. Oh. My. Goodness!! The cry!! The tears!! The sound!!! We try to calm her but she wasn't having it, so the Dr. asks her if she only wants 1 earring or 2. I did not raise a dumb child & she said she wanted 2 but now she knew what to expect & was not happy at all! More cries! More tears! More LOUDness!!

But wait there's more!!!

She's there pitifully crying when the Dr. tells me to hold her & she'll give her the shots. Gianna could hear this loud & clear through her cries & wails louder if possible! Freaking out might be a good term. She gets 2 shots in each arm & was screaming like there was no tomorrow! I don't blame her one bit & feel bad. I should have made her ears a separate appt., despite what she wanted.

Just give me the "Mother-of-the-Year" award.

Coming home is when we were almost in an accident (see previous post). So when I say "What a day", I really mean "Where's the frickin' alcohol!!"

Don't worry I stick to coffee minus the alcohol!!

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On a lighter note.....
Over the past weekend I was on a roll getting LO's done. In fact I did 6...YEAH ME!!

But you can't see them.

Sorry but the pics I took tonight all came out crappy so I'm gonna try again tomorrow.

FYI- I worked out my frustration from the day on the treadmill...and no my water was not laced with alcohol!!

I did it!!

After tackling 5 loads of laundry today I put the girls to bed & made myself go on the treadmill! Yeah Me!!! (Sorry it's stuck in my head---if you have kids you know what show that's from!)

I told myself that I'd set the timer for an hour but could get off in a 1/2 hour.

At 1/2 an hour I wanted to go past 2 miles. So I stayed on.

At 2 miles I wanted to burn 200 calories. So I stayed on some more.

Finally I said to myself that I had to do it & stayed on the full hour -- despite the cramp building up the back of my knee up my thigh. I am proud to say that I did it!! I walked over 2 1/2 miles (2.79 to be exact) & burned 222 calories. Go Me!! I thought about Susan starting up on the treadmill & used her as a motivater! Thanks Susan!!