What happened to summer?

Woke up this morning to rain and COLD weather and had gained back 1.4 of the 2.2 lost from the 10(15). Guess that pimento cheese sandwich, 2 cookies and no workout yesterday mattered more than I thought. Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh big sigh. WTH? Currently it is 52 degrees and feels just like an October or November day. Glad to have gotten in some good sunshine over the weekend and hoping it keeps my mood afloat til tomorrow when the temp is supposed to get up to 88. Not sure what is really going on except we have had some incredibly strange weather going on lately....and apparently it was an omen because K called me around 10:30 to let me know his company had been bought out by their competition that already has an office in Memphis. He said he has about a 50-50 chance of keeping his job. I can't see why they wouldn't love to have him considering he's the best they can get but who knows. This may be a sign that he needs something new. I'm going to keep positive about it and hopefully he will be able to also. I hate when stuff like this happens to people I love. I want to fix it and I can't. Very frustrating!

Today's successes are:

Great nights sleep again last night

Cardio Pump workout first thing this morning

Breaky - Orange

Still standing and pushing up

Lunch - Spinach, tomato & feta salad with a scoop of chicken salad and some pineapple.

That's about it for now. Not a fabulously fantastic day but not near as bad as it could be either so I'm going to keep smiling!

All weekend things

It was a very good and pretty relaxing weekend even though I only had one of my favorite guys with me. I picked J up from school Friday after he had been at the All Lutheran Track Meet all day. He was sunburned and dirty and smelly. He had baseball practice and then we had Destiny's birthday party at Bahama Breeze. We had about 4 tables on the patio at Bahama Breeze. J and I sat with Tommy and Karen, Davis and Lisa Mays and Beth and her husband Anthony. I had so much fun with Tommy, Karen, Lisa and David. I forgot how much I missed Tommy and Karen. They really are some of the best people I know. I meant to get a pic with them but forgot. I had 3 beers while we were there, J ordered some of their yummy mac and cheese so I ate what he had left over, one of Tommy's onion rings and a couple of bites of Karen's mashed potatoes. After we got home, I ate the little side of queso and salsa that was left over from our dinner at Moe's the other night and another beer.

Saturday was pretty great all around. J had a baseball game that morning and he was the starting pitcher. He was really quiet as we were driving to the field. I asked him if he was nervous and he said he was. I told him about how you can take a deep breath to calm your nerves and told him to do it while he was on the mound if he ever got too nervous. Mom came out to watch him play too. He was really nervous the 1st inning and was throwing some real crazy balls but he calmed down and really brought it. He struck out 5 players and also hit a double. The Giants did a great job all around and wound up beating Trinity Baptist 4 to 1. They did an awesome job and Mom had as good of a time watching as I did. Here's J in the middle of one of his great pitches!

Here he is in the dugout, getting ready for the next inning.....

And here he is after hitting his double:

As evidenced by the pics, the weather was really beautiful AGAIN :) and J and I went over to Heather's after the game to enjoy the sun and pool. J and I ran through the Mickey D's drive thru. I got the grilled chicken southwest salad. J got some McNugget's but didn't meet them because he had a molar that was holding on by just 2 roots and really irritating him. I wound up having to do an extraction on it out by the pool:

J spent Saturday night at Jackson's and I chilled at the house catching up on my Criminal Mind and Tosh.O episodes. I had our leftover chicken and lamb kabobs, roasted broccoli and the last of the Greek pasta salad for dinner, a few beers and then some good, good sleep....until the stupid dog next door wouldn't shut up. I thought we had an understanding with those boys but clearly not, so I called the cops around 11:30. Not sure if they ever made it though since I popped an ambien and put in my ear plugs.

Sunday was a good day too. I picked J up from Jackson's and we met Mom, Roy, Sis, John, Marcia and Dillon at CTK. After we went to Mom and Roy's for lunch. Mom ordered some deli trays from Jason's Deli and we had a good lunch and some good quality time. I realized J and Mom and I didn't really have any pics together so I got a few before leaving.

After lunch, J and I went to Costco and came home and practiced on his pitching. I think I may enjoy baseball as much as I did football! I also received my favorite Happy Mother's Day wish from Mel, she sent a text that said, "Happy Mother's Day to a totally hip, drop dead gorgeous Mom, who will smack the taste outta her kids mouth if needed. You're doing a kick ass job as evidenced by the fact your kid doesn't drive me nuts. Sometimes Moms just gotta hear it..but not you cuz you don't give a shit what other people think." How great is that??? Love it! K got home from Louisiana and we are going to hang out at the house and watch the Red Sox game. Very good weekend AND I've lost 2 pounds since last weekend :)

Mid Day Break

I took a little break today around lunchtime and walked over to the Mid-America Mall on Main Street and found a little bench under a shade tree. I didn't think to snap a pic while I was out there but the area where I took retreat can be seen in this pic from my office. It is where the trees are just to the top, left of the building with the red roof (which happens to be our old jail). The wind was blowing and the temperature was a perfect 84. I was sitting next to a waterfall built on the side of one of the walls around the area and the birds were singing me some really relaxing tunes. I facebooked and read some tweets for a while and then just let my mind wander. I almost feel asleep until the guy came to empty the garbage cans on the mall. He made all kinds of raquet so I decided that was my cue to leave before he rattled my nerves. Went back to the office refreshed and  energized after getting some sun and fresh air, had my lunch and went to see Veronica for a little batch of Botulism.

So the day has been successful in these ways:

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  Sleep - great night again last night. I have really been lucky here lately!
• 
  
  Breakfast - spinach pancake with some cocksauce and green tea
• 
  
  Snack - peanuts, wheat thins and string cheese
• 
  
  My little escape to the park bench
• 
  
  Lunch - MORE leftover greek pasta salad (Harry, one of the guys at work, made mention that I had eaten that 2 days in a row. I corrected him and let him know it was 3 days in a row. I love cool foods when it's warm. Never get tired of them.)
• 
  
  The botulism appointment will have my face looking grand again in a couple of days
• 
  
  Another snack - grapes
• 
  
  Plenty of pushups and still no sitting at the desk, however when I got in Veronica's comfy spa chair for my Botox with the lights low and the calming music, I can say that I did not want to leave for a long time. After a week of standing all day long, I can really, really feel it in my calves and my butt. Hope I start seeing results soon. I know it has got to be doing something!!!!

Kennon left this afternoon to go back home. Ryan is graduation from college tomorrow. I really wanted J and I to be able to go but we couldn't do it this time. I miss that boy so much when we're apart but he will be back as early as he can Sunday so it's not too terribly long and we have a pretty busy weekend here, so time will pass quickly.

A little exercise, a little dinner and a lot of an energetic kid

Yesterday after work, I picked J up from Sissy's and he had the energy of 3 kids all hyped up on the dew. He barely gave me any time to talk to Sis but we did have enough time to decide we wanted to have a once a month dinner like last night with our fam because it was so fun and we don't take the time to make time for fam. Anywho, I had decided to take J to the park so I could exercise and he could run some of that energy off but K was ready to play baseball with him when we got home so they played ball in the back and I got 45 in on the elliptical and knocked out 2 of my Chelsea episodes. Of course halfway through my workout, J came in wanting to know what he could do, when we could go to the park, wondering if he could go to Leegan's.....after about the 4th time of him whining that there was nothing to do (he had no homework!!!) I told him if he asked me again what he could do, he would be cleaning his room. So that stopped that line of questioning. Of course then he insisted that I come outside and play with him, but I had dinner to cook, laundry to do and a glass or two of wine to drink. For dinner, I picked up some honey, ginger, soy chicken kabobs and rosemary mint lamb kabobs from Whole Foods, roasted some broccoli and ate some more of the Greek pasta salad. It was mighty delish. I added some tabouleh to my lamb. Very refreshing and filling :) J got a pretty bad stomach ache around dinner time so he got a bath and we cuddled on the couch til bedtime watching survivor. I hate that he felt bad but it was so nice to have him snuggled up and sweet as a baby. I sure do miss that little sweet baby.

Mother's Day Present - CHECK

Today has been a good, good day and I knew it was going to be a good one before I even got to work. I woke up, got on the scale and had lost a pound of the 10(15) since Monday, I got J out the door ready to school and to Leegan's house without an ounce of bad attitude, the sun was so bright sunglasses were a necessity, every song the radio stations played was a happy, smiley tune and every lane I picked to drive to work in was the fast moving one. Oh how I love when everything falls into place like that! The rest of the day has been pretty good too!
So the day has been successful in these ways:
Sleep - Great night, woke up full of energy and well rested
Breaky - banana and green tea
Lots o water = lots o bathroom time = lots o push ups
Snack - Triscuits
B-12 shot and present shopping on lunch break
Lunch - Leftover Greek pasta salad and yummy green grapes. Pic of pasta:

It really is quite tasty and I love cold food when it starts getting warm. BTW, Today is sunny and beautiful and warm, did I already mention that? Oh it makes me jolly to be outta the winter wonderland!
Still standing at my desk instead of sitting even though Bill said it was scaring some people in the office. (He's so damn crazy, I don't know where he comes up with half the stuff that rolls off his tongue!)
I should have plenty of time after work for a bike ride.





One of the things I hate doing most is buying gifts....Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, graduation gifts, whatever kinda gift. The reason I hate it so much is because I am a perfectionist gift giver. I want the gift I give to be absolutely perfect and personal and not just shit wrapped up for the sake of giving a gift when a gift is expected. I have a lot of anxiety wrapped up in this gift stuff and I usually do a pretty decent job and when I nail it on the head, I am so proud of myself but I still don't like it. I ran out at lunch to get my B-12/Lipo shot and decided to swing in to Davis Kidd to see if they had anything I could give Mom for Mother's Day. I found this awesome little healing garden that you grow yourself. It has it's own little terrarium, soil, decorative rocks and seeds for aloe and 2 other plants that are suppose to have some sort of healing power.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't knock it out of the park with this one but I do think it's really cool and something that Mom will have fun with andddddddddddddd I can quit worrying about what to get Mom (for this holiday at least)!

Crawfish and Family!

Wednesday nights at Skimo's is crawfish night when they are in season. I don't think K, J and I missed a week last year. We invited Mom and Roy one week and found out Roy loves the little critters as much as we do. They went a few times with us last year. We had only been once this year since K doesn't live out that anymore and to tell you the truth, they weren't that great. Roy called Tueday night inviting us to go so we met him, Mom, Sissy and John last night and they were goooo-oooooo-ooooood!!!! Roy and Kennon ate 3 batches of them. Of course I helped K with his 2nd and 3rd batch. We went home and couldn't wait to get our full bellies to bed but not until J did his book report. We made it through with only 1 minor skirmish between the 2 of us. Of course he waited til the last minute to do the damn thing and then tried to cut corners on it and get by without doing everything he was suppose to. I swear that kid is me all over again. Poor thing! All in all, it was a great night. I love my family so much and wish that we had more time to spend together :(

Elevated work station

Alright I turned ANOTHER NEW leaf Monday night. This is the heaviest I have been in YEARS and it has got to go. The desk job aint helpin matters either. I have got to shed at least 10 pounds but would love 15. I'm already feeding us better most of the time since I started researching the food industry and all the bullshit they put in our foods. So most of our groceries come from Whole Foods now and most of my pick up food is from there too.....unless Kennon is with me. After the fiasco we went through with him at WF a couple of months ago when it was so crowded, I'm not sure if I ever want to go back there with him and I'm not really sure he wants to go back either! So anyways back to the 10 (15) lbs. I've gotten rid of my chair at my desk at work. I've rigged my keyboard and mouse up so that they are at hand level when I'm standing and can keep moving all day. I kinda pace in place, do stretches or leglifts while typing and surfing the web all day. Everyone in the office finds it quite amusing. I've also made a rule that I have to do at least 12 push ups on the bathroom wall before I can use the bathroom and since I drink 20 gallons of water a day and have a bladder the size of a hamster, that will start to add up too. I am trying to cut back on all the non-sense that I eat without completely denying myself but am proud of my progress so far. Of course it has only been 2 days but damn, change has to start somewhere and everytime we attempt change, it doesn't always take on the 1st try now does it? Lord knows I've tried to shed these 10(15)lbs for months now, sure hope this time is successful! Here's a shot of my new work station set up:

So the day has been successful in these ways:
Yoga - 45 minutes the a.m.
Breaky - banana and a glass of green tea
Lots of bathroom breaks therefore quite a few pushups
Snack - peanuts and pineapple
A leisurely 2.19 mile stroll at lunch
Lunch - 1 asian chicken kabob with about 1/4 C tabouleh from WF and some greek pasta salad I made last night w/ part whole wheat and part regular fussili pasta, greek dressing, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, spinach, bell pepper, and green onion
AND I did not take a seat the whole day except on the toilet, in the car and when I ate lunch!

I hope this no chair thing pays off. I've got 50 minutes of my work day left and I feel really good as far as energy and fullness and cravings go but DAMN my dogs are barking! This has got to be doing something. They seriously feel almost as bad as when I use to bartend. I'm thinking about getting some of those silly looking leg muscle building shoes to start wearing all day. The office peeps will really lose it on that I bet :)