Monday, June 30, 2008

It's Official!

Well today is July 1st. You know what that means don'tcha? That's absolutely right. It's the official start of The Big Girl Big Step Challenge. Once again here's how it all works.

Strap on your pedometers and start walking. Every day, keep track of your steps. At the end of the month, I'll ask everyone who has participated to email me or leave me a comment with the step count of their one biggest day. I might, during the course of the month ask for step counts just to update everyone as to ball park figures but, I'm not sure if that's really necessary. We can chat about that later.

By having the whole month, I figure this way if you have a bad day, or two or seven you still have lots of opportunities to have one really really big day. Or if you're not quite sure you want to participate yet and haven't "signed up", you can do so now or anytime during the month, just leave me a comment or email me.

So basically, just walk as much as you can and log your steps.

Besides hopefully reaping all the benefits of walking, all of you who email me your total at the end of the month will be eligible to win a piece of jewelry made by yours truly, picked in a random drawing and for the top 3 steppers I'll be getting you gift cards from your favorite store.

So far we have these people all ready to get out there:
Alli
Allison
40 x 40

DaDiva's Street
Sagan
Thinking Thin
Jamye
Jamie

Fab Kate
Gayla
Megan
Deb
Shanna
ptg

If you've already told me you're planning on joining us but don't see yourself on this list, sorry I've left you off. Please let me know so I can include you.

Have fun and please remember to play nice.

And if anyone cares out there, I had NONE of the dinner options from yesterday's post. The Husband worked way too late, in fact, past mid-night last night, so I called my mom up and took her to dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant. It's closing sometime soon because the owner is moving to Hawaii. We've been eating at his place for nearly 20 years now and I'm certainly going to miss him, and his food.

Meals and Wheels

I've been trying to do a lot more menu planning in our house. So far it's been making a difference and it seems I'm reaping a lot of benefits from it. Every weekend, I make a list of the dinner options for the week. Then everyday I choose one which saves me from the dreaded question, "what should I make for dinner?" It also makes going to the market a much more organized and a less expensive affair. I have my list of things I'll need for the week and that's what I get. No more meandering about looking at things and throwing them in the cart and then never eating them once it makes it to my kitchen cabinet. Everything I buy will be used. Another benefit is it helps me in eating a little bit better. When I don't have something planned we usually fall back on ordering a pizza or getting take out from someplace near by. Whatever it happens to be, it's just easy and quick and not necessarily good for me.

We're heading out of town for the 4th of July weekend so my list this week is a little abbreviated but this is what's cookin' at my house for the next few days: Which one should I have tonight?

Orzo w/ spinach and shrimp and a green salad
BBQ pork loin and grilled zucchini from the garden
Teriyaki chicken with stir fry
Fish and grilled veggie tacos

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Get your wheels going, tomorrow is the beginning of the month long, Big Girl Big Step Challenge.

A big welcome to our latest walker, DadivaSteet!

Don't be left out, it's not too late too late to join in on all this nonsense. Just shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll get you on the list.

I have a feeling July is going to be very good month.

Friday, June 27, 2008

A New Schedule?

Thankfully, I got my walk in yesterday. That lunch time walk routine has turned out to be such a blessing. I find that hour so therapeutic and rejuvenating which makes me really look forward to the days I walk. Even though I get at least those three miles in most days, I'd really like to start incorporating more walking in during the week but time wise it almost seems impossible.

Currently, I work 6:30a-3:30p and then at 3:30p I go pick up The Little Miss from her personal servant, I mean nanny. It makes for a full day for me with very little time to do any additional long walks or workouts at the gym. I hear that brutal buzz from the alarm at 5:30am, which is early enough. As much as I'd love the bragging rights of saying I work out every morning, I'm not getting up earlier than that. I could let The Little Miss stay with The Nanny longer so I could work out after work, but at the rate I'm paying her, an extra 3 hours a week translates into almost another $200/a month. Too rich for my blood, and I'll let you do the math.


Hopefully in the Fall I'll be cutting back my work hours to part time and a 9a-1p schedule. I've made my case with the President of the company and my immediate boss and they are both willing to give it a try, but I still need to get approval from the owner of the company. Working just those four hours a day would be oh-my-god-I-don't-know-what-I'm-going-to-do-with-all-my-free-time great and I have a hard time not letting my mind wander into thinking of all the things I can do with my extra time, besides, laundry and cleaning the house since we won't be able to afford the cleaning lady anymore. Part of my plan is to still get up early and get a nice workout done before the day really starts. I've found from my past, morning workouts are the best for me. It helps motivate me throughout the day and if I do it in the morning, it's done and over with and I don't have to try and find reasons I can't go.

One goal of mine, and something I've toyed with is wanted to try was to incorporate a little running into my workouts. With my (hopefully) morning workouts, I'd like to give C25k a Big Girl try. It seems like a reasonable plan and at a pace I'd be able to handle. I've really enjoyed reading about Lora's experience and success with it. Every time she completes a run, I'm excited for her and wish it was me. And soon, it will be me. While the family is nicely tucked into their beds, enjoying the last minutes of their nights' slumber, I'll be out there making it happen. I can't wait. Just wish me luck I get the part time work schedule approved. If I don't, I'm not sure what I'll do.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

An Observation

As I lose weight, other people seem to be getting bigger. I'm not sure if it's just my perspective or if they truly are gaining.

Is this happening to you too?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A Baby, or Not and A Casting Call

We went to a little impromptu dinner party last night and I saw a woman I met back in January and haven't seen since. She asked me how old my child was now and I answered her back, "2 years old." She had a very puzzled look on her face. She then gave me a very sweet backhanded compliment, "oh, you weren't pregnant when I met you? You've lost weight." I was both mortified, happy and speechless at the same time. Whatever. I have lost weight, I just didn't have a baby to do it.

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For those of you who are interested, I came across this today.

Casting Call: NBC's The Biggest Loser will host an 11-city search for contestants to appear on season seven. For this edition, producers want pairs from family members and spouses to dating couples, co-workers and best friends. All candidates must be at least 18 years old and legal U.S. citizens. The audition cities include: Louisville, Oklahoma City, New York City, Detroit, Denver, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Charlotte, Miami and Los Angeles. Those auditioning in person must bring a non-returnable photo of themselves and their partner. The show's casting team guarantees the first 500 applicants in line will be seen in each casting city. For more information or if you cannot attend one of the 11 casting calls, visit www.nbc.com/casting .

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Weather Ate My Motivation

It's been hot. Freakishly HOT. It was so warm this past weekend I was down at the beach playing in the sand and water with The Little Miss until after 8pm on both Friday and Saturday nights. Wonderful and glorious times, but if it's THAT warm at the beach that means it's too hot to even wear clothes at my house.

Needless to say with the weather hovering in the 90's at night, I got absolutely NO walking in this weekend which then spirals into bad eating habits. For me, it seems as though if I have the exercise component working, the eating well thing falls, more easily, into place. I guess I figure if I'm going to take the time and put out the effort to pound the pavement and sweat for a few miles, I don't just want to blow it all by eating like crap. Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way. Eating well doesn't inspire me to go out and exercise.

Today, the heat of Satan weather has taken a turn for the cooler and so it's shaping up to be just another perfect day in this little paradise. I brought my running shoes and walking clothes for my lunch time walk around the neighborhood. According to, my sometime friend and sometime enemy, Pedro, it's a little over 3 miles. Just perfect to fit in as a middle of the day, get out of the office cubicle, escape.

_____________________________________________

Thank you all, so much, for your thoughtful comments on my post yesterday. I'm not sure what I was expecting to hear about about the whole privacy issue but it's really gotten me thinking about personal choices. There were a couple of you who said they wished they hadn't given out their link to friends and family or put so much personal information out there and others that were more than happy to share everything. Bottom line for me is I'm still going to be cautious. I'm still going to take little baby steps. I sort of equate it to losing my virginity. I figure once I give away information to the Internet universe, there's no taking it back and for me it's better move slowly not to regret my decisions later.

Speaking of losing my virginity, I want to give a special shout out to Tony. He was my first, male commenter.

Monday, June 23, 2008

How Personal Do We Get?

As I read through your many wonderful blogs I'm always surprised at how uninhibited people are and what you all share. Blogging is such a funny thing. On one hand we really don't know each other but on the other, there are things shared which are immensely personal. We touch on subjects which sometime we wouldn't even talk about with people in person. I've read posts which have made me, I'm-so-not-a-prude, blush.

When I thought of starting this blog, not so long ago, I debated how much information I wanted to be out there. Do I use real names, including my own? Post pictures of myself? Pictures of my family? I was scared and more than a bit apprehensive about doing that. I just wasn't sure how far I wanted others to be voyeurs into my life, which is to some extent, is also the life of my family. Tidbits about my life are fine, sharing my feelings, knowing about my struggles are all well and good but to put a face to it all? It seems just too personal.

I find myself my more willing to open up about my life if there still is a sense of anonymity. I don't like having people I know (in "real" life) read this blog which means I have told NO ONE about it. Not even The Husband. (Is that weird?) I've always been a rather private person. I don't like to talk about myself, which makes blogging all the more bizarre to me, because here, I have to talk about myself ALL THE TIME. When having conversations I tend to deflect questions about me and steer conversations to other topics. It embarrasses me to have to spew, what I think of as, boring information about me and my life with others. I guess it's fine in this forum because if you find yourself nodding off and getting that sense of extreme boredom wash over you, you can just move on, I'll never know and my feelings will be left in tact.

I'm feeling a sense of familiarity her now. I have some readers that stop by daily and I'm getting to know a lot more of you out there. So why do I still get cold feet about posting pictures? I guess it's because I still like being in this protective little bubble, my personal comfort zone. It's a zone I like, and I'm not quite ready to step out of it just yet, but I may, one of these days.

________________________________________

So how is it that all you brave souls out there decided to post pictures and share names on your blog? Or was it that even a consideration? Do you ever regret it?

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Little Creations

As I mentioned yesterday, I was planning a little extra give away for any participants of the Big Girl's Big Step Challenge happening as part of Scale Junkie's Summer Blog Party. Not only will the "winners" be able to enjoy gift cards for their favorite stores but I thought everyone should be able to have a chance at some little bauble made by yours truly. Sagan requested some pics of the things I make so here's a snippet of the latest batch of goodies.






May sure you go check out Deb who will be joining us! And for those of you who still want in, let me know.

Have a great weekend all!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Operators Standing By...

It's less than 2 weeks away! I hope everyone is getting really for the Big Girl Big Step Challenge starting on July 1st as part of Scale Junkie's Summer Blog Party. Some of my girls are game for it and hoping to rope in even more of you.

It's a go at your own pace, do your own walking thing kinda challenge. All I need you to do is keep track your daily steps during the month of July and at the end of the month email me with the total steps of your biggest day. How easy is that? And for your efforts, I'll be dishing out gift cards to the store of your choosing for the top 3 steppers.

If you don't have a pedometer I've talked about the one I have here. I bought it a little over a month ago for $20 from Amazon. So far I've loved it and find having a little piece of plastic on my hip is a really great motivator. Who wouldn't thunk? Everyday is a mini challenge to hit my personal goal of 10,000 steps. Most days I get close but still really have to work to get there.

So far here's who is in:

Alli
Thinking Thin
Sagan Morrow
Jayme
Megan
Jamie
Gayla
Fab Kate
Allison
Susie

But wait, there's more... Would you like a necklace? A pair of earrings perhaps? Well, here's your chance. If you sign up, I'm going to do a random drawing of all the participants and give a way a piece of jewelry made by yours truly, especially for you. Now really, you can't beat that can you? So sign up now, by leaving me a comment or emailing me. Operators standing by...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Fear Conquered

I stepped on the scale. I was brave. I did it. I conquered my fear. The results a total surprise. Totally unexpected and totally WTF.

I did some good walking, but I did not eat well last week, at all. And I was starting to feel crappy again. Kinda that sluggish, blah feeling. So Monday and Tuesday I was totally aware of making decisions that have worked for me in the past. I ate healthier foods, smaller portions, and I drank lots of water. One of my tricks is whenever I'm feeling hungry I drink a couple big sips of water. A lot of times it seems thirstiness is masked as hunger. I drink and lo and behold, I'm not really hungry but just thirsty. Also the past two days I've walked my 3 mile or so route at lunch and yesterday evening I was starting to feel better again. It's amazing what a couple of "good" days will make.

So, this morning, I stripped down, took a deep breath, and took that giant step onto the scale. I watched the numbers closely and you know what? It finally came to rest at 2 pounds lighter than I was the last time I weighed myself. My first reaction was, "What? There is no freaking way." But of course I had a pretty big grin on my face.

To this point I've lost 22 pounds. That's a lot. I still have more to go but I've giving myself a big pat on the back and looking forward to more nice surprises like this one.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Can We Talk About Me for a Sec?

100 Things About Me:

In no particular order

1. I was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA
2. I still live there
3. I've also lived in England, San Francisco and Hawaii
4. I've traveled to over 12 countries
5. My favorite country I visited was Italy
6. The first car I ever drove was a red VW bug
7. The last car I drove before I had to have a car seat in the back was a green VW Beetle
8. I now drive a Ford Escape
9. My favorite color is Sage Green
10. My Escape is green, but not sage
11. I met my husband when I was 38
12. I got married at 39
13. I had our daughter at 40
14. I didn't drink at my 40th birthday party because I was knocked up
15. I'm very crafty
16. I make most of my own jewelry
17. I'm learning how to sew
18. My mom just gave me her sewing machine
19. I'm very close to my mom
20. My brother and I haven't spoken in a long time
21. My brother lives 5 minutes from me
22. My sister in law really dislikes me
23. It bothers me that we don't get a long
24. There were 7 guests at our wedding
25. I got married on the beach, in Hawaii
26. I had bare feet during the ceremony
27. My dad lives 7 miles away from me
28. My parents are divorced
29. I love to cook
30. I love to bake
31. I don't have a specialty
32. I'll try cooking or baking anything, at least once
33. I rarely follow the recipes
34. I don't like to read directions
35. I like to figure things out on my own
36. I've been at this same job for over 10 years
37. My dream job would be to run a bed and breakfast with The Husband
38. I want to live where I have a lot of land around
39. I live in a 3 bedroom house
40. Our house is filled with kids most afternoons
41. I love having friends over
42. I've walked a marathon once
43. I'm not sure if I ever want to do that again
44. I've done the Breast Cancer 3 day walk, 4 times
45. My mom and I did it together one year
46. My favorite form of exercise is walking
47. I love walking around the neighborhoods and looking at houses
48. I like to garden
49. I have a summer garden with tomatoes, squash, peppers and herbs
50. I have lots of acquaintances
51. I have just a small handful of very good friends
52. My best friend has the same name as me
53. I met a gal once who was dating a man with the same first and last name of The Husband
54. It wasn't The Husband
55. I'm glad I waited until I was older to get married
56. If I hadn't, I would have gotten divorced by now
57. The Husband as had a "practice wife"
58. Most of the time I don't think about that
59. I think we're a good couple
60. I eat hummus almost every day
61. I love sushi
62. I especially love good wasabi
63. Hearing my daughter laugh is a sound I'll never get tired of
64. Hearing her whine is a sound I don't like hearing
65. I don't like clowns, the circus or carnivals
66. Circus performers and carnies are scary
67. Being in big crowds isn't for me
68. Being in bumper to bumper traffic makes me crazy
69. I have my hair colored
70. I'm too scared to do it myself
71. I rarely get my hair cut
72. I need to get my hair cut badly
73. Being super critical of myself is something that I wish I wasn't
74. I wear glasses to see distances
75. I love the smell of lavender
76. One of my favorite books is Jayber Crow
77. I've been in the same book club for 10 years
78. I was one of the founding members of the group
79. I don't read as much as I use to
80. I read every night before I go to sleep
81. I love naps
82. I'm not a good sleeper and wake up every night at least once
83. It takes me a long time to fall back asleep
84. I read a lot in the middle of the night when I can't sleep
85. I sleep with 4 pillows
86. I take my favorite pillow on trips with me
87. Snooze buttons make me want to scream
89. I like to sleep with at least one open window
90. I have a good life
91. I'm proud of the person I am
92. I think there's still a lot of life in me and things to do
94. I'm an optimist
95. I like the word love and don't like the word hate
96. Reading beauty magazines makes me feel ugly
97. I'm thankful to those who went before me
98. Those people made my life better
99. I wish my grandmothers were still alive. I never got to know them as an adult.
100. I applaud you if you made it through this list

Monday, June 16, 2008

Again...

I need to get back to business. The past week or so I've been so off on my game. I've been helping myself to bigger portions, sweets and foods which just aren't good for what I'm wanting to accomplish. I know there are ebbs and flows and I just need to put last week behind me and move on.

My body is telling me to get back with the diet and exercise program. I'm feeling anxious about gaining back the weight I've already lost. I haven't stepped on a scale in about 5 days and that's because I'm afraid to. I'm not sure what big number out of the sky is going to come flashing down upon me and really does it matter? I feel like crap no matter where the scale is.

So wish me luck. Actually, wish me the strength to carry on and be diligent. It's time to get back to making better decisions.

I know what to do. I know better and once again, I need to do better.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A Father's Love

I'm not sure where I first heard this, but it still hits me every time I think of it.


"The most important gift a father can give his children, is to love their mother."


Happy Father's Day to you all.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I'm Feeling the Pinch

I know it isn't just me because this has been a recent topic of conversation amongst a lot of my friends. We're all feeling the pinch of the cost of living. I live in California in one of the priciest cities where gas has been well over the $4/gal mark for several months now, where the median house price is in the $1 million dollar range and where half of the people in the office I work at have to commute about 4o miles or so to work since housing is so expensive.

We're all feeling it. Our wallets seem to empty faster and it seems as though it's all spinning out of control. The price of food has gone up and I'm feeling that too. I go to the market, usually Trader Joe's, once a week and I buy food for the week. My average trip costs me $130. Then there's Albertson's the local chain supermarket and I spend another $40 there. Occasionally I'll go to the local farmer's market, where I can easily to drop $60-$80 on some fresh organic produce, eggs and meats.

Certainly there's ways to cut our food costs. I try to eat and feed my family healthy unprocessed foods and I try and buy organic, which is typically more expensive, when I can. Sure, I could buy a bag of frozen corn dogs, 25 of them for $4.99 or Chicken Dinos for The Little Miss by the industrial bag-full but to me, that just doesn't seem like food. It seems like something that represents a food product. That's not to say we don't eat stuff like, because on occasion, we do. Not often but, we do.

I'm trying to watch the budget, spend less and make due with what we have. We don't waste a lot. Sure, there's times where I end up throwing something out, I hate to, but it happens. We trade babysitting with another couple so when we do go out we don't pay for a sitter (which by the way, is about $12-$15 an hour,) I trade magazines with friends so I've cut my subscriptions to a bare minimum but still get to read a variety of them, I've recently started cutting coupons and shopping sales more often. I now plan my errands and try to go to the same part of town for everything in one trip. My friends and I call each other when we're making a Costco run (since it's about 10 miles out of town) and get lists from everyone so we don't all have to make the drive. But my wallet still seems so empty at the end of the week and we're all feeling the pinch.

Luckily we have some money saved so if things spin out of control even more we have a buffer. We both work and have secure, well paying, jobs and there are still luxuries we have we haven't forfeited yet, and hopefully we won't have to. Frankly, I hate to clean the house and if we have to get rid of the housekeepers, who thankfully come twice a month, I'm not sure if the floors will ever get mopped or the bathroom ever cleaned.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Coming to Your Blog Soon

I've been a really bad blogger this week. I've somehow managed to post something this week but have had zero time to go read blogs. Well not zero but managed to read one blog this morning before I started feeling the pull of the workload on my desk.

Typically, I start work at 6:30am, read my work emails and take care of anything urgent. Once that's done, I'm off to my wonderful bloggy world. I will write and post my post and catch up on what all you lovelies are up to. I have about 50 or so blogs that I like to read daily which can take a bit of time but, I'm at work, it's quiet in the office, early in the morning, and it's a nice way to ease on in on the day.

But this week has been different. I am slammed at work and have piles that beckon my attention. Things that need to get done and tons of deadlines. This cycle happens every quarter which means I go through this 4 times a year and it makes me crazy. Basically the equation is:

Too much actual work = No time to blog

I'm still going to try and post regularly but, my apologies if my reading and commenting is light this week. I promise though, once I'm over this silly little time at work, I'll be coming to your blog soon.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Have a Lookie

A few times a week at lunch I've been going out for walks. Like I've said before, it's really the only time of my day that I feel is mine. The rest of the day I'm either sitting in my cube working for "The Man" or at home being a mom and wife. But my lunch hour is my time, all mine and I'm doing what I want to do.

I end up walking about 3 miles around the neighborhood by the office. I love looking at all the houses, the gardens, flowers in bloom and generally just enjoy a pretty afternoon. I thought I'd share with all of you just some of the things I saw on my walk on Friday. Enjoy!


Heading up the street from the office




These beautiful Jacaranda trees are in bloom all over town



Cute little house for sale... no, I don't know how much but, probably close to a cool million, yikes!



The Santa Barbara Mission


The dude on the Segway


The Courthouse and someone enjoying a sunny ride


The play structure at the park

There you have it, a small sip-it of what my walks are like. Pretty nice, I think.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Menu Planning Monday

One of the questions I ask myself or The Husband almost every day is, "what do you want for dinner?" I get so sick of it and it's an endless source of frustration. I do 99.97% of the cooking in our household. I think in the 4 1/2 years I've known The Husband he's admittedly cooked 4 meals and when I say cooked, I mean BBQ'd something, boiled corn-on-the-cob and bought a garlic bread to put in the oven. And since we just got a new oven, I seriously doubt he even knows how to turn this new one one. Seriously sad. But don't worry, he cleans the kitchen most nights, but even better for me he does 99.97% of the laundry and I mean wash, dry, fold and put away!

In the past I've tried to set a menu for the week, buy what we'll need and be done with it but, each week it seems like plans change, we have friends over, The Husband is working late or something knocks "the plan" off course. Being a very typical organized linear thinking Virgo, it's hard for me to think outside what was suppose to have happened.

Also being a very typical organized linear thinking Virgo, I love having a plan. I like to know what I'll be cooking for dinner. It's just easy and it's one less thing I'll need to agonize over every. single. day. I need to remember the nights that I don't make dinner from my menu plan, for whatever reason, I just need to deal with. I can either take what I was going to make for dinner that night and make it in the next day or two or put it in the freezer for another week. It's not a big deal.

The challenge for myself is to be better at planning menus and be more flexible if things don't work out for dinner that night.

Here's my menu for this week:

Monday: Grilled pork loin, grilled zucchini (from my garden) and brown rice

Tuesday: Chicken tortilla soup and any left over pork.

Wednesday: Orzo with grilled chicken, spinach, feta cheese, pearl tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Thursday: Grilled Chicken and Apple sausage, green beans (also from my garden)

Friday: Going out of town for the evening so who knows what will happen

Saturday: Fish from the local Saturday farmer's market. Probably broiled with ginger, green onions and a splash of soy sauce, brown rice and a veggie from the market.

Sunday: Father's Day BBQ...Tri-tip, beans, corn, salad and whatever else The Husband, doer of the laundry wants.

Whatcha all got cooking this week?

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Much Ado About Nothing

So, I know you're all wondering, how'd it go last night? Well, my friend pulled her usual MO, when she knows I'll be at the same event. She was a no show. Her husband said she went to go meet a friend who happened to be in town for the night and honestly, I wasn't surprised she didn't show up. That's happened more than on one occasion, but still, I was a little miffed. We've had our little "thing" happen but, sheesh!, we're adults and I know I can handle being in the same room with her with grace and poise. It would be nice if she had enough confidence to do the same. Oh well... whatever.

I had a wonderful time last night. It was fun to be an adult without The Little Miss for one night. I got to dress up a little, which for me means actually blow drying my hair and a little make-up, get out of the house and have conversations with adults without being interrupted by any children. I saw friends who I hadn't seen in over a year and caught up on what's been happening in their lives. I heard of travels to foreign countries, grand kids being born, job lay-offs, kids graduating from high school, it ran the gamut. But when I was posed with that question, "what have I been up to?" I was at a loss. I came up with my stock, but true answer of just busy with work and the family. It doesn't seem that exciting and I suppose it really isn't full of day to day excitement but it's a pretty darn good life in my book.

There was plenty of great food there and I tried really hard not to stand right by it all and stuff my face. Luckily the plates that were there to use were small and so I stuck to smaller portions and only went back a time or two. I tasted most of the dishes, which were delish, so I didn't feel as though I was missing out on anything. I've noticed lately that since I'm eating less, weighing less and drinking less, that the times I do partake in adult beverages, I feel the effects much more profoundly. To counteract that and to stave off any hint of a hangover, I was a really good girl and drank lots of water in between the wine tastings. It worked. When the alarm sounded this morning at 5:30, I felt great. I made it through the evening without a hitch.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

I'm nervous about tonight. Over a year ago, I quit going to my monthly "wine club." This club involved every month getting together at a member's house to drink and talk about wine. We'd often pick a certain varietal, for example Pinot Noir, Cabernet or wine region/country and each couple would bring a bottle to share with the group. A few members were highly skilled and educated in wine making, tasting etc and there were some which really knew nothing but came to learn and share an evening with friends. It was a nice group with lots of very pleasant people, but there was only a very very small handful of people I felt particularly close to. Generally it was fun and I more or less looked forward to it, but I quit going for a couple of reasons. First, it always starts at 7pm and when my alarm goes off at 5:30 in the morning, starting to drink wine at 7 at night isn't always a good thing. Second, it was a night away from my daughter (read: babysitter = $) and if I was going to hire a babysitter, I wanted to spend that night with people I really really wanted to be with (read: husband and/or really really close friends.) So I gracefully bowed out.

I was invited back tonight, as a "special guest" and I agreed to go. I'm not nervous that I've lost my lingo, "oh, that's a very interesting nose, I get bright cherry with a hint of tobacco" or "that has very long finish." I can fake all that with enough confidence people actually think I know what I'm talking about. What I am nervous about is seeing a gal I was once friends with. You can read the whole break-up saga here.

The last few months of my belonging to the wine club she was "sick" or "busy" or whatever her excuse was and I'm sure she was relieved to find out I was leaving the wine club so she'd get those friends in our divorce and be able to enjoy her wine nights without me. Last I've heard she'll be there tonight. I'll want to be a big girl tonight and not avoid the situation. I want to be the one who breaks the ice, and who extends the olive branch. But I'm nervous. I don't like confrontation and I don't like situations that are weirdly strained.

The past 2 years or more, I've felt our relatioinship has been unresolved. It's on my mind a lot and I've contacted her a couple of times to tie up the lose ends but with no resolution. I don't like having things like this being in limbo. I'm hoping in the end, our conversations will be genuinely friendly. I don't necessarily want to be friends again right away, it seems like too much happened and too much time has gone by. I don't want to have to feel as though we're stepping on eggshells and having to watch everything we say, or don't say. I just want the weirdness to go away and it to feel right again.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

More Takers and More Random Stuff

We got some more takers. A special shout out thanks to these lovelies who have "signed up" for the Big Girl's Big Step Challenge and remember there's still a month away before it starts so seriously folks, think about it and take that leap and do it!

Gayla

Fab Kate

Allison

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I weighed in yesterday and guess what? I'm down 20 pounds and I am so totally on my tippy toes doing my happy dance. I am officially under my pre-pregnancy weight, although I'm still much more squishy in the belly (yuck) but my pants are fitting, my shirts not as snug and I am feeling much more myself these days. It's such a wonderful feeling and has me motivated to keep going.

My May goals were met with pretty good results. The only one I failed miserably at was hitting the gym. I still haven't quite figured out a way to manage that. I can come up with excuses galore but bottom line is, it didn't happen. It's on my mental list of things to do, but for now I'm enjoying my walks. I'm trying to hit the road more often during the work week and then on the weekends, when I have more time, I'm trying to really increase the distance. I've been thinking of trying to incorporate some running (gasp!) into the routine so if any of you have got any hints on that, let me know.

Here's a question for all you out there. If you are down from 16 to 14, is that being down one size? or 2 sizes? It would make sense to call it one size if there was a size 15 but there's not, so whatcha think? 2 or 1?

Monday, June 2, 2008

Cheap and Easy

Do you all have your walking shoes ready? The countdown has begun. We're a month away from the start of the Big Girl Big Step Challenge.

So far we have

Alli - thanks for letting me be your first =)

Thinking Thin - she's hosting a Summer Blog Party challenge as well, go check it out

Sagan Morrow

Jayne

LoveBug6100

Jamie

So come on gals, and guys if you're out there, think about joining in on our cheap and easy bag of fun!