Amy's New Start : Comments Welcome!

[eyor44]

Amy, I pray your weekend is going well and you are able to accomplish what you need to.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Lisa, Julie and Tracy.

What a weekend. I have never been so tired in my life. Two solid days of packing, cleaning, taking stuff to ARC, throwing junk away. And it was hot as all get out and my sister has one tiny little AC unit that doens't work worth a darn.

It was fun though (weird I know). I love to declutter, clean and organize so it was right up my alley. Frankly, it was good to see my sister excited and upbeat. I truly think this house has been a huge drain on her, that she's been depressed and overwhelmed and that the thought of a fresh start is liberating her. She and my nephew got along great. And my kids, well God bless them. They worked their tails off. Dd shredded stuff for hours today, bank records and statements from over 20 years ago. I told my sister her pack rat days are over. I handwashed all her china, collectibles, knick knacks and also dusted down all her pictures so that when we unpack it at the new place, it will be clean and nice.

I am really hoping this is the thing to bring her up and out of her fog.

I'll have my work cut out for me to clean this house up. It has to be left clean under this "cash for keys" program. If its clean, cleaned out (as in 100% cleaned out, not one speck of trash or one single belonging can be left behind), she'll get $1500. A nice nest egg for her. I have to say, its filthy. I am mad at myself for not insisting she let Dan and I clean this house. Its like she had just given up. We sat with this real estate agent who is hired through her bank to list the house after she's gone and I assured him it will be cleaned out and cleaned up. He didn't look too sure. Well he doens't know me and Dan! With six of us working solid for two days, plus we have all next weekend, we'll get it done. It may kill us but we'll get it done!

Even the dog was happy. He's been depressed too!

Thanks for thr prayers and good wishes. Oh yeah, I did horrible on food. My sister bought three huge bags of m&m's and a bunch of chips. Need I say more? However, if standing and cleaning and packing burns calories, I may come out okay.

 

[eyor44]

Amy, I'm glad you all were able to get a lot done. That's great. I love packing and cleaning out also. I moved a lot in my early 20s and I had so much fun each time. Is ARC a donation center? Can she get receipts for donation that will help with her taxes next year?

I'll bet you did work off a bunch of extra calories, and if you are careful with your food and get in a couple days at the gym, you'll see a difference next time you do WI.

You will be blessd for all you are doing for your sister.

 

[toystoryduo]

Thank you so much, WISH sis! I sent you a PM.

I'm glad to hear that you and your family were able to get a lot done this weekend at your sister's house.

No worries on the food this weekend, Amy. I bet you burned all of those calories off and then some!

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

 

[eyor44]

I'm thinking you must be working at your sister's all this week. Pace yourself.

 

[toystoryduo]

I hope you're having a great week so far! Have a nice Wednesday!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Lisa and Tracy. What a bad Wisher I have been this week!

I have been on disboards just to look and post on threads about DL and WDW but given that I am just on reality of life overload, can't seem to come over here and post about my weight loss efforts.

I have done pretty well with food but only walked once. Which is just very disappointing. For one thing I was so sore the first three days of the week I could barely move. I think I wrenched my back when Dan and I unloaded my sister's couch at the ARC place (Lisa that stands for Assoc. for Retarded Citizens, they have drop off centers and stores a lot like Good Will). I did take a walk yesterday though and today I should have but didnt'. Tomorrow I hit the gym! You heard it here first.

I know we'll have this weekend and next to work our tails off to get her into this new place and settled but I do truly think this fresh start may be what she needs to get out of the hole she's dug for herself. I do think this whole thing has cemented to her that I actually do care about her and that I actually can come in handy occasionally. Something good comes of everthing!

Unfortunately, I have managed to make my brother mad (man I cannot seem to keep all members of my family happy at one time can I?). Long story short, we are going to Disneyland with them for four days in January. I probably really should have not jumped on that train but I wanted to go so bad as did Dan! Its my niece's birthday and we went with them in 2008 literally four days after my mom died. It was not a great trip for obvious reasons. Anyway, when he said they were going over MLK weekend for the girls birthday I thought hmmm, maybe could too which of course thrilled him. I said we would stay at the Grand Californian which is where they are staying. As soon as I said that I knew that was dumb, the GCH is expensive on par with the Grand Floridian. That is way out of our league, what was I thinking. So today I made us a reservation off site and gave my brother the news we will be at a different hotel. We are saving almost $1,000 by staying at the Hojo (love the Entertainment Card rate). He said the girls would be so disappointed and made me feel like I have ruined the trip before it even begins. When will I learn that being impulsive gets me into trouble every darn time? I know how expensive GCH is and we are going less than one month after Christmas. I am just trying to be sensible but as is so often the case, I am making somebody in my family mad.

Hopefully the disapointment will wear off. But I have to say when I hung up with him this afternoon I had a lump in my throat. I can't stand it when my family gets mad at me and makes me feel like I am ruining things. He made me feel like crap and I also think he's peeved because he thinks we are having to cut back because we are spending money on hotels during this move and he also knows I helped out my sister with some money and my friend. I think on some level he feels like I chose them and not him. That is not the whole truth, but I do have to say seeing my sister and my friend, each in total financial ruin has made me realize you can play but you had better save too! So in the end, I am comfortable with my decsion and I am not changing my mind!

But I hope he gets over it soon, I am a total mess when somebody is mad at me.

 

[eyor44]

Oh Amy..... You have to do what is best for your family. I think it is admirable that you are helping others and yes, you had to change your plans, but it doesn't mean you all can't have a great visit. Not like you were sharing a room and now DB has to foot the entire bill when he thought you all would be sharing. It'll be okay, you'll have a great trip. I hear you on the implusive stuff. My mouth speaks before my brain thinks.

I hope your back is completely better now, be careful this weekend lifting stuff. Remember: team lifting.

I pray that your sister will see that you really care about her and just want to help. You and Dan are such good people and you are teaching your kids to be the same in the process.

 

[traceycooper]

i go away for 3 weeks & sooo much has happened!!!
i read you changed your res to pop & thought ''heck i've just told her how great CSR is on my thread!'' then you changed back & i have to say i was relieved as we loved it
we did chef de france - you MUST have the french onion soup we also got a suprise visit to our table from ratatoullie (SP?!?)

you, Dan & yous kids have been such great friends to your single friend & her kids, she is lucky to have you in her life, her ex sounds a complete moron!!

i hope this fresh start is good for your sis, & that your DB comes around over the hotel change - families eh - just spent 3 weeks with my DD, DH ,DM, DD, DB, DSIL ,DN - cant live with em cant live without em, 1st night we got home DH & i went to pub for a drink - & i missed the argueing over where to eat where to drink & what park to do

 

[eyor44]

will be thinking about you this weekend Amy. I hope you are able to accomplish all you need too.

 

[toystoryduo]

Amy,

You have to do what is best for your family, WISH sis. Your brother will come around. You guys can still have a wonderful time together even if you're not in the same hotel.

Sending lots of prayers and your way this weekend.

 

[eyor44]

Amy, I hope you all were able to get everything done at your sister's house. Huge undertaking, but if anyone can do it, I have confidence that you can.

 

[toystoryduo]

How did your weekend go, WISH sis? I hope you were able to get a lot done on your sister's house.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hey girls, I am sorry to have been so absent lately! Can I just say that when this is over, I intend to spend a solid day on the disboards? Sheesh, I haven't even had time to monkey around with my ADR's in almost two weeks!

Got my sister out of the old house and into the new one! I cannot say how tired I am because I am too tired to figure out the way to best describe how tired I am. Cleaning up that house was an experience. Lets just say I will never allow my sister to live that way again. If it means going down there once or twice a month to clean so be it. I spent four hours scrubbing down the one bathroom. It looked pretty good. I got done Wednesday with 39 minutes to spare before the realtor came by. He was shocked, he truly thought we'd never get it done. But we did! My nephew and his SAINT friend got all her stuff moved into the new house. Its crowded, we have a lot of work to do and my nephew and I are really working on her to get rid of some stuff. She's a pack rat and clutter lover but you cannot move around in there. Patience is what I told my nephew we need to show. She's been a through a lot and basically her whole life came unraveled for all the world to see and we need to give her time to adjust back to normalcy. We will go down tomorrow morning, come back Sunday night and hopefully have her enough settled in that she can do the last bit herself.

Dd is off to a great start at school, she won a science experiement contest (beat out over 100 other kids) her teachers all love her and she's going to do great.

Ds is off to his usual slow start. Already turned in some stuff late but got it turned in and is caught up. I'll be on him constantly probably til the day I die! His teachers love him, he's got some girl that appears to like him quite a bit and out of 38 future marines came in 6th place in a 1.5 mile race yesterday. 1.5 miles in 10 minutes, 18 seconds. Not bad considering he took a whole month off this summer to recuperate from his surgery. Now if he'd just show that much determination with his school work, my life would be bliss.

I have worked out twice this week. I took a Zumba class today with my friend. She just quit her job to spend time with her kids so she wants to work out. Its good, I probably would have not gone yesterday in particular since I am dog tired and sore from this move but glad I went. Only thing is, she told me "now I don't want this to ruin our friendship because I know I'll lose more weight than you". WTH? I am sure that is what many people think since I never seem to stick with weight loss but I'd appreicate it if they didn't say that out loud! Oh well, who knows. I may surprise the heck out of her. I will say I could do the squats at Zumba and she couldn't. I am sure that was a bummer for her to have her friend who is 90 pounds heavier kick her butt at squats. Zumba was fun, I just need to learn the moves.

Tracey: I have changed that reservation so many times half the time I can't remember where we are staying! We are now at CBR, when I changed to Pop and then went to change back, CSR was gone for free dining. My own fault! I was just looking at your pics on facebook, can't wait to read all about it, you look so thin and young in your pictures!

Lisa: If I ever learn to think before I speak, my life will be much easier! My brother is less upset but still peeved about our room change. But I am not going to change, heck I love the Hojo and I love saving $1,000!

Tracy: In some ways, it may be better to have our own hotel space. He and his family need their down time, we need ours.

Okay, gotta go catch up with you, thanks for sticking with me. If any of you move, call me, I do good work!

 

[eyor44]

Amy
I am so glad that you were able to get your sister moved and the house cleaned like you wanted. Awesome work!

I'm with you on saving so much. Your brother will hopefully come around and see the good side of this. Everyone needs their space whether they think so or not. As for speaking before you think? Read my thread. I shouldn't speak even after I think.

I'll bet you are having withdrawls aren't you. You haven't been able to make any ressie changes for two weeks!?! just kidden you

I'm with you on Zumba, it's fun but gotta love the move. All that Wow!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Lisa, Zumba is very fun, I love the music but probably look like an idiot doing it. I'll get there!

Speaking of Zumba, if I continue this class this means I am going to have change WW meetings. I normally go on Friday mornings which is when Zumba is. I'll figure it out.

I have been to WW once in the last three weeks. Shameful but its been hectic. I am hoping that beginning next week, my fresh start sort of gets a fresh start!

Food yesterday was fine until I ate an order of nachos from Qdoba. Oh well, it could have been worse. Today will be tough, my sister ordered a cake so we can celebrate dd' birthday a bit early with her. Its white bakery cake with strawberry filling, dd's favorite. Which also happens to be my favorite!

I am sore today from Zumba and my 30 minutes on the treadmill (those 7% inclines are killer on the back of my legs but boy do I sweat)

I can't believe we are under two months until WDW. I really need to crank to lose some poundage before then.

 

[eyor44]

Amy, you can do 7% inclines???? Wow! I would be dying.


You are excused for not attending WW regularly. You've been a bit busy, you know.

Two months until Disney!!!

 

[eyor44]

Amy
I saw on the news about the fires out there. I am not sure where you live in relation to them, but am praying you are far away and they don't bother you.

 

[toystoryduo]

I saw the fires on the news too! We're praying that you and your family are safe, Amy!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Lisa and Tracy. Thankfully I am a long way from those fires. Its a very scary situation. I swear, I would not live out in a lot of the mountainous areas here, with the dryness its always a possiblity. We have no rain in sight and lots of wind, so not a good situation. I just pray for all the poor people affected.

I did my first spin class today. Funny thing is, I am trying to exercise more, broaden my horizons and think outside my comfort zone and so far all I have done is make myself feel humiliated! I kept up with the spinning part, but omg that seat killed my rear end. It hurt so bad I had to stand up just to relieve the pain several times. Even now I sit here typing feeling like I gave birth recently. Maybe women my size aren't meant to spin? I want to do it again, but then again, just not sure. I was of course the biggest person in there and everyone was pretty amazed I made it through the hour. Which should tickle me pink but somehow makes me feel like crap. I don't like mirrors so being in a room full of them and seeing my huge self in relation to 15 other people, all of whom were in very good shape. Well nuff said.

I have been feeling very punchy, cranky and sad the last few days. Probably I am tired. Dd's birthday (#14) is Friday and her bday always sort of ushers in fall and all the birthdays for my family. All of which (except Dan's and my mom's) are between Friday and the end of December. This was always my mom's favorite time of year and I realize that if I live to be 100, I'll always miss her the most this time of year. I was at the mall today for lunch and saw a young mom with two little kids and her mom having lunch. I have sat in that same mall a thousand times with my mom and my kids so it brought back a lot of happy memories.

And on this same line, I think our relationship with my stepdad is possibly over. We barely talk, I was very hurt he never came to see Matthew when he had his surgery, he's cut off ties with both my siblings (they don't live close by so they are of no use to him) and the only time I do hear from him is when he needs a ride to the airport. I had lunch with Dan today (Subway, I was a good girl!) so we could do some shopping for dd's birthday and he works very near my mom's condo where stepdad lives. I decided to drive by there after I dropped Dan off. I literally parked across the street and looked at my mother's home, that is full of her and my dad's furnture that I know I'll never get and sat there and cried. I could see the window of her bedroom, the room she died in and I don't know why but I just got so upset and so sad! I can't believe that not only did we lose her, but I lost my stepdad too and the kids lost a grandparent. I think I was kidding myself to ever think we could have a relationship with him once my mom was gone. It started going downhill the day after she died and its just gone from there. I am always the one to call, make the plans, have him (and now his girlfriend) over and I decided to just back off and see what happens. Well nothing! If and when he does surface, I think I'll just tell him how I feel, wish him well, give him the number for Super Shuttle (since I no longer desire to take him to the airport) and say goodbye. In any case, I think I got so upset today knowing that inside that building is my mom's home and I can't even go in there. Oh well, she is truly in a better place and its time for me to just get over the whole stepdad issue and put that in my past. Dan said "maybe he died" and that thought did cross my mind but I know Ruth (his girlfriend) would call me. She's such a nice person, I hope for her sake she never marries him. She can do better! For what he put my mom through for 30 years, I should not even care if I do talk or see him again.

My food has been really good yesterday and today and with my workouts we'll see what the scale says! I decided I will go into WW on Friday's before Zumba, they have a 7:00 a.m. meeting. As long as Dan can take dd to school that day, it will be fine. Its still my same leader so that's good. I really want to keep up with WW and the working out so thank goodness they have this meeting I can go to!