Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Where did the last month GO!!!?????

To answer my own question: House hunting, offer, contract, negotiations, L's surgery, Grandma visiting for a week, and more paperwork.

L had his tonsils and adenoids out about a week and a half ago. He had a very rough first week, needing medication for the pain for the better part of a week. I don't think I've ever seen him so sad and out of energy as he was that first week. He spent almost the whole time laying on the couch with either Grandma Ve, DH or me. He watched movies most of the time, a few times a day he'd get up or want to play with Q for a while but he'd end up back on the couch to rest. At this point he's pretty much back to normal, he even ate pizza for dinner last night. We have had a bit of an adjustment period in the last few days. I guess that's what happens when you give a kid pretty much whatever they want for a week and then try to get back to normal.

It looks like everything is moving forward with our home purchase. The paperwork is all in (for this moment), the inspection is done and fixes agreed upon, value estimate of the house is done by bank. . . Everything we can do is done and now we just wait for the closing date to be agreed on and get everything straight in my head. At this point I'm definitely flying by the seat of my pants. DH signs things from work and faxes them in and I do all the leg work and phone calls from this end. I have no idea how my Mom did this a couple times all by her self, doing this with DH, I still feel like I'm going to lose my mind. I still think all of this is totally worth it to get a house of our own in a great neighborhood and be able to change the things that we want to change (as far as the budget will allow, which right now is. . . not much ; ). I will also be nice to have a guest bedroom, not in the basement and have more than 1 floor to live on again, I miss that from our townhouse.

Because I am a super geek, I have been keeping up with all of the political nonsense of the Presidential campaign. I think the thing that I'm most tired of is off the various candidates, no matter what their party, spend all of their time telling me all of the bad things that their opponents have done or most likely will do. I don't care about all the gossip you can dig up on your opponent!!! How about telling me some of your ideas about fixing the problems? How about you take the time to tell me about what you really think instead of telling me what you think I want to hear? I may be a bleach blond, but I'm not THAT dumb. Santorum calling Pres Obama a snob for hoping everyone student in the country has the opportunity for an education is the stupidest thing I have heard in a LONG time. What parent in their right mind doesn't realize that you need some kind of a degree or certificate to answer a phone these days?! I worked in daycare and the parents wanted to make sure that I had at least some college. Either you are adding something to society by making yourself a more productive and intelligent person or you become a drain on the system by retaining your ignorance and continuing the cycle of poverty. They have done study after study on the effect of education on people socioeconomic situation. Children typically achieve the same or higher levels of education than their Mothers. So why is it a bad thing that we hope every high school student has the OPPORTUNITY to get a higher education?! Okay, I think I'm done ranting.

As for the lifestyle change, over all it is going well. Cutting out the bread and most of the fruit has not been a hard as I though it was going to be. I have had rice in the last couple weeks, but no bread till last night when we had pizza for dinner. I have managed to keep the candy and sugar under control most of the time; with the exception of some indiscretions involving gummie candy the week of L's surgery. Overall I am feeling better. I have more energy than I did before I stopped eating bread and so much sugar and I think I'm a bit more even tempered. Although I did lose it a bit when Q deleted a few apps from my phone this morning. . . Not cool. I did notice after I ate the bread in the pizza last night that my stomach was upset the rest of the night. A little weird but maybe a little more incentive to keep doing what I'm doing!

New goal: 13.1 Marathon run in Chicago on June 9, 2012! Registered yesterday!!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Contract and . . .Ouch!

Well, I would call my first week without so much junk food a mixed success. I don't miss the breads and pasta, I miss the fruit a little but I can go without it for a while longer. My problem seems to be chocolate. I know every woman, except my Mom, are laughing at that statement because they know exactly what I'm talking about! Luckily for me, the South Beach plan has guidelines that are realistic and expect you to cheat a little so they recommend that you cheat with bittersweet chocolate. Reasoning that it has a ton of antioxidants (which are good for you) and a little does go a long way, at least most days. On those overly stressful days, sometimes we all need LARGE doses of chocolate to make it through. Along with some cheesy chick movies to make you smile, I recommend the Princess Diary movies.

On the up side, and stressful side, we have made an offer on a house and it has been accepted! In typical fashion for my family, the house is in need of so much love that it's not even funny. The house was built in 1930, the last addition to the house was done in 1960. Apparently the couple who moved out lived in the house for 35 years and didn't change anything. I mean nothing. The walls are covered in extremely ugly wallpaper (in nearly every room) and someone puked horrible wood paneling all over the house, mostly on the ceilings. But, in the original part of the house all the floors are hardwood (under nasty carpet, of course; including one closet of two-tone green shag that needs to be mowed). All the windows need to be replaced, eventually. The kitchen resembles a mine at the moment, due to the dark (FAKE) wood cabinets, dark wood paneling and beams covering the very low ceiling and an amazing tile backs splash meant to look like different size pebbles and rocks, ranging in color from brown to cream and white. However there is a great vintage stove. After doing some research I found out that the stove was near top of the line and is now a collectors item, I'm not kidding. It needs a good cleaning but has some serious appeal, although I'm not sure of the color, it is light colored-ish. Like I said, it needs a good cleaning. But all but one burner works and it might be just dirty, I hope. The inspection did note the predictable issues that one would expect from an old house, and I can't help wondering if we're trying to eat the proverbial elephant. However, it is in a great neighborhood, mere blocks from a cute downtown area and within a 2 blocks of "houses" that look more like compounds. The taxes are horrible but we might be able to argue that the house has been over estimated and needs to be reevaluated.

I did make it to the gym most days this week. After a "fun" workout with a trainer that I've worked with before taking today off was necessary. When it hurts to get dressed in the morning, it might be time for a rest. I'm determined to head back there tomorrow morning. Lucky for me, the gym has a great child center and the kids love it. Sometimes Mommy needs a time out too.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Day 2 and a little too much CNN

So I think I'm starting to detox from all the sugar that I've been dumping into my system. Needless to say, I don't really feel good right now. Headache and slight nausea are kind of uncomfortable, but I have been able to stick to the program today. Because I've done this kind of detox before, I know that I'll probably feel a little worse tomorrow when my body realizes that No, I am not having hot chocolate with my breakfast and I am certainly not throwing a handful of M&M's into my purse to snack on later.
On the workout front I did really good today. I decided to take advantage of some of the features at the gym we go to and join their 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge. You get weighed in and get to talk to a trainer and a nutritionist if you so choose. I think they keep your weight confidential, at least I hope so (YIKES!). I will keep you guys posted with lbs lost, but, as any Lady will tell you, my weight is private or at least quiet.

So I'm not a terribly political person, but I do pay attention to whats going on in the world. I love to watch the news and it seems like almost everything I hear is about the election and the mud slinging that is being done by the GOP candidates. Don't get me wrong, I am not for any particular candidate. I did find something very interesting in the South Carolina primary. Many people who would probably consider themselves as part of the "moral majority" would rather vote for someone with questionable morals than a Mormon. I find that to be terribly hypocritical. I don't think that a persons religion should either qualify or disqualify a person. The clear facts tell me that Newt has no moral compass. Not a broken one, it just does not exist. We're talking about an admitted, serial adulterer, twice divorced who had to resign from his post as Speaker of the House under ethics violations charges. I was horrified when he said that people would consider him more "normal" because of his affairs, as opposed to Romney who has been married to the same woman for 30+ yrs. I don't think it's normal to stray from the person you promised to "love and cherish, forsaking all others". The records of the hearings surrounding those charges have never been released but it is widely known that he was the KING of backroom deals. I also find insane hypocrisy in him pointing the finger at others because of their economic status. By my standards, pretty much all the candidates are wealthy, and most of them have connections that helped them get where there are, including the former Speaker.
Right now I have no idea who I would vote for, just who don't want to see in office.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

100 Days and a Plan

As most of us do at the beginning of the year, I gave myself a little evaluation to see how I was doing. In my own mind of course. Looking at things I though I was doing pretty good. I'm not the most organized person but everything gets paid on time and I try to make sure everyone gets fed on time too. But after three different doctor visits and at each one having my weight mentioned, and NOT in a good way, I have to admit to spending a couple weeks down in the dumps and doing a lot more reevaluating. I'm not a huge one for Life Changing New Years Resolutions so any thoughts of that just seemed trite. But over the last few weeks I have come to realize a few things.

First of those is this; What kind of example am I setting for my kids. Sure I got to the gym, maybe more than the average person. But what does it say to them if they see me going to the gym and then pounding a whole pan of Brownies on the weekend or because "I had a bad day". If they are going to beat the rising rates of obesity and all the horrible things that those numbers bring with them then I need to the the first on in line helping them to make better choices than those around them. And how the heck and I going to do that if I'm sneaking half a bag of Hershey's Kisses while Q is napping?! It does not take a Ph.D. to figure out that nothing really good can come out of those decisions.

Second is this; Am I really being good to my self by saying, I deserve to eat this bowl of Ice Cream after I workout, or after I have a bad day, etc. (insert your own justification here). In reality I would be being better to myself if I decided to eat a great salad or a really good (low sugar) smoothie after a workout. If I really valued my self, and the work that I put in at the gym, I should be filling my body with healthier food and having the goodies only occasionally. And Tuesday night after the kids go to bed would NOT count as an Occasion.

Lastly is this, the saddest and potentially most depressing point; My biology seems to be against me. To spite all of my prayer and hopes to be naturally thin, it has finally occurred to me that I am not a Naturally Thin person. Not that I don't like my curves, I do, but there is a line in my mind between the curves I think I have and the extra junk in the trunk that seems to be my reality at the moment. I think I might have been hovering at that line a bit too long. This realization had thrown into relief a truth that I always thought I understood but now I'm feeling that I really get it. In order to get what one wants, sacrifices need to be made.

So I'm planning a 100 Day overhaul. I've done diets before and been successful but always gone back to where I was (although both previous times there was a pregnancy involved). In doing my research I realized that I need to give up the sugars, the starches and most of the carbs that I love so dearly. I realized that they don't love me back, they love to make my backside fat. It's like the definition of a frenemy.
It has finally occurred to me that I need to become one of those "healthy people", you know, they people you see in the store buying half the produce section, those people you want to ask if they've ever, EVER had a cheeseburger. I need to become one of those people.
So it's with these facts in mind that I bid good bye to the refined sugars, carbs and bad fats that have conspired to ruin my health. Like the bitchy, back-stabbing, gossiping "friend", we can meet up once in a while to check it, but you are NOT going to be a daily part of my life anymore.
I've decided I'm just too good for you.