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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

It's been a long time!

I cannot believe that I have not posted in nearly 2 months.  It's definitely been a struggle.  I didn't do well at all adjusting to working.  Having to leave Oliver everyday is really hard and I miss him every second of the day.  As it usually does, time is helping, and I am thankful to God for what I do have.....a wonderful husband, beautiful children, a roof over our heads and food on the table.  Only God knows how close I was to having things falling apart had I not gotten my job.....so i am also thankful for just getting a paycheck.

Work is actually going well.  I was quickly able to pick up almost right where I left off, which is good.  I made it past my 90 day probation so that was a plus.  Only 3 more months until my first review.  I'm working hard to make sure it's a good one.

I am so proud of myself....I spent the last 2 hours watching The Biggest Loser and it was a totally awesome episode.  I was inspired to get in a workout.  So I did...40 minutes later I'm sitting here sweaty and hot....icky.  I HATE being sweaty but I keep trying to think that its that many less calories in my body :)  The last 2 days I've eaten a healthy lunch and dinner and I've got in some exercise during lunch time.  Tomorrow is going to be no exception.  I can do this :)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Baby Steps

I am in the process of making baby steps regarding my goals for the year.  This is one of them....clearing my head onto this blog. 

One of the steps was going back to my weight watchers meetings.  I went this past week and unsurprisingly I had gone up.  Well, when you don't track your points that is exactly what happens....you overeat.  And there isn't enough exercise in the world to compensate.  As I learned once before, you have to walk 200 yards (the equivalent of two football fields) just to burn off one M&M.....not one bag....one M&M.  Craziness.  It's amazing how so much hard work can go up in smoke with a splurge of M&M's.  To make it worse I didn't really do any better tracking this week.  Actually I haven't eaten much at all.  My appetite seems to have vanished altogether the last couple of days.  Despite that I can still feel my weight going up.  I will never get to my goal if I keep letting this continue. 

One positive of this week is that I am almost done with all of the cub scout preparations that I do.  How did I get myself into this I wonder?  Because ultimately I wanted Joey's experience to be a positive one.  I wanted him to have a great time and I wanted things to be organized so that other parents would also feel more informed and less stressful.  At times it seems that no matter how much I do it is completely unappreciated.  There are few people involved that no how much work the small group of us put into running the pack.  Yet there is always complaining....so my new theory is that anyone that complains needs to take matters into their own hands and do it themselves.  Want something done differently or organized differently?  Then take it over!  Come up with a new way of doing something and implement it.  I don't really need compensation or gratitude for what I do.  A lack of complaining is sufficient.  I still have a chunk of stuff to do but not compared to what I did have.  The first meeting is this Thursday.  I'm just hoping things go well for Charlie as he is so nervous.  Talking in front of people is not his forte but he does a fabulous job.  I really should tell him that more often.

In my haste to finish all the scout stuff though my house has become a disaster area.  It is getting to the point of unliveable (at least for me) and I must do something about it.  I'm starting at the basics...15 minutes.  You can do anything for 15 minutes....baby steps.  One of the reasons my baby steps were postponed though was because Oliver was sick sick.  He had a bad fever that would not go down with medicine and ended up needing to be home for 2 days.  Charlie took him to the doctor and got him an antibiotic.  He has a sinus infection and ear infection.  Poor thing was SO fussy.  he couldn't sleep and was in pain from the fever.  It made for two very rough nights for me and Charlie.  Thankfully he finally slept most of the night last night and seems to finally be feeling better this morning.  But having a needy baby means  no housework.  Obviously Oliver is more important but anyone who would come over would probably be appalled.  And I have to remedy that situation.  I can't live with it anymore.  After school shopping today I will commit 15 minutes to cleaning.  I did actually do this yesterday with great results in the kitchen.  All the dishes got done and the counters cleared off of junk mail, floors swept, so it was back to being presentable.

Well, my head is killing me today so I'm going take a break from this and rest.  Some breakfast might help the headache so we'll try that next.  Something in the points so that I don't go over :)  I would actually like to have a loss at the meeting this week. Sometime too I'm going to have to get a few pictures up from my recent outings.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Update

This will probably not be a long post.  I realize it's been FOREVER since I updated this but life has taken a big turn.  I had to make the difficult decision to return to work.  Finances were just not where they needed to be for Charlie and I to take care of our family.  I want to have more kids.  That was not going to happen in the financial state we were getting into.  I also have an expensive scrapbooking hobby and got myself into a hole with credit cards so here I go....back to work.  I was EXTREMELY fortunate to get my old job back and it is going pretty well so far.  I am picking things up quickly.  For my own sanity I can't tell anyone where I work.  It doesn't always get a good reaction since what I do is considered evil by some....but that's the way it goes.  I work in collections so people that owe money don't like me. 

I also just got back from vacation in Gatlinburg.  It was really nice to spend some time with my family.  My niece Kaylee was so adorable and smiley.  She was so fun to play with!  Oliver did pretty well, despite the fact that he continously left me presents in his diaper!

I am under all kinds of deadlines for scouts as I don't want to be thinking about the scouting stuff that needs to be done after this week.  I want to get it done and sent to a printer where all I have to do is put it in folders ready to hand out at the first meeting.  YAY!  I am making good progress but its not easy to try to fit all this in with work and kids and Oliver.

Hopefully I'll make it to my Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow since I haven't been all month. 

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tuesday

So first the good news...

I had my weigh-in.  DOWN 2.6!!!!  I am so super excited and it was incredibly motivating to finally be making some progress.  Hopefully next week will also hold a good number provided that I do what I'm supposed to do in the meantime.  I also went home and walked on my treadmill for another 30 minutes.  So now three out of four days I've done some exercise.  And to really make my night, the Biggest Loser finale was on.  I just love that show.  Hopefully when it starts again in the fall I won't be starting where the contestants do :)

And now not so good news....

I took Brianna to get her physical.  She is fine and healthy, but I have to take her to get an x-ray on her back.  Two years ago her pediatrician told me there was a very slight curve to her back.  So slight that she wasn't even sure it was there but not to worry and just have it looked at at her next physical.  Well, she's grown quite a bit and apparently her slight curve has gotten much worse.  The doctor estimated its about 9-10 degrees off.  When she pointed it out it because obvious how uneven her shoulder blades were and I cannot believe I didn't notice it sooner.  She said that the growing is what would have made it so much more obvious.  So we need to get Brianna an x-ray just to make sure that the curve isn't too much and she'll get another x-ray every year after that to keep an eye on it.  But she has scoliosis.  It's not too bad though cause worse thing that would happen would be that she might have to wear a brace at night while she sleeps to keep it from getting worse.

So that was my day yesterday...on top of dealing with a super moody baby that did not get much sleep.  I ended up putting him to bed at 7:15pm.  Boy did I have a ton of time last night to do whatever I wanted.....which I spent walking on the treadmill and then relaxing watching the Biggest Loser finale.  And to make it better he slept until 7:15 this morning....a whole 12 hours!  And he's in a much better mood today thank goodness.

Tonight is choir practice which is the highlight of my Wednesday.  I just love to sing.  There is almost nothing more fun to me than singing and I do it ALL the time.  I love music.  Time to get back to my day.  Laundry to fold and my bedroom to clean :)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Reflection

This may turn into mulitple posts of reflections but here is the start.  I have had a long day.  Oliver did not sleep long enough and was super cranky.  I did not have the energy or desire to do any of the chores I needed to do around the house.  Finances are seriously depressing me as I ponder going back to work but then I wonder how I'm going to pay for daycare.  I've pondered moving as well but I'm not sure we'd even be able to rent something as cheap as we bought our house...so in the meantime we make do.  It just makes focusing on anything positive difficult. 
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On top of it, tomorrow is weigh-in day again.  I was actually very good this week.  I only went over my points and had to use my weekly allowance once.  I got in over 2.5 hours of exercise, which is a good start to forming a habit.  Yet somehow I still feel like I'm going to go to my meeting tomorrow and have gained again.  How can this be, I wonder??

Part of it is probably my lack of medication in a few days.  I have completely forgotten to take it.  But despite that, I was still able to get some of the house picked up, laundry done, bed made, and fit in some exercise.  So its not like I sat around all day doing nothing.  It's not even 9pm yet, and Oliver is in bed asleep and the other two are playing quietly.  I could do some crafting but I already squeezed some of that in today too and I think I just feel like being lazy for the rest of the night.  I have to wonder though....how do people do it?  How is it that there are moms out there that really are like super moms that can seem to keep up on everything??  I'd love a few tips....My next chore is to tackle the master bathroom....it needs a good cleaning....as does my bedroom.  I always put those rooms off until last because no one but me and Charlie ever see them and I think they have been put off enough. 

I am trying to keep up my motivation to accomplish my goals.  It is definitely not easy.  Time seems to be slipping away while I make next to no progress.  Life seems to continually get in the way.  I know God hears these things in my head and is constantly throwing me signs that things will be ok, but I really need to get my head in the right place. 

There is a scripture that seems to be constantly popping up in my life here lately....
This is from the Contemporary English Version of the bible which I like because it translates the text into words I can understand......Philippians 4:6-7

6Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. 7Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.

And so I pray to God.....to please help heal my heart and to give me the strength and courage to make it through each day as I need to.  And as always, thank you for my family who mean the world to me.  I love them all dearly and am incredibly blessed.  Thank you.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Sleepovers

Whose idea was the first sleepover??

I just let my daughter have 6 friends over....six 11 year old girls.....loud girls.....yes, I was glutton for punishment.  I spent all day cooking and baking and ended it with a pounding headache.  Overall I think it went well.  The pinata was a huge hit and the girls got all hopped up on chocolate.  I'm not sure how well they slept, but that's the beauty of having a long house....put them at one end and me at the other and I didn't even have to hear them :)  Now I am just waiting for them to head home.  I hope Breezy appreciated it because it was expensive and a lot of work!

The weigh-in Tuesday did not go well, but I am hoping for better results this Tuesday.  I have been much stricter with what I've had this week.  And I'm going to get a ton of exercise collecting for the Crusade for Children....I just hope people are home to donate!  It is a seriously important charity effort...and as I just found out they are really short on help.  That is sad considering how much this helps people, especially children to get the treatment they need.

I guess its time to get this day started.  I'm in need of a shower and some breakfast.  I miss Oliver already.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Recovering from the weekend

What a weekend....I was exhausted!  Saturday went very well for the Ladies' Tea at church.  I enjoyed myself a lot and I was even pretty responsible when it came to my points.  I picked Oliver up in the afternoon and when I got him home he was unbelievably cranky!  He just threw fits and temper tantrums on the floor.  It was mentally draining since I didn't know what to do for him.  As best I could tell, he was just really tired.  Charlie was supposed to be home to help me but he ended up detained at a scout function for 4 hours instead of one.  When he did make it home I was exhausted and Oliver magically cheered up.  By then it was like an hour to bedtime.  At least he slept all night.

Sunday was another exhausting day.  I was trying to let Charlie rest from all the work he did for scouts on Saturday so I tried to take care of everything....laundry, cooking, dishes, cleaning.....I finally passed out on the bed after hours of running around.  In addition, I still have May DT projects to complete, Breezy's birthday favors, a birthday card for my sister and I have to buy her a gift....eek.  Not mention I'm glutton for punishment since I'm allowing Breezy to have six friends over to spend the night....six girls that I'm sure once they all get together it will turn into wild children.  I hope hope hope its nice outside Friday so they can run around out there for awhile and get some of their energy out.

I will have to say that I am SO PROUD of myself for what changes I made last week.  The laundry, even after getting through the weekend is still caught up, kitchen is still clean....this week is Zone 3, bathroom and extra room.  Since we have 3 bathrooms, I will have 2 bathrooms to clean plus it will include the kids bedrooms.  Thank goodness two of my kids are older and I can just supervise :)  Joey has already gotten a start on it for me.  The kids' bathroom is looking good!  Laundry is in the washer, dishwasher has been emptied, bed is made....I'm feeling good!

Tonight is weigh-in night.  It's probably not going to be good since I start TOM yesterday and am super bloated.  I would love even down .2....anything is better than up so we'll see what happens.