Well, we did it! We got up yesterday AND today and walked! It was harder today - doesn't it take like 3 weeks to make a habit? I will be excited when my body is used to getting up at 7am! We both have a lot more energy during the day though, and we've been feeling good. I'll keep you posted on how things progress.
I can't believe it's been so long since I posted! I wonder if anyone even reads my blog anymore! Well, readers or no readers, this has been a source of accountability for me, and it's time for me to get back to it.
Let's get right to the point: I've gained some weight. Not a lot, just about 8-9 pounds - I thought that was pretty good, keeping off that much of the 43 pounds I lost 3 years ago! However, I've completely stopped exercising and with all the trouble we've had this year (with our house and everything we own and Brian's job), I started eating badly. Fast food, ice cream, fast food, etc. I'm a stress eater, it's no secret. Even though I've only gained 8-9 pounds, it seems like 25 - all of the muscle I had acquired has turned into fat. BELLY fat, of course.
So today I went clothes shopping and was horrified to see what I looked like in those store lights and 3-way mirrors! I swore when I lost the weight before that I would NOT let myself get huge again, so I am going to have to take drastic measures RIGHT NOW! I gave away all my "fat" clothes, so if I don't do something now, I'm going to have to buy new clothes in bigger sizes and that's just not an option.
Brian is on board too - he needs to lose a few pounds. Of course, I think he looks hot, but his doctor says he needs to lose some. Since we work late into the evening and rarely have dinner before 8:00, exercising at night is kinda hard - we're exhausted after dinner. The only way we're going to fit exercise into our crazy schedules is to do it first thing in the morning.
OK, we are NOT morning people. We both start work at 10:00, so we are NOT up early. We appreciate our sleep. We love our sleep. We have tried before to get up early to exercise. This time it HAS to work! It just HAS to! So I'm blogging about it, cause if we don't do it, I'll be embarrassed since I wrote about it online!
Tomorrow is the day. The cats have been waking us up at 7am every day for awhile now, so tomorrow, we're just going to take the hint and get up. You guys root for us, ok? If we can do it tomorrow, we will prove to ourselves that we can do it!! I'm so motivated! I'm going to look for healthy recipes now!
I have officially survived my first week of the semester. Boy, am I exhausted!
I decided that I would just jump right into my new routine with both feet. So I started a new exercise routine this week, too. I've been walking 3 nights a week with my wonderful friend Sarah, but the walking just doesn't seem to have the same effect that it used to have. So I decided to join a gym that has classes. I know that I will go to classes.
So on Monday, I taught one class and then did some work at home, then went to Pilates. It was HARD, but really fun!
Then Tuesday I could barely move, but I had a super busy day! I had 2 Kindermusik classes, then piano lessons until about 6:00. I cooked dinner, walked with Sarah, showered, and fell in bed.
Wednesday: 3 KM classes, more piano lessons, cooked dinner, worked on the computer, crawled to bed.
Thursday 3 KM classes, worked on the computer, sat down to eat lunch and fell asleep for about 30 minutes, more work, then did an open house at a preschool. Practically had to be carried to bed.
This morning, I got up and went to a Body Pump class at the gym. It was SO HARD but super fun. I went with a friend and she and I were both hanging onto the stair rail for dear life after class. It was SO hard to go down the stairs!!!! It was like one leg alone was too weak to hold me up! :)
Anyway, today I have more work to do and I need to figure out something for dinner. Tomorrow I have a class in the morning, Sunday is church...I'm feeling like I'm not going to have much free time this semester. Things will settle down, though...right?
Remember the days when I would talk incessantly about my weight loss? Well, I've been maintaining that loss for about a year and a half now, and I'm about ready to try and lose the last 20 lbs. I need something NEW to do...and over the last month, as I've been walking (occasionally), I've noticed that I can run for 3-4 minutes at a time. I've NEVER been able to do that before.
So, after talking to one of my Kindermusik moms, I've decided that I'm going to try running. I'm going to do this program called Couch to 5K. And I'm starting today. It doesn't look too horribly hard...but we'll see about that now, won't we? Wish me luck!
*Edited to add: OK, I did it. 5 minute brisk walk for a warm-up, then alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Sound easy? Try it - it's SO not easy! After the 3rd time running, I thought, "I'm going to die." After the 4th time, I thought, "Now it's worse." And then it got SLIGHTLY easier. I ended with a 5 minute brisk walk cool down for a total of 30 minutes. And I feel great - now, let's make this a habit!*
Well! Another year has come and gone, and here we are in 2008. Amazing! I managed to gain a few pounds over the holidays, so now it's back to being strict with eating healthy.
Speaking of the holidays, ours were great. We spent some fab time with our families and got lots of fun presents, and I worked lots of Sudokus and Brian played lots of Wii. ;-) We got to see our niece and nephews, and that's always a high point. I helped make a gingerbread house with Brian's mom and Emma - I had never done that before, and it was so fun! I will post pictures eventually, when I can get my act together.
Our trip home from KY took 18.5 hours! We both nearly killed each other, the traffic was so horrid!! And it was pouring rain, and we thought we'd NEVER get home. We've never been so happy to be home! And then, I promptly got sick on New Year's Day. :-( It was just a cold or sinus infection, but I could not believe the amount of snot. (Sorry if that grosses anyone out!) It's really weird to be sick when it's 80 degrees outside! So I wasted a whole week laying around on the couch. I'm FINALLY human again, but still blowing my nose quite a bit!
OK, that's enough complaining! This week I have a few makeup classes to teach and I'm desperately trying to get ahead in studying and preparing for classes. Tomorrow I really need to finalize my schedule, which will mean several emails and phone calls. But...it has to be done. I miss the kids and can't wait for classes to start next week!
So. I've decided to start doing Menu Plan Monday. Dream Dinners has closed, much to our dismay, so I have to start being creative again with our meals. And healthy, too. It's Tuesday though, so I'm late with my menu for this week, but I'll go ahead and post it anyway...and then next Monday I'll be on time for my first real posting.
Monday - Boca Burgers (Brian worked late)
Tuesday - pot roast/carrots/red potatoes
Wednesday - veggie-beef soup made from leftover pot roast
Thursday - Aloha Chicken Kebabs (DD cookbook)
Friday - Pita Pizzas (DD cookbook)
I got Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook for Christmas, so I'm going to try some of the recipes from that this week! OK, I'm headed to bed now. I'll post recipes and pictures later. Happy New Year, everyone!
It's been awhile! Although Kindermusik is going GREAT and it's so much fun I can't even believe I'm getting paid to do it, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of my marketing strategies included contacting a school about 30 minutes away whose Kindermusik program had to close down this year because the teacher moved away. In contacting them, I found out that they are looking for an elementary music teacher. This is a Montessori school and I'm very unfamiliar with their program, but I've now had 2 interviews with them and today I went and observed a class. They do blended ages, so 1st through 3rd grades are all in the same class and 4th through 6th grades are together. It's an interesting environment! Anyway, I think things are looking positive and it's only a few hours a week, so I'm seriously considering it.
I had one wild class last week - a class with 5 3-year-old boys. They were just crazy! I learned a lot from that class! I now have a strategy for this week, since we didn't really get anything done last week. Whew! Part of me feels like I'm an aerobics instructor! LOL I do get a lot of exercise during the classes. And it's SO fun!
In other news, I actually RAN on the treadmill this week! I know, I'm shocked too. I've never been able to run - I always get a side cramp! I can't even run to the end of the driveway! So I was pretty proud. I only ran for 2 minutes, and then I walked awhile, and then I ran for 2 more minutes!! That doesn't seem like much, I know, but for me - it's a big deal! LOL
OK, here are some pictures of my Kindermusik classroom! I'll leave you with those and maybe my life will become more interesting at some point so I can write about something besides kids and music! :-)
These are the clothes I'm taking to the consignment shop tomorrow. They're all too big. And there are more - these are only the spring/summer ones! I still have fall/winter ones to take later! I guess it's a good thing, but it makes me a little sick to think of how much all these cost! Maybe I'll at least make a little $$ from them!
That's how much I've lost in the last year. I lost the majority of it from April to October, then maintained for several months, which I've never done before. Sometimes I still can't believe it.
But now I'm ultra-motivated since we've booked the cruise. I've been walking like crazy and doing tons of Pilates, which I really love. Today I tried on some old dresses, and every one of them fit, and a few of them were too big! I fit perfectly into my "little black dress," the dress I wore for my senior recital in college. (Yeah, that was 1995. I'm hoping little black dresses never go out of style.)
Brian found out yesterday that he has high cholesterol. It's not REALLY high, in fact, it's considered borderline high - but his LDL and HDL are flipped. So we'll be eating extra healthy to get those numbers fixed.
I've done pretty much nothing all day today - except weigh myself and try on some dresses from my closet. I feel lazy - the weather is rainy and cloudy and dark. I think I'll go do some Pilates and then take a shower. Tonight we're going to some friends' house to play games.
Well, has this blog been boring or what??!! It seems like 40 years since I blogged! Christmas and New Year's came and went with barely a post from me, let alone a picture! So I thought I'd take a little bit of time and try to catch up a little.
Let's see. A few weeks ago, my friends Julie and Rob came to Orlando for Children's Pastors Conference. I used to work with them at Brentwood-Benson (Provident) Music and it was so great to see them! They came last January too. No, they're not a couple. They are just the ones from work who come and man the BB booth at the conference. The week they came was extremely busy, but we met them for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (Downtown Disney) late on Saturday night. Here is a pic of us:
And for fun, let's compare it to a pic of us from January 2006:
Um, yeah. Check out my 5 chins in that second pic. Are you tired of me talking about my weight loss? Do you want another update? hahahaha! I actually haven't officially weighed myself since October. My home scale says I haven't lost or gained, so that's good, but more importantly, my clothes tell me that I haven't gained. I'm back into the exercise and healthy eating full-force now. I'm easing myself into some Yoga - it's kicking my butt so far! But I can see that I'm going to really enjoy it, if I can ever endure it for more than 10 minutes!!
Ah, Idol is back on. I don't enjoy the preliminary auditions as much now as I used to. We've seen it all before. People who live in their own little world come out of the woodwork and make fools of themselves, blah blah. I'm ready for Hollywood week and the top however many they're going to pick this year. More Idol chat to come, for sure.
Brian and I have been busy little bees every weekend in January and so far in February, and it looks like it's not going to let up until March. Whew! But at least we've been having fun! Last Saturday we went to Tampa for a matinee showing of the Broadway show "Monty Python's Spamalot." Let me just say, it was hilarious. This was Brian's birthday present, even though his birthday isn't till the end of March. But I saw last fall that Spamalot was coming to Tampa, and we bought tickets the day they went on sale in October - and we got orchestra seats! It was a great time and we laughed our heads off!
As we were walking from our car to the Performing Arts Center, we saw this:
As we came around the truck, we saw that they were giving out free samples of Spam! Of course, Brian couldn't pass up the chance to try some Spam:
That Spam was gross, it smelled VERY bad! Brian ate a few bites, but he couldn't stomach too much of it. Yuck! At any rate, the show was excellent and hilarious, and we would highly recommend it.
I've been busy with the band at church, too - we've been doing gigs other than church and it's been a lot of fun! Someday I'll figure out how to put some music on here.
I've been scrapping a ton! Scrapfest is still going on at Lifetime Moments, and we all know how much I love that! Here are some of my favorites I've done during Scrapfest:
I think that's about all I have to tell you about right now. Oh, except for that my best-friend-since-we-were-born, Jenni, finally got to meet Joey McIntyre, with whom she has been obsessed since she was like 12, when he was in New Kids on the Block. Here's the proof of their meeting:
Heehee. Hope everyone is having a great year so far. We're busy tomorrow, but at least Brian and I get to spend some time together! Yay! So I'm off to bed. Good night!
I am a fraction of the person I used to be.
Four fifths, to be exact.
I went to the doctor today for a follow-up visit for my blood pressure. I have now lost 38 pounds, which is 20% of my weight when I started. WOW! I'm proud! AND...my blood pressure was 120/70. The doctor was thrilled and so was I! Awhile back, I set a goal of a certain weight I wanted to be by Christmas. Now I'm only 10 pounds away from it! Yay! I feel confident that I can do it. After I get to that weight, I'll only have 10 pounds left until I'm in the correct weight range for my height. I'm SO happy! I can't even believe it!
In other news, I only have 9 days left at my church secretary job. I have mixed emotions about it. Part of me is ready to be home again, to have healthy snacks and exercise longer and more often (like I did before). And part of me likes the people and the work there. I know I'll miss it, but I might start going to their Wednesday night dinners. I know there are several people I will keep in touch with, too.
Things at church could not possibly be better. We had a ROCKIN' service yesterday! Chris brought in some horns - we had a trumpet, trombone, and saxophone player - and they were incredible! The band is tighter than ever! Chris wrote a cool new song that covers a brass lick from an old Chicago song. We did it yesterday for the first time and the place was jammin'!! I am SO blessed to be part of this amazing band!!!!
A week ago this past Saturday, Brian and I went to Dream Dinners. We had never done this before, and we had SO much fun! If there's one in your area, I encourage you to go and try it out! Most of you know what a picky eater I am - and let me just say that I have LOVED all of the meals we've had so far!! Last week, we had chicken enchiladas, pork chops with sweet ginger and apples (yum!), chicken with lemon and artichoke sauce (I know some of you are shocked by now), arroz con pollo (a Mexican chicken dish with black beans, corn, salsa, etc. - yes, I even ate the beans!!), and four-cheese and meatball calzones. I ate (and liked) all of it. ALL of it! Can you even believe it? (Some of you need to pick your chins up off the desktop!)
If you don't know about Dream Dinners, it's this place where you go and prepare meals that can be frozen. Brian and I made 12 meals, but we split them, so we came home with 24 meals. That will last us a month! I only have to grocery shop for lunch stuff and snacks!! And we had a great time preparing the stuff - it was really fun to do together. AND - one of the best things is...dinner is already done! You just have to stick it in the fridge the night before (or the morning of) to thaw it, and then cook it according to the directions! Everything is already chopped, mixed, etc. It might seem expensive, but when we divided it up, each serving came to $3.50. That's WAY less than we normally spend! (I should work for their sales dept.!)
Here are some pictures of our little Dream Dinners adventure. Click for larger images. Hey, if anyone signs up for Dream Dinners, be sure to give them our name! That way we'll get a free dinner!
This evening, I took my first outdoor walk since June. Oh boy, did I miss it! It was such a nice walk - probably one of the most pleasant walks I've ever had. I went 3 miles and there was such a nice little breeze - I hope the weather stays this way so I can continue to walk in the evenings!
Some things I noticed while I was walking:
*There are nine houses for sale in my neighborhood.
*Seven of them were for sale when I started walking in March. (!)
*The local high school marching band is playing Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry About A Thing" on the field this year! It sounds awesome! (the high school is RIGHT NEXT to my neighborhood - so close that I can hear the bell ring and the intercom announcements)
*At least one person in my neighborhood is putting in a new pool.
*One person has painted their house since I stopped walking outside in June.
*When I heard the marching band practicing, I was so overwhelmed with wonderful memories of my OWN high school band experience, I couldn't even concentrate on the book I was listening to.
*I LOVE walking outside; I hate the treadmill.
*My exercise clothes are getting too big for me - especially my shorts!
Brian and I saw a great movie with Tim and Christi on Sunday evening - "The Illusionist." I'll admit that I wasn't so excited to see it. It seemed like a "Brian" type of movie, so I went along just to humor him, all the while thinking, "Why don't we ever see movies I want to see?" But it ended up being a really great film. And there was no language (that I can remember). Plus, I've liked Edward Norton ever since I saw him in "Fight Club."
I calculated today that I have lost 17.6% of my body weight!
In other news, work is going great, Brian's work is going great, church is still awesome, and we're happy. We still miss New York. I may never stop missing New York. But we are enjoying it here more and more. Ooh! My best-friend-ever-in-the-whole-wide-world-since-birth, Jenni, along with her husband and adorable son, are coming to Disney in less than a month! And we get to go hang out with them! I can't WAIT to see them! :-)
I did my weight training today.
We're going to my family reunion later this month - we haven't gone in FIVE YEARS!!
I can't wait till tomorrow evening when I can walk OUTSIDE again!!!!
Is anyone else coming to Orlando anytime soon? If so, please let us know! We'll do dinner or something!
I weighed myself yesterday and I was down another 5 pounds! That makes a total of 34 pounds lost! I'm so happy and also in a little disbelief about it! I've never lost this much weight before. (Of course, I also had never weighed that much before!) And I still have more to go, about 25 pounds to be exact, to get to my goal. When I get to that number, it will be the first time in about 11 years that I've weighed that little!
I have a picture to post (not that it's that much different from the LAST picture I posted...) but we're having Internet problems. I'm using the neighbor's signal to post this from the laptop - but the pics are on my PC and I can't get online on that right now. Well, it seems like I had a lot more to say, but I can't think of anything! We're just cruising along, having a good time, trying to be healthy.
Wednesday was movie night and we went to see "Accepted," which I personally thought was hilarious! It was way funnier than I thought it was going to be! And it's always fun to hang out with our friends from n-Space.
Something strange happened when I was getting ready to go to Downtown Disney for the movie. I remembered that last time we were there it was really cold in the theater, so I decided to wear jeans. Well, I haven't had jeans on since March. It's WAAAAYYYYYY too hot. Anyway, there were ten pairs of jeans hanging in my closet. (This is a result of gaining weight and buying new jeans but keeping the "skinny" jeans "just in case.") Anyway, there was one pair I already knew was too big, and two more pairs I was wearing comfortably in March and before.
Well, both of those pairs were too big. Of the remaining seven pairs, one pair fit comfortably and two pairs fit snugly, and the other four pairs (pairs that I haven't been able to wear for a few years!) were too BIG! This is SO not a problem that I usually have! And now when I put on most of my tops, I look like I'm wearing a tent. :-) I'm not complaining! I'm almost back in my skinniest of skinny jeans! :-D
Yesterday I taught my first piano lessons since May of 2005!! It was really awesome!! I started two new students who just happen to be Brian's boss' sons. They were just the sweetest, funniest, nicest boys. I had REALLY missed having kids in and out of the house! And I had really missed teaching, I didn't realize how much.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNI! It was Wednesday (the 23rd), but I did remember to call and sing on her voicemail. Jen, hope you had an awesome day! I wish my scanner worked - I would post the picture of us when we were 4 and 5 in our matching dresses and Snoopy purses, with you in cute black patent leather shoes and me in my horrendous brown BOOTS! (I don't think my mom could get them off of me!!) I haven't forgotten about October - I can't WAIT to see you guys!
Last night I got a pedicure. Again. I like pedicures and all, but you sure have to keep on top of them when you live in Florida and wear sandals practically every day of the year!! It's been well over a year since my toes have been without polish for more than about 5 minutes.
First of all, thanks to everyone who posted comments on my last entry. You made me feel so good! I'm going to keep losing weight so people will keep saying nice things to me! :-D
Well, my freelance writing career is approaching its end. On August 24, the project we are working on will be complete and no other projects have been lined up. While I'll miss working from the couch in my pajamas, it will be good for me to move on to something different.
Tomorrow I start my "job" as fill-in church secretary. I'll be training with the regular secretary three days this week and three days next week, and then the following week she'll be gone and I'll be working 5 days a week till the end of October. I'm really excited at the prospect of a ROUTINE. And I found another piano student, so that makes three - building my studio one student at a time. I'm also really excited to start teaching again - I miss having kids in and out of the house, crazy as that sounds!
Today I checked my BMI. I had forgotten to check it the last time I weighed in. Up until this past weigh in, I had been in the "obese" category. (When your Body Mass Index is 30 or higher, you're considered obese.) Well, I'm happy to say that I'm no longer obese, I'm just overweight! My BMI is 29. I'm really trying to get to that "normal" BMI of 18-25. Wanna check your BMI? Click here.
We had a great service at church yesterday and the band ROCKED as usual. I just enjoy it more and more - the 70 minute drive seems to fly by now. Someday I'll figure out how to put songs on here so my many readers (ha!) can hear our awesome band. It's an amazing occurrence, really, as all of the players are paid professionals, but everyone is doing it for the right reasons - that is, worship instead of performance. It's awesome. Everyone works together so well and when Chris gets an idea, he just communicates it and the band just DOES it! No writing out of parts, no transposing of keys, it's just immediate. I can honestly say that I've never been so musically fulfilled - and to think that the heart of this collaboration is to worship....well, it's just beyond words. I'm so thankful to be a part of it.
OK, as promised, here it is. Brian took this picture last night. It's a little blurry, but you get the idea. (Thought I'd also post a picture from this past March so you can see where I was when I started. It was taken at Universal Studios.) Both pictures are clickable. It's kind of hard to compare the two pics since I'm in different poses, but you'll at least see the huge spare tire I had! Notice I said HAD!!!! :-D
Since I'm posting pictures, I thought I'd show you what a crazy scrapper I have been lately. I like things to be neat and clean, and it especially makes me happy when my scraproom is clean. (Yes, I have a scrapbook room.) I clean up pretty much after every project and never leave my desk messy. Anyway, here is what my scrap desk looks like every day:
And here is what it looked like after this weekend:
Don't worry, it's all clean again now. :-) OK, one more. Here is my favorite page from the weekend:
It's the sweet Baby B, trying to get the camera while my mom was attempting to take his picture. He was probably going to put it in his mouth. LOL I love it.
It's been forever. I've been a scrapbooking fiend for the last week or so, culminating in the completion of 12 layouts and 9 cards over this past weekend. I'll be posting some of my stuff this week, because Braden is so cute I just can't resist! Oh, he called me and said "Aunt Sis" over the phone!! And then he roared like a lion. I LOVE IT!
On Saturday, my neighbor came over and we scrapped together all day! She had never scrapped before. She's a stamper and she wanted to get into scrapbooking - so I told her to come right over and I'd share all my stuff. It was a blast! She got so crazy about scrapping - I saw her today and she FINISHED HER ALBUM over the weekend! Stayed up till 3am! A woman after my own heart!
This morning I got a new job! It's nothing exciting, and I'm over-qualified, but it's going to be great for me to get into a routine! And get out of the house! And talk to people! I'll be filling in for the secretary at a local church here in Apopka. She's going on vacation for about 2 months and they needed someone to fill in - a wonderful grandmotherly-type lady that I know from the gym asked if I'd be interested and I'm so excited to be doing something! LOL I'll work 4 hours a day M-F starting in a few weeks and going to the end of October. (Don't worry Jenni, I'll still hang with you guys at Disney! I'll be off by 12:30 every day! Can't wait to see you! Hurry up and get here!)
I also have a few piano students getting ready to start lessons. I'm a little nervous since I haven't taught in over a YEAR! But I'm REALLY looking forward to having music in the house again.
Lately I've been noticing that I can't keep most of my pants up! I don't mind this problem at all! But I really need some new clothes, so I headed out this afternoon to do some shopping. At first I went around as usual, picking up clothes that were the size I thought I might be (one size smaller than what I was when I started my healthy life). I got ONE pair of pants that were two sizes smaller and brought them to the dressing room too, thinking, "Now if I can't wear these, I won't be too upset because I've still got some weight to lose." Well, that pair fit fine! I was shocked! I put on a kind of fitted top and was surprised that it actually looked okay!
Then I noticed that the pants seemed kind of loose and roomy in the front. Dare I get the NEXT size down? No way I'll be able to wear them! But guess what - I tried them on and they fit perfectly! Grinning like a crazy person, I put my regular clothes back on and went all around the store again looking at all the clothes with new eyes. I picked out tons of stuff I bypassed the first time, and I got stuff in my NEW size - THREE SIZES SMALLER THAN WHEN I STARTED!!!! It feels great, I have to say. Not only am I out of plus sizes, I'm FAR AWAY from plus sizes and I never want to go back! Brian took a picture of me in a new outfit tonight - it's amazing how different you look when your clothes FIT! I'll post the picture tomorrow, right now I'm in bed and I'm not getting back up!
I guess that's about all I have to share - things at church are going GREAT - Brian is LOVING his job more than ever - we are blessed with new friends, friends with whom we have a lot in common - we're happy and healthy and in love - life is good. God is good.
I want to give a quick shout out to my dad whose birthday was August 2! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! KEEP AMERICA SINGING! :-)
I weighed in today at the doctor's office (they think I'm crazy because I come in just to use their scale) and I have lost six more pounds! That makes a grand total of 29 pounds lost in almost 4 months. I can't even believe it! I've slacked a bit on the exercise over the last month because it's so horribly hot, so I didn't really expect to lose any. In fact, I was afraid I'd gained! But now I'm right around the same weight I was when I got married. That's a good feeling. To be in the weight range for my height, I need to lose another 29 pounds. It seems like this is the year it's going to happen, finally, once and for all!
Now I can get back into my capri overalls, which is my favorite piece of clothing. :-) The skirt I wore to church yesterday I can pull on and off without unzipping it. It's about time to make a trip to the Goodwill to donate my "fat" clothes, and maybe have some of my skirts taken in. That's a good feeling, too! I guess I'll need to go shopping before too long!
Sometimes I'll be driving along and think, "I need to put THIS in my blog!" But then I'll forget what it was. Therefore, days go by with no posts from me! (Sorry, Leslie!) haha!
Although, my aunt Linda and uncle Gene and cousin Kay came to visit this past weekend. We had a ball. (My cousin Chris came too, but he's here often.) We ate out, lounged around, told funny stories, discussed books, and laughed and laughed. Then they sang in the first service at church on Sunday morning. They are always so much fun to be around!
We've been hanging out with Tim and Christi some more. They are a lot of fun too, and we have a LOT in common! Tim has a podcast on which he reviews movies, and Brian is on there, too. He says about 4 words each time, haha! Someday I'll remember to link up to Tim's podcast on here.
As it's gotten continually hotter, I've been walking continually less. I really love walking every day, but it was getting so horribly hot, I couldn't get my breath! Then my neighbor told me I should come and exercise at the rehab center at the hospital (she works there). Since my doctor smiles on exercise, he signed the release papers and off I went. It's great! I get to chat with her and the people there and exercise away in the air conditioning! It feels wonderful to get back into it a little more again. P.S. - I got into 3 more old pairs of pants! Now I'm having to wear my belt on the third hole, and not long ago I could barely get it fastened into the FIRST hole! :-) I'll weigh in again tomorrow or Monday.
My writing career seems to be coming to an end at the end of August. The project we were working on (www.beginnersguide.com) ended at the end of June, but there was another project lined up. So we jumped right into that one, but it only lasts for July and August. And there's nothing lined up after that. :-( This project has rewards, though! When you get to a certain number, you get gift cards to various places. I'm going to try for 150 articles in August, so I can get the grand prize of a basket full of gift cards!
BUT - Brian's company got a new building that's really nice and new, and it's literally across the parking lot from the old building. They had an open house last Friday night and I met some potential piano students! I've been missing teaching, so I'm ready to get back into it! I also got to meet more of Brian's coworkers and their wives and families. It was really fun! And since then, we've gotten together with some of them! Yay, more friends!!!!
I guess that's about it! Not too much happening around here, just trying to stay cool! Y'all come and visit, we LOVE having people over! But you might want to wait till summer is over - maybe around the middle of November or so??!!
Well, Brian's back at work. I really loved having him home with me for four days in a row!!!! I've been scrapping all weekend. From Saturday to Tuesday, I did 20 layouts and 8 cards!! I might share a few of them over the next few days.
On Monday night we played cosmic mini golf with some friends and it was a ton of fun! (Cosmic mini golf is when the course is black with a bunch of stuff all around painted in fluorescent paint, and there are black lights only.) I got 2 holes in one! (For me, that's unheard of!) Then last night we went downtown and watched some fireworks with more friends - from where we were we could see the Seaworld, Disney, and Universal fireworks. Universal had the coolest and prettiest ones.
Mostly, B and I just spent a lot of time together over the holiday. It was great. It was especially great because I was gone to Vegas, and when I came back he was on deadline at work, so I didn't see him much for a week!
On Friday night, we went to Chili's for my birthday dinner and I had chips and salsa for the first time in months. Yum! Chili's has the best salsa in the world, in my opinion. Then we went to Bruster's for ice cream - haven't had ice cream in months, either! I got birthday cake ice cream and it had icing in it and it was delish! But it was pretty sweet - I couldn't eat it all at once. :-)
Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday when I was getting dressed to go to the fireworks, I put on a pair of shorts that had been pretty tight before. They were so loose that I could easily pull them on and off while they were buttoned and zipped!! :-D I think I'm done with plus sizes - hopefully FOREVER!!!!
Here's one of my favorite pages I did yesterday. It's me and Sammy taking our Nazarene nap on a Sunday afternoon when we still lived in NY. (You can tell it's NY from all the blankets!)
And here's one I did on Saturday of Braden on his first Halloween!
I weighed in at the doctor on Friday morning, and I'd lost 5 more pounds. That makes 23 total since March 28, when I started this health kick! I figured out that this is the most weight I've ever lost at one time. When we first got married and lived in GA, I lost 18 pounds on Weight Watchers. (That was spring of 2001.) I now have 7 more pounds to lose before I'll be back where I STARTED that time! So, that means that when I lose 25 more pounds, I'll be where I was at my lowest weight in GA. Whew! Can you believe I had gained 48 pounds since the spring of 2001? What was I thinking? No wonder my blood pressure and cholesterol were up!!!!
Friday afternoon, I went to Denise's and we scrapped. Rather, she scrapped, and I fought with my adhesive for about an hour! It got stuck and by the time I figured out how to fix it, I had adhesive all over me, Denise's table, and the adhesive dispenser. Ugh! But I did manage to get one 2-page spread done.
Then around 8:00 or so, Denise and I went over to her friend's house and played Bunco. Have you ever played Bunco? It's a dice game that is SO! FUN! I had a blast. You can imagine the wildness of 16 crazy ladies throwing dice as fast as they can and occasionally screaming "BUNCO!" It was way too much fun.
Yesterday we did nothing (well, we walked, of course) and then I went to rehearsal at church. Today, we had a great service. Even though we're driving over an hour to church, it's totally worth it. The Pastor and his family are just wonderful. And the band just sounds so professional! Seriously! Well, they're all paid players, but what great guys they are. It's an honor to play with them, and now I'm singing too, since the girl who sang alto left. (She moved to Memphis.) All in all, I praise God that we've found such a wonderful church.
Tomorrow, we're going to see Marc Broussard at the House of Blues. He just has the most incredible voice, I can't wait! My cousin Chris is going with us, and so is our drummer from church and his wife. It'll be a great time.
