Amy's Journal: Comments Welcome!

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you so much everyone. I had a very nice Mother's Day. I had my moments but Dan and the kids as well as our friends kept me so busy I didn't have much time to dwell. My friend took me to get a manicure and pedicure that morning and then we all came over here for a bbq, the weather was perfect. I had some cocktails, mimosas that were tasty and really sucked down my flex points. Food was basically way too much spinach artichoke dip and a big hunk of Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. I ate and drank too much and didn't even care! The day was a milestone, it turned out much better than I ever could have imagined.

I was okay with food yesterday. I didn't have a computer all day Sunday or yesterday, Dan finally got a chance to look at it last night late. DD was home sick again, this time with a low grade fever and more allergy woes. That kid has been sick more this year than all other five years of school combined. I swear, that old building they have the school in has some sort of sick building syndrome. I was talking with some other moms and it seems like all the kids are plagued with allergies and stomach woes. I can't wait to be done with that, it really does make me wonder.

I didn't work out Saturday, Sunday or Monday but did do 45 minutes on the treadmill today. I am not sure I will make the challenge but I should at least come very close. It doens't really bother me if I don't, I do know that if not for that, I probably wouldn't work out half as much as I do (which still isn't enough) so I am just going to keep up with it and do next month's as well. Its not like its a challenge to go win a million bucks, its about setting a goal for myself, so I think its worth it to participate whether I make it or not.

Food today has been fine, I am supposed to weigh in tomorrow, but may not go. I have a bunch of stuff to do and also need to make it to the rec center. Not sure I can fit it all in.

Thanks for reading, so far I have only made it to Pearlie's journal, I need to pick up DS and run some errands so I should be able to check back later.

 

[traceycooper]

its almost Mother's Day. First year in forever I won't be making my mama a coconutty dessert.

That really struck a cord with me Amy, my grandma used to make the most amazing coconut cake! Talking to grandad & DH the other day about how i wished i'd got the recipe, now its lost forever
If you have a good recipe for coconut cake that you can pass on - i'll take it as a sign from grandma

I'm glad you managed to come to a decission about the job offer, i used to work for Walmart (we call it Asda) & there were some pretty good perks & good flexabile hours whatever you decide i know you'll make the right decission for you

one last word - i HATE snakes we dont get them here - i would freak out!!!! brave good doggy

 

[Amy&Dan]

Tracey,

I always just made a white cake from a mix then slathered it with white icing and a ton of coconut! My grandmother had a wonderful recipe and like yours its gone forever. It was way better than what I made!

I am a bit sad, I got a call that my uncle is on hospice. He is the last one from that generation, I feel so bad for my cousins. They lost my aunt (their mom) in 2001 and have a stepmother that is really a pain. So they have a lot to deal with. I am glad that my uncle is on hospice, I know from my recent experience that they really help. I guess he'll be at peace soon and with my aunt.

As a result of this stressful night on the phone (with both cousins and my weird step aunt) I stress ate a bit. I got into some crackers and also ate some of the leftovers off dd's plate (I was cleaning the kitchen as I listened to step aunt drone on about how mean my cousins are). How gross is that? Eating cold leftover chicken raviloi off a plate? Maybe I can go out to the garage and forage through the trash next. Sometimes I wonder about me.

Oh well, it was upsetting and stressful and I reacted. I plan to work out first thing tomorrow.

 

[lovinaz]

Maybe I can go out to the garage and forage through the trash next.

I think you will have to duke it out with Daisy for the trash!!!

I am sorry to hear about your uncle, that definitely is a stressful event. But I think you are aware that you are emotional eating now, and that most of the time you can keep on top of it. There are times, like last night, that you aren't going to be able to stop yourself. But as long as those are the exception, rather than the norm, you will do just fine.

Did you get your workout in this morning? Are you all ready for your upcoming trip??

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Amy, I was emotional eating last night. I was completely shocked that my uncle was on hospice, it was really sudden. Unfortunately his new wife sort of doens't believe in the power of picking up the phone and letting people know what the heck is going on!

I did work out this morning and have done well with food. So I feel pretty good and back on track after a minor derailment!

I have not done one thing for the trip. Yikes, its just sort of creeping up on me.

I also have to figure out what I will do if my uncle passes away while we are gone. I am thinking I will just go myself from Orlando for a day or two and then fly back to Orlando. If I can get decent airfare. Its really weird. My other uncle died when we were in WDW three years ago. That trip I wasn't able to get a flight from Orlando so I have prepared my cousins that this might happen. They said not to worry about it, they understand.

I am supposed to meet a friend for coffee tomorrow. I suggested my house instead of Starbucks. I don't have a bakery case in my house full of chocolate croissants and other no no foods! No sense tempting myself if I don't have to!

 

[toystoryduo]

Amy,

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle....Sending prayers and your way.

Great job on getting your workout in and on your good food choices today! Keep up the good work!

How many more days til Disney? Can I go with you? I can't believe my trip is still so far away......

Hope you have a great evening!

 

[postesf]

HI Amy! First off, I'm so sorry to hear about your Uncle!

I'm glad your weekend turned out well!!!

I read through the SAHM portion vs. working... I'm have no kids, but I do have an opinion...Imagine that! I know that if and when I do have kids, I'd like to stay at home or only work PT--not Full time. I think you made the best decision for you and your family.

Thanks for your support in my journal! Take care of yourself!
Stacie

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you Amy, Stacie and Tracy:

Stacie, when I first had kids I thought I would never work full time. And I still stand by that, I just know myself and Dan well enough to know we would be miserable if I worked full time. And of course the fact that I still don't have my degree and wouldn't be in a well paying career is part of that!



Still no news on uncle so I assume he is just hanging in there, thank you for your prayers. He is 78 and in most ways I think he is just ready to be done. After talking further with my cousin he said if something happens while I am gone, he does not want me to come. He says he knows his dad wouldn't want that and given the situation with the stepmom, it's probably not going to be very pleasant between her and my cousins. I may just not go to the funeral and then go see my cousins afterwards. At the rate things are going, I am not even sure my one cousin will attend his dad's funeral. I hope it doesn't come to that, why oh why do people have to be so awful? I really feel so bad for my cousins, they just didn't deserve this.

I have done great on food today but am not planning on working out. I need to pack and since I did 70 minutes yesterday feel okay taking the day off. I also have a really sore back, I moved a bunch of furniture around over the weekend and attempted to move the boxes of my mom's stuff to another spot in the basement. Why I don't know, now I just have a new messy, cluttered spot that looks exactly like the old one!


We leave for WDW one week from today. So I have a lot to do. Dan is of course going to be working like a madman right up until we leave. The kids are so ready for summer. Ds is continuing to do so well at the new school. I am really excited for dd to start there in the fall.

I can't believe that one week from today I will be checking into the Poly for our two nights. I never did get a code so I am paying almost rack (did get an AAA discount). I still think its really dumb to pay this but it will be fun. Frankly, I wish we were staying at Music for those two nights and saving ourselves some money! Of course after I enjoy a few Lapu Lapu's out by the volcano pool, I may feel differently.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Goofydiane]

Hi Amy - I'm very sorry to hear about your uncle and will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Wow...1 week to you leave, I'm at 12 days and counting, so I'm right with you. Just sit back by the pool, relax with the Lapu Lapu's and enjoy your time at the Poly. After everything you've been through, you deserve it.

Way to go on the 70 minutes of cardio, that's a great workout. I know you will do great with this month's challenge, you've got a great attitude going!

 

[pearlieq]

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle, and all the family drama that is coming with it. I hope he rallies and everyone behaves themselves.

Good job eating well and getting that monster work out!

I hope everything comes together for your trip in this next week. I know the price pinches, but the Polynesian is such a wonderful place. Someday DH and I are going to splurge on a whole week there. I bet you're going to have a ball!

Have a great night!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you Pearlieq and Diane.

I heard from my one cousin, he is driving into Dallas today to see his dad. I hope it goes well. I feel bad for them, I avoid getting too involved, but I can sure relate to what they are going through. When your parent marries again, esp. late in life its hard to figure out how it all works.


Food today was great up until dinner when I ate too much since I was starved. I had an early lunch at Subway and then stupidly didn't eat a snack. So of course by 6:30 I hadn't eaten in over seven hours. I never learn. I didn't do awful but I could have done better. Tomorrow I have to survive a brunch and then some friends of ours are camping all weekend at a nearby state park and invited us over for the afternoon and evening. That will be a lot of food to survive including smores, which are a favorite of mine!


Yesterday's food was right on target even though I ate some snacks at my Alzheimers support group. Even though my mom is gone, I still plan to go occasionally, they are all special to me and just because my struggle with that is over, doesn't mean theirs is. There were the usual snacks, this time I planned the day accordingly. I came home sort of wiped out, I hadn't been since before my mom had died so of course they wanted to know the particulars of her last month and to relive that was sort of depressing yet also a bit therapeutic. I feel lucky, my one friend's mom doesn't know her anymore when she goes to visit. My mom God rest her, never got that bad.

I am really going to aim for 150 minutes of exercise this weekend. I have a full day tomorrow with friends and family and Sunday is church and of course I have to pack. But I am still going to make some exercise happen if it kills me! Then next week I have three full days before I leave and if I get enough done this weekend should be able to work out every day. I am really glad I set the challenge, even if I don't make it, I will exercise more than I would have.

Thanks for reading, have a nice weekend everyone. If I don't get to journals tonight, I should tomorrow or Sunday.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Okay, I got a 30 minute walk tonight. So that at least makes me feel a little better. I am really hoping to get another 120 minutes total between tomorrow and Sunday.

 

[toystoryduo]

Great job getting your exercise in, Amy! Keep up the good work!

I can't wait to hear about your trip, especially the days you will be at the Poly. I told my DH that I would love to stay there sometime. We went there last year for a Lapu Lapu (yummy! ) and watched WISHes from the beach. Afterwards, we walked around the resort and I just fell in love with it. Maybe one of these days, my DH will take the hint and let me book a few nights there!

Hope you have a great weekend!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Tracy, I am soooo excited for the Poly, its probably the closest I'll ever get to Hawaii! After my mom died dh and I decided we were going to add two nights to our trip and stay there. First time he's ever been willing to go Deluxe, I didn't waste anytime and booked it right then and there!

I did okay with food today. Got in 50 minutes of exercise so that was good. I resisted cinnamon rolls, smores, had only one beer at the bbq and ate a ff hot dog as opposed to a burger. But I had three chocolate chip cookies. I still feel I did pretty well. There was so much food at that campground, I could have just gone hog wild. I did also drink plenty of water and also had some caffeine free ice tea. So in all I am pretty happy with today.

We had a nice brunch with stepdad this morning and enjoyed visiting with him. So I feel like I had a great day and am just really pleased I managed food as well as I did. For me to not eat a smore is like a minor miracle.

 

[Goofydiane]

Amy -

Hoe you have a great vacation! Enjoy the dining plan and make the choices that you want to make to enjoy the meal. I look forward to hearing about the trip!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi everyone,

Diane, I will post while we are gone and give some trip details! And I want to hear yours, especially Club 33!

I am about to do my 60 minute walk in today. I didn't walk yesterday, I just got so busy and I was going to go last night but then got to watching some Law and Order marathon. I think I watched four episodes, it was sheer heaven. I love that show. So I spent a lazy evening on the couch as opposed to getting up and going for walk. Which makes me glad I did my exericse on Saturday at least.

Food yesterday was good, we went to On the Border for lunch and I ate within points. I also drank my water all weekend. I weigh in on Wednesday, I will be anxious to see how I have done. I haven't weighed in a few weeks.

I went shopping yesterday, I was really bummed. I had to spend over $200 on new clothes. Why? Because all the nice summer clothes I bought last year are too small. And all the ones I used to have in this size I gave away since "I'll never be that size again". Um, guess not. This time last summer I was about 15 pounds lighter. Some of my clothes fit, most didn't. And the ones that did fit are tight. I was really irritated with myself over this. But when we went to WDW last month, I kept having to wash my two pairs of crop pants that did fit and I didn't have one pair of shorts that fit. Its going to be hot so I needed some shorts and shirts. Two outfits for a seventeen day trip was not an option. DD went with me, and commented "this store has pretty clothes". I told her she is never shopping at the store if I can help it. We had a long talk about eating healthy and exercising. I said I would love her no matter how she looked but I dont' want her to expereince the emotional pain and physical discomfort being overweight entails. I told her I know she wonders why she has the mom that won't let her order regular soda at restaurants and why she eats a bananna at snack instead of crap like most of her classmates do. But that in 20 years a lot of those kids will look like me and I hope she will be healthy. She then reminded me that banannas are her favorite food anyway!

I think I got this philosophical with her because on Saturday at the bbq my friend's daughter was talking to me about how she hates being fat. This little girl is 13 and not fat at all but she is I guess slightly plump. I told her to just not stress over how she looks and eat to be healthy and move as much as she can. What I didnt tell her is that when I was 13 I looked exactly like she does now. No sense scaring the hell out of this kid. DD is a healthy weight but I have noticed she isn't skinny anymore and I worry its starting with her. I hope not, that will literally kill me if she has this struggle.

Dh the eternal optimist told me that when we go to WDW next summer, I'll be at my goal weight. I am glad he has confidence in me! It did start me to thinking about how when I get back from WDW, I can have a long range goal to be at least near enough to my goal to not be shopping at some store that caters to size 16 and up!



Okay, I have to edit this post, I didn't get my walk in. Right after I posted, jsut as I was about to leave for the rec center, the sprinkler repair guy showed up, it took him quite awhile to fix our problem and I kept waiting for him to be done so I could walk. I had totally forgotten about that appointment, thank goodness I was here. While he was here, I started in on getting boxes lugged up for ARC. More sorting of stuff that was my mom's, trying to decide if I really wanted to give some of this stuff away or not. I ended up putting the bulk of it out for them, I still have tons of stuff, this is mostly just junk but its hard to let go anyway. By the time I finished with all of that it was time to pick up kids from school and the day just got away. And sadly, I didn't pack one thing!
Now its 10:00 at night, so I will have to walk tomorrow, I changed my ticker earlier thinking I was going to walk, so I"ll just have to walk tomorrow and not post any add'l minutes. I am going to be hard pressed to make goal I"m afraid. Although I still plan to walk an hour most days at WDW, OKW is a great resort to walk around. And I will probably count some of the walking I do around the parks. But I really wanted to be at 600 minutes by the time we left, that is not going to happen obviously. I only have two days left and now one of those days can't even be counted! Oh well, live and learn. Food was perfect today so that was good.

This will teach me to post my minutes before I do them!

 

[lovinaz]

Sounds like you had a great weekend! I think if you can survive On the Border within points, WDW will be a piece of (no calorie, guilt-free) cake!

I feel your pain with making sure DD knows that she needs to stay active and exercise. But hopefully she understands that she is a NORMAL, healthy weight right now and not get obsessed with it. My DS12 went through a phase when he called everything chubby, including DD8. I told him to knock it off and I haven't heard him say it in several months, but DD8 has been making comments about how "fat" she is, when she is not the slightest bit overweight. It is really scary how these young girls get this into their heads. I asked her what it would take to convince her that she was NOT fat and if she would believe it if the Dr told her and she said she would. So when she goes for her yearly checkup in a couple weeks, I am going to make sure he shows her on the chart that she is perfectly healthy. And I should probably knock DS's skinny butt into next week!

I think you are doing the right thing and I'm confident she'll turn out just fine. And I like DH's prediction about next year!!!

Have fun getting ready for your trip!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Amy, I am telling you the way these girls today look at not only themselves but everyone else is truly scary. So far dd hasn't said she is fat, and she is still relatively slender. Its just for years she was bone skinny, if she wanted a bikini I had to buy two sizes since her bottom was always so small! She was wearing a 4T in shorts when she was 8. Now she is more normal and I get worried thinking she might be on some trend of gaining weight. Mostly, I think she is just starting to get the curves and shape of a woman as opposed to her knobby little girl look. Which is freaky in and of itself!

Your ds probably hears kids all over school saying this person or that is fat and picked it up some. And of course, brothers just love to harass their little sisters!

 

[traceycooper]

Hi Amy
it sounds like your doing a great job with food & exercise
I cant believe your off to WDW again! & deluxe you lucky lady
It is scary how kids are brainwashed by the media on how they 'should' look
I cant get in my shorts from last year too
We will do this together Amy, hang onto those shorts - keep up with that exercise & healty eating & you'll be back in them no time

 

[Amy&Dan]

You know I am realizing that one of the reasons I am not doing as well with exercise as I would like is that I dont' get enough sleep. Dh works late each night, often past midnight and his incessant talking on his cell phone is frankly annoying! He works with a team in India so of course its early morning for them right now. I really, really, really need to get on some sort of schedule with sleep. I was just reading today that lack of sleep can hinder weigh loss. I wonder.

I rarely sleep more than six hours a night and I think I am too damn old to do that anymore. Ever since my mom entered her final stage with her cancer, its been even worse. I mean right now, its 10:30 and I am wide awake. This afternoon, I could barely keep my eyes open which was one of the reasons I didn't walk, I just had no energy. Another reason to walk first thing in the morning.

Okay enough about that, I am making myself turn in and I am hopefully going to be asleep before midnight for a change of pace.