On your mark... get set... GO!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I had a busy Monday and didn't get a chance to come on and blog but I can update you about my weekend today!

I had a great weekend! After work on Saturday, I headed out to my sister's house, we were doing a race together on Sunday. My sister invited me to come a day early so that we could go to her gym together and work out and so that we could also go out for a bite to eat together sans kids.

We had a nice work out, did 15 minutes on the stairmill and then ran a couple miles before doing our back, triceps and shoulder weights. We decided that we had to do the same work out because we're sisters and we have to do everything the same. ;) We took a few pictures after we got ready to go out.

This little beauty was already sleeping but I can't leave her out can I? The Baby Niece is a very serious girl, can you tell?

We had a nice dinner but knew that we couldn't stay out too late because we had a big race to run in the next day so we headed home and went straight to bed.

The next morning we woke up, and got ready to go. The BIL who is a high-powered, much sought after, renowned, gastroenterologist had to leave the house at 4:15 AM for his rounds. In other words, he's a newer doctor and he's the low man on the totem pole so he was on call and had to go in on a Sunday morning. It was just the girls, basically this meant that my sister got her girls ready and I only had to worry about myself. We headed out around 7:50 AM.

We got there in plenty of time and guess who was there to meet us? These two handsome guys!

I was so happy to see them! They were scheduled to do the one mile walk which meant that The Husband was scheduled to carry The Son on his shoulders for one mile because The Son was feeling particularly lazy this day... good workout Honey!

Here they are lining up at the start line for the walk.



Here's me and The Sissy before we got ready to run... it was a smaller race in a beautiful state park. Only 91 runners participated. The race was to help benefit the computer lab of The Niece's preschool which is also a K-8 school.

Here I am crossing the finish line... I finished in 29:44 which is a personal record! I was SO thrilled and never thought I would finish in less than half an hour. I started off really slowly and was actually the last one in the entire group of runners but I knew that I had to pace myself and not start off too fast. My iPod helped me to stay steady and I picked up my speed as I went along and passed lots and lots of runners. It was a somewhat hilly course and I have trained a lot on hills so I am sure that helped me. I ran the entire thing even up the very last steep, steep hill that I thought was going to kill me! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger though right?

I even slowed down a bit when I was able to see the time clock because I was afraid I'd have no room to grow if I finished too fast and I'd like to be able to do a couple more PRs. Speaking of a PR, The Sissy finished in 27:18 but hated every second of it! I'm still proud of her.

I am still thrilled with my time and feel like I want to run around and tell everyone! Thanks for sticking with me if you read this far. I have some more pictures from our super-fun weekend but tomorrow is a special day for a furry member of my family so I think tomorrow's post will be devoted to him... more pictures on Thursday perhaps?

Have a great day everyone! I am off to get The Son ready for school and myself ready for the gym... weigh in on Thursday you know and I had a decadent weekend. Bye for now!

So, I guess it's been a week since I last blogged...

Basically, I suck as a blogger these days. So sorry! If I had anyone other than my sister and dad and maybe Darlene and MWP read this blog, I'll be lucky if they're still checking me out.

"What have I been doing?," you ask. Well, besides my normal working out and teaching swimming lessons, I've been selling all my "big girl" and maternity clothes on e-bay. I have some really nice things, mostly from Lane Bryant and I'd like to see if I can get any money for them as opposed to just donating them all to Goodwill. I'm using the money to start buying things that fit me now. I have a very limited wardrobe but I'm still hesitant to buy since I will be losing at least 30 more pounds.

We did go to the mall yesterday and I got a few things. Two new bras that I paid WAY too much for but I managed to get a great story for the blog that I'll be writing about this week and I also bought a couple of long sleeved t-shirts from Old Navy that should last me for a while, even as I continue to lose. I have a good pair of jeans, a casual pair of Levi's jeans that I bought at Goodwill and a pair of black pants that fit and are on the tighter side so they should continue to fit for a while and of course, I have the Talbots items I recently bought at Goodwill. I need a few pieces to go with them like a nice basic white blouse. I have a couple of dresses too. (I LOVE dresses.) I'm finding it difficult to shop and I never thought I'd say that. Part of it is that I'm on a tight budget and part of it is that I have nothing in my wardrobe except the aforementioned items so there's really nothing to build on if that makes any sense. I don't want to buy much because I will be getting smaller and don't want to waste money so I guess for now, I'll just stick to my limited wardrobe and items that will definitely fit me for a while. Perhaps I'll have another stroke of good luck next time I hit the Goodwill.

I've been trying things on in the stores and I'm sure the fitting room people hate me because I'm not actually buying anything. I just want to know what size I am. I've also realized it's amazing the difference in the amount of clothing available to a regular-size woman as opposed to a plus-size woman. Back in January, I was around a size 22 maybe an 18/20 on the top depending on the shirt. Now I have realized that I'm a 14! I have some pants that fit that are a 12 and my 16s are getting big so the average right now and what seems to be fitting me pretty much in each store is a 14 in pants, and a Large or Medium in tops. I'm thrilled with that but ultimately, I'd like to be around an 8 or a 10. I can't let myself forget that I still have what is considered a BMI of an "overweight" person.

Today is The Husband's birthday and I'm making a "Cooking Light" recipe for his dinner, Bucatini with Mushrooms. I am in LOVE with mushrooms these days. I don't know if it's because we live in Mushroom Land and they're exceptionally good here but I simply can't get enough of them. I am SO excited to try this recipe. If it's good, I'll do an additional post about it. I must admit that even though it's in "Cooking Light" magazine, it's not as light as I'd normally like but it seems like a nice treat for The Husband so I've eaten a small lunch in preparation for decadence. ;) On that note, I'm off to the grocery store. I have an interesting post planned on some diet controversy as well this week. Let's hope those plans actually come to fruition and I find the time to blog. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Weekend Update

It's been a busy, busy weekend. It usually is. I managed to get a few things done that I have been wanting to accomplish for a while. Blogging however, was not one of them. I am feeling overwhelmed with everything that's going on in my life and unfortunately, the blog is suffering.

First off, I'd like to thank those who left me comments regarding my last post. It's such a big change in my life and having people in real life and in the blogosphere who support me makes it so much easier. I'm proud of myself and I probably get a little bit annoying with my constant thoughts about health, diet and exercise. It's the first time in my life though that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a forever change. I don't know why it took me nearly 40 years to get to this point though.

I had a pretty big victory this weekend... I ran a treadmill 5K in 32 minutes and 27 seconds! The fastest I had ever done it before was 34:30 so shaving off two minutes and three seconds is huge. I hope that I can continue to cut down my time and that that wasn't just a fluke. The Sister and I are running a brain cancer run in honor of our mother in early November and I want to do well.

I also got a big task accomplished this week. I listed all my plus size maternity clothing on e-bay and started listing all my "big girl" clothes. I already sold three dresses, one pair of pants and a lot of Lane Bryant items and have some nice bids going on a couple other things. The maternity stuff just got finalized today so I don't know what to expect that will bring in. I doubt that The Husband and I will have another child but if we did, I wouldn't be able to fit into any of that maternity stuff anyway so I thought... sell it! I will continue to list all my bigger clothes until they are gone. There as absolutely no reason to keep them and I have lots and lots and lots of clothes.

So this week will probably be as busy as the past few weeks have been. I stupidly agreed to teach an art class at the Y because the original teacher bailed and it's stressing me out because it's right after swimming lessons on Wednesdays. The Son was very tired last week and I really wish I hadn't agreed to do it. Ugh! I guess I have to stick it out for the rest of the session though.

Well, on that note, I'm off to google some art lessons that I can do with my students. Enjoy your Monday and I'll try to get back to the blog at least a couple times this week.

Weekend Update

Just a few little updates about me and what's going on in my ever so exciting life.

1. I am officially a sell-out. Yes, I added ads to my blog through Googles's adsense. Anyone can do it really, it's quite easy. Here MamaKat has a great post that gives you a bit more info so you too can add ads to your blog. Just so you know, when a person has ads on their blog, they get money each time you click on the ads. It's a small amount but small amounts add up. The person who has ads on their blog is prohibited from asking you to click on their ads...strictly prohibited so of course, I would never actually do that.

2. Remember a couple months ago when I had to stop seeing my good friend Chardonnay? Well, we definitely haven't been spending much time together at all and the results are that I'm losing weight. BUT... last night her cousin Mr. Malbec came over with some girlfriends of mine. CityMomma/CountryMomma spent a little too much time with Mr. Malbec and now, I'm suffering from a headache. I even had to go back to bed this morning after I got up. I was supposed to go to the gym but didn't manage to get there. Not good for the diet, I tell ya! I will be going though, I promise. Part of the problem is that I didn't eat very much when my friends were over because I wanted to hang out with Mr. Malbec. Probably not a good choice but you know they say hindsight is 20/20...at least, I think that's what they say. Another part of the problem is that my dear friend, Amy Advil was practially empty this morning and I only had one little pill available. Momma needed a bit more today, that's for sure.

3. The family STILL has not made it to see the movie "Hotel for Dogs" but we really want to. I'm trying to include that on the agenda for this weekend. I'll let you know if we make it there. Perhaps we'll even do a movie review, I'm sure The Son would love to help with that.

4. The weather is really nice today and is supposed to be even nicer tomorrow. I've been wondering if The Son's LLBean snow boots would also work in the mud. The answer to that question is yes, yes they do work, in lots of mud. I hope the hose works to hose those bad boys down! ha ha!

5. And the best, and probably most important news of the weekend...I was finishing up getting ready in the Y's locker room yesterday afternoon and was talking to a middle-aged woman. She mentioned that I was "too young to remember" and "probably didn't have kids yet" when I realized she thought I was WAY younger than I am. I turned to her and said, "I am thirty-nine years old! I'm not that young." She was flabbergasted (yes. genuinely.) and said she thought I was 24! I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day let me tell you...must be all the water I drink! My mom always looked younger and we always joked that it was because we were both on the "plump" side that the wrinkles were filled out and didn't show. I hope I don't start to look older as I lose weight. That will NOT be a good side-effect.

Well, I guess that's it for now, have a great weekend everyone!

Busy Saturday!

We're having a busy day today. Not much all that exciting to blog about but since I haven't been blogging since Thursday, I'll write a quick post and tell you what we're doing. I'm actually enjoying my coffee and oatmeal in peace right now, Ziggy has a pig's ear to chew on. (blech.) and The Son is still asleep. The Husband is teaching an ethics seminar at Villanova this morning so I'm kind of all alone for a few more minutes at least. 

The Son starts soccer today. He was supposed to go last week but was sick. He was supposed to go the week before but we were having Hanna remnants. He will finally go today barring any weird unforeseen circumstances. He's due there in an hour...I'd better get moving! 

We are all getting our hair done today, the guys have cuts scheduled and I have color and a trim. I can't wait, I usually put it off until the very last possible minute when my greys are really bad and my roots are worse! I'll be so happy to be "cute" again at least for a couple weeks. 

I want to do a little shopping after the haircuts but we'll see what the budget allows for that. 

Last, but certainly not least, we have Parent's Night Out at the Y tonight. The Son LOVES it. The kids just go swim and play for three hours and parents get to go out on a date. We're actually coming back to our neighborhood for a party but that's even better, we get to go out and have fun and not spend any money! Should be a good time. The Husband will go pick The Son up at 9 since CityMomma/CountryMomma will have had  a glass of wine or two at that point (sorry Honey, you know you're always the DDD...Designated Driver Daddy!) 

So, that's our busy, busy day! Enjoy your Saturday everyone! 

People are nice around these parts.

I mean REALLY nice. The Husband was out mowing the lawn last night.  We seem to have forgotten that it's getting darker earlier now and the sun was rapidly disappearing. A few minutes later, a neighbor of ours came over with his lawn mower and started helping and a few minutes after that ANOTHER neighbor came over and also started helping. It was much like this video from "She's Having a Baby". Only without the lemonade during the mowing. 

We just settled for vodka gimlets after the mowing which in my opinion is much better. The lawn is mowed, The Husband was feeling really good about his (relatively) new friends helping him and we ended up having a fun night. 

We have a big picnic in our neighborhood today and I have to take an "appetizer" I would have much rather done dessert but alas, we are an even numbered house and we were assigned appetizers. I'm making something yummy and easy that I would never make otherwise though so perhaps I'll do a mini tutorial for you later. 

I'll take pictures of the picnic if there's anything worth taking pictures of. I hear last year's shindig was a big blow out so I'm looking forward to it. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

Ahhhhhhh.

Finally, a weekend with nothing scheduled. It's been so nice. Yesterday, we hung out at home, got a few things done around the house and went out to the Amish Farm to get some flowers, veggies and corn. We came home and The Son had a few neighbor friends over to play GeoTrax. It went well but four kids  here at once was definitely two, too many if you ask me.

Today the guys are outside working in the yard and I've been getting my much anticipated Deviled Egg Tutorial Post ready for tomorrow. Well, it's been anticipated by me at least. The Son has another week of camp coming up this week. It's a Wacky Week theme and we spent some time this morning getting a Wacky Hat made for Tuesday. It's super cute but you'll have to wait until Tuesday to see it. I'm sure I'm the only crazy mom who is going to make a hat but you know I'm a crafty gal so it had to be done. 

Now I'm uploading some pictures of my home to post later in the week. One of my message board girlfriends asked me why I hadn't posted any pictures of the "new" house so I managed to get a bunch ready for her.  I've been cleaning like a crazy woman this week so I may as well show it off to someone, right? 

We're going to have some lunch now and then I think I'll try to tackle the massive piles of clean laundry that have been trying to overtake my bedroom for weeks now. Why is it that I can wash it and dry it but cannot manage to get it folded and put away in a timely fashion? 

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. See you later!