The Monday Project

This weeks Monday Project at the Sisterhood is to fill in the blank. The sentence is I_______ because_______. We are supposed to fill in the blanks with our exercise of choice and why we do it. Here's mine......I walk because I like it.

1. I walk because depending on my mood, I can go fast or slow.

2. I can walk year round. I have a treadmill, so it is never weather related.

3. I walk in the summer with one of my best friends and it is our own personal therapy session.

4. I walk because I'm not a good runner. I'm trying to run, but I'm just not good at it.

5. I walk because I can do intervals with it.

6. I walk because it's for me.

So, that's why I walk. Pretty simple, but it's my reasons.

You Capture/A Moment

This is what I looked at in the mirror yesterday.

A total moment of frustration.

Which turned into a moment of impulsiveness.

Is that a real word and is that how you spell it?

And then a moment of trepidation.

Which turned into a moment of laughter.

Then the "aha" moment.

Which led to the "I think I like this" moment.

Closely followed by the "No, I really love this" moment.

What I don't have a picture of is the moment this morning when I realized I couldn't make my hair look anything like this. It is going to take some time to learn.

Head over to Beth's and see all the moments in time.

Spring Fling/Weigh In #4

It's that infamous day of the week again and I'm not dreading this post at all. I got on the scale this morning and I'm down another 1.1 pounds. Woofreakinhoo!! I am one happy girl. This is my first challenge that I have consistently lost weight every week so far. Now that I have said that outloud, I will probably gain ten pounds next week.

There are four reasons for this weight loss this time, I think....

1. For some reason, this time it is just really clicking. I'm not sure why and I'm not going to question it. It just has and I am truly grateful.

2. I've been shredding with Crooked Eyebrow and I can see some changes happening. Seeing is believing you can do it.

3. I have the best team ever. They are the most supportive bunch of women ever. Who ever made up the teams, thank you so much for putting me with these ladies.

4. The tworkout! Have you been doing it? You should. It's fun and hard and you gotta love April. I certainly do!

So, that's what is going on over here. I'm happy and a loser. I know I have a long way to go. I didn't put this weight on over night and it's not going to come off over night either. It's hard work, but I've never been afraid of hard work.

p.s. Have you donated to Team Shrinking Jeans yet? If you haven't you really should. You should do it because they are a great team and because it's a great cause, but if you do it by Sunday, you could win some great prizes. Do it!!!! It will make you feel good and it will make them so happy.

Team Shrinking Jeans Bash

If you would like to have a chance to win some amazing prizes and give to an awesome cause, you need to head over here...
http://shrinkingjeans.net/2010/03/team-shrinking-jeans-party/
Team Shrinking Jeans is trying to raise money for their half marathon in June.

They are a team of 16 women and 1 guy who have joined up with Team In Training through The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They are intensely training for a 1/2 marathon in San Diego in June, and they are raising a huge amount of money to benefit cancer research, patients, and their families -$48,900 to be exact. Each member of the team has their own reasons for taking on this journey, and many of them have special people that they are running or walking in honor of. I am proud to help these amazing people reach their goal. I hope you will be too.

I Wasn't Expecting a Four legged Grandson

Meet my new grandson. Not the grandson that I have been waiting for, but still he's mine. He doesn't have a name yet. I suggested Seger or McGraw. I don't think they were buying either of them. He is very cute and quite mellow. He is three months old and has huge paws. Hopefully within the month, I'll be able to post pictures of my grandson of the human kind.

The Monday Project/Mini Lent

The Monday Project this week at the Sisterhood was to give up something for a week. To make a sacrifice. I had already given up diet coke and Bacardi for lent which by the way is going very well. So, I had to think hard about this. I thought about jelly beans. I really love jelly beans, but I only really eat them the month before Easter, so no on the jelly beans. I thought about giving up exercising, but I don't think that would fly with the Weight Loss Warriors. We were in second place again this week. We won't make it to first place if I quit exercising. I thought about shopping, but I had to go get two birthday gifts and a secret pal gift, so that wouldn't work either. I thought and I thought and I finally came up with it........I gave up negativity.

I'm not a negative person by nature. I think I'm actually pretty positive, but we all have that negative vibe that creeps up on us when we aren't looking (or thinking). I can be negative with myself when it comes to exercise and eating right and looks and self esteem. None of these are my strong suit, but I'm working on it. Every time I would start to think something negative about any of these things I'd stop and redirect my thoughts to something positive. You know like "God, you look like crap" would turn into "You could look pretty decent if you showered and fixed your hair and make up". If you don't know me well, you probably don't know that I can speak way faster than I can think. I am accused often of this. My husband calls it being negative, but I just call it being me and not thinking fast enough. Like last night, we went out for dinner. We had a nice time and when we walked out to the parking lot, my husband had parked the car a little cockeyed in the space. Normally, I would have said something about it and he would have been ticked. In my defense, I would have said something to make a joke about it and he would have taken it seriously. Last night, I just got in the car and didn't even mention it.

So, this week I took a stab at giving up the negative and focusing on the positive and I liked it. I think this could be something that I continue to work on. I know my husband would love it if I did. Who knows, I might love it if I did.

You Capture/Reaching

Reaching

Reaching for new life.

Reaching for the last moments of being the baby.

Reaching for fullness.

What are you reaching for?

Go here and see what others are reaching for.

Compete to Complete

Compete to complete....that was my mantra on Saturday. I heard that phrase used by my sweet friend Sharon once and it really fit my day yesterday. I admit upfront that I was not prepared properly for this race and I have no one to blame for that except myself. I've known for months that I was doing it and I didn't train for it. I've been shredding and doing other exercises, but I haven't clocked nearly enough time on the treadmill lately. Pure and simple, my fault. Here's the whole story......

This is my friends and I prior to the start of the race. We look pretty dry, don't we?

This is the starting line. There were 801 people. A new record for this race. I'm proud to say that my niece (and godchild) was the chairperson for this fundraiser for our school and they raised $14,500.00. I think that's awesome! Okay, the race starts and so does the mist, but it's not bad. We are jogging along the first mile pretty well. Mile two and we start to get different little aches, pains and cramps and begin to move at our own pace. I begin to do intervals of a minute of running and a minute of walking. A lady comes up next to me and asks if I am run/walking the race and I say yes. She becomes my new best friend. She is doing the same thing as me. She was very nice and we had a nice conversation. By now, the rain is a little harder and the pavement is slick and has wet sand and mud to watch for. By the last mile, I was walking more than I was running and I wasn't very happy about it. There wasn't much I could do about it either. My calves were screaming and I was wet and cold. This is where compete to complete became my mantra. I just kept plugging along thinking about Sharon and how she would have been prepared for this race and flying along the course. A few weeks ago she ran a mini marathon and is now in training for a half ironman. She is amazing and two years older than me.
So, we finally crossed the finish line. We were wet, cold, achy(sp?) and tired, but we were done.


I found my friends and we all looked like drowned rats. Comparing notes, we all had pretty much the same experience. We headed off to the warming tent and got a bowl of corned beef and cabbage, a water and an asiago cheese bagel and tried to warm up. I didn't warm up until I got home and soaked in a hot tub for an hour. This morning, it was all I could do to get out of bed. The front of my thighs and the backs of my calves were screaming and still are. Of course, this was the day we had picked to go to Costco. Now they really, really hurt.

So that is the saga of Nancy and the Irish. Maybe next time I should find a Running with the Polish race. Or maybe next time, I just need to train better.

p.s. I don't know how it works in your world, but in mine, if a godchild calls you godmommy, run for the hills as fast as you can. I was up most of Friday night making an 18 quart roaster of corned beef and cabbage. The good news is that it seemed to be a hit.

I'm Going Running with the Irish!

Tomorrow is my Running with the Irish 5k. This is a fundraiser for the school I work at. I have walked it every year so far. I think this is the 10th year. This year, I am going to try to run the whole thing. I have enlisted one of my friends to run with me. I actually have two, but the one says there is no way she is coming if it rains. They are predicting 45 degrees and rain. I am not made of sugar, so I won't melt. Lucky for me, my other friend thinks the same way I do. It may be a mess to run in, but I am going to give it all I've got. My girls at the Sisterhood would expect nothing less. Wish me luck. I'm taking the camera and I'll tell you all about it. Here's the link to my post from last years race. It is http://bacardimama.blogspot.com/2009/03/runnin-with-irish.html

You Capture/Quiet

This weeks You Capture is all about quiet. Quiet can be so many things.

It can be the quiet of the discovery.

It can be the quiet of the wonder.

I wonder what everyone else discovered in the quiet?

We can all find out if we go here.

Spring Fling Weigh In #2

Good morning all. It is 5:50 in the a.m. here and I have good news. I'm down another 1.2 pounds. It's not as good as last week, but I'm okay with that. Any loss is a good loss. I just hope it's enough to help keep the Weight Loss Warriors in first place.

I've been shredding with Crooked Eyebrow and the other ladies. Believe it or not, I am enjoying it. I do love me a good chest fly. They are my favorites. Ab work and lunges, not so much. I had a banner night last night. I usually shred in the morning, but didn't get it in, so I shredded last night before Biggest Loser. After I got done with that, I did two miles on the treadmill and then did the tworkout. I was one whipped puppy by 9:00. The good news is that I already finished the shred this morning before I started typing this. To late now, but I should have weighed after the shred. Might have been a better loss.

I have my next 5k on Saturday. I'm hoping to run the whole race, but have a plan in case it doesn't happen. I am running with two friends from school. We decided yesterday that if we are running out of steam or are in pain, we will run for a minute and walk for 30 seconds or vise versa. I don't remember which it was. Anyway, we won't quit running completely ever. I'm hoping for the best. I'll be running to the corned beef and cabbage at the finish line. I told you my last race, I do these things for the food at the end. Last time, it was the chili. I am kidding, but it helps. It is a fun race. It's called Running with the Irish and it's a fundraiser for the school I work at. It is out at the Indiana Dunes State Park, so a camera is required. There are bagpipers at the start of the race. You run through the park and down to the beach. I love it. If you live in the area, you should come join us. You can also walk it. Running is not required.

So, that's it for this week. Hope you all did well too. I just hope you didn't do as well as my team. It was fun to be in first place and I'd love to stay there if possible.

In a Nut Shell.......

After the manhunt on Thursday, I needed the fun that came with the weekend. Let's just say that Thursday at school was stressful. It's late, so I'll make it quick.

Friday after school, I went baby shower shopping and then came back to town for a night with my girls. Three of my daughters, two granddaughters and I had a lovely time. We made roasted vegetable pizza and snacks and dessert and played wii games and yahtzee (sp?). We had a great time with lots of laughter. I wish my oldest daughter could have been there too.

Saturday, I went to the sweetest surprise baby shower ever for Beth. I'm sure that a lot of you know her and love her like I do. I got to see some of my blogging friends like Mary, Rhonda, Donya, Erin, and Stephanie. It was the perfect day for the perfect girl. There was love all over that room. You could feel it and it was wonderful. Beth has been through so much and deserves every good thing. I was honored to be included in the festivities. After the shower, I watched my little sweeties while their mommy and daddy went dryer shopping. Needless to say, I enjoyed my time with them too.

Sunday was just a normal day. I cleaned house and did laundry. I never did make it to the grocery store, but I did get my fundraising page set up for the March for Babies. If you are feeling generous, I'd be so grateful if you would support my efforts. Just click on the widget in my sidebar. Thank you so much.

Time to get to bed. It's after midnight and I have to be up at 5:30 to work out. I fell asleep during the Oscars. Guess I'll find out who won in the morning. Goodnight!

March for Babies

I am excited to be walking in the March for Babies on April 24. Again this year, I am walking with Team James and Jake. These precious boys left this earth too soon. You can read what their mommy wrote after last years walk. She is a very special lady and I am proud to walk with her and her family. If you would like to make a donation to help me with my goal for this year, please click on the side bar where it says Sponsor Me, and it will take you to my personal page. Thank you so much for supporting me.

The Monday Project

It's Friday, so that means it's time for the Monday Project.

The instructions were....

“What would it be like if I just started this journey two years from now?”

This is something I hadn't even considered until now.

Here's what I came up with.

1. I would probably weigh more instead of less like I do now.

2. I would probably just be walking. I wouldn't be doing the whole package that I found now.

3. I wouldn't be eating right or working out.

4. I certainly wouldn't be attempting to run 5k's. My next one is next Saturday.

5. I wouldn't be keeping up with my grandkids.

6. I wouldn't be happy with myself.

7. I wouldn't have met my friends at the Sisterhood yet and I can't even imagine that.

I sure am glad it is today! Thank goodness I started this whole process now. Think of what I can be in two years instead of what I could have still been. This is my time for me and I love it.

You Capture/Hopeful

Short and simple. After all the use that this got last week, I am hopeful that it can be put away and replaced by a lawnmower very soon!

There are some very hopeful people waiting for you to look at their captures over here.

Spring Fling Week One Weigh In

It's the first weigh in for the new Spring Fling challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. This is going to be fun. We are on teams this time. My team has taken the name the Weight Loss Warriors. There are six of us on the team. We kicked butt this first week. We had a total loss of 11.4 ounds. That almost averages out to two pounds a person. Not bad, not bad at all.

I personally had a really good week. I lost 2.2 pounds. That is a really good number for me. I'm usually not anywhere near that. I think the fact that I quit drinking diet coke and bacardi was a big factor. I didn't drink much bacardi, but I drank a lot of diet coke. I also think that drinking mostly water is part of it too. I swear I slosh when I walk. Once in awhile, I'll have a glass of ice tea. I'd like to say that shredding was part of it too, but after only two days, I don't think so. The other thing that I am really excited about is the Monday Project has stayed around for this challenge too. I love doing the Monday Project. Really, really love it!!

The other teams better watch out for the warriors. We are planning on kickin some major butt in this challenge and if this week is any indication of things to come, you all better be scared!