Random Thoughts

My hubby has been gone for a week in Florida. He went to golf with his dad who winters there. As luck would have it, we had a boatload of snow while he was gone. I'm glad he's coming home tomorrow. I missed him and his strong arms.

Tomorrow morning at 5:30, I will begin my second time around with Jillian Michaels and the 30 Day Shred. It's a new challenge at the Sisterhood. I'm excited to get started though. I took my before measurements and pictures today. I'm hoping for big changes by the end of March. Wish me luck.

I got this blog award from my friend Maria. I don't think I am going to do the things that go along with it and I know that Maria will understand. The last time I did one of these, I was left an anonymous comment that wasn't very nice. Maria happened to be the commentor after that. She commented asking what was the purpose of the previous comment. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I got a summons for jury duty. It's for federal court. I'm not happy. I was just called for county court in November of last year. Aren't there people out there besides me?

It's a couple minutes before 11:00 p.m. which means I have to be up in about six hours. Guess I better finish up things around here and get to sleep. Have a great week!

The Monday Project

This week, the Monday Project is about the bank. The bank is the place you deposit all of your workout and fitness “experience” every time you walk out the door. I have three deposits this week. Here they are....

1. I gave up diet coke for lent. I can't believe the difference it makes in how I feel. I find that I drink more water in a day than I did diet coke and I thought I drank a lot of diet coke. Sometimes I think I slosh when I walk. I did go through the caffeine headaches for a few days, but it was worth it. I tried drinking a Nestea ice tea from the machine in the lunchroom at work to take the edge of at lunch, but I quit that really quickly when I read it had 210 calories. I'll suffer the headache.

2. I started wearing my pedometer again. I find that I move a lot more when I have that to check. I stay on the treadmill longer and I pace the halls when I am waiting for little people in the bathroom at work.

3. I think that shoveling snow is a huge workout. My hubby is in Florida and we have had snow all week. Monday was the worst when it was four inches of wet heavy slushy stuff. It weighed a ton. It's what they call "heart attack" snow in these parts and I can see why. Funny how he picked this week to go golf with his dad.

So...that's how my bank account stands this week. If you'd like to read about some other deposits, just head over to the Sisterhood.

You Capture/Shapes

This weeks challenge was shapes. I confess that I waited till the last possible minute to take any pictures. I've done better, but here they are....

Triangle

Heart

Rectangle

Square

Oval

Oval

Circle

Circle

Not my best assignment, but at least I turned in the work.

Time for you to go see the shapes of things over here.

Beautiful Blogger

Look what I got!

I received this lovely award from Chocolate Girl who just happens to be my beautiful daughter and LouAnn, a sweet blogging friend. I would like to thank them for thinking of me as beautiful.

I am supposed to list seven interesting things about myself. This could be a stretch. I'm not really all that interesting. but I'll give it a try.

1. I have met three famous people and had my picture taken with two of them. I met James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Dom Deluise. If you go to the very bottom of my blog page, you'll see the picture of James Taylor and I. I also had my picture taken with Dom Deluise and the girl I teach with. We met him at a book signing. Jackson Browne was not nearly as friendly. He stopped and talked, but there were no autographs or pictures. James Taylor signed my 8 track of Sweet Baby James and Dom Deluise signed my book. I almost got to meet Kenny Rogers and Garth Brooks when my friend worked for a country radio station. Security wasn't letting me in without my own press pass though. I did at least get an autographed picture of Garth.

2. I'm a decent photographer. I do use the term photographer loosely. I got a new Nikon D3000 for Christmas and I am really having a good time with it. I'm going to sound like a big dork, but some of my best shots are of birds.

3. Although I love to take pictures, I absolutely hate to have my own picture taken.

4. I gave up diet coke and bacardi for lent. Being I only drink bacardi and diet as my drink of choice, I guess I gave up drinking for lent. Now that I think of it, I have drank nothing but bacardi and diet for like 30 some odd years. I have had a random martini here and there, but I always go back to bacardi and diet. Wow, can you say boring?

5. I love to read. I'm not picky about what I read either. I am just as happy reading a magazine as I am reading an adult or childrens book.

6. If I had to pick between music and television, I'd pick music every time. I could live a long and happy life without tv, but never without music.

7. I realized this past year that I can't just wish myself thin. With the help of the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans, I have begun a real health and fitness routine and am doing pretty well. I've lost 14 pounds so far.

If any of you would like to play along, grab the award and have at it. You know I love all my blogging friends.

The Monday Project

This weeks Monday Project was something totally different. If you were a super hero, who would you be is the topic. I can honestly say that I have never ever thought of myself in terms of a super hero. I had to enlist the help of my daughter in trying to come up with a name. I knew what my powers would be, but the name had me stumped. Here's what I came up with.....

If you were a superhero, who would you be?

I would be the Freedom Fighter. We tossed around the Fat Freedomer, but we figured that freedomer wasn't a real word. I would give people freedom over fat.

What would be your super power?

My super power would be to enable people to conquer their challenges with weight loss and fitness. I wouldn't just make them thin. I would still make them do the work, but I would give them the absolute tools to make it work for them. There would be no failure. They would always see progress. I would give them the freedom to succeed.

When do you wish you were her most?

Now that I have thought her up, I would love to be her everyday. My first duty would be to straighten me out and then I'd go and help the rest of the world.

What would you wear?

Being I would be all fit and toned, I'd wear cool yoga pants and a sports bra and why not a really cool cape. I'd have lots of cool tools like a Nike ipod sports pak and a heart rate monitor.

So, that's my inner super hero. Now, I want to go see who everyone else would be.

You Capture/Kisses

Okay, I confess....I loved this challenge. I got some fun captures of some of my favorite people.

First, we have the anticipation of the kiss.

Next, we have the actual kiss.

and the baby belly kiss. That is my first grandson in there.



Then we have the "I can watch myself kiss in the mirror" shot.

Who could forget the eskimo kiss?

And last, for all of you Cosby show fans, we have the zerbert!

There is a lot of kissing going on over here. I'm going to check it out. Why don't you join me?

The Monday Project

The homework this week from the Sisterhood was to recap the latest challenge "Rethink your Shrink". We are supposed to tell how we did and what we learned. I have a lot to tell you. Here goes.....

Let's get the bad part out of the way first. I gained 2.2 pounds this challenge. Would you like to hear the funny part of that? I don't even care. This challenge was so much more than weight loss that gaining weight this time around is okay with me. I can handle it. I never would have said that any challenge before now. I would have been devastated. After going through this challenge, I'm not having a problem with this fact. I don't like that I gained, but I'm not going to go nuts and beat myself up over it.

After the last paragraph, I'm sure that you can tell that if I had any victories in this challenge, they were nonscale victories. I had some awesome victories, really awesome victories. I learned so much about me. They are things that I should have known a long time ago. Maybe I knew them deep down, but now I know them outloud and up close.

I had a few bad weeks during this challenge. I got into a deep funk and had a hard struggle getting out. I gained weight several weeks in a row. I had three funerals in two weeks. My family was driving me nuts. My coworkers were driving me nuts and on and on. I threw myself the biggest pity party you have ever seen. You all read about it. I whined and complained like a big baby. People left sweet comments, but Christy and Melissa (I love you hookers) weren't having any of it. They pretty much said quit your bitchin and do something about it. And I did. I realized that nobody but me could help me. I had to make the conscience decision to pick myself up and get back in the game. I did just that and here is what I learned.

I loved this challenge!! I learned that I am a good person who can do anything she wants to do. I can do so much more when I give myself credit for what I do instead of beating myself up for the things I didn't do. I learned that it is okay to put myself first once in awhile. That is a hard one for me. I may be 55 years old, but putting myself first is something I do very rarely. I learned that I am stronger than I thought I was. Both physically and mentally. I learned that nobody can stop me but me. I learned that I love the tworkouts on Tuesday night during the Biggest Loser. I remembered that the Sisterhood is absolutely the best place in the world for me to be in my fitness and weight loss journey.

This last thing I learned deserves it's own paragraph. I learned that I enjoyed doing homework again. It has been many years since someone was expecting me to turn in an assignment. The Monday Project was totally awesome. I found that I couldn't wait to find out what the new assignment was. The motivation wall, the look back at our year, the letters to future self. I loved every one of them. They made me think and dig deep for the answers to the questions. If by chance you are taking a vote, I vote please keep doing the Monday Project. I would really appreciate it.

Due to my mid challenge pity party, I don't feel that I deserve my non food reward for achieving my goals. I did all of them some of the time. I don't think that is good enough for a reward and I am okay with that. Maybe that can be something to earn in the next challenge. One More Mile will just have to wait a little while longer for my money.

In conclusion, I loved this challenge. Even though I didn't have a successful time with weight loss, I think this was my best challenge yet. The things I learned the last six weeks will help me for the rest of my life and don't think I can ask for more than that. In the final analysis, I did good and I am proud of that.

You Capture/Work

The You Capture assignment this week was work. I had planned to take pictures at my work, but we had a snow day today. The snow day presented me with a different kind of work.

Here's my wonderful hubby taking care of the driveway. Not only did her do our driveway, but three others. He's a good man!

Here he is making a clearing to get to the bird feeder.

Here he is cleaning off our daughters car.

You know I'm a sucker for bird shots. This little guy was working hard to stay warm. Look at how puffed up his feathers are.

Now, I've got some work for you. Head over to Beth's and see how everyone else is working.

A Great Giveaway

The Monogram Chick is having a great giveaway. It's your choice of any color of the above weekend duffel bags. I truly love her merchandise. Think about what beach you would be packing that bag for. We have a ton of snow here, so thinking about the beach is a welcome thought. I would definitely be packing for Destin to meet my sweet blogging friend Kat in person. Head over and tell the Monogram Chick that you would like to enter and be sure and say that I sent you please. You'll see why when you get there.

True Confessions Tuesday

I think I'm having a pretty good week. I don't have a lot to confess. I feel like I'm repeating myself. Isn't that what I said last week? I like saying it though. Here goes......

1. I ate two fun size candy bars when I was making valentine gifts for my kids at school.

2. I did miss one day of working out.

3. I had some taco dip during the Super Bowl. I did just eat the italian beef and no bun though.

That is truly all I can think of. I did the last chance tworkout and loved it. I'm typing this while I wait for tonights to start. If you haven't tried it, you should. Second hour of Biggest Loser just started, gotta go!

You Capture/Faces

This weeks assignment from Beth was faces. Somehow, I went to a big family birthday party on Sunday without my camera. How did I do that? I was all excited last week when I saw what the assignment was, knowing I had this party. I confess that my faces this week are from my husbands birthday party last week. Sorry, but it was a really busy week and the only real pictures I took were of the full moon.

Lucky for you all, I cropped most of my big butt out of this shot.

That face is just too cute though.

Cutest face number two.

Poppa and his girls.

Our six girls.

Now, it's time to go here and see all the faces.

Week 5 Weigh In

Week 5????? Where is the time going? Didn't we just start this challenge like last week? I swear, the older I get, the faster time goes. Don't take that wrong. I am not complaining. I swear to you, I am not complaining. There is no complaining here this week.

I had a really good week. Finally!! I lost 1.4 pounds and I am very happy with that. I am in a much better frame of mind than I have been the past few weeks. I'm done feeling sorry for myself and I'm done complaining. The only person who can help me in this adventure is me. I love that you all support me in this, but the bottom line is that I have to do the work. I have to put in the time. I have to want to do it and so help me God, I do!

This challenge has been a real eye opener for me. The homework assignments have been awesome. I'm pretty sure I never said that about homework when I was in school. Thank you so much ladies for all the work that you put into these challenges for us. The Sisterhood is an inspiring and supportive place and I am so happy that I found you.

Okay, it's 8:36 p.m. and I still have a treadmill that is calling my name!

p.s. I did the tworkout last night and really loved it. I will definitely be doing that again next week.

True Confessions Tuesday

True confessions and I am happy to report that I don't have a lot to confess. I am in a really good frame of mind and it makes everything else fall into place. I had a couple of really bad weeks and I was a big baby about it. I whined and complained and was a total bitch. I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have inflicted my sad self on you all.

What I do have to confess is this....

1. We had a big birthday party on Sunday. I come from a large family and we do a monthly birthday party. If your birthday falls in that month, it's your party. Lately though, it seems like we are doing two, three and even four months at a time. This party included my husband, my oldest daughter and myself. Here's the confession part...I had a small spoonful of caramel crunch ice cream and another small spoonful of the Vanilla Wafer banana pudding dessert. I haven't had that since I was a little kid. It was really good. I was good with the rest of the food. We had pulled pork, but I didn't eat it on a bun. We had homemade scalloped potatoes and I passed on them. We had an awesome wild rice salad with fruit in it. I loved that. I made mostly good choices.

2. I did miss a couple days of exercise. I only worked out four days. It has been a really busy week. I even had to work on Sunday morning.

So, that is all I can think of to confess. This was a good week. I was due for one. Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to weigh in tomorrow.