Biggest Loser 9 Spring challenge -- Part 2! HERE WE ARE! :)

[corinnak]

#1- 3.56% - maiziezoe - Congratulations on being our BL this week!

Morning everyone! I have not been doing all that great lately. Each week I have seen little bad habits coming back and I felt how I am relaxing way too much with the choices I make. I have been fighting the diet and especially the exercise. While I have struggled before for a day or two, I have not gained any weight back....until now. The scale has been up by 1.5 pounds for 3 days and I know I need to admit that I am making really bad choices at this point. So, if I type if here, I will feel like it has to happen. Here is what I will do for the rest of the week:

1. I WILL move the large bag of M&Ms that are sitting next to my bed. Yep, I have a large bag on my night stand and I have been eating right out of the bag. If I feel like I really have to have the M&Ms, I will get the from the kitchen, count out the 10 that it takes to satisfy my chocolate cravings, write it down in my food log and then eat only the 10.

2. I will log all my food again. I have not been measuring at all or recording my food at all. I keep saying that I can do it in my head and that I know what a serving looks like. Ah...no I can't log it in my head! What am I thinking? I am going to go back to the very beginning of when I had to measure EVERYTHING. Plus, logging my food means that I look at if I am eating balanced meals and I know I am not right now.

3. I will not make any excuses for exercising. I know that running is not enough right now and that I need other exercise as well. This week I will bike to work each day. This will be 6 miles of biking. I will also work on lifting weights and doing my Wii Active.

4. I will log my water again. I have not been logging my water and I have been trying to convince myself I am drinking enough. In reality, I know that I am not getting enough. I know that I do better when I drink 8-10 glasses of water.

5. I will think more about what has been the reason for why I have allowed myself to stop many of the wonderful habits I had created. I need to continue to learn more about why I allow myself to first be so successful and then allow myself to make excuses and slip so quickly into the bad habits again.

Alright, I am feeling better already. I am a "must have a plan" sort of person and I obviously need a plan again.

Jen, your plan of action sounds very, very good. Very concrete - very doable. I don't think I could safely keep M&M's in the house. Putting them in the kitchen is a great idea - preferably somewhere you can't see them. It's so much easier when they aren't staring you in the face frequently. Well, not easier, but less hard, anyhow.

Posted by corinnak: This upcoming Saturday is the Challenge Obesity 5K! I believe that a few of us on here are planning to run it? You guys still in? I'm going to try to get there early and will be wearing WISH green. I'm trying for a new PR, so I hope it's not too crowded a field. I was looking at the difference between 2008 and 2009 and it seems like this event really grew between those two years! I am starting to get very excited! I had a great run last night and can't wait to pull out the stops on this race!
I'll be there, but I'll be walking and pushing the jogging stroller.
I'm a little bummed that I can't run, but that doesn't mean I can't participate. (Trying to force myself to be positive about this!)
I'm still figuring out the issues with my hip/knee. I think I'm on the right track now that I've got new running shoes and I'm doing daily exercises and stretches for my hip. I'm supposed to give the exercises 14 days to work their magic, then go see the doctor if I'm not improved. Here's hoping!

I'll be back later to catch up on QOTDs.

Nicole! I'm so glad I'll get to see you on Saturday! This is going to be a great event to participate in whether walking, running, spectating or volunteering. We don't always get to do the race the way we want to, but I'm so glad you'll still be able to walk it with your daughter. There will be lots of other races in the future. As you know, it's so much more important to figure out the hip/knee stuff before you continue - here's hoping the stretches and exercises fix the problem. Not to mention the right shoes. It sounds like you've found some that are working or likely to work better for you?


As for me, I had a pretty fun Spin class this morning - I can not believe that this is me - the instructor says "Next we're going to do a series of climbs" and I'm like 'Woo!" Seriously, 3 years ago, I had a hard time even getting mustering the gumption to change to walk on the treadmill. Who IS this person I've become? Oh yeah...I actually wished for this. My WISH journal was called "I Just Want To Be Athletic, Is That So Wrong??" It wasn't a direct path, it took quite a while, and it wasn't easy, but holy moley, I think my WISH came true.

 

[50sjayne]

Thank you Rose&Mike/LuvBaloo/Tigger and all of you with well wishes. I honestly have been having a really hard time getting back into my zest for exercise. I know it is what I need to do, I am inconsistent. One day I walk 7 miles, the next none. Am I watching what I eat, yes...I am not drowning my sorrow with food because honestly, it doesn't make me feel better, I remember in the past, it would..at least for the moments that I was having my peanut M&Ms...but now..I don't even like them. My brain switched over to the exercise to make me feel better. I think that is why I am having such a hard time with this. My dog Xena was my walking buddy, and it was my joy to be doing something for her and myself at the same time that made us feel good and healthy. Now, when I walk outside I just feel miserable, I miss her. I know that she was a dog, and that dogs die and that she isn't human, yet still a soul that was my friend. I some how need to find the joy again in something that made me feel so happy to do, even though right now, it is painful to do. I have made contact with a wonderful breeder in Northern Mass, and I am on her list for a litter of yellow lab pups. I wish I didn't have to wait as long as I do. I know getting another dog won't replace my Xena, but the hole in my heart that wants to share my love and care for a dog needs to be filled. Part of me feels like how could I ever get another dog after all this pain of loosing her. The amount of joy that we had with her over the course of her life out weighs the pain of loosing her, and it is a lot trust me. I am sorry I have been so reluctant in posting to the disboard here. I think you all are wonderful people, truly. I need and want your encouragement, and I need to turn my focus to this, and you here. I will be going on vacation with my family tomorrow for a week, putting more distance between the day she left our family. I hope that it will help. I will be traveling all around today, shopping and packing. I will walk for an hour during my oil change. Here is what I know. I will be ok. I will be sad, but I will not let it envelop my life. I know my dog was here for very important times in my life. She helped me loose 45lbs. I wouldn't want to let her down by ruining all the good she helped me achieve. I am going to weigh in now. Thank you all so much!

I knew I'd missed a bunch of posts--sorry about Xena. I'm glad you are getting another though, it's the best thing really.

Quotd- vacation other than Disney.

Think my favorite is really the time we went up to Seattle. It was our first experience with a priceline hotel which was a marriot that was very nice. We went to the Cinerama and one of the Spiderman movies was playing, also did a Beatles laser show, Pike Place, Seattle Center. Everywhere we went my husband got really excited to see the space needle--we still joke about it. "There's the space needle!" We also had dinner at a really nice restaurant on my husband's boss's tab on the water somewhere.

 

[tigger813]

First client canceled today so I played with my boss's new puppy, Chance. He's a golden doodle and really sweet though quite stubborn with me this morning. Took DD1 and her friend shopping at the mall. Had a steak and cheese panini for lunch. Hadn't really eaten much before that today. DD2 is better though her nose is running a bunch. She actually doesn't want to go to dancing today. I think I'll just let her stay home. That way we can eat dinner as a family and I can still get to work. Gonna eat something kind of light and just drink my water a lot tonight after giving my massage.

I am going to have my handful of M&Ms right now to get me through the rest of the day! I've not eaten much today so I think I deserve it.

DH just got home so I think I'll go and help him outside for awhile.

 

[sskem96]

Well guys, I guess I am allergic to exercise!
I went out to do a fast walk today. I did manage to do a mile, which isn't a lot, but for me its a lot more than I have been doing. I was just bee bopping along and kept noticing that my arms were itching but I kept trying to ignore it. As I walked back up to my house I looked at my arms and they were covered in hives! Yuck. I put on some Benedryl and its helping, but man, what luck!

I decided that I am not waiting until I lose weight to look better. I bought my self 8 new tops and 2 pairs of workout capri's online at Walmart. I hate spending the money on me, but I kinda agree with my hubby's favorite statement"Happy wife, happy life". If I feel better about myself I think it will rub off on my girls and eventually my whole life. I am trying to be more positive and focus on all the blessings I have. Later this week I am getting new contacts, and if I ever hit the 20 pound mark..... no.... WHEN I hit the 20 pound loss, I am getting my hair done at a really nice place in town that I have always wanted to go. Ok, now that I said all that..... someone tell me I am not being a terrible person spending all this money on myself!?!?!

I have a hard time spending money on myself too! I am in desperate need of some new shirts, but I can never bring myself to spending the money. I'm going away for a girl's weekend next month with one of my single friends who of course has no one but herself to spend money on, so I decided to put a little money back each payday til then so I can spend freely on myself like her when we go shopping together!

QOTD for Tuesday: Since today's (yesterday's ) question was thought provoking and serious, I want today's to be fun. So tell us something about you that we don't already know.

Hmm, I always have trouble coming up with answers for something like this! I don't think I've mentioned before that when I first started college I was a communications major hoping to become a movie producer and work for Disney! I got engaged after my first year of college and as we started planning our wedding I decided I wanted to start a family soon and wouldn't be able to go off and start a glamorous career. I changed my major to education for 1 semester, then decided I'd go to nursing school since I could get my LPN in 9 mos. I finished out my sophomore yr. taking classes like first aid and medical terminology, then went to nursing school the following year and got my diploma 2 days before my wedding. I did go back and get my RN when the kids were little, but I really need to go back and finish my BSN so I can move on and get my NNP (neonatal nurse practitioner). I'm hoping DH gets a promotion within the next couple years, which will allow me to cut back on my work hours and go back to school once the kids are old enough to drive and get themselves to their own evening activities. I still sometimes wonder where we'd be now if I'd finished my degree and tried to get a job with Disney!

Thanks! Now I have a few quick questions. First I want to make sure I'm in the right place. I don't want to drag you all down. I have a lot of weight I could lose, and I would currently consider it a victory to order the kids burger and fries rather than the extra value meal! I wouldn't fit in very well with an "Oh my goodness, I put too many sugary raw carrots on my salad" group. Not that I don't applaud people who are so self-controlled. It's just not anywhere near where I am at. I could never understand it when people were at WW complaining that they just couldn't eat all of their points. I'm thinking "just go grab a ho-ho and you'll be there"! Okay, kind of kidding on that one, but I've never had a problem fitting in enough food! That being said, I know that you do need to make changes to have real (and permanent) weight loss.

As I said, I have LOTS of pounds to lose. We are going to DW in August, and I know I will be SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE if I lose weight and start exercising before then.

So, am I in the right place? And if so, let me know what I need to know (or where I should look for the info I need to know) to get started. I see that there are about 5 weeks left in this challenge. If I put in a little effort I could make some decent progress in that time, right? Right!

BTW - I told my boys the other day that I was going to put a chart on the fridge, and for every pound I lost before our trip they would get an extra dollar for souvenirs! Then I proceeded to have Jet's pizza for lunch, and McDonald's for dinner. UGH!!!!! Better make and print that chart and get it in sight (not with my actual weight, of course, but with a starting point to work from).

Thanks Everyone! I'm needing to make a change.

You can get a lot of support here, but it really helps to check in every day because the thread moves so fast that, for me anyway, if I get behind in reading posts I lose motivation and slip into a rut pretty easily. I hit the 20# mark around late October or early November and have been fighting with those next 5 pounds for several months. It's sometimes discouraging to see someone else lose a huge amount of weight in a single week, but I just have to remember that everybody's body is different and I'm following the diet plan that works for me. My weight has been up and down so many times in my life that I decided I'd rather have a slow permanent loss this time instead of rushing to goal just to be right back in the same place in 2 years-again.

Wednesday's QOTD: Looking back at past vacations, what was your favorite Non Disney vacation?

Hmmm, I haven't really been many other places! We went to the Mall of America 4 years ago and when we got home we realized that we spent just as much money as if we'd gone to Disney and didn't have near as much fun, so we decided it's Disney from here on out! We do go camping some in the summer and usually spend a couple days at Indiana Beach which can be pretty relaxing. We enjoy taking lots of mini trips to the Chicago area. This weekend we're going to Six Flags in Gurnee on Saturday followed by a quick stop at Gurnee Mills (huge outlet mall), spending the night at Hyatt Place in Schaumburg and going to a dismeet at Doorway to Dreams on Sun. morning followed by lunch at Old Country Buffet. I hope my will power improves by then!

I'm terribly hormonal this week and eating everything in sight. I missed Zumba last night because DD10 had 6th grade orientation. I need to go for a bike ride today to make up for it. I should get up off the couch and go now! I worked last night and napped til about 12:30, now just sitting here with no energy in sight!

 

[donac]

Good afternoon everyone. I didn't work out this morning. I was planning to walk outside but the seabreeze has kicked in it is a little too chilly. I did get a yoga routine when I got home. I have to tutor tonight.

I have to get some cooking done. I am going to make my red pepper/tomato soup so that I have lunches for the next few days. I also will use it for dinner on Friday and Sat. Dh is going camping and ds1 will probably visit his gf so it will be pretty quiet around here. I try to make this kind of weekend a type of spa weekend. I can eat whatever I want whenever I want. I have to be somewhere on Sat morning at 8 but I am done by 11.

I am also planning to make a stir fry for dinner with brown rice.

QOTD We have a several good vacations that have not been Disney. One that stands out is a trip to Va with some friends a few years ago. Ds1 was at the Boy Scout Jamboree and we were going to visit him. We camped in a campground on the Potomac. We went to a couple of historical places and Kings Dominion. We were going to the jambo one day but it was raining and it rained for 24 hours straight. Our friends set up a huge tarp and we hung out ther for most of the rainy day.

Have a great evening everyone.

 

[maiziezoe]

#1- 3.56% - maiziezoe - Congratulations on being our BL this week!

Morning everyone! I have not been doing all that great lately. Each week I have seen little bad habits coming back and I felt how I am relaxing way too much with the choices I make. I have been fighting the diet and especially the exercise. While I have struggled before for a day or two, I have not gained any weight back....until now. The scale has been up by 1.5 pounds for 3 days and I know I need to admit that I am making really bad choices at this point. So, if I type if here, I will feel like it has to happen. Here is what I will do for the rest of the week:

1. I WILL move the large bag of M&Ms that are sitting next to my bed. Yep, I have a large bag on my night stand and I have been eating right out of the bag. If I feel like I really have to have the M&Ms, I will get the from the kitchen, count out the 10 that it takes to satisfy my chocolate cravings, write it down in my food log and then eat only the 10.

2. I will log all my food again. I have not been measuring at all or recording my food at all. I keep saying that I can do it in my head and that I know what a serving looks like. Ah...no I can't log it in my head! What am I thinking? I am going to go back to the very beginning of when I had to measure EVERYTHING. Plus, logging my food means that I look at if I am eating balanced meals and I know I am not right now.

3. I will not make any excuses for exercising. I know that running is not enough right now and that I need other exercise as well. This week I will bike to work each day. This will be 6 miles of biking. I will also work on lifting weights and doing my Wii Active.

4. I will log my water again. I have not been logging my water and I have been trying to convince myself I am drinking enough. In reality, I know that I am not getting enough. I know that I do better when I drink 8-10 glasses of water.

5. I will think more about what has been the reason for why I have allowed myself to stop many of the wonderful habits I had created. I need to continue to learn more about why I allow myself to first be so successful and then allow myself to make excuses and slip so quickly into the bad habits again.

Alright, I am feeling better already. I am a "must have a plan" sort of person and I obviously need a plan again.

QOTD: Favorite Vacation: It would have to be my Costa Rica trip. The jungle is so amazing, totally hard to put into words all the things you see and hear. I would love to go back there with the family one day.

I think writing it all down is the first step to making changes!!

 

[maiziezoe]

Thanks everyone for all the congrats and stuff! I had a great week last week but this week has been a bit of a struggle. I've stayed the same weight as I was on Friday. Not going to let it bother me though!

Today I wore a pink running skirt to the gym. LOVED IT! A young girl, maybe about 21, told me I have great legs for a running skirt. I was stunned that a young lady with a perfect body would even notice my old legs.

Wednesday's QOTD: Looking back at past vacations, what was your favorite Non Disney vacation?

I really had to think about this because I don't take many vacations that are not Disney vacations. Buuuut, the year my hubby and I met we decided to go to Chicago for the Thanksgiving weekend. My kids were with their dad and his daughter was with her mom. We stayed at Hotel Monaco and ate at the finest restaurants. We even got tattooed together! It was a great long weekend!

 

[MaryAz]

Congrats to all the loosers! I made the list for the first time and finally lost after maintaining for 6 weeks. Gives me the motivation to keep going!

 

[tigger813]

UGH! Both clients ended up canceling today! Oh, well! Going to head over to take the stones out of the water so they don't get gross! Well, I should have time for another workout tonight anyways! Maybe I'll do the 4 mile again! I really liked that yesterday!

 

[flipflopmom]

jennanderson - (not to confuse my Jen's ) - way to go on making that list. You are in control, and have a firm grasp on what you need to do!! I know you will!

Tracey - How awful for your clients to have cancelled. That would give me a !

Congrats to you Maiziezoe!!!!

MaryAZ - congrats on making the list! Now you've got your kickstart!

sskem - That's a pretty big shift in careers! I know the "what might have beens" are hard to avoid, and I've had to start taking each day for what it is. If I look to "when I finish my Master's" - the flip side of that is that my little one will start school. I am just trying to enjoy today, because I don't know what tomorrow will bring.

And with that, send some my way tomorrow. It's our big field trip. 65 5 year olds to Chuck E. Cheese's and the Children's Museum. They are a handfull, so I pray everyone behaves, stays safe, we lose the drama, and don't lose the kids! I've never seen a group this young with sooooooooo much drama! Got my run in at 6:40 this morning, but I was running behind and only did a 30 minute run. No super records, but I ran today. That's what counts!

Have a great evening. (Who am I kidding? I'll be back on before bed! )

 

[LuvBaloo]

Jumping in to answer the QOTD.

Best non-Disney vacation is a tough one, as there's been lots of good vacations, but all the best ones have been Disney ones.
I'm going to go with the 2 weeks DH & I travelled around Europe. We were 18 with a couple of train passes, and we went from Holland, to Belgium, to Luxemburg, into France (a few days in Paris, where we had a little tourist map showing the major highlights and we wore it out taking it in & out of pockets as we walked all over, really enjoyed Notre Dame ), into Germany (met up with a German who had been an exchange student in Canada the previous year and went to see a real castle Lieuwswanstein sp?, saw the remains of the Berlin wall which had just come down the year before ), into Italy (Milan sucked so we only stayed a few hours and jumped back on a train and went to Venice).

 

[Graciesmom77]

Wednesday's QOTD: Looking back at past vacations, what was your favorite Non Disney vacation?

Our best vacations were Disney, so this is hard to answer. I guess it would be a time my husband and I went to Pigeon Forge. Neither of us had been there before and it was wonderful! We rented a cabin with a hot tub on the deck and a jaccuzzi in the bedroom. I kept hopping from one to the other. The only bad thing was that one time when I was stepping out of the hot tub, I stepped on something I thought was a piece of wood and I yelped and hobbled into the cabin. When Kevin came in he had this weird look on his face and said "honey, I think you stepped on a scorpian". So then I start freaking out thinking my breathing is feeling hard and that I feel weird. Kevin is trying to call my sis and have her look up Tennessee scorpians to see if they are poisionous and look up a hospital to take me to in case they are. By now I am SURE they are cause I have a mettallic taste in my mouth and I am thinking I have to go to the hospital and have weird horrible hospitally things done to me! Anyways, my sis finds out that scorpians in that neck of the woods are not poisionous and magically all the (hypocondriac) symptoms went away. To this day my husband says I am a superhero like Spiderman cause I got bit, but he calls me Scorpian Toe! Not as catchy huh!

I ate well all day and did 2 20 minute step up workouts from the Wii. I added the risers to the feet of the Wii and let me tell you, it ADDS much more of a workout! My cheeks were flaming red when I was done, but I did it. Silly to be so excited about 40 minutes of exercise but I am!

For a treat tonight I took a piece of angel food cake and covered it in strawberried and lite cool whip. YUMMY!!

The girls and I are going to go to see Kevin at the end of the month in South Carolina. We decided to meet in Myrtle Beach. I am excited because I have never been there. Any suggestions about family friendly places to visit?

I hope everyone is having a great day. You guys ROCK!

 

[tigger813]

Wednesday's QOTD: Looking back at past vacations, what was your favorite Non Disney vacation?

Our best vacations were Disney, so this is hard to answer. I guess it would be a time my husband and I went to Pigeon Forge. Neither of us had been there before and it was wonderful! We rented a cabin with a hot tub on the deck and a jaccuzzi in the bedroom. I kept hopping from one to the other. The only bad thing was that one time when I was stepping out of the hot tub, I stepped on something I thought was a piece of wood and I yelped and hobbled into the cabin. When Kevin came in he had this weird look on his face and said "honey, I think you stepped on a scorpian". So then I start freaking out thinking my breathing is feeling hard and that I feel weird. Kevin is trying to call my sis and have her look up Tennessee scorpians to see if they are poisionous and look up a hospital to take me to in case they are. By now I am SURE they are cause I have a mettallic taste in my mouth and I am thinking I have to go to the hospital and have weird horrible hospitally things done to me! Anyways, my sis finds out that scorpians in that neck of the woods are not poisionous and magically all the (hypocondriac) symptoms went away. To this day my husband says I am a superhero like Spiderman cause I got bit, but he calls me Scorpian Toe! Not as catchy huh!

I ate well all day and did 2 20 minute step up workouts from the Wii. I added the risers to the feet of the Wii and let me tell you, it ADDS much more of a workout! My cheeks were flaming red when I was done, but I did it. Silly to be so excited about 40 minutes of exercise but I am!

For a treat tonight I took a piece of angel food cake and covered it in strawberried and lite cool whip. YUMMY!!

The girls and I are going to go to see Kevin at the end of the month in South Carolina. We decided to meet in Myrtle Beach. I am excited because I have never been there. Any suggestions about family friendly places to visit?

I hope everyone is having a great day. You guys ROCK!

Don't be surprised if your calves are really sore tomorrow! I was in pain for about 3 days after doing the step with the risers. I plan on doing it some time this again. I've been trying to rotate my workouts more so I don't get bored. Did a 2 mile WATP and the 4 mile Slim Walk! I'm really liking that one. I hope to do the 3 mile Slim and Sleek walk at 5:30am tomorrow and then a 2 mile one at 7:30. I want to have a loss this week so I'm really trying to be good!

 

[redwalker]

I walked 4.5 miles while I waited for my cars oil to be changed. It was a tough walk since it was where I had walked with my furry friend. I did it though. Hoping for a - in my weight tomorrow..we will see.
good luck everyone!

 

[my3princes]

Where did this week go? Tomorrow is my last day of coaching It's been fun to come up with questions and even more fun to read the responses.

QOTD for Thursday: Since most people mentioned that Disney vacations were their favorites I've decided to add a twist. What was your favorite non park Disney activity while on vacation?

We usually go for 3 weeks so we try to find things to do other than the parks. We've played mini golf, done the water parks, done the off road segway tour at FW, gone horseback riding at FW, Driven at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Walt Disney World Raceway, 4th of July Fireworks cruise on Bay lake and our absolute favorite was the parasailing on Bay Lake

 

[princessbride6205]

Congrats, maiziezoe!

Nicole! I'm so glad I'll get to see you on Saturday! This is going to be a great event to participate in whether walking, running, spectating or volunteering. We don't always get to do the race the way we want to, but I'm so glad you'll still be able to walk it with your daughter. There will be lots of other races in the future. As you know, it's so much more important to figure out the hip/knee stuff before you continue - here's hoping the stretches and exercises fix the problem. Not to mention the right shoes. It sounds like you've found some that are working or likely to work better for you?

As for me, I had a pretty fun Spin class this morning - I can not believe that this is me - the instructor says "Next we're going to do a series of climbs" and I'm like 'Woo!" Seriously, 3 years ago, I had a hard time even getting mustering the gumption to change to walk on the treadmill. Who IS this person I've become? Oh yeah...I actually wished for this. My WISH journal was called "I Just Want To Be Athletic, Is That So Wrong??" It wasn't a direct path, it took quite a while, and it wasn't easy, but holy moley, I think my WISH came true.

Awesome! You are definitely athletic.

I just got another pair of the inexpensive trail runners that I had been in during my c25k and most of my half training. We'll see how it goes.

 

[donac]

Good morning everyone. Just wanted to stop by and say hello. I am like Susie. It is the end of the marking period and I am swamped with paper work. It is also less than 3 weeks until my students take the Advanced Placement Test. So much to get into their brain in 3 weeks that it is scary. This is not a strong group but I have known this since they walked into my classroom.

Some days I have been walking a lot. I am at 522 miles since Jan. SO far in APril I am averaging about 11500 steps a day. I am aiming for 12000 a day this month so I need to step it up a little as we go to the end of the month.

Yoga tonight and I can't wait.

Have a great day everyone and keep up the hard work.

 

[flipflopmom]

Morning all!!! Gearing up for a day of fun!!!! Going to be a looong day though. I just pray the kiddos behave. It scares me that I am taking some of them in public! I really don't think their parents ever have. Anyway,

First off- 3 princess 3 weeks!!! That must be amazing! DH only gets 2 weeks off during the year, so a week it is for us. That leaves him with 5 days for the rest of the year, I am soooo very thankful he has a job that is going well right now, since he is in furniture. He's been working every other Saturday, too, for a few months now. If we have a conflict in schedule, he would have to take one of his vacation days on these Saturdays, too. I personally think if they are adding 25 days or more to his work schedule a year, they should give them another 2 or 3 days to compensate. But anyway.

I am bummed about my summer Master's Program schedule. Fridays from 4-8, and Saturdays from 8 to 5 - 3 weeks in June, 3 weeks in July. Thanks to snow, the kids last day of school is June 4, and that's the first day of my classes. We actually had to cut our WDW trip short by 1 day b/c of classes.

The point of the proceeding book is that our trips are so short, we spend every moment possible in the parks. Our favorite non-park activity last year was a Wishes cruise, it was fantastic. This year, it will be hanging out in our new home, Bay Lake Towers!

 

[tigger813]

Thursday QOTD: We've been to Kennedy Space Center as an off site activity. Probably go again in a few years when DD2 is older. We are looking forward to visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on our Dec. trip! We will be going the first weekend in Dec on Sat or Sunday. We figured that would be a good weekend to avoid MK due to the parade being filmed. We hope to be staying at BWV so my parents can be close to Epcot. My aunt may meet them that day to spend time with them.

Time to get DD1s lunch packed.

 

[corinnak]

My DS woke up and needed the bathroom, so of course woke me up as well...and now I can't get back to sleep. So many thoughts racing around in my head.

We found out yesterday that my sons' school is closing. This Friday. It is a small private school, and we had known there were financial issues this year and that next year was in question, but we had not known that the end of THIS school year was potentially not going to happen. They are underwater with their mortgage, and enrollment is down. The good news is the kids have had enough instructional hours to meet the state requirements for finishing the school year. The bad news is....everything else.

We're scrambling to figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the year. I know many families are struggling right now to figure out what to do next week. The kids are in shock and are just starting the grieving process. This was their home and their world for the past 6 years. My younger son does not remember a time when his brother did not go here and has attended 3 years - it's half of each of their lives and now without any warning, it's ending and there's nothing more to be done. We just have to move on.

We are going to be OK - it's traumatic, but entirely survivable. I am more concerned for the teachers, who are finishing the week without pay and now begin unemployment and job-seeking - they are an incredible group and any school would be lucky to have them, but my heart breaks for them right now, too.

I know it's not at all weight related, but it is weighing on me right now for sure.