Weigh In Day!

So there really isn't much going on today except for the fact that I had weigh in today. *Drumroll please* I lost another 3.4 pounds, which puts my total weight loss at 10.2 pounds in three weeks!! Woot! Woot!

To celebrate, I'm going to do some scrapbooking. Yup, I'm going to look through the 70-some odd books that my beautiful, wonderful Aunt DeeDee gave me and see what kind of damage I can do. I'll post pics later...

Until then...

Love and hugs...

January 30,2008

My dad...my hero.....my strength...my backbone.... What else can I say? Today is his birthday. And I love him. I couldn't imagine a day without him. I'm a Daddy's Girl through and through. And for him, I am forever grateful....

On another front...my boy finally rolled over today!!! I'm so proud of him!!!

Not much else going on right now, so for now, I'm out...

Love and hugs!!!!

Just some stuff

Well, my busy time of the week is over. Yesterday I had a Dr. appointment (which according to their scale, I haven't lost any weight, but I don't trust their scale anyway), we had Girl Scouts last night and it went really well....considering all the drama that has been going on with it. But, you know what.....people can complain all they want, but Kim and I both know we make a damn good team. Our girls are going to earn enough money to pretty much do whatever they want this year. Besides, I didn't see anyone else step up to our position...

Then I had Cub Scouts tonight, which went really well. My boys have earned their Bear Badges!! Woot!! I don't care if the drama-seeking mamas think I'm a bad leader. All my scouts are where they are suppose to be... So, pfft!!!

So, I think I'm doing really good with my weight this week. I've only used one of my weekly allowance points, so I think that is great. My thing is though, I'm walking on my treadmill, but not "depositing" my workout points. If I think I have extra points, I will overeat...And I don't want to do that.

Jason and I are home alone a lot during the day and I always seem to get some cute pictures of him....

That's all for today...Love and hugs...

Today...

So, last night I didn't have my kiddos (well, I had Jason, but the other two were gone.) My friend Kim is completely out of her mind and had her three kids, my two kids and our friend B's two kids...yeah, seven kids...she's very brave.

She had a Body Shop party today and we had a Peppermint Foot soak or some such thing. It was nice. So, I scheduled one. But, because Pat hates feet so much, he just informed me he would rather I have it at Kim's....Too many feet in the house at once I guess.

Ummm, not much else going on I guess. I'm going to go to bed soon here. I'm beat...

Love and hugs

Today is the Day...

"Today is the day; You're off to great places; You're off and away." -Dr. Seuss

So, I'm really bummed about my lack of weight loss yesterday, but I'm not letting it get me down. I'm doing really well and recognizing my hunger cues. I need to start paying attention to whether I'm really hungry or just bored.

I had my breakfast and then did some work around the house. Laundry, dishes and other such things like sweeping. I fed Jason some cereal and this was the result:

"I'm going to do this myself Mommy."

"How am I doing?"

"I can't find my mouth Mommy..."

"Hey, I got this!"

"Clean Me Up Mommy!"

Have I mentioned how very much I love my boy. And speaking of my boy...he is fighting sleep right now, so I'm going to go snuggle him and nurse him and hopefully get him to take a nap. Until later all. Love and hugs..

Weigh In Day

Today was weigh in day and well, it wasn't so good. At least not for me. I gained weight. :-( 0.6 pounds to be exact. I'm not going to let it get me down though. I'm going to do better next week.

This is my third week of doing WW and in the hand out they talk about habits....And they give you some questions and then you have to graph the answers to them. The "habits" that I need to work on are "Taking Care of Yourself" and "Learning from Experience". Neither of them surprise me. I don't take good care of myself. I'm usually last on my list. I need to start being on the top of my list again.

The other thing I've done today is go through the boxes of stuff my Aunt DeeDee gave me. She gave me a ton of scrapbooking stuff...stickers, paper, idea books (which I'm looking through now and getting inspired from!!!!), matts and just all kinds of goodies. I need to get more containers to hold things...

Well, I'm off for now. I'm going to keep looking at these books and see what kind of damage I can do...

Love and hugs...

January 23 Gratitude Entry

My boys... I love my boys. I mean, I love my girl too....but there is something about boys. They just melt my heart.

So, it's Wednesday...and that means that the new Real World/Road Rules Challenge starts tonight!!! Woot!!! I can't wait!!!! This is going to be like, 'Don't you dare bother me on Wednesday nights at 10...'

Tomorrow is weigh in day. I swear, if I wasn't nursing, this would have been the week that AF came to visit...I snacked...a lot, but I didn't go over my weekly points at all. So, we will see what happens tomorrow when I go in.

Not much has gone on today. And I don't think there will be much else going on for a while...so, even if I just write a little bit everyday to let you all know I am still alive....

Love and hugs

Tuesday Ramblings

I didn't do much today. Not much at all. Jason and I snuggled on the couch. I did some dishes, but not all of them.



I had Cub Scouts tonight. I'm trying to make sure that my boys get through their Bear Trail. They should be all set by the time the Blue and Gold rolls around.



I really need to get all my dishes done. Some of them have been sitting there since yesterday, but here it is 10:30 at night and I honestly have no desire to do them.

I think that is about all for the night.... Until later.....

Just Another Monday

So, the kids were home today, but it was just like any other Monday. Boring, dull. And I didn't do ANYTHING.

Okay, so that' s not 100% true. I watched America's Next Top Model...and I'm still watching it. And now, I'm working on my scrapping area a little more while catching up on my computer time.

I did much better food wise today, so I'm hoping I have some good weight loss again this week.

I think that is all for now. Maybe. Maybe I'll write more later.

I've been slacking..

So, as you can see I have forgotten to post a blog the past couple of days. I've been tired though and wanted to do nothing but sleep.

Yesterday was Summer's birthday party and it went really well. She got the stuff she wanted. A Doodlebear (Thanks to Kim, Ben and kids....), Whack-A-Mole Tower (Thanks A LOT Donna and Steven....), some Build A Bear stuff and a Hannah Montana doll.

My dad is taking us out to lunch today at Nicky's. Yum. Glad I still have the extra points!

Love and hugs for now...

Weigh In Day and Other Stuff

So, I weighed in at Weight Watchers today....and.....I lost......7.4 pounds!!!!Amazing!! It works! I'm so proud of myself!

And I had my surgery today. It went well. I have a percocet (sp?) in me right now, so I might be a little loopy....LOL.

They didn't tell me, but when they called Kim, they told her that they nicked my liver, but it clotted quickly and so all is well. I had A LOT of stones, so I should feel better soon....

That's all for tonight now I think. Until tomorrow!

Love and hugs...

Six Years In The Making...My Third Gratitude Journal Entry

So, today is mine and my daughter's birthday. And while I'm grateful to still be alive, that ain't what this is all about....

My daughter is what this is all about. And yes, I can certainly brag that I have a sweet, beautiful, wonderful daughter. But, at this point that's not enough. She's so much more then that. And instead of using my words to tell the story, I'll just show you the pictures:

In the six years she has been alive, she has only had her hair CUT once and that was only the top after she took the scissors to it herself.... Today, on her sixth birthday, she took off 11 inches.... but not just because!

Summer is donating her beautiful hair to Locks of Love.

So today, I'm grateful that I have raised such a BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, GENEROUS little girl!

Happy Birthday Summer!

Temptation...

So, I did really good yesterday on the food. I mean, we were even at the Pinewood Derby Race for most of the day and never once did I go for a slice of pizza or a cookie or anything. Even at the end where they gave the food away.

But, right now, Pat is eating a big ole' bowl of Cocoa Puffs in front of me and I would really, really love some right now, but I'm not going to do it! Instead, I'm going to have me a bowl of carrots and some water. And tomorrow, I'm going to stock up on Smart Ones Desserts and make a rule in the house that they are MINE and MINE alone!

I really am doing good. I used all my points yesterday and today...and had to tap into my weekly 35, but not a lot. I think only 2 points from that and one was yesterday and the other today. So, not bad.

I walked 10 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, but I don't think I will today. I will tomorrow though.

So, that's it for now. I'm going to grab my carrots and water and read for a few before I go to bed.

Loves and hugs to all.

Coming off...

I'm hoping the weight will be coming off...Kim and I started Weight Watchers today. So, it should be interesting. She had done it before and lost the weight, but then because she didn't know anyone, stopped going. And I had been going to Curves before, but stopped going because....I didn't know anyone and didn't have any support. We are hoping that together we can motivate each other and lose this weight.

Of course, we chose Thursdays for our meeting days without thinking.....next Thursday, I'm going to be in the hospital having my gall bladder removed. Doh! I guess I'll weigh in and have Kim take notes on the meeting.

So far, Ive done good. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack and I still have 7 points left over. So far, so good. Let's hope I can keep this up!

This Morning

I have been productive this morning! Woot! I showered first thing this morning and dropped the kids off at school. After that, I went and picked up some bags of clothes that someone was giving away on Freecycle and then sorted through those. I've done the dishes, cleaned the kitchen counters, swept and mopped my floors, folded my laundry and I've all ready done my 15 minutes on the treadmill!!! Woot!

Now, I'm going to go wake Jason up since he has had quite an extended nap, given him a bath, feed him, have some lunch, do some more laundry, read, pick up my bedroom and then get the kids from school!

We're BBQing at my friend Kim's tonight, so that will be interesting (we are using the grill to make steaks and then eating inside). I'm sure I'll be writing more later.

Gratitude Journal Entry Number 2 And....

So, here is my entry for today in my Gratitude Journal:

Princess is just our protector. She follows Summer everywhere. "Cries" when she is not in her room. Picks up Summer's dirty socks and underwear and drags them downstairs....okay, so she's not "our" protector, she's Summer's, but I don't think we could ever get rid of her.

And now finally:

It's finally upstairs!!! Which means I can now do my walking! Isn't it grand? I have to be careful with my diet though. I can't really eat less because I have to be taking in more calories to be able to nurse, but at least I can walk and start making healthier food choices. Maybe then, once I stop nursing, the weight will just melt off.

Oh my...why am I still up...

Very simply because I have been planning the rest of my Cub Scout meetings for the month. I want to make sure that my boys complete their Bear Trail before the Blue and Gold Banquet that is held in February. It looks like we are going to make it!!! And they may even get a couple of Arrow Points! Woot! LOL.

The other reason for me doing this is that I always put off planning my meetings until like, that day...and that is Procrastination!! And that is a NO-NO this year, remember? So, that is taken care of.

My plans for tomorrow? Nada really. I will probably go over to Kim's and watch The Biggest Loser ~ since she has it recorded and I can never seem to get any T.V. time around here (could it be this damn XBOX 360 that my husband is addicted to?). And well, that's probably about it. I suppose I could start brainstorming for my Daisy Scout Meeting that I will be having on Monday. Perhaps Kim and I could plan the rest of our meetings for the month....Then I don't have to worry about it anymore! *le sigh* We shall see if I feel up to it though.

Another entry will be made in my Gratitude Journal tomorrow as well. I haven't decided what I'm going to photograph yet, although I think I may just carry my camera with me everywhere tomorrow and just snap whatever moves me.....I have some ideas though.....

I go for surgery next week. Luckily, it's nothing major. Hopefully, my pains will go away. And I'll really have to start watching what I eat, although I should be doing that anyway. If I gain too much weight, it will put pressure on the rods in my back and cause me some serious pain. I really need to lose this weight. Once my treadmill gets up here, I can do some serious walking though. I can't walk outside with the baby, so I have to do it inside.....

I think that is all for now. No pictures today though. Sorry to all you picture junkies....

Loves.

Just Another Ordinary Miracle Today...

*giggle* Nothing special really. I'm just feeling particularly good lately. I'm getting my house back in order and I just feel better in general. We are still broke as can be, but it's not bothering me all that much for some reason. Oh well.

So, my cousin Tone offered me some of her old books and not even knowing what they are, I agreed to take them! I figured this would give me an opportunity to read something different if it came from someone else's collection....Instead of always reading the same old thing...

My Christmas stuff is almost all back downstairs and as soon as it is, my treadmill will be moving upstairs! Woot!

Some pictures:

On the health note, I'm working on my 3rd glass of water for the day. I really need to be drinking more, so I'm trying here!

I wanna get some books and scrapping stuff soon, so I've decided that any money I get for my birthday will be used for that. I'm also going to take some of my taxes and get a better camera...one that has a printing doc as well....

Off to have some QT with my little Q-T....

Mojo JoJo

So, I'm stealing this idea from my Aunt Jenny. It's my mojo jar for the year. Inside will be scrapbooking prompts which will be put in after my Aunt Jenny sends them to me...*giggle*

I used a jar that was filled with toffee that we got for Christmas. I don't know how much I like what I did with the jar though, so I think I may change the jar. I really like the jar itself though, so I may keep it.

Still working on sorting out my scrapbooking things. Bought a couple of containers to put stuff in....I don't have a lot, so I only needed a couple for right now...I think I just might scrap a page or two tonight. I have a whole bunch of pictures to scrap! I actually need another photo storage box because I have so many right now!!

That's all for now, although I may post later!

Loves.

7 Highly Effective Resolutions....Broken Down

1. Be Grateful
If you don’t already thank people when they do something nice for you, start taking the time to notice just how many people help you over the course of a day. This applies on a large scale as well. If you consider all the people who have helped you in your life (parents, teachers, coaches, etc.), you might feel a bit better about humanity and stay humble as well.

I've all ready begun to keep to this one....I've started my 52 Blessings Journal/Gratitude Journal. To add to this, I'm going to be sure that a sincere "Thank You" comes out of my mouth at least once a day to someone.

2. Perform One Unselfish Act Regularly
That is, something for others from which you don’t benefit directly. It could be as small as carrying someone’s groceries, as generous as helping someone whose car is broken down on the highway, or as practical as teaching a friend something you know a lot about.

I'd like to think that I do this anyway. I volunteer for Scouts, both Cub and Daisy, but I'm also going to make an effort to go beyond this and add to it.

3. Spend Time With Family
Realize your family’s importance and pay special attention to those who might have been neglected lately. Visit the grandparents who don’t get out much or the cousin you used to be so close to.
You also might want to consider touching base with some old friends you’ve lost contact with. In every instance, you will be reminded of certain aspects of yourself that you forgot about and get back in touch with your roots.

I spend loads of time with my family here at home, so I'm going to change this to mean spending time with my extended family. I'm going to try to make it to every single family event that goes on this year......Barring any major/serious issues, so be sure that I get invites to everything!!

4. Change One Negative Thing About Yourself
Be it jealousy, constant stress, misanthropy, always staying in, lying, or what have you, pick something that exudes negative energy and phase it out. Adapt to change and you will probably cause some pre-emptive elimination of future resentment (e.g., you might not take it personally when your local hockey team relocates, or when your old mechanic’s replacement makes a mistake on your car). Fixing the negative will increase your self-esteem, so believe in yourself.

My one negative thing actually causes a dominoe effect on everything else negative in my life...I'm going to try to be less stressed. Being stress causes me to fight with Pat and snap for no reason. I don't like that and I'm making an effort to change that.

5. Take Up a New Hobby
Pick something you’ve always wanted to do but have never followed through on — photography, skydiving, baking, whatever. Replace some of the time you spend watching bad television with your new hobby and you’ll feel productive and fulfilled. You can even take it a step further and learn about one of your loved ones’ interests.

My new hobbies include photography and I'm going to attempt to start crocheting, scrapbooking and reading again. I don't watch a whole lot of T.V. anyway, so replacing the bad television is no issue for me. Just something to keep me busy and maybe de-stress me.

6. Learn to Relax
Let that vacation time mellowness carry over into the New Year. If you get too stressed at work, give yourself an hour of silence each day, before or after your workday.
When you get home, don’t turn on the disturbing news programs or check your stocks. Find something that relaxes you — a game of solitaire, a puzzle, someone to talk to on the phone, a pet — and focus on it for an hour each day. Believe it or not, you’ll start to relax in the long run.

I'm going to take a lesson from great women. Since Pat causes me so much stress (LOL....no, but really, he does), instead of getting mad at him and yelling, I need to learn to take it somewhere else. It's not worth the stress.

7. Listen More
Prior to listening, though, you will likely have to face the reality that you talk too much. Ask yourself: Am I just waiting to talk when others are speaking? If so, treat yourself to some humble pie and make a point to listen actively to others. Practice your listening skills with your spouse. Remember: “If he who listens, listens fully, then he who listens becomes he who understands.”

I do a whole bunch of listening. But, I will try to listen more...

My project tonight was to start cleaning up my desk area/area behind the couch. I'm going to take the microwave stand beside the desk and making it kind of my scrapbooking/creative area. I wish I had a whole room to dedicate to that space, but I don't, so this area will have to do. And then, after I get the Christmas stuff moved back downstairs, I'm going to have the treadmill moved upstairs and then I will use it more often. I hate having it in the basement. I never use it!

My First Entry in My Gratitude Journal...

Baby Feet......

Beautiful little baby feet. I love little baby feet. An new adventure. New opportunities. A chance to start a new journey. You never know where they will go, but it's oh so exciting.

A chance to teach someone something new. Teaching someone to walk is an amazing thing. Watching them learn to walk is something one could never get tired of. Watching them try to gain their balance and take their tumbles. Teaches someone a lot about life. You may stumble and tumble, but eventually you get the hang of it...and even when you do, you still eventually stumble and tumble, but getting back up and dusting yourself off and going for it again are so important.

There's not much going on here at the house. It's quiet. I'm getting ready to head to bed and watch the new Law & Order: CI. I love this show, but prefer the episodes with Eames and Gorham to the other guy and the redhead....I'm not sure which ones are on tonight...

I can't wait to get back on our feet so I can start stocking up on scrapbooking things. If either of my Aunts view this blog.....just to let you know, I'm trying to build up my scrapbooking stuff....*looks around* Let me know if there's anything in your collection you wanna get rid of...I'll take it off your hands....*giggle*

Hmmm.....I think that is all for now.....It's about ten minutes to ten, so I should wrap this up so I can go wash my face and brush my teeth before Law & Order comes on.

Night all.

Love you.

Liz

Yeah, I finally have some plans for 2008

So, here it is January 2 and I'm just now posting my plans as far as what I'm going to do to make my life more saner/organized/better in general. Hmmm...is that right? I guess.

First of all, my "challenge" for the year is the "52 Blessings" Challenge. Now, my Aunt DeeDee is being ambitious and going with the 365 Days of Photos Challenge. I don't know that I can make that kind of committment, so I'm sticking with 52 Weeks and doing at least one photo a week and then at the end of the year, I plan on scrapbooking the photos:

About 52 Blessings
Once a week post a photo of something you are most grateful for. This gives us a chance to reflect on the good things we have learned from or that have made us better in our everyday lives or things we just enjoy! I think everyone needs to be more grateful for what they have now days instead of always thinking about what we want! This is one of the things we can do to be more gracious people. It will be like a photo gratitude journal.

So, that is first and foremost. Now for somethings that my Aunt Jenny posted on her blog that I am so stealing from her (yes, my Aunt's are BRILLIANT and I LOVE them):

"Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy."
- Cynthia Nelms

I so want to be happy. That is my big thing this year. I keep going back and forth between being okay and being severely depressed and I really hate. I just want to feel better, so if that means going back on my medication, then that is what will have to be done, but I want to see if I can't work some of my issues out on my own first.

"Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday."
- Napoleon Hill

I'm such a procrastinator. I really shouldn't be. I'm always putting off doing things and I really need to follow the advice that instead of saying, " I have to do (fill in the blank)" I need to say, "I want to do (fill in the blank).

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
- Oprah Winfrey

Just a couple of other ones that I want to do. I mean, we have the standard, I wanna get in shape and I wanna start scrapbooking more and pick up reading again.

Another one that I have is to start being more green. I told Pat tonight that I was going to start buying some of those canvas bags for when I go shopping so that I can stop bringing home so many plastic shopping bags and he looked at me like I was dumb. I also need to invest in some reusable nursing pads. Someone had said something about these and I never thought to ask them where I could find these.

Ideally, another way to go green would be to put Jason in cloth diapers, but I mean, really, lets be real....baby steps here.

I have to end this for now. Until later.