Hello and a happy mothers day to all my friends here who are moms, and all of those who love, support moms they know. It takes a village to raise a child, and I know I am the best mom I can be because of all the help and support I find from my friends and family. Hugs to those missing their moms, and babies who have been lost.
I love how you said this, Karen. It is so very true.
It's been busy times, and I am sorry haven't been a very good friend here. I haven't even been reading, so I'm sure i've missed a lot. I know this is the last week of the challenge, so I hope to pop in a bit more, and see how you all are doing. I want to thank each and every one of you for all the support and inspiration I have received throughout the challenge, and though my loss is a small one overall, I know without this challenge, I would be in worse shape.
Good luck to you all this week!! After a not so on track weekend, I'm going to end the challenge strong, and hope you all are doing the same!
Happy Mothers Day to you all.
Wow, all the smilies are changed all around. It has been a while.
I haven't been on much lately either, but I have been missing seeing you! Hope all is well with you and hope your MD was terrific!
I'm with you on finishing strong this week!! I need a good week!
Sorry everyone I've been MIA the last few weeks.
I went to Disney with bestie last week and it had its ups and downs (mostly downs) this trip. I had a lot of health problems give me issues and I spent most of the trip taking it easy and spending time doing what my body could handle. I did a LOT of walking around Coronado Springs Resort. I have to say for having never stayed at a moderate before it was INCREDIBLE! The only thing I didn't like is we were back in the Ranchero section (VERY back of property) and I had no cell signal at all. I literally had to walk all the way to the sidewalks that lead to the bus stops to get any sort of signal.
Disney has totally gone wireless and do not have ethernet chords (at least not in our room) anymore. Luckily, we don't live far away and I have an ethernet chord at my house. Alan brought me one and I was able to use internet on my laptop. Yes, they are wireless but the operating system I have on my laptop (Vista) is not compatible with Disney's wireless, go figure.
We were on the basic dining plan and I have to say I didn't do that bad with meal selections. I brought stuff from home to eat for breakfast (yogurts and granola bars). I had also brought along my reusable water mug so I could refill it all the time. I was really impressed by the counter service at The Rix Lounge at the resort. There was only one meal I ate that I wasn't impressed with (chicken caesar wrap). The only other meal I wasn't impressed with at all was the shrimp scampi at Tony's at Magic Kingdom. I normally really like that restaurant but that meal wasn't good. The awesome news is I LOST WEIGHT while there!! I was 208 the morning we left for the resort. When I returned and weighed myself Wednesday morning (came home late Tuesday afternoon) I was 207.6! No its not a lot of weight but I was still shocked.
I had my pedometer with me on that trip and I averaged about 16 miles over the course of that 1 week. The longest day was 3.36 miles and that was split between a few hours at Animal Kingdom and all the walking I did at the resort that day.
Bestie is coming back in December to see me. I told her "Don't expect to spend a week at Disney because I'll have just been there for my birthday." I honestly believe the December trip will be the last time I see her in quite some time for a few reasons:
1. I'm hoping to be working beginning part of next year
2. There was just something about this trip that I just felt was "off". Either I'm just getting tired of Disney trips with friends or we're growing apart. I couldn't really put my finger on it but I just felt she was not thrilled with all my health conditions. She kept telling me she understood but I'm sorry body language speaks VOLUMES.
I was really annoyed that every time I suggested something I wanted to do she blew me off. Example: I LOVE Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom. I haven't been riding Space Mountain for quite some time because with my bad leg its just a really hard ride to get on and off of so I avoid it. She got all "Well, if your not going to ride Space Mountain there's not anything to do over in Tomorrowland. I want to go to Fantasy Land."
I understand she only gets vacation once a year but come on! This is MY vacation too!! By that point I was pissed off and between my legs and feet killing me (almost in tears during Wishes) I went back to the resort.
I have no problem going to Disney with others but when you totally just balk at what I want to do that's when I get mad.
I'll be back later to do a little catching up. I'm going to swim some laps.
Sorry your trip was just "okay". And sorry about the pain in your legs and feet. I know that you have some medical issues, but maybe some new shoes are in order too??
I made a decision a while ago to NOT visit Disney with others who aren't in the same mind-set as myself. In fact, on our last family trip in 2008, I was totally aggravated by DH who kept going back to the hotel room to "rest" (translate to "work", "nap", and "read"). I know that I am a super high energy, type-A, commando type at the parks, but I felt like he wasn't even trying to keep up and that his park ticket was a waste. I was SO aggravated.... although I guess it shouldn't have bothered me so much. The kids and I had plenty of fun without him.... but it wasn't the same.... it was supposed to be a FAMILY trip.
Anyhow, I won't visit Disney with my parents or my brother and his family because I know they wouldn't tour the same way I want to and it would really frustrate me. DS and DD know how I am at Disney (go, go, go) and they are willing to do the same... so they are the perfect companions!
Maybe in the future we can take another family trip that isn't so commando.... and DH's energy level should be better, as he is healthier and slimmer now. We'll see.
Anyhow, since you are living so close to Disney, I'm sure that most of your friends are expecting to visit Disney with you. You either need to decide to try to compromise and let them know your expectations and limitations up front, or let them go without you I suppose.
A quick hello to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day whether you're a mom to kids, angels, or fur babies
I had to post a .5 gain this week. Darn! Still, I'm so proud to say I started Jan 1 at 162.5 lbs and today weighed in at 141.5! And I ran a 10k race in Central Park yesterday finishing in about 1:04. What a fabulous way to kick off my week before Disney. I'm going to be as good as possible this week in anticipation of enjoying myself on vacation.
I recently found out I'm "severely" lactose intolerant (a little bit intolerant and severely intolerant - both just stink so who cares that doc says severe!) so I'm cutting out dairy as best I can. I will miss the ice cream at Disney but it's sooooo not a big deal especially if I feel better.
Yipes this turned into a "me" post.
I hope everyone has a fabulous Sunday and kicks off tomorrow back OP
Sorry you are finding out about the intolerance. I am listening to an audiobook right now about local eating, healthier eating, organic foods, etc and the chapter I just finished listening to talked about lactose intolerance and the percentages of people who have this "condition". We, as HUMANS aren't actually supposed to be able to tolerate lactose (especially COW lactose). It is actually a gene mutation that allows us TO tolerate it at all any time past childhood. You are just losing that tolerance later than many people.
Have you tried almond milk? I really enjoy the unsweetened vanilla Silk almond milk that is 40 calories per cup. It is great with cereal. I truly prefer it over cow's milk now.... and the fact that it is half the calories of lowfat milk is a bonus!
Happy Mother's Day! You all do so much for your babies (no matter how old they are!)
For those who are not mommies and those who would give anything to be a mommy (like me)....this is just a reminder that although we are not called "mom" , we have "mothered" many throughout our lives...whether it be a friend, sibling, niece/nephew, cousins, students and in my case a roommate...we have felt the love. Cherish that feeling today...
Well, it's that time of year when the deck is open for business!!! Even though I woudl give anything to have a real backyard, I try my best to give my deck the feel of an oasis (pool not included!) So, yesterday I bought 2 hanging plants, plants for my window boxes, basil, oregano, and a bag of potting soil. I'm currently sitting on my deck with a cup of French Vanilla coffee, listening to the birds, and typing to you all! Soooo relaxing
I am thinking of adding a water feature....I have a table and 2 chairs (Bri and I will eat dinner out here all summer), an electric grill, and currently my old table is still residing in the corner (I will remove it once everything is planted and I buy the fountain!! I think the trickle of water will really set the mood. I have solar lights strung across the railing as well. I am extremely lucky that my balcony faces the wooded area and that I get full sun in the afternoon
Now, to find a decent fountain...
I better get moving here! Brunch with mom and dad and I am dying to give my gift...we (sis, BIL, Brady and I) got my mom a Vera Bradley towel and lotion carrier to match (I filled it with SPF 50 lotions and sprays!) My mom has fair Irish skin so I need to cover her up with SPF 50!!
Have a lovely day everyone!
Your deck sounds lovely. We built a big beautiful deck 8 years ago and it sees very little use. I never bought a nice table and chairs for it (although I've looked for just the right set for a long time). I need to bite the bullet and find a set so we can enjoy our deck!
I love the idea of a fountain on the deck. And I think that the water sounds would attract birds too!
cabot cheese is lactose free??? omg. that little fact just made my day! thank you!
i've had tofutti before a long time ago. it's not bad!
karen you are so right about mother's day being for all who have "mothered" in one way or another!!!
MFP is a great way to keep track. it lets you keep track of exercise too!
Actually, the harder a cheese is, the less lactose it has. The lactose is drained off with the whey during the cheesemaking process. So cream cheese and cottage cheese would be bad choices..... hard cheddar would be a better choice.... another nugget I learned from my audiobook. "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" is the name of it if you are interested. Mostly about local eating, sustainable farming and such.
You lost over 20 #'s. That's awesome! Good you're learning that me is what it's all about...
Just checking in quick-- seems everyone is doing pretty good. I only gained 1 pound this week-- I'm actually feeling pretty good about that-- considering the stress, lack of sleep and no exercise.
Well the lil calico poo'd last night... stayed up for the last feeding about 12 am (before my son took over) to see if the other would but no go despite my best efforts. I changed the formula though to canned and that's supposed to be better. It's so much danged easier too...I'm going up to Portland tonight with my Mom to get my stepdad and daughter so that'll be mothers day. As long as both the kittens are alive-- I'm good.
Hope that DD is doing all right and glad to hear the kittens are still alive.
quotd sunday-- top of my head and fast before the kittens awake? Who has some vacation plans for the summer?
We really don't as we are going to
Disneyland in Nov., but I know how motivating a vacation is with pictures and bathing suits and all. ;-)
Good morning everyone!!
I'm happy to report that...I surpassed my goal!!
I've officially lost 20.4lbs since I started Jan. 16th! I didn't start the challenge to the 24th, but I was still reading wish at the time so it counts. 4 months sounds like a long time and I see why some people might discouraged but when you take it 1 week at a time it is much easier.
Now I only have 10-15 more lbs to lose until I make it to my ultimate goal!
Hope you all have a wonderful day!
HUGE congratulations on beating your goal for the challenge! That is great!
Good Morning Friends!
The sun is shining and the grass is growing...time to plant my flowers!! I think i will assume that the frost will not be coming back for a while
My deck gets crazy sun for most of the day so I was thinking petunias in the window boxes and maybe some hanging plants as well. I'm having a devil of a time finding a plant stand I like. My deck is small so I thought a tiered corner shelf would look nice....just can't find one that's not expensive (tried Target,
Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Christmas Tree Shop, and Sears.) I'm heading to Agway tomorrow and may just hit TJMaxx/Marshalls and Home Goods. Thought I would have had better luck by now
I forgot my yogurt this morning so I am heading out to Dunkin Donuts for an egg white flat bread and iced coffee (with just skim milk) It runs me 8 points for the sandwich and milk but such a nice treat this morning! I'm hoping to get out of here early today since I only have one student appointment and really need to do things at home. Brian has a long night at the 5th grade play with rehearsal going until 7:30...he has such patience with the kids as well as patience with his disorganized co-director - have you ever heard of a music teacher for an elementary school who didn't know how to play the piano??? Soo strange. Well, this is his last year at the school and will be looking for a new job this summer....being a behavioral aid does not pay very well
I'm going to do some updating to my Pinterest boards so feel free to follow me! Search "Karen Ferretti" or "Vista110". Love to have you on board!
Have a wonderful day!!
Good luck finding that corner rack. HomeGoods is probably a good spot to look. I think I also saw something at Lowe's last time I was there.
I know I have not posted in a while. I have been busy busy busy.
I managed to maintain since I started Spring Break at the beginning of April and have just gotten down to the 50 pound mark since starting in January.
I hope all are doing well and I look forward to seeing the big results that are coming out as we near the end of the challenge.
I am already looking forward to the next one so I can get back to being actively involved.
All the best.
Christopher
Glad to hear your good news about the 50 pounds and that you have been able to maintain since your break! I'm not sure if you posted about your cruises and I missed it, or if you haven't had time to post, but I hope they were great and I'd love to hear about them!
Hey-- late quotd plus tomorrow's....
quotd: Friday:
What motivates you more--- a goal or your health.
Mine was originally for my health as I really wrecked my back about 2 years ago.
quotd Sat:
Waht's your favorite veggie and fruit?
I know our farms are just starting up around here and I loove really fresh produce.
My favorite veggie is mushrooms. And did you know they are super high in vitamin D? Fruit is probably fresh pineapple. Enzymes in pineapple and papaya help heal skin. I found that out lately when a cat knocked down an old 50's radio off of our headboard onto my face. Mederma also works really great it helped my very old stretch marks and the scar stuff is really working good on my fresh cuts and even on my really old ones-- weird.
Well my stepdad's in Albuquerque and everyone is safe--all I can tell you guys is something really bad happened to my daughter. My stepdad is the kind of person that takes charge and gets things done so I am so grateful to him. He was also a firefighter and knows how to deal with police and bad guys too...
The kittens still haven't poo'd and I'm so worried I'll lose another. If they don't go by tomorow i will take them to the vet. I'll call them in the morning. Everything I read says that you are lucky if a few survive being orphaned that young so I am doing everything in my power to save them.
Here's a link to some kitten vid on my husbands facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=607963965
Glad to year that DD had grampa on the way to help out. Praying that she is okay.
Thanks for the reminder about the Mederma. I need to bug DS about using it. He has some scarring from his YEARS of eczema and while he is growing and it is fading, it is still significant in some areas. I bought him a tube of the Mederma (pricey stuff!), but I forget to remind him to use it. It needs to go in the morning and evening statements to remember to brush his teeth, wash his face (with acne wash) and take his pills!!
Good Saturday morning everyone.
Graduation was wonderful yesterday. The main ceremony was very different at the beginning. Now you need to know I am a graduation snob. I have been to over 50 to 60 grauations in the last 35 years.
First we were invited to breakfast in the engineering building. We got to meet a couple of my ds's teachers and some of his friends. We got to take some picture and then headed over to the graduation. We go to the main ceremony at 9 and we ended up all the way in the back. At 9:30 music started playing. Quite a variety from rock and roll to a Sousa march. Just before 10 they started playing "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel. This is where I almost lost it since it is such a touching song. Then they announced that the graduation was getting ready to start. WE could see the faculty getting ready to enter the area (We were on the college green right outside the administration building.) They started walking in and there was no Pomp and Circumstance. They started walking in to "Never on a Cloudy Day" and that segwayed to Footloose. I think that there was eventually about 15 bars of Pomp and Circumstance. We stood up at one time and realized that the graduates were coming in from the sides in the front. By the time the faculty had entered almost all the students were in. We were surprised at how efficient it was.
They had the choir and band perform a medley from Jersey Boys so there was a medley from the Beach Boys. Even the people on the main platform were up and dancing. My ds says that the engineering people weren't dancing but we couldn't see them.
The main ceremony was over in an hour. Then we had to walk across campus to get to the engineering ceremony. It was supposed to start at 11:30 but it started right at 12 which gave us time to get seat, they had some water around if we wanted it and run the the bathroom if we needed to. This was a very intimate ceremony in from of the engineering building. The ceremony was only about 30 minutes. We got to see him walk down the aisle and get his diploma case. Each area was called up one at a time and the professors from that area formed a receiving line as they walked across the stage. After each group got together to get a picture of their department. We also got to meet the professor that he will be working for for the next year and a half. Then we went out to lunch and we got to see his new apartment. (ds1 hadn't seen it.)
We got home last night and I didn't even eat dinner. I fell asleep about 9. It was a great day.
Will be back later.
Have a happy and healthy day.
The graduation sounds wonderful! I'm sure that you are super proud.
Woohoo!! Down 1 pound which puts me at 10 pounds lost since I starting WISHing!
Will add my clippie later, on my phone and it's causing me fits.
WOOHOO! You lost it and I probably found it!
quotd sunday-- Who has some vacation plans for the summer?
We always have a week at a lake with my side of the family (21 of us all together) and an extended July 4th holiday on Cape Cod (anywhere from 2-5 days) with DH's family (numbers vary depending on who's in town.... anywhere from 15 to 30 of us!) Those are usually our "big" summer vacations. I also take both kids away for Mother/Child weekend each year, but I try to do those in the spring.... but this year they will probably happen during the summer. Nothing really planned yet.
quotd: Friday:
What motivates you more--- a goal or your health.
I have to be honest and say a GOAL (as in "GOAL WEIGHT"). But in addition to eating less calories and getting more exercise, I have been working on eating HEALTHIER over these past few years..... we've gone at least 75% organics (meat,eggs, dairy, some veggies and grains), taking more supplements (Vitamin D, B complex, fish oil), eating more fish and far less processed foods and eliminating most fast foods.
quotd Sat:
What's your favorite veggie and fruit?
Might be easier to say what I DON'T like!
If I had to name one?? Fruit would probably be....
apple... inexpensive, basic, easy to find organic, and versatile. Works well fresh, cooked, baked, with chicken or turkey or cheese or ham or with salad greens. Applesauce makes a nice side dish to many meals, baked apples make a great dessert, plenty of fiber, thirst-quenching, easy to bring along. Sure, it isn't fancy or exotic (love me a mango!), but it has a lot going for it.
Veggie.... gonna say
baby spinach (for today at least!
) Easy to eat hot or cold.... can be steamed or sauteed... put in a salad or sandwich. Great in with eggs, cheese, chicken, fish, etc or even with fruit in a salad. Spinach salad with strawberries or blueberries. Or a spinach salad with hot bacon dressing and chopped egg.
I still have 45 minutes to do some more catching up! ..................P
Mad at myself, but will try to learn from it, put it aside, and move on. 
I actually bought a turquoise suit last summer from Land's End and I really like it....ok, I also bought the same suit in black 
I know we need it, but come on!!
through, but Universal was still awesome! Got really sick once we got back, and DS ended up with a sinus infection and missed four days of school and lost all the ground he had made up in track.
.
but I have so much to do that I do not have time for the computer. I will try to remember to send my final weigh in on Thursday. I am not even doing HH habits this week, but I do want to thanks CC for the gift I received. It was so awesome!
