Forming a Plan

I love that feeling I get when I suddenly have an idea that I think is going to be just fabulous!  I had one of those this morning and I'm so excited to get started.  Maybe I should go to bed early more often because I actually had a few good ideas this morning.  So, back to my idea.  When we bought this house the master bedroom was a mess.  It had all black trim and green walls and it gets very little natural light because of the covered porch.  It also had some really great things to work with like two french doors and a fireplace and the room is a great size.  I interviewed painters and they wanted $1000 to paint the room - that was too much for me.  I really couldn't justify spending that much to paint one room so I decided I'd just paint it myself. 

What a project!!  It took forever - at one point I got mad at my husband and just gave up - for months.  Finally I decided that it had to get done and my husband got on board too and we finished painting it.  It looked awesome - like a totally different room.  I found a great comforter at SteinMart for an even greater price.  I found some curtains and lamps and then found two chairs for the room.  We had a family picture done for over the fireplace and added some accessories and called the room done.  The thing is that it's been bugging me for months because I just felt like I didn't love the furniture placement but really couldn't come up with another arrangement. 

This morning it just hit me - I finally had an idea about how to make the room better.  I ran the idea by my husband totally thinking he'd veto it because it involves buying a small desk but low and behold he agreed to my idea.  The best part is that this afternoon I realized that I have a desk up in my office that I think may really work in that space so I won't even have to buy one.  I also came up with a whole plan to share our closets instead of each having our own which I know will make my husband happy and I think I'll also end up with better space for my needs so it's really a win-win.  So, that's my big excitement for the day.  Sometimes it's just the little things that can make a day.

Take it off Tuesday

I didn't get around to posting on Tuesday but I did weigh in that day.  I was down to 166.4 so that's 8 pounds lost in about a week and a half.  I've been having good days and bad days.  Some days are just easier than others.  The thing that keeps me going is that my clothes are already starting to feel looser and when I put something on I feel comfortable with the way I look in it.  I do not want to be the biggest girl in the room anymore so I am going to keep plugging away at this.  I need to add in some exercise but I've been having a problem with my arm - diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)  today so hopefully once I start wearing this brace I will have some relief and can get moving.  The good news is that I'm less motivated to lose weight so that my husband will like the way I look and more motivated to lose it so that I will like how I look. 

Take it off Tuesday

Dr. Garcia's Weight Loss Clinic - I had read about another person's success on her blog and I was intrigued.  Fast forward about six months and I was at a dinner for my daughter's kindergarten teacher and one of the other moms was talking about her success with weight loss on this program.  She had been much heavier than I was when she began and had achieved remarkable success and had kept it off for over 5 years.  I was convinced it was worth a shot but for some reason just kept thinking about it instead of doing it.

Finally about 4 months later we just decided to give it a go.  One day I just looked in the mirror and decided that I didn't like what I saw and that I was finally ready to try to do something about it.  I was also worried about my husband's weight gain as was he - so together we started the Dr. Garcia Weight Loss Clinic. 
Low and behold, it was just the thing for us.  We saw results and we saw them quickly.  We were eating a really healthy diet and after a few weeks it was not hard to follow at all.  I went from 175 pounds to 148 and my husband went from 240 to 195 in six - eight weeks and then..... I got pregnant!  I had wanted another baby for years but the truth was that when I got pregnant I actually cried because I was so happy with my new body and knew that I would lose it during pregnancy.  I had a history of miscarriages and I actually miscarried that baby but went on to get pregnant again the next month and was blessed with my adorable Reagan.  I credit the pregnancy & the healthy baby that resulted to my weight loss and new healthy eating habits. 

Fast forward almost 3 years and here I sit again.  Unhappy with what I am seeing in the mirror and you guessed it - 175 pounds again.  We no longer live in Tampa so Dr. Garcia's is out.  I'm not really willing to pay what I paid Dr. Garcia to go to a Dr here because most of the clinics I've found do not have the track record or the expertise that Dr. Garcia's clinic had so I've been half heartily trying to do it on my own using what I learned.  It's been going on for more than a year on and off and it is just not working.  I keep sabotaging and it just seems too hard. 

A few weeks ago I saw a groupon for a weight loss program that included B-12 injections which is one of the things I received from Dr. Garcia so I decided to give it a try.  Saturday I went for my appt. and the whole thing is a big joke - no doctor, no blood work, the woman forgot to even weigh me.  What she did do is try to sell me on a $600/month program that would include Hcg injections which as a cancer survivor I am not able to take.  Ugh!!  What to do??  I decided to get the B-12 injections from her and get back on the do it yourself Dr. Garcia program using what I had learned the first tie around.  I decided to stop sabotaging and just suck it up and make it happen.  And do you want to know why I decided all of these things?  My husband!  My husband and I were having a conversation about what we weighed at different times and he asked what I weighed at a friend's wedding right before I found out I was pregnant.  I asked why then and he said "because you looked smoking' hot then".  So what that says to me is that a) I don't look smokin' hot now and b) I'd like to and c) poor guy didn't mean it that way but I will give him a hard time about it for a while just because I can!  In all seriousness I am thankful that he said that because it was just the kick in the (ever expanding) pants that I needed to take this thing seriously.  So I am on week one.  I started Saturday with the protein detox phase of the plan and am now adding back in fruits & veges.  Day four and I feel pretty good.  The first couple of days were rough but the last two have been so much better.  I feel like the cravings have subsided and that I may actually be able to do this.  I am going to try to track my progress here each week on Take it off Tuesday.  So far I am down from 174.4 to 170.4.  Not so bad - even though I know at this point it is a lot of water weight.  Next week I'll start to add in exercise.  I hope to be in a weight range that begins with 13_ but I would even be happy with something beginning with 14_ at this point and I'm shooting for the beginning of summer - May specifically. So, wish me luck - and determination!!

Happy New Year

With every new year comes an opportunity for a fresh start - a new lease on life of sorts.  Even if you are fairly content and satisfied with your life there is just something refreshing and optimistic about starting a new year.  It's like anything is possible!  I believe that's why people make so many resolutions.  This new year just happens to be the final year of my thirties.  Wow - how time has flown!  I can honestly say that at 29 I could not have predicted much of any of the things that have happened in the last decade of my life.  There has been lots and lots of good, lots of growth and more than a fair share of crappy.  I think that I have handled the crappy with dignity and besides my children and my marriage I think that may be what I am most proud of over the last decade.  As I begin to look forward to my forties I find that I am really much more focused on the last year of my thirties.  I haven't made any resolutions yet for this year.  I want to mull it over.  I want to go about the year in a deliberate way and with purpose.  I want to decide what it is that I really want to do with the year.  At the end of the year I want to be able to feel that I have accomplished what I set out to accomplish this year.  Now I just need to decided what that will be!

My Biggest Cheerleader

There's been a lot of cheering going on around here this summer!  I'm just not sure who the bigger cheerleader actually is.  Several new friends told us about this camp that was not to be missed.  I have to admit that I'm not really a "camp mom".  You know the type - they start telling you right after Christmas break in January about all of the camps they have their dear daughter or son enrolled in for the summer so that their child will be insured to have the BEST summer ever.  They will emerge at the end of it all as the BEST tennis player, cook, mathematician, swimmer, scientist, dancer, etc. and they think your child should enroll too so that her dear daughter or son will actually have some fun.  I know. I know - that description sounds a bit snarky and mean but you and I both know that all those children emerge as at the end of the summer is tired.  I know this because I have fallen into the trap.  I have been busily putting away my Christmas decorations when the phone starts ringing with one mom after another telling me about all of the activities she has enrolled her child for this summer.  Before the last box of decorations was hauled up to the attic, I too was on the phone enrolling my daughter for an amazing array of summer activities sure to enlighten her and enhance her childhood beyond anything I could have ever imagined at her age.  I mean, come on, if all of the other moms were doing it for their children I should be doing it for mine too.  Obviously they knew what's up and clearly I did not.  Well..... let me tell you how that turned out.   The first week or so were fine and full of fun but then the complaints started - I'm tired, I don't want to get up, there's no time to go swimming, I want to get together with my friends, I don't want to go to camp - and that was just what I was saying - my daughter was too tired and overwhelmed to say anything!  So we did that one summer, did a scaled down version of the same thing the next year, boycotted camps all together the next and now hopefully have settled into a happy medium.  That scheduled summer may work for some but it just didn't work for us.  So, back to my original thought.... several friends were telling me about this amazing cheer camp and even though on the outside I was smiling and nodding, on the inside I was thinking here we go again.  To be honest, months went by and I didn't sign her up for the camp but then more and more people told me about it and some of them seemed like people who know how to actually enjoy summer so I thought I'd check it out.  I'm so glad I did.  I think it was the best week she had all summer.  She knew lots of girls there and met many new ones too.  It's run by the high school cheerleaders and at eight years old, that may have been the coolest thing about it.  As a mom. I appreciated the way they took each girl under their wing and made each one of them feel special.  It didn't matter if you could do a cartwheel or flip, if you were a flyer or a base, everyone had something special to contribute and they found out just what that was.  By the end of the week each group had put together a routine to perform for the parents (because of course you just HAVE to parade the parents in to see what their money is buying - haha).  It was the cutest thing - I enjoyed it, the girls enjoyed it - win, win.  Now I have not deluded myself into thinking that my daughter is going to be a cheerleader or that she even wants to be one but she did have fun every day of camp and has been cheering and dancing ever since.  She cheers for my husband and I, for her sister, for anyone who will sit still long enough to watch her and she cheers even when no one is watching.  She has taught her one year old sister to cheer and to say a new word - she goes around the house with her arms pumping the air yelling goooo.  I'm sure when the little one gets old enough we'll be enrolling her and I know we'll be re-enrolling my older daughter for next year - probably right after I haul the Christmas decorations down to the basement.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!  I hope you will enjoy visiting with me as I write about my crazy life with a seven year old, an infant, three dogs, a cat and one traveling husband.  There'll also be stories involving my insane extended family and friends and all of their drama.  Now that I have an infant I don't get out as often for coffee dates with my besties so I need somewhere to spew all the randomness that pops into my head.  What can I tell you about myself?  I love to read other blogs, especially those about party planning and those from other mommies like me.  It's my little indulgance and my secret escape.  I love my family, my friends and my animals with a  passion.  I try to say what I mean and mean what I say even when it's not popular although the older I get, the better I am getting at just not saying anything.  I live in the south (and love it - shhh don't tell my family!) but have come to realize that having grown up in the north I will never really be considered a southerner.   I am glad that my girls will be.  I married my college sweetheart (although we took a several year hiatus after college) and believe more and more that he is my best friend in life.  That said, I believe no man can ever take the place of good girlfriends.  I have many and cherish all of them.  So, that's where this begins.  Hope you'll decide to join me.  Who knows we might even become fast friends.