Getting Busy!

First of all, welcome and thanks to my new followers!!

Well, I did it. I dragged myself out and did the couch 2 5k day 1 today. Actually it was day 2 (phone wouldn't take it back to day 1), I spent a lot of time dragging the flippin' dog and mixed up a bunch of the run/walk times because I was so busy trying to control what the dog was doing I didn't hear the change.

BUT for the most part I did it.

I've decided that I am going to just have to get up early to do it. I'm not going to take the dog either. The exercise is good for him but it's just way too hard to concentrate on myself while he's all over the place. There were way too many people roaming around their yards and people with their dogs out and not on leashes. HELLO LEASH LAW! I don't care if you have a poodle. I don't want to be responsible for your dog getting messed up when it runs at my dog. Oh and when I got back I realized I had my tank top on backwards. AWESOME!

Tomorrow starts the first day of Mama Laughlin's challenge over on Facebook. The group has almost 3000 people in it. Freaking crazy! I can't imagine having so many followers. Way to motivate!! Hopefully this helps me keep it together and keep moving down the scale. Things I got motivated to do already:

I drank over 128 ounces of water.
Went to GNC and bought 2 samples of protein powder to try for protein shakes
Bought some vitamins
Ran day 1 of c25k
Took a totally unflattering "after work out" picture of myself in the mirror.

Actually that was like 50 pictures and this one was the "good enough" out of the group. I don't think I'm ever going to figure out where to look!

My plan for the week is to ride my bike tomorrow and then alternate between bike riding and the c25k.

I should probably put some laundry away and clean my room too. Priorities you know?

Monday Mix

Does anyone else sometimes wish that it was dark outside so they could just go to bed? I'm totally exhausted  all of a sudden. But it's still light outside. It's so wrong to go to bed when it's light outside right? Maybe I just need some heavy drapes...

I finished making 60 baby shower game bags today. (Etsy Store) I was trying to get them out in the mail today but got done half an hour too late. Sucks. So I'll run them over to the post office in the morning and pray they make it to their destination in time.

Note to self: If you think you have two weeks to get something done? You'll probably get the flu for a week of that so start early. My poor Etsy shop has just about been forgot about with me working full time. I pretty much come home and do the minimum required and then pass out. That will be the one thing I'm happy about when Scott goes back to work. I'm so going back to part time!

I was kind of wanting to start the couch to 5k this week but it's flipping hot. 100's for all week. That will require me to get up at 5:30 or earlier and I about killed my alarm clock hitting the snooze button so many times today. Maybe tomorrow? Instead I rode my bike over 6 miles in the 97 (insert pretty degree thingy) heat. I was trying to do the same ride as the other day but I was so hot I didn't do the last little stretch. I've been trying to chew gum when I walk and ride my bike so I don't feel so thirsty and I totally forgot this time.

For dinner we got the kids chicken strips from the corner store, Scott had cereal and I had left over deliciousness from my brother's birthday party. With chips of course. I must now go drink a bunch of water.

  Source: skinnytaste.com via Mom Taxi on Pinterest

I should make tortilla chips and salsa be on the naughty list but I'm pretty sure I like them more than cake. Weird.

Well I have nothing else on my agenda for the week. The next thing I have to do is to maybe go to a party on Saturday. Darn that sounds like work.

25 days until my oldest goes to college.  I don't know if she's excited but I know her siblings can't wait to have their own room! We are all going to feel so lost when she is gone though. I'm so glad she is only going two hours away. She can come home on the weekend if she gets home sick. Or I could just go stalk her at school if I miss her too much! I'm sure that would go over great :wink:

Focus; It's An Amazing Thing

Source: wookmark.com via Jenna on Pinterest

Good morning my friends! I started this morning by going on a bike ride. Usually I just ride around the lakes but I've been trying to go farther. Today, I put my bike seat up a lot higher (hubby and I were talking about that yesterday) and wow what a difference! I went all around the area where I live and around the lakes too and ended up riding over seven miles. And I wasn't even tired. I know, crazy.

I'm really itching to get a street bike (I'm using a slightly rusted mountain bike that's been kicking around for years) and just hit the road.

I was talking to my brother, who is a body builder, yesterday and he was apparently talking about me to some friends of his that are trainers. Scary. Anyhow, they work at a gym not too far from me and I might go and talk to the woman trainer. I just gave him the go ahead to call and find out what her schedule is like for me. Double scary.

I'm really trying to find something I can focus on that will keep me going. I don't want this time to be like all those other times where I lost weight and then slowly gained it back and next thing I knew I was 200 pounds again.

I fucking hate 200 pounds.

200 pounds is no fun, the clothes suck and I feel like shit. NOPE not going there again.

Fantastic!

Well I actually made it all day at work today. Woot! I only thought I was going to die a couple times. Pretty much had my fan on all day for those little hot flashes of virus still pulsating through my system.

After work I had to go to Target and get some laundry soap and of course look around at the clothes on clearance. Is it just me? Or does anyone else think that Target has some REALLY ugly clothes? I can see they are trying to have some funky retro thing going on but the stuff is just fugly! Makes me stick to my solid color t's and jean shorts/pants/capri's. I did end up trying on a few pairs of capri pants that I found on the clearance rack though. I took in some 6's and just for the fun of it a couple of 4's.

Well, guess what I put on and actually bought because they fit so well?

I seriously wanted to call someone while I was in the dressing room while simultaneously jumping for joy. Seriously? I have NEVER bought anything size 4. I don't think it was just a fluke either since the 6's I took in were too big.

The last time I was even close to this size? The years 1999-2000. Before I got pregnant with Melissa I went to Weight Watchers. I started at 199 pounds. I got down to about 160 or so and then I got pregnant. I was totally sick for most of the pregnancy and actually ended up losing a bit of weight after I had her. The lowest I remember getting was about 153. I quit going to Weight Watchers not too long after I had her because Jessica was in Kindergarten and it was just too hard to get there after her pick up for the meetings.

Here I am circa 2000 scrapbook page.

I used to ride around with Melissa on the back like that all over. She sat back there until she physically got stuck one time when I was trying to get her out. I think she was about four haha.

So anyhow, I'm pretty stoked! But in the back of my mind I keep thinking that I have to be really careful so I don't slip up like I did sometime after 2000. Slowly the weight crept up. I have gained and lost a lot of weight since then. This time has to be different. I have to find a focus and not let go of it. I can't just let myself get comfortable and forget that I have to work hard to maintain a thin body.

Then & Now Car Show

Saturday before my reunion we went to town for a little bit to check out the "Then & Now" car show. They closed off the downtown area and it was filled with classic cars. Fun! 

Originally my Dad had told me that he was going to have his truck down there but when I called him he said that he had decided not to. He said he was going to walk down later so we just met up and walked around a bit. It was about 100 outside so nice and HOT.  I may have spent $5 and change on 3 waters. Way to go prepared right? I should have took some pictures of us but didn't think of it so all I have to share is cars. 

We used to have an old Ford pick up. It was fun when it worked right and you could actually get the driver's side door to close without slamming it and cussing over and over.

I'll take one of these please! Total Mom car eh?

Plenty of room for groceries.

Check out the top on this one. Original sunroof?

LOVED the color on this car. So pretty.

Scott had a Camaro before me. Apparently he thought he might kill himself in it so he decided to sell it.

Dreamer car.

How fun is this tear drop trailer? You sleep in that little hole there on the side.

Don't think you'd have to worry about any hanky panky going on in there..

Even better with a cool Rat Rod to pull it.

We ended the outing by eating at Gerard's. The Hof Brau side was closed so we had a turkey bacon avocado sandwich. Well, Trevor and I did. Scott was being good and sat and watched us eat. It was delicious as usual!

High School Reunion Night!

I had a great time at my reunion!

I was still trying to decide on what dress so I went in and asked Jess if she could see anything that shouldn't be seen. She said "like your vagina?". That kind of made me decide it was too short even though Scott was all for me wearing it. (go figure ha!) So we'll save that one for Vegas or somewhere else trashy ;)

So here we are right before we left.

and then we met at my friend's Mom's house for some champagne before heading over to the reunion. Here is 2 of my 3 friends I used to hang out with in high school. The other one lives in Tennessee now so she didn't come. 

and then we got to the reunion and had cocktail hour and visited with people. Then moved into the dining room and visited some more, had some dinner and then danced the night away.

Oh and they had a photo booth, too much fun. Apparently I had a case of the giggles.

After it was all over Scott and I went to the hotel I had booked, what a great idea I had to do that. Only a couple miles to get there instead of about an hour to drive home. We got up in the morning and checked out and went out to breakfast and BAM! I was sick. I'm still sick 2 days later. Some nasty bug that's for sure.  Yesterday I thought I'd be ok and went to work and barely made it an hour. I came home and passed out for hours. I haven't slept this much in years.

On the plus side? I'm down 8 pounds since Saturday. One way to break that month long plateau I was on. I'm sure it will come back once I can eat more than some chicken noodle soup and 7 up though.

Back To High School

Tonight is my high school reunion! Hard to believe it's been 20 years but yet, it seems like forever ago. Trying to decide between the almost too short blue dress I bought or the more modest black one my friend let me borrow. Decisions decisions!

I'm so glad I started my diet when I did. I can go feeling confident. Not frumpy and embarrassed about how big I am.

Ehrman Mansion Beach Day

Monday we had beach day!

We went to the Ehrman Mansion, which is part of the park system. You can get in free if you are camping in the park. 

I have some pictures here from 2008. Hard to believe it's been that long since we were there.

Trevor was the first one in. The water was super cold.

The dock was damaged and closed. The big girls were really sad that they couldn't jump off the dock.

Jess and Chloe came out in the same outfits. Isn't that funny? Totally unplanned but I guess they decided to just go with it.

Someone tossed this chipmunk part of an Oreo. I may or may not have ate a few myself. Aren't they freaking cute? There are tons of them there.

Scott and I were freezing. Must mean that we don't have much body fat. HA! Rusty did really well for all the people that were there. He's a bit skittish sometimes. I did have to stop a small boy from going over to pet him since he does try to nip sometimes. Plus, hello! Keep track of your little kids and don't allow them to run over to strange dogs!

Sophie spent the entire time we were there in "I'm going to pounce" mode. She really wanted a chipmunk!

The "little' not so little anymore, girls got in the water too. I think I have some mermaid type pictures of them on this rock from before.

The big girls sunned themselves on top of a big concrete wall thing. I'd probably be in trouble if I posted that picture.

Scott and I ended up laying on the grass in the sun. I got a bit sun burnt but that sun felt so good! It was so cold for most of the time we were in Tahoe.

On the way out the kids found a friendly lizard.

They gave it a name but I don't remember what it was. Then they let it go.

Sophie rides on the console in my friend's car. That's her "seat". Too dang cute! She was super tired from all that chipmunk hunting.

Things To Eat In Tahoe

Well, now that I have internet service for a few minutes I'm going to try and squeak out a post! I swear our internet goes in and out more than Christian Gray. 

So Sunday? I think it was, we decided to go to the ice cream parlor in Camp Richardson that we always go to. Usually it's a big bike ride on a trail and then ice cream. We decided to skip the bike ride and just go pig out.

Seriously. Here are Scott and I with our "kid" sized scoops in a cup trying to be good. Melissa has a "single". Rusty is being camera shy. He finished off most of ours. 

More of our group, we have 5 girls and 1 boy between our 2 families. That's a lot of hormones.

Trevor and his "single" scoop

and my friend Allen with his GINORMOUS double scoop. He was sick a few hours later after eating the whole thing!

We sat on the grass and watched everyone going by on the busy highway. 

If you are ever in the Tahoe area this is an awesome place to stop!

How to tire out a 9 year old

Well camping was fun. I'm glad to be home though. Even though the truck is still loaded almost 24 hours after we got home and I went to work all day.

Why can't anything just put itself away? Life would be so much nicer that way.

So Saturday morning we left a few minutes ahead of schedule. I know! Amazing! We met up with our friends and then caravan-ed to Stockton to pick up Trevor who had spent a few nights with my brother.  (stop #1)

We stopped for Starbucks in Sacramento. (stop #2)

We stopped in Auburn area to go to the bathroom (and for someone to get candy bars and ice cream, not us of course) (stop #3)

We stopped in Tahoe City to get gas, go to the bathroom and to eat lunch. When we went into KFC we realized that three tour buses of people had also stopped. We left and tried a few more places and by the time we got to the place to eat that was farthest from the road there was no wait. We ended up eating at Bill's Rotisserie Chicken, which is really more of a Mexican restaurant. But they do have tri-top too, go figure. A little something for everyone. I got a tri-tip tostada (I thought the meat was gross and I picked it out), and Scott got a tri-tip plate. He thought his meat was great. I'd go back, I'd just order the chicken! (stop #4)

After that it was down the road until we stopped for ice (stop #5! Seriously! it's a 4 hour trip tops!)

Finally we got to our destination, Sugar Pine Point State Park.We've camped here several times. It's really beautiful. We pulled up and Scott decides we need to do a marathon unloading of the truck and trailer (we pulled a trailer with everyone's bikes). After four hours of driving (granted with stops) and a broken collar bone I'm thinking maybe we should take our time? But no, we must hurry hurry hurry and empty it right now. So all the kids pitched in and we got it emptied out pretty quick. The girls put up our tent and blew up the air mattresses so all I had to do was set up our beds and put the crap in the tent. Not too shabby.

Rusty was happy he had his chair.

That night we had hamburgers for dinner. Remember Scott and I are on diets so we are still trying to be good. My friend made these hamburgers HUGE. I split mine in half with someone and wrapped it in lettuce and it was still huge. We had potato salad and macaroni salad and :burp: we were so full. I gave in and had a s'more or two also.

Sunday morning we got up and my friend made french toast for breakfast. About this time I threw my diet out the window for the rest of the trip. Yep. Sucks. But it's really hard to diet when someone else is making the food. It felt like I was being rude saying I couldn't or didn't want toe at something so I just ate it. And it was delicious. French toast and sausage. Yum!

After breakfast Trevor and I went for a hike. We took a trail that ended up being over three miles long. (the red trail)

Trevor was good for the first half or so and then he was done. He was exhausted and if i could have called a helicopter in to rescue him I would have. 

 But, the only way out was to walk, so walk we did. I would walk and then wait for him to catch up, then walk, wait. It was a miserably long walk.

 At one point we sat down on a log and I gave him a pep talk about telling himself he could do it and how once we were done he would feel so great about what he had accomplished.

 I think it didn't help much but I tried. 

Over two hours later we were finally back at the campsite. 

He was the proud owner of one blister.

After that I decided it was time for a drink. So I had a couple while the kids assembled the kabobs for dinner. Aren't they pretty?

They were good but I should have brought more meat. I got ONE. And then all the veggies that everyone didn't want. And macaroni salad and pasta salad. I was so full after dinner I had to go lay down for a bit. I fell asleep for about an hour and missed out on the s'mores. Darn! Probably a good thing though!

That's enough for one post, I'll continue with our trip tomorrow!

Work work work

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via O on Pinterest

Well it's that time again. Getting ready for camping. Sent the man off for some fresh fruit to take and quarters for the showers. My agenda?

Pack

Make potato salad

Clean the house so we don't get invaded by ants while we are gone

Finish washing clothes so I can pack one of my 3 pairs of shorts that actually fit

Really need to mow the back yard before we lose a child back there but that might not happen. Go figure.

You know, just a few things.

I was kind of hoping that when I got home from work everything would be done already. But you know, instead I came home to my man sleeping and the kids waiting for me to tell them what I needed done so they could wander off.

Awesome!

We are going with some friends. Some friends that aren't dieting. Thus, sending the man for fruit. So when they break out the cookies I can eat some grapes.

:::singing::

I WILL SURVIVE

and not gain back the 3 pounds I just re-lost from last weekend's fun.

Go me!

It's Hot!

I just got home from riding my bike in the dark. It's super hot here today (and just supposed to get hotter all week). I was thinking about going in the morning but eh, I know myself. It's super hard to get up.

So I pulled up my big girl panties, pumped up my tire (stupid back tire is ALWAYS going flat) and hopped on. Now I don't have to feel guilty that I didn't get it in.

I did have a few bugs smacking me in the face though. AND it's kind of scary riding in the dark. I think I need to buy a headlight.

Poor Jess has been throwing up for hours. She babysat this morning, and then went and cleaned for a co-worker of mine. She got home, sat for a little bit and then started throwing up. That was at like 4:30 and she's still making trips into the bathroom :( Poor kid.

I'm really hoping she gets better soon and that it's NOT contagious. We have a little trip planned for the weekend and that would not be good.

Oh and I just remembered what else I wanted to blog about. So you old time readers probably remember back when I had a friend of mine tell me that she was worried that I might have a tumor in my belly since I was so fat? (apparently I deleted that since I can't find it anywhere) Yeah well, she came to visit (she had moved away) and I now weigh less than her! Take that bitches!



picture from here