Thursday, January 28, 2010

Speaking of Heart Palpitations...

Hello Everyone!

I mentioned in my last post that I was having some health "issues" last week. Go figure. Most people don't think they'll lose 86+ pounds and THEN have health issues but I did. I turned 40 and started falling apart. LOL!

You may have noticed that I didn't post anything about my weight loss last week, that's because there wasn't a loss... at all. I had a bad week previously with lots of migraines and just feeling bad in general. I've been diagnosed with migraines in the past but really only get them once every four months or so. I was getting one a day and it wasn't as painful as my "regular" ones but I was feeling "foggy" and irritable. I continued to work out and found that my running was really the only thing that made my headaches feel better.

A week ago today, I was feeling pretty lousy but I am the kind of person who believes that the more you worry about feeling lousy, the lousier you'll feel. I just try to persevere and not worry about it. I went about my day and got ready to get weighed at 1:00 like I do every Thursday. I knew it wasn't going to be a good week weight-wise but I also knew that I hadn't eaten too badly and that it couldn't be that bad. WRONG! I was up 3.8 pounds at the scale! Miss Phyllis knew that it couldn't be a true weight gain because I certainly hadn't eaten three entire pizzas that week and she got really serious and said, "Something is not right with you." Remember, I have been working with her for over a year now and I have never had a big gain, ever. I think the biggest I ever had was about a pound. 3.8 was quite a change for me. I started to tell her all the problems I was feeling and she mentioned that perhaps I should have my blood pressure checked. Hmmmmmmm, blood pressure? I've lost 86 pounds, I can't have high blood pressure any more, can I? Well actually, yes, yes, I can.

You see, when I was obese, I was on the "borderline" for having high blood pressure but of course it was always blamed on the fact that I weighed 252 pounds. My dr. would wag her finger at me and tell me that I had to lose weight and that we should "keep an eye" on my hypertension. We never really did but I was aware that I had issues.

Cut back to Thursday. After our weight loss meeting, Phyllis and I got the YMCA's blood pressure cuff from the fitness staff and we went to the employee area to take my blood pressure. I don't even want to tell you what it was but it was HIGH... really, really, high. Phyllis looked at me and told me, "Caren, you cannot work out with your blood pressure that high." I started to cry and realized that my blood pressure must have been running high for a very long time. It was such a relief, but very scary at the same time. After looking back, we realized that I've been under a lot of stress, that I had been trying some new food products that coincidentally had lots of sodium in them and that all of that combined just got to be too much for my body and I was having headaches, shakiness, and irritability all as a result. Thank Goodness for the 3.8 pound water weight gain because it really clued us in to what was going on with me.

Phyllis suggested that I call my doctor immediately and when I told them what was going on, they were able to fit me in within the next hour. I ran home, got The Son off the bus and packed him some snacks, fixed myself up a little bit since I had previously been in my work out clothes and off to the Dr. we went. They did an EKG which freaked me out but thankfully, it was fine. The Dr. prescribed a medicine for me that had a diuretic and a blood pressure medication in it and I was hesitant to take it but did a little research, spoke to my BIL who is a doctor and also spoke to Phyllis and they convinced me that it was in fact the best option. I also made an appointment for Monday morning to go back for another blood pressure check.

I had my scrapbooking weekend and honestly, still felt pretty bad that Friday and Saturday for half of the day but as the weekend went on, I started to feel much better and began to realize how badly I had actually felt the weeks before. Duh. When I went to the doctor on Monday, my blood pressure was down to 128/78! Hooray! The nurse practitioner who I saw that day (and LOVED) said that I should feel really proud of myself because the actual blood pressure medication takes a good two weeks to work and that the diuretic in combination with the low-sodium diet I'd been consuming for the weekend is what actually helped to lower my blood pressure. She also mentioned that I should be happy to have had symptoms because many people don't have symptoms and then end up in the ER suffering from far more serious problems.

So, why did I share all of this with you? I'll admit it's a little personal and I could get accused of "over-sharing" again. I shared it with you so that on the off chance that anyone else out there is feeling like I was, they might have a little clue into what is going on. I am so grateful to my friend, my boss, my guru Miss Phyllis who is so knowledgeable and who knows me so well that she was able to help me figure out what was going on. I am so grateful that I am not suffering from those "migraines" anymore and that I feel smart and less irritable again. I am on blood pressure medication now which sucks but at least I am feeling much, much better. I am also thankful that I've realized I have a hypersensitivity to too much sodium. It's something I really have to watch now but you know what? It just helps me eat healthier, it also helps me be a better nutritionist because when this happens to one of my group members, I'll know exactly what is going on just like Phyllis did with me. I look at all of this as a positive from which I can only get better.

I am fairly confident that I will have a good result at the scale today. If I don't have a loss, it's because of my scrapbooking weekend and all the yummy desserts I ate there but I am pretty sure I'll be back down to my lowest weight I've been or at least right around there. I'll keep you posted...

Thanks for making it this far if you were able to, have a great Thursday! Stay healthy!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Caution! May Cause Heart Palpitations...

Scrapbooking Girls gone Wild!...

Sort of. A facebook friend of mine says I should really call it Scrapbooking Girls gone Mild. She's probably right.

I issue a warning to my sister and others who may be obsessively organized. Read. No. Further. (or at least don't look at any of the photos!)

Did you miss me while I was gone? I have had a few "issues" during the past week and I was getting ready to go away on a Scrapbooking Retreat Weekend with my cousin. I will tell you a little more about the issues at a later date. Things weren't good and I had some pretty scary episodes but it all seems to be taken care of now.

As for the scrapbooking weekend. It turned out to be a really good time. My Cousin Chrissy came from Connecticut to go with me, usually The Sister is able to go, but this year she has The Baby Niece and her nursing needs to worry about so she wasn't able to come. We were bummed and missed her but after she sees the mess the two of us created, she may be relieved, turns out I've found out my Chrissy Cuz might be just as messy a scrapbooker as I am.

We got there late on Friday night after a trip to the craft store and dinner out at Bertucci's. We each had a salad, shared the individual Margherita Pizza and then shared chocolate mousse for dessert, it was delicious. When we got there, we settled in, arranged our supplies and I fielded questions about my 86+ pound weight loss. The last time I saw these ladies was last January so they were pretty surprised.

As the weekend went on we managed to complete some nice layouts. I think Chrissy Cuz got about 17 layouts done and I got 6 done. It's not a lot but I am a very intricate scrapbooker so it takes me a long time. I enjoy the process and quality and don't worry about how many I get finished. Chrissy's are really nice too. Some of the ladies who were there finished 60+ pages so that's a good comparison to see how "little" we actually completed. I bet ya we had just as much fun though. ;)

My tote is organized...

Our tables... not so much.


We worked hard...


And had lots of fun.

I am so thankful that my Chrissy Cuz was able to join me, we had a great time, ate lots of (not so healthy) Pennsylvania Dutch food and made memories in our scrapbooks and with each other. I can't wait until next year...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

(Insert Post Title Here)

Hi Everyone!

Another long stretch of time without a post. I've just been very busy, so what else is new?

Lots of new weight management groups starting up. I have some fantastic people in my groups and I am so honored and excited that they'll be working with me to get healthy. It's such an awesome job that I have and I feel so fortunate. Obviously, I don't blog about other people's journey's since losing weight and getting healthy is such a personal thing but I've had a lot of success in my groups and have seen so many healthy changes in people that it thrills me, I love helping people realize how much fun it is to be healthy!

The Son turned six last weekend. We had a party for him at the Y and it was very successful. I have pictures of course but you may have to wait a while to see some of those. My MIL visited and we had a really nice time. She lives in Maine which is hard on The Son, and on her but she makes time to see us as much as she can.

I am going away for the weekend with my fantastic cousin, Chrissy Cuz. She is coming from Connecticut to go to a scrapbooking weekend away with me. My sister usually goes but her daughter, The Baby Niece, is a little too high maintenance right now for her to be able to join us. We're sad about that and will miss her a lot. Next year Sissy, next year... So, I've been uploading and uploading and uploading pictures to have them printed at CVS. Next year, will someone please remind me to start this in November, not a couple days before I have to go. I always have good intentions to get started early but alas, it never happens.

I'm about to get The Son ready for school and myself ready for the gym and work. If you notice my running mileage in my sidebar, you'll notice it's gone down considerably, that's because I am trying not to over do it so that I can have good runs for my training plan. I am running more than the plan suggests because I just can't bring myself to run only three even when it tells me to do three, I just use the extra miles as warm-up and cool down. Soon, I'll be wishing it only asked me to do three I'm sure!

Have a great day everyone! I have a few more photos to upload and then we're heading out.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Through the Eyes of My Child

The Son drew the picture above for me the other day. He really loves to draw and spends his time creating lots of interesting pictures that are usually of new Bakugans or some kind of robot he invented. Normally, they don't look like anything that anyone can actually figure out which is fine because that will lead to some interesting stories and descriptions, which of course, The Husband and I love. See the picture above though? Do you know what that is? Well, it's me on the treadmill of course! (I'm SO skinny! ;) ) The Son drew that for me recently because he knew I was having some "blister issues" and he wanted me to feel better. I was so excited that he drew me working out because it means that he really gets it that I am an active person and that fitness is important to me. I am so proud that I have become this good example to him. I put the picture in the front of my notebook that I use for my weight loss groups so that I can show my students. It's a big accomplishment for me that The Son sees me that way. I should also mention that he recently saw a "before" picture of me and didn't know it was me!

I've had people tell me they don't want to put their kids in the child care area at the Y and take the time to work out because they want to spend as much time with their kids as they can. Usually, it's working parents who truly don't get to spend as much time as they'd like to with their kids. Yes, it's important to spend time with your children, very important, but I also think there is great value in letting your kids see you take time to take care of yourself. Perhaps one can't work out for a couple hours a day like I am able to do when The Son is in school but when someone can take 45 minutes to an hour a couple times a week to stay healthy, is only going to be good for them and their child(ren.)

A little update about my progress, I lost another 2.2 pounds this week! I am now in a new category, the 160s! I cannot remember the last time I was in the 160s! I am meeting with my trainer today so I will also get measurements and find out how much my body fat is going down. I'll update with any good results.

Since I am posting a bit about The Son and how he views things, I wanted to let you know that he views our dogs, especially Ziggy as his brother. He actually told his Kindergarten teacher that he was the "middle" child and he had her very confused because she was sure he was an only child. Evidently, he exhibits a lot of classic traits of an "only." It took her a couple days to realize that he was referring to dogs as his brothers.... looking at the pictures below however, can you blame him? Ziggy is such a special boy, he and The Son love each other and as you can see, he's pretty comfortable thinking of himself as a brother too. I really miss Iago, our Miniature Pinscher who died a little more than a year ago but Ziggy is slowly starting to become my canine boy just like Iago was. It's pretty safe to say that as cute as puppies are, I'm much more of an "adult dog girl." than a "puppy girl."




Our other dog isn't quite as snuggly, he's a bit older and he's an Italian Greyhound named DaVinci (Vinnie for short). We think of him as the less sociable teenage brother... poor old guy. I'll have to get a few pictures of him to show you because as crazy and neurotic as he is, he's a cute little guy.

Well, I guess I should be signing off for now. Have a great Friday! Woo HOO! It's FRIDAY! Tomorrow is The Son's 6th birthday and Sunday is his party at the Y as well as the aforementioned Vinnie's 12th birthday! The MIL is coming from Maine to visit and we just have an over all busy, busy weekend. I hope yours is fun too!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Recipe Resolution: Shrimp Fra Diavolo

It's my first recipe post of the new year! If you read my blog, you'll remember that I made a resolution to try two new recipes a month and to blog about them. I want to eventually post them on my "Healthy Living" blog but since I haven't been working on that one, I'll just post this here. I got the recipe from "Cooking Light" magazine, not only is it a healthy and yummy recipe, it's also a budget conscious recipe and says that each serving costs about $2.50.

I simply copied and pasted so that I didn't have to type the whole thing but the pictures are of my cooking and my final product.

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Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Be sure to use inexpensive medium-size shrimp in this garlicky, spicy classic.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta and about 1 1/4 cups sauce)

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces uncooked linguine
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 3/4 cup diced onion
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; keep warm.

2. While pasta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and shrimp; sauté or 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until softened.

Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon garlic, pepper, basil, and oregano; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in tomato paste and lemon juice; cook 1 minute or until slightly darkened.

Stir in crushed tomatoes, salt, and diced tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until thickened.

(Side note: I love this brand, they're really yummy tomatoes, in my market, they're in the organic section, I must also admit that I don't buy a lot of canned tomatoes so frankly, they may not be all that much better than any other canned tomatoes... anyway, they're good, especially the "fire roasted" crushed ones. )

Return shrimp to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve over pasta. You can click on the link to get all the nutritional information but the serving below is approximately 475 calories.

My review:

This recipe was very easy and quite tasty. It was also quite spicy. The Husband loved how spicy it was but for me it was a bit too much, I will make this again with half of the red pepper and then allow The Husband to add a little more of his own. We ate this for two days and for the second day, I added some plain tomatoes to the spicy sauce which helped cut the spice a great deal. I used pre-cooked frozen shrimp. It was BOGO a the grocery store a few weeks ago and it was actually quite yummy, I'm sure fresh shrimp would be equally as good if not better. I also cut out the two Tablespoons of oil which cuts 240 calories from the recipe, I used cooking spray instead, I don't notice a difference and it lightens each serving up by 60 calories. All in all, this was an easy, healthy recipe that I will definitely make again.

Give it a try and let me know what you think! Happy Thursday all! I get weighed today, we'll see if this recipe helped me lose any more. I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Mid-Week Quickie

Hi All!

I was all set to post about my new recipe that I tried on Monday night when things started getting blurry and I started getting pain in my head... another migraine! I've been getting them WAY too often lately and it's starting to concern me. I used to get them once every three or four months or so and now it's weekly. It sucks, truly sucks.

I took four Advil and drank two giant glasses of water and stopped thinking about posting about my new recipe. I am feeling a little bit better right now but a little shaky and groggy, migraines make me feel like what I imagine a minor stroke patient might feel like. Words don't come easily, thoughts don't form easily and my body feels a little uneasy over all. I am volunteering in The Son's classroom today, I sure hope I can spell by 1:00 since we're doing KidWriting!

After going to the classroom, I am going to head to the Y to complete day two of my half marathon training. My plan only calls for me to run 2 miles at a 10:30 pace today and that's totally doable for me. The challenge would be doind ONLY two miles, I might feel the need to do more. I find that the adrenaline I get from running, helps my headaches so I'm really looking forward to it. I pick The Son up at 3:00 and then go back to the Y to teach swimming this evening. Busy day! I hope I can do it all...

Have a great Wednesday everyone! I'll post that new recipe and recipe review later this week when I'm not feeling "foggy."

Monday, January 11, 2010

NO! This does not make me a grandmother!

Many of you know that I used to be an elementary school teacher. For six years, I taught in the typical inner-city neighborhood in North Philadelphia at "Frederick Douglass Elementary School." That's where I met Cory.

Cory was a student in my third grade class and then I had him the following year in fourth grade when I "looped" and kept the same students. Cory was one of those kids with a big personality and lots of smarts. He wasn't always the best behaved student in my class but for sure, he wasn't the worst. He spoke up when he needed something, he stayed after school just because he wanted to and most importantly, over the summer, he looked up my phone number in the phone book and called me! I was shocked! In fifth grade, he moved on to another teacher but we've kept in touch ever since he was 8 years old and my third grade student.

Cory has had his fair share of troubles, his mother passed away quite a few years ago and he and his many brothers and sisters were basically left to take care of themselves and each other, in spite of all that, Cory graduated from high school, he even attended Millersville University for a few semesters until he had trouble paying his tuition. It's not the best situation that he had to leave the University but I feel confident that Cory will finish college some day, it's just going to take him a little longer than some.

Cory is 23 years old now and his girlfriend just had a baby! I am not thrilled that he isn't married, or that his girlfriend had a baby before he actually graduated from college BUT... I love him so what can I do but support them?

They came to visit us this weekend, the baby is also named Cory and Big Cory introduced me to little Cory as Grandmom! I put a stop to that right away! I am not ready to be called Grandmom and in all honesty, I want to save that title for when The Son has a wife who has babies. I told him I could be Aunt Kiki which is what my nieces call me. (I don't know why but I like it!) So, here's a few pictures of our weekend. It was lots of fun and I hope that we'll get to see lots more of this sweet little guy and his parents.


The Son loved the baby but still couldn't resist acting silly in a photo!

Here's a better one...


Check out this cute face! I love his big, dark, eyes! He's such a good baby, honestly, the whole time they were here, I barely heard this little guy cry. Cory Sr. says he pretty much only cries when he's hungry or doesn't want to be in his car seat, what a good little guy!

Daddy with his boy!
Mommy with her boy!

The happy family!


Hangin' out and lookin' cute!

Adorable, wouldn't you agree?

Today is the start of my training for the Broad Street Run, my blister is still bothering me but on today's agenda is running three miles at an 11:00 minute pace so that shouldn't be too difficult for me. This whole week's training plan only has me running 8 miles total which for me is nothing... any runners out there want to give me advice? Do I stick to exactly what the plan says or can I do an extra day or so to get in a few more miles, it's hard to do only 8! I could do the elliptical or AMT machine on the off days if that would be better but I'd much rather run. Please, let me know your thoughts.

Have a great day everyone! Enjoy your Monday!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sunday Fun Day!

Well, not THAT fun of a day but so far I've been a little productive so that's always good. I got caught up on my oh, so important facebooking. Replying to messages, responding to others status updates and my general over-sharing that I am so apt to do. ;) I also planned out our dinner menu for the week and I am thrilled to say that it contains TWO brand new recipes! If I manage to follow through with what I've planned, I'll meet my monthly goal of trying the recipes and then I'll simply have to blog about them. I also tried to plan to use up food items that we already have because I don't know about you but we tend to go to the grocery store before really using up all the things we've already bought and that's a bad habit to be in in this "tough economy." I made up a shopping list for what I have to purchase and if all goes well, I shouldn't have to step foot in the grocery store more than once this week. I forgot to mention that that is also a resolution of mine, to make a list and stick to it and then USE UP what we bought.

So, do you want to know what we're having this week? Too bad, I'm going to tell you, I put the items in italic that we already had.

Sunday-
London Broil, roasted asparagus, potatoes, biscuits (this is all left over from last night)

Monday-
Shrimp Fra Diavolo (new recipe from Cooking Light) we already had the shrimp, salad, garlic bread flat

Tuesday-
same as Monday night, it's a recipe for 4 servings and The Son won't eat any.

Wednesday-
Trader Joe's Marinated Chicken, Broccoli, Cauliflower Rice (I'll have to tell you about this) and Wild Rice, also from TJ's

Thursday-
Blueberry Bison Burgers (new recipe from Eating Well cookbook, it sounds weird doesn't it?) we already had the bison, Baked chips and a veggie.

Friday-
Trader Joe's Ravioli, salad and garlic bread flat.

Saturday is The Son's sixth birthday and the MIL is coming from Maine, it's also Parent's Night Out at the Y and The Son is going to attend, he's thrilled because he'll be six which means he will be allowed to swim as a part of the PNO fun! I am guessing that The Husband, The MIL and I will all go out somewhere for dinner, THAT sounds pretty thrilling to me! ha ha! That's about as far ahead as I can think at this point.

We had some company visiting us this weekend, the youngest visitor will definitely be the subject of a blog post this week and trust me, the cuteness will be worth waiting for. I am heading to the gym today for a good run and a leg work out, I had some really ugly blisters on the arches of my feet from Friday and I bought some "advanced healing blister" Band-aids, some new socks with NO cotton in them and some Band-aid "Friction Block Stick." I'll give you a report as to if this all works because blisters SUCK! I hate being sidelined by a little thing on my foot that The Son says looks like a dried apricot. ha ha!

Enjoy your Sunday everyone! I am off to get ready for the YMCA!

Friday, January 8, 2010

...And the Training Begins!

It's time to start thinking about my most difficult New Year's Resolution or as I like to call it, "The Hardest Physical Thing I've Ever Done!" (No, giving birth wouldn't fit that bill, I had an epidural and a C-section and although it was scary at the time, it wasn't really hard physically) Anyway...

It's time to start training for the Broad Street Run. I mentioned a couple days ago that Philadelphia's Broad Street Run is the biggest ten-mile run in the country and I don't know why but I got it into my head that I am going to be a part of it this year. I also figured that if I'm going to do a ten-mile race, I may as well train for a half marathon so that if one comes up that I want to do, I'll be ready, it's only three miles more and at that point, does it really matter?

I found a training program in "Fitness" magazine (which I recently subscribed to for $5 at amazon.com. As of today they still have this deal) I LOVE Fitness magazine, it's full of great tips for healthy living and often has a few good and easy healthy recipes in each issue.

The training program says that if you can run two miles without stopping, you can train for a half marathon. Check! I can do that! It starts with three weeks of what I would consider fast-walking and jogging so I am going to skip those weeks, I am already doing WAY more than that for my regular work outs. I'm running more than 15 miles a week and this training plan is starting with only 6 miles a week. I am going to start at Week 5 where it asks you to run two or three miles at an 11:30 pace which is on the easier side for me but I don't want to start off too challenging, as the program progresses they take you through all kinds of hills and other various drills to improve your speed and distance. The program never goes above a 10:30 minute mile so I know it's totally achievable for me.

I tried to find the link for you and realized that it's probably actually a link to "More" magazine which is evidently a fitness magazine for the 40+ set and ummmm, yeah. That would be me. ( I think More and Fitness are affiliated with each other) Anyway, here is the link to the pdf file if you're interested in checking it out yourself.

Today I am going to do a regular longer run and my shoulder workout. I got weighed yesterday and after all the holiday festivities I was DOWN .4 of a pound. Not too much but considering the average American gains 5-9 pounds over the holidays, I'm feeling pretty darn good about it! I have given myself a goal of 20 more pounds to lose by June 1, 2010. That makes a little less than a pound a week and again should be a very achievable goal for me.

Thanks to all who responded to my frenemy posts, (scroll down if you want to read them) I did end up inviting the son of The Frenemy to the party because The Son would want it that way. I haven't decided what to do about my BFF (Bitchy French Friend) yet but boy, you girls aren't a very forgiving bunch... are you! ;) Thanks again for all the support! Enjoy your Friday!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Frenemy Update!

If you need to get caught up on the stupid drama that is my life, you can read about it here. If you already read it...

Guess who called me this evening? That's right, my BFF (aka Bitchy French Frenemy,
I'm so clever) I was actually surprised because I thought I had her number in my phone but I must only have her cell phone number so I answered. She started off by saying she was sorry that what she had done was mean and that she was so, so, so, so, sorry. I asked her why she had done what she did and she explained to me that none of her other Facebook Friends posted information like I did and that she felt like I was sharing too much and that culturally it was very different than what she's used to. (She's lived here for 7 years and is married to an American man) I find it very shocking that NONE of her other Facebook Friends post mundane daily info about themselves but she swears it's true. I even read her some of my friend's status updates and she swears that her friends don't post like this.

For example:

"Friend #1 is having a great night :) 20 mins till bedtime for the kids...I told them I've been letting them stay up later...but back to the routine!!! Hope the snow isn't bad tomorrow I want to hit the gym in the morning :)"

"Friend #2 is back from the gym.....ran 4 miles and did weights. Updating from Husband's iphone, I know what I want for my birthday. :)"

"Friend #3 finally got out and about today! Feeling better and the sun was still shining. =O)

and my so offensive over-sharing status update...

"CityMomma/CountryMomma is home from the gym. Ran 4 miles tonight but had to suffer through a treadmill with no TV! ;) Off to take a quick shower and then make a nice, healthy dinner. Yum!"

See what I mean? I don't get how none of her friends post like this, trust me, I have 30 -50 more for today alone. Isn't that what facebook and other social media venues are?

She also didn't know about networking blogs or that people made their blogs public and that people actually made money from blogging. Basically, she didn't know anything about blogs. She couldn't figure out why I would share personal information and then link it up to Facebook.

She also didn't know that I would be able to see her status update and that I would then be able to figure out a reasonable approximation of what she said with an on-line FREE translation program. Her husband told her this and evidently told her she was crazy and she needed to take it down or not write in the first place. (Thanks to the American Husband)

She had a bad day, she took it out on me because she was irritated by my "over sharing" which as I hope most would agree was not really over sharing (I've had "friends" over share, telling graphic details of what your boyfriend is going to do with you and some honey when he gets out of jail is over sharing... former student... don't ask, I deleted her.) and she apologized over and over and over and said that if she was me, she would not want to be friends with her again. I know it takes a big person to admit that they were wrong and I do appreciate that she called me and apologized. A mutual friend of ours put her up to it because she basically told her she was wrong and that because she "started the fight, she needed to finish it" (Thanks to the Mutual Friend)

So now that leaves me deciding what to do. I will admit that I didn't invite her son to The Son's 6th birthday party next weekend because this all took place as I was mailing out the invites. I plan on discussing it with The Husband but I will probably invite him. I don't want to be mean to children because of the mistakes of a parent, I will say that I would not be inviting him if she had not apologized. I'm not THAT big of a person.

So, that's the update. What would you do? I know for a fact that we will NEVER be facebook friends again but friends who hang out and do crafts or invite each other to their New Year's Eve parties? J'y penserai (That is what I think means "I'll think about it" according to my French translator. ;) )

Enough of the juvenile drama, tomorrow we will be back to our regular scheduled, over-sharing posts...


Frenemies

Have you ever had a "friend" who you just can't seem to please no matter what you do? Why do we let these people continue to hurt us, upset us and treat us badly? Do men do the same thing? THAT I highly doubt.

Those of you who are my Facebook Friends, probably know that I'm referring to a recent episode that I had with a former FB "friend" and her love of posting status updates in her native language of French, only this last time, her status update was snarky crap about me! ME? I guess she didn't realize that I could google a translation program and get the jist of what was being said or ask a friend who is a French teacher or one of my husband's Cameroonian students to translate for me. I still can't even quite figure out why I am such an annoyance that anything negative had to be said about me in the first place. The comments related to my blog and MY status updates which honestly, aren't scandalous but usually just talk about how many miles I run, what I'm making for dinner or if I get really exciting, something funny that The Son has said to me. Isn't that what social networking is all about? I like to hear that my friend Cristina in Texas just got a new running toy and realized that she's running faster than she thought or that my friend Andrea in Delaware is going to running TWO half marathons within weeks of each other or that my friend Heidi in Pennsylvania finally had foot surgery but can't get her little one to stop jumping on the bed so that her foot won't hurt as it heals... I LIKE these updates! And if I don't, you know what? I don't read them! For example, my friend Melissa who likes to post occasional Bible passages, I am NOT a Bible passage kind of girl so I just don't read those, do I let it bother me? NO! It's her Facebook page to do with what she wants!

As for blogs, I have lots of friends who have networked their blogs to Facebook, if it's an entry I want to read, I read it, if not, I don't, simple as that. No need to bitch in another language about these people or their social networking content. I still don't understand why it was done about me AND yes, I am hurt. Really hurt.

So, I get back to my original question, have you ever had a friend that you can't seem to please no matter what you do? I'm 40 years old people, I feel like this crap shouldn't be going on in my life any more and as much as I try to say, "I won't let it bother me," "I'll get over it," "She's not worth it." It still hurts.

This particular friend was mad at me months ago, during the summer she deleted me from FB, I never really found out what I did but after a couple months of not talking to me, she told me that I had said something that hurt her feelings and she didn't feel like I was a very good friend but that she missed me and wanted to resume our friendship again. I should add that she NEVER actually told me what it was that I said or did so I still don't know but I made a conscious effort to be more sensitive, considerate and thoughtful than I had before. I even invited her to attend an upcoming scrapbooking weekend with me and my cousin and sister because I know how much she likes to scrapbook and it's local and I thought she might like to get away. I am an abrupt person, I know that, I know I can come off as harsh but I really never mean to hurt anyone's feelings, it's just my manner. If someone tells me I hurt them, I feel bad, I apologize, I'd like to know so that I can fix it. Cut to a few days ago when I invited her and her family to my New Year's Eve party. It was fun, I thought we all had a great time and then a couple days later, I see these mysterious French status updates that I eventually translated and realized were nasty things about me. UGH! WHAT THE...? WHY?

I called her on the phone, she didn't answer, I left a message that I was deleting her so that she wouldn't be bothered about my status updates and networked blog anymore and I also said, "This friendship is over, I thought we were friends again but clearly, I was wrong." I told her that I was deleting her from FB and that was at least offering the courtesy of a call which didn't happen with her when she deleted me before. I promptly hung up after feeling instantly transported back to high school! I shouldn't have let it get to me so much but I couldn't help it, I feel so betrayed and taken and can't help but wonder if maybe this was her plan all along because perhaps what I said before was so hurtful to her (not that I know what it was) that she's been planning on getting back at me. Keeping with the high school feel, all I can think to say is "Whatever."

I'd like to end by thanking all of you who commented on facebook or this blog yesterday and who support me, who understand social networking and blogging and especially to those of you who I've known for 6+ years and have never actually met in person, you girls are better friends than people who I live right down the street from and see on a regular basis. I would never call you "virtual" friends, you're real friends who I just happened to meet virtually and I really hope that someday we can all meet in person because you are all special to me. Thanks.

I know it will continue to hurt me, irritate me, confuse me and I'll continue to question why this all actually happened but I have to look at the bright side and know that truly, this isn't a person I need in my life, even if she never intended for me to realize her comments were about me, the fact is that they were and for some reason she has an inner dislike for me that I will not be able to change. Lesson learned. "Au Revoir Frenemy, Au Revoir."


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Better Late than Never...

I finally came up with some New Year's Resolutions. At first, when I thought about it, I thought it might be silly because generally people don't keep resolutions but then I realized that I lost 85 pounds last year so I guess that means I DO keep resolutions. ;) I decided to pick a few things that were attainable that I knew I could achieve. I should be making a resolution to be more organized and to fold and put away my laundry as soon as it's finished (my Sister is laughing her ass off right now, aren't you Cathy?) but I knew that would never happen, so why bother even trying?

So here they are...

#1 - Try a new recipe at least two times a month and blog about it. I'd really like to build my "HungryMomma/HealthyMomma" blog but I haven't had the opportunity to do much with it. I'll post these new recipes on my healthy blog with a link from THIS blog so that will be a way to start building it. An added mini-resolution is to really work on building that blog but this is a measurable way to start.

#2 - Train for and Complete the "Broad Street Run" The Broad Street run is the biggest ten-mile race in the country. It starts at Philadelphia's Central High School and continues all the way down Broad Street (duh.) to the Philadelphia Naval Yard. I've heard it's a fairly easy ten miles and that most of it is ever so slightly down hill. I can run six miles now (with effort) but because the race isn't until early May, I have plenty of time to train. I am going to train with a half marathon program because that is on my agenda this year too and I figure if I can run 13.1 miles, 10 will be easy! I'm starting this next week and I'll update more on the program I've found at that time.

#3 - Continue with my Healthy Lifestyle and lose (at least) the last 20 pounds that I have left. This is sort of a silly one for a resolution because it is a part of my life now but I need to mention it if only to refocus myself and to know that it WILL happen this year.

That's about it for my "resolutions." I will try to be a bit more organized this year as well....



or not. (hee hee.)

Happy belated new year everyone, enjoy your Wednesday!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Bad Attitude...

I know I shouldn't feel this way and as a nutritionist I should want people to get healthy but I write the following with a disclaimer saying that I've been very cranky for the past few days and working out is the only thing that makes me feel better and then when I get there, every treadmill is full so with out further adieu...

Dear People who just joined the Gym because it's a New Year:

Where have you been all year? The gym has been empty, the treadmills all available and now suddenly because the date has changed you feel the need to come work out?

I am a devoted gym member, I've been here faithfully almost every day. All of a sudden, I come to work out and there you are, hanging on for dear life with the treadmill set at an obviously too difficult incline. Do you know that if you lowered your incline, let go and used your arms while walking that you'd get a much better work out? Anyway...we all know that in six to eight weeks, you'll be tired of coming, disillusioned and bored anyway so let's just make it easier on everyone, go ahead and leave now.

And while we're at it. Smoking is not good for you, smoking a cigarette and then getting on the treadmill next to me is not good for you either. Your sweaty smoke smell, and stanky smoke clothes odorwafting over towards me while I try to work hard and breathe deeply is seriously unpleasant and honestly, just quitting the smoking is going to benefit your health WAY more than huffing and puffing and wheezing away on the treadmill ten minutes after smoking a cigarette. Perfume doesn't cover it up, you're not fooling anyone. Perfume is pretty much just as offensive and the two of them combined make me want to hurl.

Lastly, for those of you who DO plan on continuing after the "gym honeymoon phase" is over, good for you! Keep coming, keep working out. Please don't forget about the healthy eating, you'll feel great as those pounds come off but could you try to at least leave me a treadmill between the hours of noon and three? I'll be there, we can roll our eyes at the treadmill holder on-ers, the smokers and the excessive perfume wearers together.

Thank you and have a great work out.
CityMomma/CountryMomma

The Blahs... I haz 'em

It's 2010... I know you all know that it's a new month, a new year, a new decade. I just can't seem to get with the program and embrace it however. I don't know why that is.

The Son did not go back to school today, he's been sick for the past couple days with an on and off fever, a little vomiting and just general crankiness. When he wasn't feeling well this morning, we decided to take him to the doctor and lo and behold... the child has an ear infection! The doctor was shocked because The Son acted as friendly and as cute as can be, he told us he's had no ear pain other than his ear feeling "a little weird" and he acted like such a Big Boy at the doctor's office. When she looked in his ear, she couldn't believe how badly infected it was, he's on antibiotics now and spent the last hour+ playing with play-doh.

So, I guess The Son not going back to school hasn't helped me feel like I should be getting back into the swing of things either. I'm trying... I really hate the new year, the holidays are over and we just have months and months of cold weather to look forward to, I need to snap out of it for sure.

My holiday decorations are still up. Still. Up. I haven't felt the motivation to begin taking them all down but I plan on doing it one of these days. Or weeks.

I've been feeling out of control with my eating and again, I don't know why that is. I haven't had my meeting for a couple weeks because my meeting day is Thursday and the past few Thursdays have been holidays. We're back again this Thursday and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to get it back under control, I've been journaling off and on but I know that I need to focus, I did OK over the holidays but not as good as I would have liked to.

The Husband has been sick and he's coming home early so that I can go to the Y for a work out and a swim instructor meeting, I know the working out will help me feel a little bit better. I hope that The Son will make it to school tomorrow and perhaps that will get me heading in the right direction. I have a couple "resolutions" I want to tell you about but I'm not really feeling that right now either. I'll try to snap out of it because I hate feeling like this.

Hope you're all doing better than I am with this new year and that your Monday was OK.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

I just updated my running mileage in my sidebar...

but I didn't want to lose the record of the following completely so I'm copying and pasting it here.
I'll be back to my regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

************************************

Miles I've run since the Race for Hope, November 1, 2009...


11-1-09 to 11-7-09 - 22 miles

11-8-09 to 11-14-09 - 19.75 miles
11-15-09 to 11-21-09 - 17.25 miles
11-22-09 to 11-28-09 - 18.75 miles
11-29-09 to 12-5-09 - 25 miles
12-6-09 to 12-12-09 -25 miles
12-13-09 to 12-19-09 - 18.50 miles
12-20-09 to 12-26-09 -19.50 miles
12-27-09 to present - 14.5 miles

Total 180.25 miles