Biggest Loser--SUMMER 2011 Challenge for Losers & Maintainers!

[tigger813]

My bed only gets made when we change the sheets! My mother still gets after me about that but I just don't have time. Izzie has lately been sleeping on top of her bed stuff under a quilt! She hates to be hot so her bed is made every morning.

Talked to Mom again tonight. She doesn't know how long she'll be in ICU. She asked me to have a friend of hers call.

Got the containers for the fundraiser done. I need to buy some ribbon tomororw to "finish" them so they look better.

Busy morning and then planning on spending the rest of the day at home cleaning and starting to pack for my trip.

TTFN

Gotta get ready for our weekly planning chat!

 

[pjlla]

Update- Mom is doing much better this morning. They never did intubate her so that was a relief. Ash and I spoke to her for a few minutes in the car as we were leaving Natick. She was pretty upset and crying which made Ash cry too but she seems ok now.

Ashleigh and I had a nice morning together but I HATE Rt 9 traffic by the mall and the signs for things are HORRIBLE!!!! But the AG place was nice. Ash got a smoothie and we got her Kanani doll and some pjs for one of her dolls and an American Girl shirt for Izzie. Ash had brought one of her dolls who had a defect with one of her eyes and they are repairing it for free and it will be mailed back to our house when it is fixed. That was a relief. Her new doll is beautiful and she is excited to finally have her.

Ate at the food court, not a wise choice for me but I had a shake for breakfast and will probably have one for supper too. Brian, Ash and I split two pieces of cheesecake from the cheesecake factory too for dessert.

Family is playing POTC on the PS3 so I better grab my turn while I can!

TTFN

I'm SO glad to hear that they never had to intubate your Mom.... that is a HUGE deal when they have to do it and EXTUBATING can be really difficult sometimes. Glad they didn't have to take that step.

I miss those AG wishes. DD was never big into dolls (although I was as a girl and drooled over the AG catalogs when DD was younger), but she has a few AG dolls. Their stuff was always SO beautiful! And they really stand behind their products.... they've even sent me replacements for defect things without me even sending them back the broken item. That is a really nice thing.

I used to work on Route 9 in Shopper's World (is it still called that?) when I lived in Framingham and Ashland. Route 9 was a nightmare back then.... I can't imagine it has improved much.

I hope to have more energy consistently. Right now I just get these crazy bursts about once a week where I have to DO SOMETHING. Just need to move. Then when I'm done with whatever I was doing (normally cleaning) I'm exhausted.

I have never been "athletic" because I've always been a little overweight and I'm terribly uncoordinated, but both of those are improving slowly. I was okay at horseback riding, which I did for a few summers at camp, but it's too expensive to keep up. So I'm hoping doing the C25K will turn me into a runner, at the very least!

My personality is to be shy when I first meet people, and I can't see that changing. I want to be a bit more confident. Not that I'm not now, but I'd like to be able to wear smaller clothes and feel confident in them.

I'm very shy as a rule. I HATE meeting new people.... but it is easier to put myself out there now that I'm not thinking that their first thought is "wow... she is FAT!". So anyhow..... my actual "shyness" hasn't changed, but I do find it easier to step out of my comfort zone now. Maybe you will too??

Well I'm down 2 pounds this week . I can honestly say I have NO idea how that happened. . We're going to do turkey burgers for dinner tonight. We were going to do them last night but let's just say my best friend is a bad influence . We went to Babe's chicken in Carrolton and had all you can eat chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and biscuits. Tomorrow I'm getting up early and putting the roast, potatoes, and carrots in the crockpot. That was suppose to be dinner tonight. So our meals are kind of out of wack right now.

I'm going to get ready here in a few and we're going to FINALLY go get our pedicures done. We were going to do it last weekend but for whatever reason we didn't. Then I'm coming home and getting some cleaning done.

Maybe next time your BF is visiting YOU could choose the dinner spot. All-you-can-eat isn't usually a diet-friendly choice. Were you upset at all with her for choosing a place that made it tough for you? Is she aware that you are trying to make healthier choices?

Nice job on the 2 pounds!

Good afternoon, everyone.

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend. Rainy weekend here, so made me happy we didn't need to campout. It was cancelled, and they'll reschedule it later.

Been productive here, and ds has some friend over we need to drive home shortly, so I hope to be back and read the rest of the thread and catch up on the qotds later.

that's all I have time for now. Enjoy the rest of your sunday.

Glad you didn't have to sleep outside in the rain! That would have been dreadful!

Hunter had fun at the dance, but was super tired and cranky when we picked him up. He doesn't think he'll want to go to his dance next year as he doesn't like to dance? I'm sure he'll change his mind between now and then, but it's not worth the battle right now.

I had no trouble finding people to help on Father's Day. We have the 3:30 PM - 7 PM shift and everyone knew about during registration. I've actually got a few extras which will be good as I'm sure someone won't show up.


Oldes DS is studying for his advanced bio final. DH and I have been helping, but I must admit that I can't pronounce some of the words so I'm not sure how he has managed to learn it all Things are so much harder then when I was in school

DD is finishing her last Algebra II homework of the year. She finished her 3D model of one of the Galapagas islands AND her travel informational poster about Costa Rica for Spanish. I think next up she needs to finish her PowerPoint to go with the island model and start studying for her first two finals, which are Tuesday.

She actually texted me from the party and asked me to get her 30 minutes early. I thought maybe she just wasn't having fun, but actually it was "study guilt" overcoming the fun. I'm so proud that she is so responsible and self-motivated, but honestly, wouldn't it be nice if she could just be a KID for an afternoon??

I agree..... things seem to be MUCH tougher than they were when I was in school (either that or I just didn't bother to do it all.... ).

I've been close to goal for many years. Life didn't change, but I was more confident. It was easier to shop and I looked better in my clothes. I need to gain control again and get back to that point. Heck 15 lbs would make a huge difference and put me back in my healthy weight range. It just seems that life keeps getting in the way. Tomorrow is a new day.

Speaking of tomorrow. Nick has his LAX banquet tomorrow night. They are doing a make your own Sundae bar at 6 PM. I'm going to put a pork roast in the croc pot in hopes of feeding us something healthy before the banquet. 6 PM seems early in the evening for Sundaes.

I agree.... make your own sundaes at 6pm sounds like they were planning it to be in lieu of dinner.... not AFTER dinner.

The party that DD went to today had full-sugar Snapple and pizza... and nothing else, not even bottled water. DD had eaten a big snack before she went, just in case this was the case, so at least she wasn't starving. She is trying to hard to stick with the South Beach for now, so she just sat with the kids while they ate... and came home and had a homemade pizza on a low carb pita and a bowl of strawberries. I'm super impressed.

I can't imagine having ANY kind of party and not offering some sort of lower calorie option.... diet soda (even though it is terrible for you), raw veggies, maybe a fruit bowl. But maybe that is because I've been dieting (rather unsuccessfully at times) for so much of my life.

There was another girl at the party who is currently seeing a specialist for some health issues and she is supposed to be on a sugar-free diet.... but, according to DD, she went ahead and had the Snapple. I know her Mom and I'm sure she won't be happy with her.... but it was tough if there was nothing else offered.

***********************

Well.... good evening ladies! Another day done! Laundry is caught up, house is reasonably well picked up, and another busy week ahead. Wish I had gotten more done around the house, but it was nice to have some relaxing time.

Not much more to share tonight. I'll talk to you all tomorrow. I'll try hard to find 15 minutes in the morning to get the QOTD posted before work. But I won't have time to "chat" until after school probably. TTYL.............P

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Update: She seems to be doing better. They have her on two new meds. The first one helped a bit and the 2nd one helped even more. My mother likes the dr and my sister said mom was actually joking around when they left. SHe will be in ICU through tomorrow. The meds could cause respiratory issues so that's why they did the ICU.

Thanks for your prayers!

Glad to hear she is better.

Today was a pretty OP day. I only ate 22 points. And, most of it was carbs. I'm experimenting with what does and doesn't cause me to have heartburn. I haven't had any today! I had some salsa and it is nice to know that I can keep that as an option. But, I am definitely giving up donuts!

Good job CC!

hubby, the little guy and i left the house around 8:45 this morning and went to the palisades center. the disney store was having a grand opening. the email that i received said the first 500 people got a prize. psh, THAT sealed the deal that we were going. i think we were probably about #15 in line! and the prize? dinky disney store bags. they look like the reusable ones you can buy at the grocery store for $1.99. meh, oh well. while in line they asked some trivia questions and i got one right! i knew why lightning mcqueen was the number 95. i won a magnet. sheesh.

because we were so close we got to see the whole ceremony with the big key turning. it was really cute. mickey and minnie showed up and when thomas saw they he FREAKED! i tried to catch a pic but he was moving too much and it's all blurry. they had a little girl from make a wish be the honorary key turner and it was so sweet.

once we were in we checked out all the merchandise and just started loading up on all the beach towels that were on sale for $7.99. oh and a cute onesie size 0-3 months for the new little guy

anywho, we probably looked like the biggest disney geeks because a camera crew came over to us and asked us for an interview. they were going to make some internal movie. john is mr. marketing guy so he always is perfect at interviews. they asked us all sorts of questions about the store and about our love of disney. then we had to describe in one word the store. first we said magical but i guess they didn't like that so they said try again. we said exciting. the director guy wrote it on a piece of paper and we had to stand in front of the camera while john held the sign and just stare into the camera and smile for 2 minutes! it was so weird and awkward! and of course thomas was grabbing every toy around me and smacking it into my face. lol!

so, $120 dollars later we left fully disney-fied! i spoke to a really nice lady in line who owns dvc and goes to WDW 3 times a year....and she had NEVER heard of the DIS!!!!! WHAATT???

we spent about 4 hours at the mall - thomas napped, we bought john some clothes, i got an iphone 4 (anniversary gift) with some accessories, and ate at cheesecake factory. on the way home we decided to check out bob's furniture and wound up buying new bedroom furniture.

so, we had a nice day out (it rained the whole day) but spent waaaaay too much money! oh well. we deserve it

thought everyone on here would appreciate my disney story

That sounds like such a fun day. I had to laugh at the 1.99 free gift.

Here's a picture of Hunter from tonight.

Deb

So handsome. Glad he had fun at the dance. We took Ryan to the PTA family night dance and I actually had to bribe him to go out and dance with his friends. I guess it doesnt get any easier as they get older.

I am one week fast food and regular coke free!!

It is amazing how much better I feel eating "real" food.

I also lost 3 pounds this week!

Wow great job. Have fun with the Zumba game. I love Zumba!!!!!

Tried to get him to go yesterday but he kept insisting he didn't really want to go but finally today I talked him into it and we both really enjoyed it. We were having a great day but then he got mad when I tried to make sure he saw the statue outside the baths that is a really unique and lifelike image of people in the baths. He missed it but started yelling that he didn't care and was not turning around and on and on and on. I get so tired of him NEVER wanting to do ANYTHING!

Sorry about Dh being a party pooper. My dh can get like that too. Now of course if its something they want to do they are all into it but when it something we are interested in they have to be cranky. Men....cant live with them, cant live without them.

Next weekend the LAX program is doing a big fundraiser at the Quechee Balloon Festival. We will be parking cars on Saturday and Sunday, this brings in a lot of money for our program. I think I have enough volunteers to cover all of our shifts which is no small feat as I need 25 adults to pull it off. There are 3 other groups that participate also and I'm hearing that they don't have all of their volunteers lined up yet. Sometimes it is good to be over organized with a type A personality

Wow that does sound like a big job. Glad you found alot of volunteers and good luck with it next wkend.

Did you go to bed and resist the cake? Honestly... I'm not a cake fan so I could definitely resist it (especially if you add frosting.... ick). Enjoy the birthday celebration.... cake or no cake!!

actually I did for the most part. I had a small piece last night when we sang happy birthday and I had a small piece again tonight when we sang at my nana's house. This you might call a failure but for me it is a success....usually I would have eaten with everyone else then a piece before bed and then another piece in the morning...so forth and so on.

6/12 QOTD: How do you imagine your life will change once you reach your goal weight (or get nearer to it anyhow)? Will you be more confident? More outgoing? More athletic? More energetic? Or just the same old you, but thinner??

I think I will continue to have more energy......I already notice since loosing weight and running how much more I have. I have always been confident and outgoing but since gaining weight I do notice myself being more self concious so hopefully that will get better too.

**********************************************************

Hello to Lisa H, Rose, Kathy, and anyone else I missed. Congrats to all those reporting losses this week, I am hoping to do the same. Those who are not doing as well as they liked just keep trying you will get there.

I had a nice day with my family celebrating my dh's bday. I did Ok with food although made a bad choice when my mom served buffalo chicken dip. I had a few too many dips into that. Otherwise I did well and I really limited myself to what I ate at dinner.

Now its back to work tomorrow. ugghh I really was enjoying being home. I do have another week off in july to look forward to so thats good. Ryan is staying at my friends tomorrow and she lives about 45min from here so I will need to leave quite early tomorrow.

I am sure I will not be on until tomorrow night so have a great day everyone.

 

[glss1/2fll]

Speaking of which, the music program starts next year in school, and ds wants to play an instrument. He thought clarinet, flute or saxaphone. I'm discouraging sax just because it's more expensive. Any suggestions from all you musicians?
I'll have to do a little research.

Flute, flute, flute. Here's why. My son plays flute and this is what I have learned: even when played badly it still sounds nice, they aren't excrutiatingly loud, they aren't terribly expensive (ours was $17/month for 21 months at our local music store), but the absolute BEST reason is portability. They just pop inside the backpack. Lovely.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

Flute, flute, flute. Here's why. My son plays flute and this is what I have learned: even when played badly it still sounds nice, they aren't excrutiatingly loud, they aren't terribly expensive (ours was $17/month for 21 months at our local music store), but the absolute BEST reason is portability. They just pop inside the backpack. Lovely.

Ditto to all of the above! I believe my mom paid like $800 or 900 dollars for my flute back in the early 90s. You might also want to check into whether or not your school let's the kids "rent" out an instrument for the school year. I know my school district did this for the kids that wanted to be in band but couldn't afford to go out and buy an instrument.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

Well our "quick" trip to Disney next month for a weekend is up in the air. We orginally we're going to go for 4 to 5 days but decided we'd cut it down to a weekend. I'm trying to figure out if we should do it or not because we plan on staying out there for 2 weeks next May. We won't be doing anything Disney related during those 2 weeks. We'll be out there house hunting and/or signing papers for a new house (if we find one before then). My best friend and I will be there the first week of May for a girls' weekend so actually in total I'll be on Disney property for 3 weeks.

I'm waiting to hear back from my personal trainer and find out where he has me plugged in on his schedule for the following week. He knew I had a lot of doctor's apts and such this past week and he wanted to know if I still wanted to work out. I told him "Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. I'm hoping to hear something from my dr tomorrow on what they found on the ultrasound and x-ray results." My guess is he won't have me scheduled in until Tuesday which is fine. I really don't like going to the gym on Mondays anyway .

 

[bellebookworm9]

We could have a little orchestra with all the musicians here. Speaking of which, the music program starts next year in school, and ds wants to play an instrument. He thought clarinet, flute or saxaphone. I'm discouraging sax just because it's more expensive. Any suggestions from all you musicians?
I'll have to do a little research.

Ditto to all of the above! I believe my mom paid like $800 or 900 dollars for my flute back in the early 90s. You might also want to check into whether or not your school let's the kids "rent" out an instrument for the school year. I know my school district did this for the kids that wanted to be in band but couldn't afford to go out and buy an instrument.

Flute, flute, flute. Here's why. My son plays flute and this is what I have learned: even when played badly it still sounds nice, they aren't excrutiatingly loud, they aren't terribly expensive (ours was $17/month for 21 months at our local music store), but the absolute BEST reason is portability. They just pop inside the backpack. Lovely.

Chiming to agree with flute! I hear from others that it's one of the easiest instruments to play (sometimes meant as an insult). I started out on french horn (what my mom used to play) and hated it, so switched to flute and it turned out I had/have a gift for it! I rented one from the school and then a private company for several years, and then in 7th grade when I took private lessons, my teacher found me a used one on ebay for $250. It's a pretty basic open hole, but I still have it and use it today.

With flute, there are no reeds involved so it can be cheaper (only thing you need is a cleaning rod/cloth, really), and as glss1/2fll said, it's so portable! I guess the downfall would be that EVERYBODY wants to start on flute. It can be very difficult to get ahead in the band or in auditions, but that might not matter to your son. Also, good for you guys who have sons playing the flute! We need more of them!

 

[Disneywedding2010]

Chiming to agree with flute! I hear from others that it's one of the easiest instruments to play (sometimes meant as an insult). I started out on french horn (what my mom used to play) and hated it, so switched to flute and it turned out I had/have a gift for it! I rented one from the school and then a private company for several years, and then in 7th grade when I took private lessons, my teacher found me a used one on ebay for $250. It's a pretty basic open hole, but I still have it and use it today.

With flute, there are no reeds involved so it can be cheaper (only thing you need is a cleaning rod/cloth, really), and as glss1/2fll said, it's so portable! I guess the downfall would be that EVERYBODY wants to start on flute. It can be very difficult to get ahead in the band or in auditions, but that might not matter to your son. Also, good for you guys who have sons playing the flute! We need more of them!

This is so true. I remember there was a guy that played flute in 6th grade with me (our first year) and people used to give him such a hard time about it "Oh that's a sissy instrument". When it actuality he was very good at it. If flute is what he wants to play then good for him. I hope he kicks butt at doing it.

 

[sahbushka]

Reviving an old QOTD. I figure since we have so many newbies, it would be okay. Plus I'm pretty sure I was the original poster... so I'm just repeating myself!!

6/12 QOTD: How do you imagine your life will change once you reach your goal weight (or get nearer to it anyhow)? Will you be more confident? More outgoing? More athletic? More energetic? Or just the same old you, but thinner??


Since I am pretty much at my goal weight and have been here for about a year or so, I can kind of answer this factually rather than theoretically. I didn't anticipate being anything other than my "same old self", but just thinner. But I was wrong. I am so much more confident and outgoing! Energy level doesn't seem much different.... but I've always been a pretty high energy person. And, well, even a bit more athletic! I look forward to doing some stuff this summer that I have NEVER even been interested in doing.... like ocean kayaking. Every July 4th weekend my SIL tries hard to talk me into it.... but I was convinced I didn't have the strength or energy.... and it didn't really interest me. But honestly.... I can't WAIT to try it this summer!

How about you?.....................P

Well, I am already outgoing so I doubt that will change, but I think I will be more confident and I think that will help in my personal relationship with my dh.

I did ok today. I took a rest day on the working out but I did garden for close to 2 hours. The movie was ok. The kids are in bed. It's all good.

SarahMay

 

[donac]

Good Monday morning everyone.

This is my last full week of school. It is always a crazy week. It is also the week I get filthy cleaning my classroom. I have been cleaning out file cabinets but still have lots of books to put away. Most of my work outs will be moving books and since I teach calculus it is a real workout since those books are very heavy.

This is so true. I remember there was a guy that played flute in 6th grade with me (our first year) and people used to give him such a hard time about it "Oh that's a sissy instrument". When it actuality he was very good at it. If flute is what he wants to play then good for him. I hope he kicks butt at doing it.

Chiming to agree with flute! I hear from others that it's one of the easiest instruments to play (sometimes meant as an insult). I started out on french horn (what my mom used to play) and hated it, so switched to flute and it turned out I had/have a gift for it! I rented one from the school and then a private company for several years, and then in 7th grade when I took private lessons, my teacher found me a used one on ebay for $250. It's a pretty basic open hole, but I still have it and use it today.

With flute, there are no reeds involved so it can be cheaper (only thing you need is a cleaning rod/cloth, really), and as glss1/2fll said, it's so portable! I guess the downfall would be that EVERYBODY wants to start on flute. It can be very difficult to get ahead in the band or in auditions, but that might not matter to your son. Also, good for you guys who have sons playing the flute! We need more of them!

Ditto to all of the above! I believe my mom paid like $800 or 900 dollars for my flute back in the early 90s. You might also want to check into whether or not your school let's the kids "rent" out an instrument for the school year. I know my school district did this for the kids that wanted to be in band but couldn't afford to go out and buy an instrument.

Flute, flute, flute. Here's why. My son plays flute and this is what I have learned: even when played badly it still sounds nice, they aren't excrutiatingly loud, they aren't terribly expensive (ours was $17/month for 21 months at our local music store), but the absolute BEST reason is portability. They just pop inside the backpack. Lovely.

My older son played the sax. He played the alto and then moved on to the tenor. We bought a tenor when he was in high school. He used the school tenor for a while.

Younger son fell in love with the flute when his 3rd grade teacher played her flute. His brother kidded him about it being a "girl" instrument. We finally told him that he had to stop saying that. He was the only male to play the flute but it never bothered him.

The nice thing about the flute besided being portable is that the fingering is the same as the sax. When ds2 was a sophomore he picked up the sax so he could play inthe jazz band. The school provided the sax.

He is in college and still will occasionally play the flute at the Catholic service he goes to on campus.

Need to get going. Lots to do but the pay off next week will be worth it.

Have a happy and healthy day

 

[my3princes]

Good Morning. I think I'm coming down with something. Yesterday I felt achy with a lot of sinus pain. I went to bed early and was awake before the alarm, but my throat is a little scratchy. Just took ibuprophen and sudafed as I don't want to be out on week 4 of my new job. Hoping that the meds will take care of it for me.

 

[cclovesdis]

Morning All!

I did not sleep well. I tossed and turned a lot. I don't think I had any nightmares, and I am happy about that, so I can't complain too much. I'll just drink some tea.

Yesterday's QOTD: I've been thinking about this QOTD a lot and know for sure that I'll be happier when I lose the weight. A few weeks ago, I happened to see a picture of me from 12th grade. We have pictures scrolling on our desktop and I often go weeks without seeing the same picture twice, so I haven't seen it agan, but it made a big impact when I saw it. I was in the pool at my senior picnic type event. I was wearing a two-piece (the type that covers more than a bikini) and smiling. I couldn't have been more than 120 pounds. The beginning of 12th grade was really hard and while I did great academically, I was not so well emotionally. But, I slowly came out of my shell, and by the end of the year was doing really well. I want to feel like that again and I know that losing 50 pounds will help me get there. No, it's not the only thing, but it's part of it.

On that note, I've been searching online listings for potential apartments. I found a management company that owns many properties near work, and I'm considering giving them a call. I'm still doing the math, and I feel like giving it another 2 months would help, so I'm not sure when I'll call yet.

It's time to get ready for work. Need to leave very soon...

Have a great day everyone!

CC

 

[pjlla]

IWe have one more week of baseball, and then hopefully I'll have more dis time. It felt good to spend some time and read back what I missed the past few days. I get so much inspiration from everyone here, and after a few days in a bit of a funk, I'm feeling ready to get focused again. I did end up down .6 for last week, and today was down 2 more, some how, so I know if i get on track, that 2 pounds can be real for next week.

I did 3.2 mile run/walk with a friend today, and wed I have my 5k. I'm going to miss ds's baseball game, the first one, but this 5k is special to me. It was my first one last year, at the time of the first anniversary of my mom's passing, and the running had really been a huge focus for me and helped me get through some tough times. I'm feeling guilty about missing ds's game, and I hope to get back for the end of it, depending on how long it is. I have a feeling there will be many more little league games in my future. Ds is perfectly fine with me missing it, so that makes me feel better.

Off to get the kid to bed. Have a great evening

Goodluck with your special run. I'm sure you'll do great and Mom will be smiling down on you!

actually I did for the most part. I had a small piece last night when we sang happy birthday and I had a small piece again tonight when we sang at my nana's house. This you might call a failure but for me it is a success....usually I would have eaten with everyone else then a piece before bed and then another piece in the morning...so forth and so on.

Definitely NOT a failure. Generally, I try not to judge other people's "splurge" food choices. If this was an improvement over your "standard" cake eating, then great! We each have our own temptations. You did just fine.

Flute, flute, flute. Here's why. My son plays flute and this is what I have learned: even when played badly it still sounds nice, they aren't excrutiatingly loud, they aren't terribly expensive (ours was $17/month for 21 months at our local music store), but the absolute BEST reason is portability. They just pop inside the backpack. Lovely.

Actually, I bought DD's flute at a pawn shop for about $100. That said, I got lucky because I knew NOTHING about the flute and just took a chance. Her teacher said it was just fine and there was nothing wrong with it.

Good Monday morning everyone.

This is my last full week of school. It is always a crazy week. It is also the week I get filthy cleaning my classroom. I have been cleaning out file cabinets but still have lots of books to put away. Most of my work outs will be moving books and since I teach calculus it is a real workout since those books are very heavy.

Heavy knowledge = heavy books!!


My older son played the sax. He played the alto and then moved on to the tenor. We bought a tenor when he was in high school. He used the school tenor for a while.

Younger son fell in love with the flute when his 3rd grade teacher played her flute. His brother kidded him about it being a "girl" instrument. We finally told him that he had to stop saying that. He was the only male to play the flute but it never bothered him.

The nice thing about the flute besided being portable is that the fingering is the same as the sax. When ds2 was a sophomore he picked up the sax so he could play inthe jazz band. The school provided the sax.

He is in college and still will occasionally play the flute at the Catholic service he goes to on campus.

Need to get going. Lots to do but the pay off next week will be worth it.

Have a happy and healthy day

So nice that you instilled his faith in him so that he still goes to church and gets involved in the service, even without your prompting. Proud Mom moment.

Morning All!

I did not sleep well. I tossed and turned a lot. I don't think I had any nightmares, and I am happy about that, so I can't complain too much. I'll just drink some tea.

Yesterday's QOTD: I've been thinking about this QOTD a lot and know for sure that I'll be happier when I lose the weight. A few weeks ago, I happened to see a picture of me from 12th grade. We have pictures scrolling on our desktop and I often go weeks without seeing the same picture twice, so I haven't seen it agan, but it made a big impact when I saw it. I was in the pool at my senior picnic type event. I was wearing a two-piece (the type that covers more than a bikini) and smiling. I couldn't have been more than 120 pounds. The beginning of 12th grade was really hard and while I did great academically, I was not so well emotionally. But, I slowly came out of my shell, and by the end of the year was doing really well. I want to feel like that again and I know that losing 50 pounds will help me get there. No, it's not the only thing, but it's part of it.

On that note, I've been searching online listings for potential apartments. I found a management company that owns many properties near work, and I'm considering giving them a call. I'm still doing the math, and I feel like giving it another 2 months would help, so I'm not sure when I'll call yet.

It's time to get ready for work. Need to leave very soon...

Have a great day everyone!

CC

Sorry you didn't sleep well. I definitely would start the search for an apartment now. Even if you aren't quite ready, it will definitely give you an idea of what is out there. And those large apartment complexes always have turnover, so you can always find something there.

Good Morning. I think I'm coming down with something. Yesterday I felt achy with a lot of sinus pain. I went to bed early and was awake before the alarm, but my throat is a little scratchy. Just took ibuprophen and sudafed as I don't want to be out on week 4 of my new job. Hoping that the meds will take care of it for me.

OOooohh no....not a summer cold! Get well fast!

***************

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??
Most of you know that oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough is a top one for me. Thankfully, I don't bake so I don't create the problem for myself very often. And if DH is contemplating making cookies, I try to avoid being home. Sometimes I will save a small scoop of dough in the fridge for the weekend "splurge" day. Once the cookies are baked, I have no trouble resisting them.

Another "hard-to-resist" food for me is sweet potato chips. So I just stopped buying them. In fact, the last bag I bought a few months ago is still sitting unopened in the pantry. I KNOW if I open it I will eat the entire bag, so I just don't open it. It is probably stale by now.

My best bet with foods like this is to not even START with them..... like the 50+ leftover bags of trail mix in my dining room ..... just can't even smell them. Just trying to forget they are there.

Off to work.............P

 

[aamomma]

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??
CHOCOLATE!! I have found that I don't "resist" it, I actually have some almost every day, and since it isn't forbidden, it's not as tempting. Hershey's chocolate drops are about 13 calories/drop - I have one(or two) after lunch, and that is enough to satisfy me.

Hello, everyone. Hope you have a good OP day. My plan is to drink a lot of water today, still trying to get rid of this pound!!!

 

[mikamah]

Thanks for all the advice on instruments. I am liking the benefits of the flute. There is a meeting thursday, so i hope to get out of work early so I can make it. They do the rent to own thing here too, it's 30$ a month for most, and the sax is 45. I think that is the way to go first year, to make sure he likes it. I need to investigate the contract further too. Ebay is a wonderful thing, too.

Pamela what a great deal you got on the flute. I bet there's lots of instruments out there in this economy. And thank you for the hard boiled egg advice. I made them last night, and it was so nice to peel them all, and just grab them this morning. The little things in life.

I've got my lunch packed, and healthy bkfst eaten. Hope to stay on track for the rest of the week, and get that scale moving.

Have a marvelous monday!!

 

[Disneyland_emily]

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??

I don't really have one per say as my weaknesses are all decently healthy (Guacamole, Wheat Thins, Diet Dew) but to me its the vacations home or to Disneyland that are killer..

-em

 

[lovetoscrap]

I am up WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too early this morning but my inlaws had to leave by 7:30am so I had set my alarm for 7. Not that it mattered, I didn't sleep well at all and have been tossing and turning since about 4am. Not going to be a good day today unfortunately. My hip is hurting quite bad and that was keeping me awake and making everything difficult. After DD leaves for school I will get a shower and put my TENS machine on it but I have so much to do the next few days I just don't have time for this.

We have time trials for swim team this afternoon, the 5th grade pool party is tomorrow and then their "graduation" is Wednesday. Thursday is the last day of school and DD15 has finals every day this week and is freaking out.

Totally forgot, I don't think I have had time to come on here and brag! DD15 got Highest Honors (high honor role) at school and got an Academic Letter (like for a letter jacket). The at the band awards she got Most Improved for the Freshman band. She has worked her tail off so she really needed that award to help her see that her hard work has paid off. I was in tears because I know how much it meant to her.

Funny story about the Band Awards some of you might enjoy:
Our fundraising has been a little low this year so it is time to cut some costs. Also they have been doing some cleaning in the band room. They have won so many awards and trophies at competitions they have run out of room to display them so they decided it was time to just get rid of the oldest ones. Someone got the BRILLIANT idea that instead of buying trophies for the Band Awards they would just "recycle" the old trophies. They have so many that there were plenty that matched in size in color to use for each category. They left the trophy just as it is had new name plates made and stuck them on the back. It was so funny and the kids (and parents) thought it was great! Everyone was excited to see which old trophy people got. DD got a Grand Champion Color Guard from 2007. It even has "2007" as part of the trophy and she thinks it is great. So not only do they get a trophy they get to now own a piece of band history!

So I was inspired by this. I had actually half jokingly (but really half serious) asked out Swim Team Manager about 2 weeks ago if we could just use the ribbons from our old league that we have tons of for our IntraSquad Meet later this summer. After the band night I went to her again and this time was 100% serious about it! Everyone thinks it is a great idea so we will use the old ones for that meet--we have tons of them and I hate to buy more if I don't have to. Now I need some creative ideas of what "VPSU" can stand for because we want to turn the league acronym into something more generic. So far all I have come up with is "Very Perfect Stroke Use", but would rather find something else. The U is really what is tripping me up. I need to just go through a dictionary and see what I can find I think. Anyone have any creative ideas?

Time to get DD off to school, get a shower and find some breakfast. Have a great day everyone!

 

[SettinSail]

6/12 QOTD: How do you imagine your life will change once you reach your goal weight (or get nearer to it anyhow)? Will you be more confident? More outgoing? More athletic? More energetic? Or just the same old you, but thinner??

Based on how I've felt so far with losing almost 30 pounds, I will be all of the above It's amazing how losing this weight has changed so many things. Even jet lag is much improved and it is amazing how much I just jump up and get things for myself instead of asking someone to bring things to me. I don't have to HEAVE myself up from a sitting position anymore, I can just get up like everyone else

Pamela, I'm not sure how we will spend the money we are making from the sale of our goods here. It will not add up to a whole lot. Maybe 800 euros if we are lucky. Probably will use it in the US as we need fridge/washer and dryer there. I haven't seen the Nate Berkus show yet, will have to check it out...

Just popping in for a quick minute while I eat my lunch. Things have been crazy busy this week and will be next week. Hopefully it will settle down a little bit after next weekend.

I have been eating great and am 2 pounds down. Really would like at least another 5 gone before our vacation in about 4 weeks.

Have to to run, in laws will be here in a bit and I need to get dinner started. We are celebrating Father's Day a week early.

Hello busy lady! We miss you! Good job on 2 more lbs gone!

Hey guys! I am so excited to report I lost 5#!!!! :The problem is, we got a new scale and that showed my weight initially higher then what I originally sent in. like 6.4# higher! So I lost weight, even though it might look like I gained. I did send Dona my correct weights.

I am so darn happy and proud!!!!!

Don't worry about the new scale

Well I'm down 2 pounds this week

I wrote that holiday down, and will wish my friend at work a happy Pfingstferien. I can picture his face right now. Glad you've had some luck selling off your things. Hope the next few weeks goes nice and smoothly for you all.

We could have a little orchestra with all the musicians here. Speaking of which, the music program starts next year in school, and ds wants to play an instrument. He thought clarinet, flute or saxaphone. I'm discouraging sax just because it's more expensive. Any suggestions from all you musicians?
I'll have to do a little research.

I hope he knows what it is. I think it is only celebrated in the Catholic states. Today is PfingstMontag and yesterday was PfingstSonntag. We were looking it up on my friend's Iphone at the Biergarten last night and in English it would be called Pentocost - or Assumption Day, it celebrates the day the Virgin Mary was taken up into heaven at the end of her life. (we think!)

Of those 3 instruments, I would also pick flute, no reeds, easy to carry, easy to learn, etc. Has he considered drums? Nothing to buy or bring home but sticks and practice pad or maybe a xylophone sometimes. Lots of fun and cool instruments that boys love! DS was able to play in 6th grade back home but at this school it was not an option so he had to play trumpet and he hated it!

Good luck with the 5K!

Men....cant live with them, cant live without them.

I did Ok with food although made a bad choice when my mom served buffalo chicken dip.

about the MEN !!!

Oh, buffalo chicken dip
SO YUMMY!!!! Very hard to resist for me!

Good job on the cake! Good luck on your first day back at the office!

On that note, I've been searching online listings for potential apartments. I found a management company that owns many properties near work, and I'm considering giving them a call. I'm still doing the math, and I feel like giving it another 2 months would help, so I'm not sure when I'll call yet.

one step closer...... Good luck!

Good Morning. I think I'm coming down with something. Yesterday I felt achy with a lot of sinus pain. I went to bed early and was awake before the alarm, but my throat is a little scratchy. Just took ibuprophen and sudafed as I don't want to be out on week 4 of my new job. Hoping that the meds will take care of it for me.

Feel better!

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??

I have a few.....cookie dough for me too.....chocolate.....nuts.....salty snacks.......dips. Its best that I don't even get started with them so I try to never buy them or make them. If they are in the house, sooner or later I'm going to eat them ALL

Well, DH and I are speaking again after yesterday since we found a house online we are thinking about renting. It's right down the street from our old house so we are excited. We could wait out the rest of the Summer for more houses to come on the market to buy but we are not last minute people and we want to get DS registered for school asap. DH did apologize to me "for being a jerk" and I told him "don't worry, I'm used to it"

I am WAY up today after a heavy lunch and heavy dinner yesterday and 2 liters of beer. But I've done 45 mins on the elliptical this morning and I'm off to a good start with eating and drinking water. Would love to hit the 30 pound mark this week!!!

Shawn

 

[pjlla]

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??
CHOCOLATE!! I have found that I don't "resist" it, I actually have some almost every day, and since it isn't forbidden, it's not as tempting. Hershey's chocolate drops are about 13 calories/drop - I have one(or two) after lunch, and that is enough to satisfy me.

Hello, everyone. Hope you have a good OP day. My plan is to drink a lot of water today, still trying to get rid of this pound!!!

Glad to see that you found a way to work the chocolate into your healthy lifestyle! For me, that open bag of chocolate drops would call my name constantly and I would end up eating the entire bag in a day or two!

Thanks for all the advice on instruments. I am liking the benefits of the flute. There is a meeting thursday, so i hope to get out of work early so I can make it. They do the rent to own thing here too, it's 30$ a month for most, and the sax is 45. I think that is the way to go first year, to make sure he likes it. I need to investigate the contract further too. Ebay is a wonderful thing, too.

Pamela what a great deal you got on the flute. I bet there's lots of instruments out there in this economy.

I would definitely look into local pawn shops and resale shops and consignment shops. You might find a flute for what you would pay for just a few months rent. At least then you would own it and could resell and it possible recoup all of your cost.

Pawn shops are NOT big around here and they are rather seedy, but they are a familiar thing in PA so I went with DSIL when I was down there visiting and that is where I bought DD's flute. That is why I had to take a chance, even though I knew nothing about it, and grab it when I saw it. If you ask the teacher what to look for (style, size, brand, etc) you would have something to go by when shopping.

And thank you for the hard boiled egg advice. I made them last night, and it was so nice to peel them all, and just grab them this morning. The little things in life.

Sometimes it is all about the little things!


I've got my lunch packed, and healthy bkfst eaten. Hope to stay on track for the rest of the week, and get that scale moving.

Have a marvelous monday!!

The day is off to a good start!! Like that saying "Begin the way you mean to go on....." (or something like that).

I am up WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too early this morning but my inlaws had to leave by 7:30am so I had set my alarm for 7. Not that it mattered, I didn't sleep well at all and have been tossing and turning since about 4am. Not going to be a good day today unfortunately. My hip is hurting quite bad and that was keeping me awake and making everything difficult. After DD leaves for school I will get a shower and put my TENS machine on it but I have so much to do the next few days I just don't have time for this.

Do you have to sit quietly when you have the TENS on?? Hopefully you can find something sedentary to do while wearing it today.
We have time trials for swim team this afternoon, the 5th grade pool party is tomorrow and then their "graduation" is Wednesday. Thursday is the last day of school and DD15 has finals every day this week and is freaking out.

Totally forgot, I don't think I have had time to come on here and brag! DD15 got Highest Honors (high honor role) at school and got an Academic Letter (like for a letter jacket). The at the band awards she got Most Improved for the Freshman band. She has worked her tail off so she really needed that award to help her see that her hard work has paid off. I was in tears because I know how much it meant to her.

Such a proud Mom moment! She SHOULD be proud of herself too! She worked hard and earned that recognition!

Funny story about the Band Awards some of you might enjoy:
Our fundraising has been a little low this year so it is time to cut some costs. Also they have been doing some cleaning in the band room. They have won so many awards and trophies at competitions they have run out of room to display them so they decided it was time to just get rid of the oldest ones. Someone got the BRILLIANT idea that instead of buying trophies for the Band Awards they would just "recycle" the old trophies. They have so many that there were plenty that matched in size in color to use for each category. They left the trophy just as it is had new name plates made and stuck them on the back. It was so funny and the kids (and parents) thought it was great! Everyone was excited to see which old trophy people got. DD got a Grand Champion Color Guard from 2007. It even has "2007" as part of the trophy and she thinks it is great. So not only do they get a trophy they get to now own a piece of band history!

Funny! They did something similar for the girls 8th grade rec league soccer a few years ago. Not enough $$ in the budget for trophies for every age group, so the league director choose to skip them for the older kids.... instead he handed out leftovers from past years. The kids thought it was a hoot (at least the ones I talked to) and they were laughing as they compared who got what.... bobble head trophies, boys trophies, etc. No new name plates! I think it was a good idea.... hopefully none of the kids were disappointed.

So I was inspired by this. I had actually half jokingly (but really half serious) asked out Swim Team Manager about 2 weeks ago if we could just use the ribbons from our old league that we have tons of for our IntraSquad Meet later this summer. After the band night I went to her again and this time was 100% serious about it! Everyone thinks it is a great idea so we will use the old ones for that meet--we have tons of them and I hate to buy more if I don't have to. Now I need some creative ideas of what "VPSU" can stand for because we want to turn the league acronym into something more generic. So far all I have come up with is "Very Perfect Stroke Use", but would rather find something else. The U is really what is tripping me up. I need to just go through a dictionary and see what I can find I think. Anyone have any creative ideas?

I'll think on it today. Hopefully as a swim mom, I can come up with something.

Time to get DD off to school, get a shower and find some breakfast. Have a great day everyone!

You have a great day too! HOpe the hip pain improves.

Based on how I've felt so far with losing almost 30 pounds, I will be all of the above It's amazing how losing this weight has changed so many things. Even jet lag is much improved and it is amazing how much I just jump up and get things for myself instead of asking someone to bring things to me. I don't have to HEAVE myself up from a sitting position anymore, I can just get up like everyone else

I agree... it changes so many things.... things you wouldn't even THINK about. Like how you relate to others (probably because you become less self-conscious), how you move.... I think it even changed how I drive.... cause I have much more space between my belly and the steering wheel!

Pamela, I'm not sure how we will spend the money we are making from the sale of our goods here. It will not add up to a whole lot. Maybe 800 euros if we are lucky. Probably will use it in the US as we need fridge/washer and dryer there. I haven't seen the Nate Berkus show yet, will have to check it out...

Probably going into summer reruns soon. Not sure if it is on Hulu, but I'll bet money it will show up on OWN soon.



Well, DH and I are speaking again after yesterday since we found a house online we are thinking about renting. It's right down the street from our old house so we are excited. We could wait out the rest of the Summer for more houses to come on the market to buy but we are not last minute people and we want to get DS registered for school asap. DH did apologize to me "for being a jerk" and I told him "don't worry, I'm used to it"

Sounds like something I would say!!

I am WAY up today after a heavy lunch and heavy dinner yesterday and 2 liters of beer. But I've done 45 mins on the elliptical this morning and I'm off to a good start with eating and drinking water. Would love to hit the 30 pound mark this week!!!

Shawn

2 LITERS of beer??? They would have to scrape me off the floor! I had two beers over the course of an entire afternoon at Epcot last month and I felt it all night!!

*********************

Well..... here I am again ladies! Kids are at library for now. I probably will NOT get another chance to get on here until tonight though.... easy schedule for the kids, but I still have to be involved!

DD forgot not one, but TWO big projects due today at home on the buffet. She (and I) realized it when we were about half way to her school. She is OCD about not being tardy, so I ended up taking her all the way to school and then racing home again to get the projects and then running them up to her school and then speeding back to my school! School (for me) starts at 8:30.... I pulled into the parking lot at 8:29! But at least I had called ahead to let them know I might be late. It wasn't a big deal (thank goodness for a flexible job), but I really hate to be late. I think it doesn't look good.

DD has informed me that she will NOT be attending swim at all this week until finals are over on Thursday, so I will have to be doing my workouts at home. Hopefully the weather will clear so I can run/walk outside instead of the TM.... but I'm determined to get my workout schedule back on track this week. I've been letting it go since so many other things were keeping me busy, but time to get back OP!! No more excuses!

I'll try to pop on tonight after dinner..... or maybe during my lunch break even! TTYL..................P

 

[sahbushka]

Goodluck with your special run. I'm sure you'll do great and Mom will be smiling down on you!



Definitely NOT a failure. Generally, I try not to judge other people's "splurge" food choices. If this was an improvement over your "standard" cake eating, then great! We each have our own temptations. You did just fine.




Actually, I bought DD's flute at a pawn shop for about $100. That said, I got lucky because I knew NOTHING about the flute and just took a chance. Her teacher said it was just fine and there was nothing wrong with it.



So nice that you instilled his faith in him so that he still goes to church and gets involved in the service, even without your prompting. Proud Mom moment.



Sorry you didn't sleep well. I definitely would start the search for an apartment now. Even if you aren't quite ready, it will definitely give you an idea of what is out there. And those large apartment complexes always have turnover, so you can always find something there.



OOooohh no....not a summer cold! Get well fast!

***************

QOTD: 6/13 What is your Achilles heel of food...your "downfall.... your "crack"? That one (or two or three) food that you absolutely cannot resist? And how do you avoid it or resist it if it is around??
Most of you know that oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough is a top one for me. Thankfully, I don't bake so I don't create the problem for myself very often. And if DH is contemplating making cookies, I try to avoid being home. Sometimes I will save a small scoop of dough in the fridge for the weekend "splurge" day. Once the cookies are baked, I have no trouble resisting them.

Another "hard-to-resist" food for me is sweet potato chips. So I just stopped buying them. In fact, the last bag I bought a few months ago is still sitting unopened in the pantry. I KNOW if I open it I will eat the entire bag, so I just don't open it. It is probably stale by now.

My best bet with foods like this is to not even START with them..... like the 50+ leftover bags of trail mix in my dining room ..... just can't even smell them. Just trying to forget they are there.

Off to work.............P

My issue is with "available" food. If someone brings something in to share at work...it is available food. I seem to have a real issue with that.

Frustrating start to my day as my number went up on the scale again this morning. I am what I was exactly a week ago even though I have been working my tail off and staying on plan. I even took a rest day yesterday to give my muscles a chance to calm but that doesn't seem to have helped. I just don't know what else I could be doing to get this weight off and it is so discouraging to put in all this effort and not get results. Anyway,....

SarahMay