#1 Song

Do you know what the #1 song was when you were born? Go to this site and find out!!

Mine is "Time In A Bottle" by Jim Croce.

HEY LADY!!!

Saturday Mallory and I were getting ready to head to the mall for some walk-n-talk time. All you have to tell Mallory is, "Let's go bye-bye." and she's half-way down the stairs looking for her coat. Apparently I wasn't moving fast enough for her. I was in the kitchen and could see her about 20' feet away from me. We could see each other when she hollered at the top of her lungs,

"MOMMA!! MOMMA!!!"

"What?!?!"

"Hi!"

Good thing she's cute....

Update - Mallory now has pink eye. YAY DAYCARE!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

Caption Contest Winner! This week it, once again, goes to Gine with her, "Argh, where are me prunes..."
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Weight Watchers Update: This week I post a 2# gain. And I'm ok with it. Large meals towards the end of the week and a fundraiser loaded with free wine, cheese, and chocolate. How could I not?
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Quiet weekend to report. I was hoping Steve and I could start painting our bedroom, but it didn't work out. I still need to finish the wall prep in the BR and BA. It'll happen and it will look so much better!

We got 2-3" of fluffy snow Saturday night and it was the perfect glinting snow made from perfect snowflakes which I delighted in showing Jenna what a snow flake looks like. After church and lunch she and I dressed in our winter woolies while Steve put Mallory down for a nap. Jen and I went sledding. Yes it was cold, about 10 degrees. But we dressed in layers and She ran around the hills while I pulled her around. In fact, I was sweating pulling her up the hill. We had a great time, and then we read some books and snuggled before her nap. I haven't had fun in the snow like that for quite some time. And because of this I'm anxious for when Mallory is old and big enough to join us outside.

Caption Contest!!!

So, it's Friday. Yesterday, I grilled outside. Threw some London Broils on the barbie and grilled up a red onion and a mess of Brussel sprouts. Oh sure, those with gas grills can grill anytime, and even more convenient are those with the gas line coming out of the house. But there's just something special about charcoal grilling in January, or anytime during the off-season for that matter, that just makes the food taste better. It helped that it was 50 yesterday so I had the deck doors open. Another fine treat.

Today? 25. This weekend? Arctic blast with snow. Back at it, again. But these little unseasonable breaks make it a bit more bearable.

So with it being Friday, that could only mean one thing! Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday!!

God is pleased with me?

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment, as did Mallory. I scheduled them close enough together to justify taking a half-day. It was absolutely GORGEOUS outside yesterday; almost 50! I was bummed, then, with my scheduling as I probably wasn't going to have enough time for a walk with the two appointments then getting my oil changed.

Mal's appointment was very quick, just a follow-up ear infection from a couple of weeks ago. She was back at daycare an hour before my appointment so I drove to the clinic and decided to go for a walk! YAY ME!!

As I started my walk through the neighborhood I saw all sorts of plastic bottles and aluminum cans just laying around. I really wished I had a bag in my car so I could pick this stuff up and bring it home to recycle, but alas, t'was not meant to be.

I must have really been upset about not having a plastic bag with me as I kept having a discussion in my head about keeping one in the car just in case. There was still a fair amount of ice on the sidewalks and at crossways so I spent a good deal of my time looking down at the ground watching my step so I wouldn't fall.

Sure enough when I crossed a street, there waiting for me on the sidewalk was a dry brown paper bag with handles from Panera! So I picked it up and started collecting recyclables for the next 20 minutes until my appointment time. The bag was filled when I was done.

So I said a little prayer of thanks for the beautiful day, the nice gap in appointments that allowed me to get a walk in, and for leaving me a paper bag to continue my small quest of cleaning up Omaha.

Fencing, Second Lesson

Last night we got to suit up!!!

First to go on is the plastron which is, basically, a half-jacket comprising of one sleeve. This goes over your attacking shoulder. Next is the jacket, usually a back-zip. Then you have the glove, mask, and foil.

We reviewed advance and retreat, lunge and recover. We learned parry four and parry seven which are defensive manuevers to protect your off-shoulder and off-hip. We even got to jab each other with the foils!! *squeals*

This is a video example of parry 4. Parry 7 is similar only that the blade is dropped a bit to protect the off-hip.

We were also informed at the end of class that we can stick around for another hour, if we wanted, for another hour to practice after class. I'll have to do that next week. I do know that my right thigh is going to be tender in the next few days as this is my lead leg and there's a lot of pressure on it as the video clip shows. But so far I'm really enjoying the class!

I'm just waiting until we get to discuss Cappofello, Bonnetti's Defense, and Hisangleeper.

Weekend Wrap-up!!

Caption Contest Winner! This week's winner is Gina with her, "Who says tinsel is just for Christmas Trees?"
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Weight Watchers Update! Decent loss to report; down 1.6# bringing me down to 214.6 for a total loss of 43.4#.

I've often wondered and reflected on why is this go-around so much more successful than my previous attempts? I'm approaching my all-time (recent) low of 205 a mere three years ago. Granted I was running at the time, of which ain't happenin' now. I am at the weight when Steve and I got married 11 years ago. However, after two children, things just aren't quite put back where they should be. Kind of like the state of our house with two kids.

The reason I'm doing this at home and not attending meetings is simple. This is my third or fourth trip on the WW merry-go-round so I know the schpeel, I know the routine, I know the tricks, and I know my pitfalls. So why should I spend $40/month just to hear it all over again?

After my reflection I think I've come to the conclusion that, while it never should have been a competition, I made the meetings into a competition. You want the attention and accolades of standing up in the group, receiving your ribbon or star. And though the leaders never said anything negative if you gained in a week, I felt that they were in some silent, non-verbal way. And if I didn't get stars as quickly as some other members I got discouraged.

This time around at home I'm not proving anything to anyone. I'm doing this for me. As I always have before. But I don't have an audience to prove anything to. Does that even make sense?? It never should have been about them and proving myself to them. But I made it that way and that's why I think I failed.

Which is where I think Steve is struggling. He sees me dropping over 40# and he'd only been able to do 10#. Granted, he doesn't eat fruits of veggies, doesn't drink enough water, doesn't get additional exercise outside of work. But those are his choices. I think I've given him the tools he needs to be sucessful, but just like quitting everything else, if you're not ready to make the changes then no one can make you. I want him to succeed. Not only for his health but for the furture of his family.