A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned that I had thought that I had injured my ankle(s) getting into a jacuzzi. In the last few weeks, the discomfort in my ankle while exercising has continued to grab my attention. As much as I HATED to admit it, I realized I needed to lay off of the ankle, and let it heal. I have 2 half-marathon races in the first quarter of next year, and in the next couple of months, I am going to have to start training (hard) for them. I need to be healthy for that. I had given myself a prescription of my own...I would take a 4 week sabbatical from all cardio exercise, and I would ice my ankles (primarily the right one) daily. However, my wise friend, 2-B, urged me to see my Doctor...in the event that something else should be done...I definitely wouldn't want to take a 4 week break, to only still be in pain at the end of my journey.
I went to the Doctor last Monday, and sure enough he confirmed that I have a sprain. He agreed with my prescription of a 4 week sabbatical, to ice my ankle, AND then he gave me a RX for an anti-inflammatory. I haven't seen my Doctor in 2 years, and when he referenced my health chart he went on and on about how proud he was of me for my weight loss. That was nice to hear. I am used to only having a Doctor harp on my weight gain.
SO, with no exercise happening for 4 weeks, I knew I had to bring my A-game in dieting, in order to not gain a bunch of weight. I have eaten so poorly over the summer that it has made my efforts in the gym 100% worthless on the scale. In addition, I planned to not abandon ALL forms of exercise...I can still lift weights with my upper body, and work my abdominals.
Last Monday, I was all pumped up and ready for this change. In true Monday-dieting-fashion, I was excited to start watching my calories again!
Monday was hard...but I got through it.
Tuesday was even harder...but I got through it.
Wednesday was a lot better!...but I faltered at the end of the day...UGH! I hate that I sacrificed ALL DAY to only blow it in the end. :0(
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday...lame!
Friday through Sunday I was super busy doing all kinds of fun adventures and I abandoned my diet altogether. Dumb.
I worked out at home...ONCE! Dumb.
If there is good news to be had, it is that I didn't gain any weight this week...I stayed exactly the same. I had lost a bunch of weight the first 2 days, and then luckily I gained back no more than what I had lost. That's all I have to say about numbers.
On a personal/mental note...I totally thought I was going to go berserko by not exercising for 4 weeks! In the last year, I have made almost-daily exercise a priority in my life...which is the appropriate/healthy thing to do. But in the last few months, I have made almost-daily exercise TOO MUCH of a priority in my life. I went from exercising once a day, 6 days a week, to exercising most days twice a day! I was still able to accomplish all of my tasks in my home, and my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and daughter of the King...BUT without being willing to accept it at the time, I was making myself koo-koo! It was too much.
In this first week of no running around my neighborhood, and not a single appearance at the gym, I have been living.it.up! I am not rushing everyone in the morning to eat their breakfast so we can get a run in before school...and I am not frantic while cleaning up the dishes after dinner, just so I can make it to my class at the YMCA in the evening. I have worn make-up every day. :0) I have styled my hair every day. I have dressed nicely (anything is better than gym clothes, right?) every day. I have not only had time to read my Bible, but I also had time to read a fictional Novel...I haven't had a fun-read in at least a year!
"Attention. Attention."
You have my attention Lord. During this sabbatical I will make it a priority to work out a schedule that would be a balance between not enough exercise, and too much exercise. I need to focus less on exercise (NOT abandon...just cut it back), and focus more on what I am putting in to my mouth.
Rick has joined me this week on the diet...and so far we have been successful on both Monday and Tuesday. :0)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Jessie's Sweet Tea
Our dear friends Myke and Pam, have hosted an amazing tea party for their granddaughters 2 years in a row. Last year, Beatrice and I were honored to attend their Minnie Mouse Tea Party...and this year we were invited to attend Jessie's Sweet Tea! Myke and Pam are HUGE fans of Disney, and so in this case, "Jessie" is referring to the character, Jessie, in the Toy Story film series. My Sugar Shack business had slowed down quite a bit in the last 2 weeks, but this party brought with it the fun adventure of making LOTS of sweet treats for the sweet tea.
Pam was kind enough to give me some creative liberties when it came to the mini cupcakes, and after studying Beatrice's Jessie doll for a bit, I decided to make some fondant cowhide! I had so much fun with these, and I thought they came out really good...especially since it was my first time doing something like this...
To the right of the cupcakes, in the above photo, you will also see the Smores-on-a-Stick I did. These were a totally unique treat for me, and I thought they were super cute, and they tasted AMAZING...just like a Smore!
The final item that was ordered were adorable Jessie Hat cookies...to make into take-away-favors.
Prepping for, shopping for, and making all of these treats in the days leading up to the event, and had me SO excited for the actual event! Myke and Pam are so creative and I couldn't wait to see everything they had done to make this day extra special. And sure enough, they found a way to far exceed even my GIGANTIC expectations! Their house was beautifully decorated, and completely "jessie-fied"! ;0)
In addition, we had a delicious lunch...
Fun games...
And great fellowship with seasoned friends...
It was a perfectly lovely day. :0)
Pam was kind enough to give me some creative liberties when it came to the mini cupcakes, and after studying Beatrice's Jessie doll for a bit, I decided to make some fondant cowhide! I had so much fun with these, and I thought they came out really good...especially since it was my first time doing something like this...
To the right of the cupcakes, in the above photo, you will also see the Smores-on-a-Stick I did. These were a totally unique treat for me, and I thought they were super cute, and they tasted AMAZING...just like a Smore!
The final item that was ordered were adorable Jessie Hat cookies...to make into take-away-favors.
Prepping for, shopping for, and making all of these treats in the days leading up to the event, and had me SO excited for the actual event! Myke and Pam are so creative and I couldn't wait to see everything they had done to make this day extra special. And sure enough, they found a way to far exceed even my GIGANTIC expectations! Their house was beautifully decorated, and completely "jessie-fied"! ;0)
In addition, we had a delicious lunch...
Fun games...
And great fellowship with seasoned friends...
It was a perfectly lovely day. :0)
Lets Go Surfin' Now...
It's been a while...too long I've been told, since my last post. I have excuses (good ones?)...I've been busy...our computer kept shutting down when we were in the middle of doing something on it (the problem has been fixed)...and as previously mentioned, I just haven't felt much like blogging in general. Blah, blah, blah, LOL!
Too much time has passed for me to go day by day and report our adventures, but I would like to give honorable mention to:
1. The kids and I went with some of our friends to meet Spiderman!
2. The kids and I went to the beach with 2-B and her crew and we caught (literally) hundreds of sand crabs!
3. Every single seat belt was put to use in my mini-van when Jenni and I took our littles up to L.A. to visit our sister Anna at her house...
4. One of my favorite things about Summer, is watching the television program Big Brother. It's not your normal show...it's almost like a Soap Oprah, in that it airs 3 nights during the week! And more than the actual show it self, my favorite aspect about Big Brother, is that all of my siblings watch the show as well. It makes for great banter back and forth, and on the rare occasion we even get to watch it together...THE.MOST.FUN! Jenni and I stayed late in L.A. so we could watch the show together with Anna, and this past weekend I was able to stay late after a birthday party and Jenni's house, and we were able to watch the show yet again together (with a few others).
5. My favorite adventure in the previous 2 weeks was when I went surfing for the first time! We met some other friends at the beach on a different day, and my dear friend Jenni Z. took Wyatt and I out in the water and gave us each a lesson in surfing. Watching my son get up on the board was incredible! I was multi-tasking (watching him, and attempting to surf myself) but every time I looked over at him, he was riding a wave in the standing position! He blew me away!
As for me, this was something I have wanted to do all of my life. I was born and raised in San Diego, and out-of-towners just assume that that means I surf or have surfed, LOL! Not this mama. I just have never had the opportunity. But when the opportunity DID present it self, I took it! And I must say, I was pretty impressed with my newbie ability! It was so much physical work, and I am convinced that at this time last year I wouldn't have had the physical strength and endurance to accomplish what I did out in the water. Once you get on the board (which can be tricky in of it self), you then have to pull yourself into the plank/push-up position...you then have to either get to your knees, or get yourself into a lunge position...you then need to erect yourself into a standing position, and SOMEHOW find a way to stay balanced on the board while standing...HARD stuff! It was an AMAZING workout! I caught dozens of waves...and of those waves, I probably did something totally unproductive about 5 times (LOL)...I then was able to get to my knees (at minimum) for the rest of them. Multiple occasions I was able to get myself into the standing position, but I then would lose my balance, and fall almost immediately into the water. BUUUUUUUUT, on one occasion, my strength, my balance, and the perfect wave worked together for good, and I was able to ride a wave in the standing position until completion. It was an INCREDIBLE feeling! :0)
So there you have it. One post under my belt! :0) Hopefully I can knock out a couple more tonight.
Too much time has passed for me to go day by day and report our adventures, but I would like to give honorable mention to:
1. The kids and I went with some of our friends to meet Spiderman!
2. The kids and I went to the beach with 2-B and her crew and we caught (literally) hundreds of sand crabs!
3. Every single seat belt was put to use in my mini-van when Jenni and I took our littles up to L.A. to visit our sister Anna at her house...
4. One of my favorite things about Summer, is watching the television program Big Brother. It's not your normal show...it's almost like a Soap Oprah, in that it airs 3 nights during the week! And more than the actual show it self, my favorite aspect about Big Brother, is that all of my siblings watch the show as well. It makes for great banter back and forth, and on the rare occasion we even get to watch it together...THE.MOST.FUN! Jenni and I stayed late in L.A. so we could watch the show together with Anna, and this past weekend I was able to stay late after a birthday party and Jenni's house, and we were able to watch the show yet again together (with a few others).
5. My favorite adventure in the previous 2 weeks was when I went surfing for the first time! We met some other friends at the beach on a different day, and my dear friend Jenni Z. took Wyatt and I out in the water and gave us each a lesson in surfing. Watching my son get up on the board was incredible! I was multi-tasking (watching him, and attempting to surf myself) but every time I looked over at him, he was riding a wave in the standing position! He blew me away!
As for me, this was something I have wanted to do all of my life. I was born and raised in San Diego, and out-of-towners just assume that that means I surf or have surfed, LOL! Not this mama. I just have never had the opportunity. But when the opportunity DID present it self, I took it! And I must say, I was pretty impressed with my newbie ability! It was so much physical work, and I am convinced that at this time last year I wouldn't have had the physical strength and endurance to accomplish what I did out in the water. Once you get on the board (which can be tricky in of it self), you then have to pull yourself into the plank/push-up position...you then have to either get to your knees, or get yourself into a lunge position...you then need to erect yourself into a standing position, and SOMEHOW find a way to stay balanced on the board while standing...HARD stuff! It was an AMAZING workout! I caught dozens of waves...and of those waves, I probably did something totally unproductive about 5 times (LOL)...I then was able to get to my knees (at minimum) for the rest of them. Multiple occasions I was able to get myself into the standing position, but I then would lose my balance, and fall almost immediately into the water. BUUUUUUUUT, on one occasion, my strength, my balance, and the perfect wave worked together for good, and I was able to ride a wave in the standing position until completion. It was an INCREDIBLE feeling! :0)
So there you have it. One post under my belt! :0) Hopefully I can knock out a couple more tonight.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Blah, Blah, Blah...
I'm not feeling very bloggy-bloggerson these days, and I realize that my entries have become less topical and more journalsome, but I keep telling myself to not abandon the blog, and for the time being just keep blogging your week...write whatcha know.
Hopefully I will become inspired to write more interesting entries, but for now.... :0)
MONDAY was the day Wyatt completed the summer trifecta! He successfully learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! :0)
This was a very proud moment! With anything in life where hard work is involved, finally reaching the goal at hand is oh so rewarding!
This Monday was the start to our 2nd (and final) week of swimming lessons. I'm astounded by their progress...but more about that later. :0)
Monday was also the 2nd week of school for us. School continues to go really well. However, school has put a kink in my plans for the morning run. If we have an activity in the morning after school, which is most days, then my morning run is what gets forfeited in order to make the rest of the day happen. It's not a BIG deal, becuase I still go to the gym in the evenings, but getting the heart pumping first thing in the morning after reading my Bible and eating my breakfast had made for a great start to the day. But, I have a feeling, now that other kids are starting to go back to school, I think our morning plans will settle down with our friends, and that should make for a greater chance of getting my run in in the morning.
TUESDAY was the day we played hooky from swimming lessons and took my cousin to Soak City water park instead. I didn't get a picture of him, but I did get some pictures of these other 2 monkeys...
Beatrice loves her little water slides...
And Trenton (my 15 year old cousin) took Wyatt down his first big water slide...
My highlight of the day was lounging in the lazy river with Beatrice for over an hour while the boys were at the wave pool. :0)
WEDNESDAY after school, we went to Fanuel Park in PB for a playdate with our MOPS friends. This is a great location becuase it offers a large play structure AND the bay very close to each other...so close in fact that one of my kids could be playing in the water and I could still be watching the other kiddo on the playground...that's my kind of fun! :0)
We then headed to swimming lessons, and then to Souplantation with our friends for lunch. It was a great day...that ended with spin class. ;0)
THURSDAY was Rick's day off. After school we did some shopping and then had lunch at Costco...
We then hit up swimming lessons...
and then went miniature golfing...
Thursday was also the day I returned to Zumba class at the YMCA after not going for over a month...maybe even 2 months? Usually you have to arrive at the gym long in advance to get a reservation/pass to get in to the class. But I arrived at my normal time, and took a chance and asked the receptionist if there were any more passes for Zumba...sure enough, I was only #15! I was shocked! I had a GREAT time that night! There were so few of us working out that there was plenty of room for me to be comfortably uncoordinated! :0) The instructor said that August is the slowest month in the gym becuase of last minute summer vacations, and people just focused on getting back to school, etc.
FRIDAY was the day I made coconut cupcakes...
Oh my word, these babies were INCREDIBLE! I have been told they are the best cupcakes I have ever made. I'm not sure if that is a true statement (I have a lot of favorite cupcakes of mine) but they were right up there with the best of them! This was the first week in MONTHS that I didn't have a paid order for the Sugar Shack. These were for a family that I was bringing dinner to, and I brought the 2nd dozen to my dad's house the next day.
Friday was also the final day of swimming lessons. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this experience. As I have mentioned, I have always been reluctant to spend the money on swimming lessons in the past, but I am so glad we did it this time! Wyatt had just learned how to swim on his own right before he took the classes, but these lessons propelled him so much further in his swimming abilities! This kid is a swimming fool, and we now love diving for objects together in our own pool. Beatrice is nowhere close to knowing how to swim yet, but her confidence in the water has greatly improved! She will crab walk around the entire perimeter of the pool, she will jump off the side of the pool and go completely under the water, she will let me float her on her back, and she will go under water to get diving toys off of the steps of the pool...HUGE milestones for the girl that would only want to be held (TIGHT) in the water! :0) And, as an added bonus for myself, the entire 2 weeks of lessons afforded me the opportunity to have uninterrupted conversation with 2-B for 30 minutes every day while all of our kiddos were in class together. :0)
SATURDAY Beatrice and I had a breakfast date at Panera...
And then in the afternoon we headed to my dad & stepmom's new house in Rancho Penasquitos. This gathering was special for a couple of reasons...
1. This was the first time we were going to be seeing their new house.
2. We were celebrating my dad's birthday.
3. I was finally seeing my sister Jenni and her family!!! They have been on vacation and I have missed all of them SOOOOO much while they were away.
I knew to be looking forward to all of THAT, but I was totally unprepared for the other exciting aspect of the event! As soon as I got off of the exit to go to my dad's house, I was overcome with emotion. The freeway exit you take to get to their house is the same exit that took me back to all of my Jr. High and High School days. I immediatly told the kids, "This is where mom grew up!"...to which Wyatt replied, "COOL! We are in Pennsylvania!!!" Seriously!? Sigh. The kids were beyond excited for us to arrive at their grandparents house, but I had a new agenda...our first stop was to drive by the condo I used to live in with my mom and my sisters during high school. Our next stop was to drive by the house we lived in when I was in Jr. High, and our next stop was to drive by my actual high school. I was so not expecting to take this trip down memory lane, but the kids had to endure story after story about THAT 7-11, and THAT IHOP, and THAT loooooong walk to school, and THAT Taco Bell... Finally (for the kids at least) we made it to Grandpa & Grandma Piton's house...
Jenni made some amazing food...
And memories were made with our best friends...
SUNDAY was the day we got to go back to church after having to miss it 2 weeks in a row for being sick. It was so good to be spiritually fed! We are a Christian family that reads our Bibles daily, but to be worshiping the Lord with other believers on Sunday is an experience like none other. I love my church home. :0) After church we took a dip in the pool, and then I set out to make my hunny's favorite food...Pork Fried Rice. I've never made it before...it's his favorite take-out meal. Rachel Ray has a recipe for it, and I thought I would give it a whirl. Since it's Rick's fave, I doubled the recipe so we could have it for dinner the next night also. This whole thing was nightmare. Because I had doubled the recipe I had to keep switching out pans as the meal (rice) literally grew bigger and bigger. It's as if I had never cooked a day in my life. Stuff was boiling over...it was taking forever to prep/chop the ingredients...I have crazy oil splatter burns up my entire left forearm...and after 2 hours, a HUGE mess, and an entire stock-pot full of Pork Fried Rice later, my peeps didn't like it! :0( Rick said it tasted like Pine Trees. It definitely wasn't my favorite recipe either...it called for way too much fresh ginger...which I LOVE fresh ginger, but even this was too much. I ate my plate full...and I ate it again today for lunch. I know how much work went in to this stupid meal, it.will.not.be.thrown.out.
So that's about it for the week. Minus the Pork Fried Rice incident (lol) the morale in the house has been great. :0) Even with not getting my run in EVERY morning, my attention to exercise has been on-point. I have to get my diet on target though. I spend most of the week losing weight, and then I always seem to blow it on the weekend, so I end up at the same weight I was at when I started the previous week. I had big weight-loss goals for the summer, and I haven't come close to achieving those goals. That kinda sucks. But every day brings with it a fresh start, and one of these days I will jump up on the weight loss horse and not look back for a while. I'm hoping it's tomorrow. :0)
Hopefully I will become inspired to write more interesting entries, but for now.... :0)
MONDAY was the day Wyatt completed the summer trifecta! He successfully learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! :0)
This was a very proud moment! With anything in life where hard work is involved, finally reaching the goal at hand is oh so rewarding!
This Monday was the start to our 2nd (and final) week of swimming lessons. I'm astounded by their progress...but more about that later. :0)
Monday was also the 2nd week of school for us. School continues to go really well. However, school has put a kink in my plans for the morning run. If we have an activity in the morning after school, which is most days, then my morning run is what gets forfeited in order to make the rest of the day happen. It's not a BIG deal, becuase I still go to the gym in the evenings, but getting the heart pumping first thing in the morning after reading my Bible and eating my breakfast had made for a great start to the day. But, I have a feeling, now that other kids are starting to go back to school, I think our morning plans will settle down with our friends, and that should make for a greater chance of getting my run in in the morning.
TUESDAY was the day we played hooky from swimming lessons and took my cousin to Soak City water park instead. I didn't get a picture of him, but I did get some pictures of these other 2 monkeys...
Beatrice loves her little water slides...
And Trenton (my 15 year old cousin) took Wyatt down his first big water slide...
My highlight of the day was lounging in the lazy river with Beatrice for over an hour while the boys were at the wave pool. :0)
WEDNESDAY after school, we went to Fanuel Park in PB for a playdate with our MOPS friends. This is a great location becuase it offers a large play structure AND the bay very close to each other...so close in fact that one of my kids could be playing in the water and I could still be watching the other kiddo on the playground...that's my kind of fun! :0)
We then headed to swimming lessons, and then to Souplantation with our friends for lunch. It was a great day...that ended with spin class. ;0)
THURSDAY was Rick's day off. After school we did some shopping and then had lunch at Costco...
We then hit up swimming lessons...
and then went miniature golfing...
Thursday was also the day I returned to Zumba class at the YMCA after not going for over a month...maybe even 2 months? Usually you have to arrive at the gym long in advance to get a reservation/pass to get in to the class. But I arrived at my normal time, and took a chance and asked the receptionist if there were any more passes for Zumba...sure enough, I was only #15! I was shocked! I had a GREAT time that night! There were so few of us working out that there was plenty of room for me to be comfortably uncoordinated! :0) The instructor said that August is the slowest month in the gym becuase of last minute summer vacations, and people just focused on getting back to school, etc.
FRIDAY was the day I made coconut cupcakes...
Oh my word, these babies were INCREDIBLE! I have been told they are the best cupcakes I have ever made. I'm not sure if that is a true statement (I have a lot of favorite cupcakes of mine) but they were right up there with the best of them! This was the first week in MONTHS that I didn't have a paid order for the Sugar Shack. These were for a family that I was bringing dinner to, and I brought the 2nd dozen to my dad's house the next day.
Friday was also the final day of swimming lessons. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this experience. As I have mentioned, I have always been reluctant to spend the money on swimming lessons in the past, but I am so glad we did it this time! Wyatt had just learned how to swim on his own right before he took the classes, but these lessons propelled him so much further in his swimming abilities! This kid is a swimming fool, and we now love diving for objects together in our own pool. Beatrice is nowhere close to knowing how to swim yet, but her confidence in the water has greatly improved! She will crab walk around the entire perimeter of the pool, she will jump off the side of the pool and go completely under the water, she will let me float her on her back, and she will go under water to get diving toys off of the steps of the pool...HUGE milestones for the girl that would only want to be held (TIGHT) in the water! :0) And, as an added bonus for myself, the entire 2 weeks of lessons afforded me the opportunity to have uninterrupted conversation with 2-B for 30 minutes every day while all of our kiddos were in class together. :0)
SATURDAY Beatrice and I had a breakfast date at Panera...
And then in the afternoon we headed to my dad & stepmom's new house in Rancho Penasquitos. This gathering was special for a couple of reasons...
1. This was the first time we were going to be seeing their new house.
2. We were celebrating my dad's birthday.
3. I was finally seeing my sister Jenni and her family!!! They have been on vacation and I have missed all of them SOOOOO much while they were away.
I knew to be looking forward to all of THAT, but I was totally unprepared for the other exciting aspect of the event! As soon as I got off of the exit to go to my dad's house, I was overcome with emotion. The freeway exit you take to get to their house is the same exit that took me back to all of my Jr. High and High School days. I immediatly told the kids, "This is where mom grew up!"...to which Wyatt replied, "COOL! We are in Pennsylvania!!!" Seriously!? Sigh. The kids were beyond excited for us to arrive at their grandparents house, but I had a new agenda...our first stop was to drive by the condo I used to live in with my mom and my sisters during high school. Our next stop was to drive by the house we lived in when I was in Jr. High, and our next stop was to drive by my actual high school. I was so not expecting to take this trip down memory lane, but the kids had to endure story after story about THAT 7-11, and THAT IHOP, and THAT loooooong walk to school, and THAT Taco Bell... Finally (for the kids at least) we made it to Grandpa & Grandma Piton's house...
Jenni made some amazing food...
And memories were made with our best friends...
SUNDAY was the day we got to go back to church after having to miss it 2 weeks in a row for being sick. It was so good to be spiritually fed! We are a Christian family that reads our Bibles daily, but to be worshiping the Lord with other believers on Sunday is an experience like none other. I love my church home. :0) After church we took a dip in the pool, and then I set out to make my hunny's favorite food...Pork Fried Rice. I've never made it before...it's his favorite take-out meal. Rachel Ray has a recipe for it, and I thought I would give it a whirl. Since it's Rick's fave, I doubled the recipe so we could have it for dinner the next night also. This whole thing was nightmare. Because I had doubled the recipe I had to keep switching out pans as the meal (rice) literally grew bigger and bigger. It's as if I had never cooked a day in my life. Stuff was boiling over...it was taking forever to prep/chop the ingredients...I have crazy oil splatter burns up my entire left forearm...and after 2 hours, a HUGE mess, and an entire stock-pot full of Pork Fried Rice later, my peeps didn't like it! :0( Rick said it tasted like Pine Trees. It definitely wasn't my favorite recipe either...it called for way too much fresh ginger...which I LOVE fresh ginger, but even this was too much. I ate my plate full...and I ate it again today for lunch. I know how much work went in to this stupid meal, it.will.not.be.thrown.out.
So that's about it for the week. Minus the Pork Fried Rice incident (lol) the morale in the house has been great. :0) Even with not getting my run in EVERY morning, my attention to exercise has been on-point. I have to get my diet on target though. I spend most of the week losing weight, and then I always seem to blow it on the weekend, so I end up at the same weight I was at when I started the previous week. I had big weight-loss goals for the summer, and I haven't come close to achieving those goals. That kinda sucks. But every day brings with it a fresh start, and one of these days I will jump up on the weight loss horse and not look back for a while. I'm hoping it's tomorrow. :0)
Monday, August 8, 2011
Stage Mama (Part 3...the finale...I think.)
Monday was the day we started up our 3rd year of homeschooling. Wyatt started the 2nd grade, and this is the first year I am making a concentrated effort in doing pre-school with Beatrice. I had much anxiety about schooling both kids at the same time. Beatrice can be a huge "distraction" when she wants to be...which is most of the time, lol...and so I just didn't know how this was going to work out. But God is an awesome God, and schooling both of them at the same time has gone flawless! First of all, pre-school is totally fun, so there isn't anything for Beatrice to complain about to begin with. And when Wyatt is needing my undivided attention with his work, I give Beatrice a coloring sheet, as if that was her next assignment any way, and she is completely content in doing her "work" for the few minutes that Wyatt needs me. In this first week of 2nd grade, the work seems to be a review of 1st grade, so we all are having a grand 'ole time getting through the curriculum. :0)
Monday was also the first day of the kids' 2 week session of swimming lessons. This was the first time we have ever paid for the kids to take swimming lessons. I have never wanted to spend the money in the past for something that I thought I was capable of teaching my children. But Wyatt had been really struggling with overcoming his fear of swimming without floaties this summer, and I have been earning quite a bit of "fun money" with my baking business, and so when my friend 2-B told me that she was signing her kids up for swimming lessons at the El Cajon Rec, and asked if I wanted to join, Rick and I thought about it for 2 seconds and then jumped at the opportunity! The rec center is a lot cheaper than the YMCA and/or private lessons, so this was a good way to ease The Brumbaugh's into this sort of thing, LOL. The first day, Monday, Beatrice cried the.entire.time! :0( At the end of class, I picked her up into my arms, and out of habit, I asked her if she had a good time...she replied (still sniffling), "I had so much fun mommy."
This girl kills me, LOL!
Monday was also the day I signed up for my 2nd race in 2012. My friend, shout-out to Katie, had posted a link on Facebook about the inaugural San Diego Half Marathon at Petco Park, and had asked who was running it. I had never even heard of it, but when I saw the price, I was IMMEDIATELY interested!!! It was only $60 for the first 500 people to register! Unfortunately for this sport, that is an AMAZING deal! For $60 I will be able to add another medal to my collection, AND the final sprint is through the tunnel leading into PETCO Park for an Olympic-inspired stadium finish...priceless!
And a special shout-out to my husband who earned "the funniest quote of the day" when he said: "You pay to run!? That's like paying for water!"
Monday was a lot more exciting than I remembered...I guess that's the joy of reliving it through my blog. :0)
Tuesday was MY big day on the stage! :0) A little over a month ago I was asked to be a guest speaker at my former High School Church Youth Group. They are having their summer camp right now, and I was flattered to be asked to come and be a part of it. I was reluctant at first, and had asked for a few days to pray about it. Truth be told, the Lord had put "being a speaker" on my heart a few weeks prior to this invitation, but I thought His intentions were geared only toward a specific (other) topic/group/setting. A High School youth group was WAY out of my comfort level! I'm actually afraid of teenagers, lol. I am convinced that my sister Jenni, my friend Nicole, and myself were the only non-trouble-making teenagers that I know of, LOL! Especially where I am in life, I only know how to relate to, and talk to anyone under the age of 10 or anyone over the age of 25. How was I going to capture the attention of teenagers in a meaningful way!? The youth pastor had sent me their theme Bible verse for the summer camp, and then I prayed and prayed and prayed. The Sunday after he had asked me to speak, we had sang a brand new worship song in church, and the chorus of the song was a blatant similarity to the theme verse, and I knew I had my confirmation. I really was expecting/hoping some random stranger would come up to me at church that day and say, "Whatever you are thinking about, DON'T DO IT!" But that could have easily applied to so many things...eating donuts...not wanting to work out...etc. Soooo, fast forward several weeks, and here was our (mine and God's) big day! Luckily for me, God made this pretty easy on me. I had prayed early on that I wasn't comfortable in doing in this, and that this would be ALL You Lord. And daily, the Lord gave me tidbits to share. That was my favorite part about this whole experience...the connection...the conversations with the Holy Spirit. This wasn't about me at all...it was about what these kids apparently needed to hear, and it was SO neat to be the middle man...to be Moses!
I have had experience of doing cool things with/for God in the past, and the unfortunate side effect is that Satan isn't a big fan. :0( I had irritating things happen to me the entire 24 hours leading up to my talk (I got the #3's on the treadmill the night before at the gym...my socks fell in the toilet on Tuesday...and additional random "crap") but at the end of the day, I was expecting junk like this to happen, no one died, and it was all manageable...just incredibly frustrating. My speech (for lack of a better word) was very serious in my head and on paper...but luckily, when I got up on stage, things got a lot more lively! I became funny...and the kids actually laughed! Such.a.relief. I was obedient along the journey, and I was greatly rewarded. I had so much fun, and it was worth every bit of anxiety I had experienced leading up to the moment. (Just don't ask me to do it again, hahahahaha! I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But no really, I'm serious.)
Wednesday was the day I had another order of bumble bee cookies due for a new customer. :0)
And speaking of The Sugar Shack, my first bulk purchase had arrived. I've been going through cake boxes like crazy lately, and instead of continuing to drive to Clairemont to purchase them, and pay a price that I KNEW I could beat online and in bulk, I stepped out on a limb, and ordered 100 cake boxes...eeeeek...
Kind of exciting though. :0)
Wednesday was also the day we had our friends over to swim (before swimming lessons)...shout-out to The Loren's!...
Wednesdays are my nights to do Spin class...yes, I am going to mention Spin class...again. It's only becuase Wednesday night's spin class was different than the others. The teacher was late...REALLY late. And after 5 minutes of spinning/warming-up on our own, we were all kind of looking at each other like, "Is she going to actually show up!?" And as I contemplated what to do (leave, or keep warming up) I decided, "Forget this! I'm GOING FOR IT!" I put in my earbuds, cranked up the resistance on the bike, and I rode the gnarliest 11 minute hill. The peeps around me were looking at me like I'm crazy for sweating without a teacher present, but I kept on. Next was sprints. I did sprinting intervals just like the teacher had been doing with me (us) for weeks. And finally...after 25 minutes...the spin instructor showed up! She said we had to do a 55 minute workout in 35 minutes. I have never sweat so much during a workout. IT.WAS.THE.BEST! I'm so glad I didn't leave. I'm so glad I didn't waste those 25 minutes until the teacher showed up. And I'm so grateful to be strong enough to have powered through the 35 minute power spin class!
Thursday was the day I had cake. OK, a LOT of other things happened on Thursday, but really, Thursday was cake day. I had woken up on Thursday, and after reading my Bible, I proceeded to check my Facebook on my phone while still lying in bed. My friend had posted a picture of the most beautifully delicious piece of cake ever! It was a slice of coconut cake laying on a sea of peach and strawberry puree. I couldn't stop thinking about the cake all day. Literally.all.day. The thing about that cake, is that it reminded me so much about my recent trip to GA. When the girls and I ventured to Charleston, NC on a whim, we dined at this restaurant that is famous for their coconut cake. I HAD to do a coconut cake comparison! It had gotten to be late afternoon/early evening on Thursday, and I still hadn't been able to shake the coconut cake fog I was in. I had posted an open invitation on Facebook to venture to Extraordinary Desserts that night for an impromptu cake-fest with the kids! Sure enough, I had takers! :0) It ended up being myself, my 2 kiddos, my mom, and our great family-friends Barbara, Rachel, and Rachel's 2 girlies. We had so much fun. We had so much cake.
Wyatt ordered the Dulce De Leche Chocolate Cake...
Barbara ordered the carrot cake with a carmelized walnut ice cream (the ice cream was exceptional!)...
Rachel ordered a cheese platter...random, I know...but she is over-due with her 3rd baby...so random desires are expected. ;0) But really, the cheese platter was FA.NOM.I.NAL...
My mom ordered the Creme Brulee Croissant Bread Pudding that came with a scoop of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream (I was disappointed in the ice cream, but the bread pudding was my favorite thing I ate that night!!!)...
I ordered Rick a Fudge Brownie to-go (I never tried it, but it was so beautiful!)...
And, finally, I ordered the coconut cake :0)...
It was AMAZING! It was delicious! It was light, and moist, and perfectly flavored. HOWEVER, I'm gonna have to give the edge to vacation-coconut-cake. That trip was magical, and I have come to find out (on Thursday) that you can't top magic-cake! :0)
Friday was pretty fun also. We wrapped up our 5th swimming lesson for the week with a Summer BBQ at the rec center.
And then we went to 2-B's house immediately after and we all went swimming together. We had so much fun. Our families blend so well and I am loving this friendship.
But pretty much right when I got home that evening, I noticed that I had a sore throat coming on. And in a matter of hours, it grew to be VERY painful! We put the kids to bed, and Rick and I just chilled out in bed watching old episodes of Little House on DVD. Minus the sore throat, it was a nice end to our busy week.
Saturday was the day I had to admit that I was sick for the first in over a year. This sore throat was a BEAST! After I cleaned the house and went grocery shopping for the week in the morning, I took it easy all day long. I had bought a $5 DVD at Target that morning that had FOUR different chick-flicks on it...I got through 3 of them on Saturday! I even took a nap...I never take naps! I had a long-standing date with Katie that night, and I didn't want to have to bail. Despite being sick, I made it to the 10:25pm showing of Crazy Stupid Love. After that, we were walking to our cars to head home, but it was 12:30, and I wanted to take advantage of the rare opportunity that I didn't need to be home...everyone in my house had bought their ticket to Sleepy Town hours ago, and so I suggested we get coffee. But BJ's was closer. ;0)
We had so much fun. I didn't have anything to eat or drink...my throat was still pretty painful. But we did manage to close out the bar just chit-chatting at 2am with my bottle of water and my throat lozenges, HAHAHA!
Sunday was spent lying on the couch again. I did manage to get up and take Wyatt out in our street for 30 minutes for a session of training him how to ride his bike without training wheels, but after that I was spent! I literally had to lie back down on the couch and catch my breath. This sickness has kicked my booty. :0( By the end of the night, I had watched the 4th chick-flick on that DVD from Target, and my sore throat was 97% GONE!...but has progressed into a full-blown head/chest cold. Lame. :0(
Monday was also the first day of the kids' 2 week session of swimming lessons. This was the first time we have ever paid for the kids to take swimming lessons. I have never wanted to spend the money in the past for something that I thought I was capable of teaching my children. But Wyatt had been really struggling with overcoming his fear of swimming without floaties this summer, and I have been earning quite a bit of "fun money" with my baking business, and so when my friend 2-B told me that she was signing her kids up for swimming lessons at the El Cajon Rec, and asked if I wanted to join, Rick and I thought about it for 2 seconds and then jumped at the opportunity! The rec center is a lot cheaper than the YMCA and/or private lessons, so this was a good way to ease The Brumbaugh's into this sort of thing, LOL. The first day, Monday, Beatrice cried the.entire.time! :0( At the end of class, I picked her up into my arms, and out of habit, I asked her if she had a good time...she replied (still sniffling), "I had so much fun mommy."
This girl kills me, LOL!
Monday was also the day I signed up for my 2nd race in 2012. My friend, shout-out to Katie, had posted a link on Facebook about the inaugural San Diego Half Marathon at Petco Park, and had asked who was running it. I had never even heard of it, but when I saw the price, I was IMMEDIATELY interested!!! It was only $60 for the first 500 people to register! Unfortunately for this sport, that is an AMAZING deal! For $60 I will be able to add another medal to my collection, AND the final sprint is through the tunnel leading into PETCO Park for an Olympic-inspired stadium finish...priceless!
And a special shout-out to my husband who earned "the funniest quote of the day" when he said: "You pay to run!? That's like paying for water!"
Monday was a lot more exciting than I remembered...I guess that's the joy of reliving it through my blog. :0)
Tuesday was MY big day on the stage! :0) A little over a month ago I was asked to be a guest speaker at my former High School Church Youth Group. They are having their summer camp right now, and I was flattered to be asked to come and be a part of it. I was reluctant at first, and had asked for a few days to pray about it. Truth be told, the Lord had put "being a speaker" on my heart a few weeks prior to this invitation, but I thought His intentions were geared only toward a specific (other) topic/group/setting. A High School youth group was WAY out of my comfort level! I'm actually afraid of teenagers, lol. I am convinced that my sister Jenni, my friend Nicole, and myself were the only non-trouble-making teenagers that I know of, LOL! Especially where I am in life, I only know how to relate to, and talk to anyone under the age of 10 or anyone over the age of 25. How was I going to capture the attention of teenagers in a meaningful way!? The youth pastor had sent me their theme Bible verse for the summer camp, and then I prayed and prayed and prayed. The Sunday after he had asked me to speak, we had sang a brand new worship song in church, and the chorus of the song was a blatant similarity to the theme verse, and I knew I had my confirmation. I really was expecting/hoping some random stranger would come up to me at church that day and say, "Whatever you are thinking about, DON'T DO IT!" But that could have easily applied to so many things...eating donuts...not wanting to work out...etc. Soooo, fast forward several weeks, and here was our (mine and God's) big day! Luckily for me, God made this pretty easy on me. I had prayed early on that I wasn't comfortable in doing in this, and that this would be ALL You Lord. And daily, the Lord gave me tidbits to share. That was my favorite part about this whole experience...the connection...the conversations with the Holy Spirit. This wasn't about me at all...it was about what these kids apparently needed to hear, and it was SO neat to be the middle man...to be Moses!
I have had experience of doing cool things with/for God in the past, and the unfortunate side effect is that Satan isn't a big fan. :0( I had irritating things happen to me the entire 24 hours leading up to my talk (I got the #3's on the treadmill the night before at the gym...my socks fell in the toilet on Tuesday...and additional random "crap") but at the end of the day, I was expecting junk like this to happen, no one died, and it was all manageable...just incredibly frustrating. My speech (for lack of a better word) was very serious in my head and on paper...but luckily, when I got up on stage, things got a lot more lively! I became funny...and the kids actually laughed! Such.a.relief. I was obedient along the journey, and I was greatly rewarded. I had so much fun, and it was worth every bit of anxiety I had experienced leading up to the moment. (Just don't ask me to do it again, hahahahaha! I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But no really, I'm serious.)
Wednesday was the day I had another order of bumble bee cookies due for a new customer. :0)
And speaking of The Sugar Shack, my first bulk purchase had arrived. I've been going through cake boxes like crazy lately, and instead of continuing to drive to Clairemont to purchase them, and pay a price that I KNEW I could beat online and in bulk, I stepped out on a limb, and ordered 100 cake boxes...eeeeek...
Kind of exciting though. :0)
Wednesday was also the day we had our friends over to swim (before swimming lessons)...shout-out to The Loren's!...
Wednesdays are my nights to do Spin class...yes, I am going to mention Spin class...again. It's only becuase Wednesday night's spin class was different than the others. The teacher was late...REALLY late. And after 5 minutes of spinning/warming-up on our own, we were all kind of looking at each other like, "Is she going to actually show up!?" And as I contemplated what to do (leave, or keep warming up) I decided, "Forget this! I'm GOING FOR IT!" I put in my earbuds, cranked up the resistance on the bike, and I rode the gnarliest 11 minute hill. The peeps around me were looking at me like I'm crazy for sweating without a teacher present, but I kept on. Next was sprints. I did sprinting intervals just like the teacher had been doing with me (us) for weeks. And finally...after 25 minutes...the spin instructor showed up! She said we had to do a 55 minute workout in 35 minutes. I have never sweat so much during a workout. IT.WAS.THE.BEST! I'm so glad I didn't leave. I'm so glad I didn't waste those 25 minutes until the teacher showed up. And I'm so grateful to be strong enough to have powered through the 35 minute power spin class!
Thursday was the day I had cake. OK, a LOT of other things happened on Thursday, but really, Thursday was cake day. I had woken up on Thursday, and after reading my Bible, I proceeded to check my Facebook on my phone while still lying in bed. My friend had posted a picture of the most beautifully delicious piece of cake ever! It was a slice of coconut cake laying on a sea of peach and strawberry puree. I couldn't stop thinking about the cake all day. Literally.all.day. The thing about that cake, is that it reminded me so much about my recent trip to GA. When the girls and I ventured to Charleston, NC on a whim, we dined at this restaurant that is famous for their coconut cake. I HAD to do a coconut cake comparison! It had gotten to be late afternoon/early evening on Thursday, and I still hadn't been able to shake the coconut cake fog I was in. I had posted an open invitation on Facebook to venture to Extraordinary Desserts that night for an impromptu cake-fest with the kids! Sure enough, I had takers! :0) It ended up being myself, my 2 kiddos, my mom, and our great family-friends Barbara, Rachel, and Rachel's 2 girlies. We had so much fun. We had so much cake.
Wyatt ordered the Dulce De Leche Chocolate Cake...
Barbara ordered the carrot cake with a carmelized walnut ice cream (the ice cream was exceptional!)...
Rachel ordered a cheese platter...random, I know...but she is over-due with her 3rd baby...so random desires are expected. ;0) But really, the cheese platter was FA.NOM.I.NAL...
My mom ordered the Creme Brulee Croissant Bread Pudding that came with a scoop of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream (I was disappointed in the ice cream, but the bread pudding was my favorite thing I ate that night!!!)...
I ordered Rick a Fudge Brownie to-go (I never tried it, but it was so beautiful!)...
And, finally, I ordered the coconut cake :0)...
It was AMAZING! It was delicious! It was light, and moist, and perfectly flavored. HOWEVER, I'm gonna have to give the edge to vacation-coconut-cake. That trip was magical, and I have come to find out (on Thursday) that you can't top magic-cake! :0)
Friday was pretty fun also. We wrapped up our 5th swimming lesson for the week with a Summer BBQ at the rec center.
And then we went to 2-B's house immediately after and we all went swimming together. We had so much fun. Our families blend so well and I am loving this friendship.
But pretty much right when I got home that evening, I noticed that I had a sore throat coming on. And in a matter of hours, it grew to be VERY painful! We put the kids to bed, and Rick and I just chilled out in bed watching old episodes of Little House on DVD. Minus the sore throat, it was a nice end to our busy week.
Saturday was the day I had to admit that I was sick for the first in over a year. This sore throat was a BEAST! After I cleaned the house and went grocery shopping for the week in the morning, I took it easy all day long. I had bought a $5 DVD at Target that morning that had FOUR different chick-flicks on it...I got through 3 of them on Saturday! I even took a nap...I never take naps! I had a long-standing date with Katie that night, and I didn't want to have to bail. Despite being sick, I made it to the 10:25pm showing of Crazy Stupid Love. After that, we were walking to our cars to head home, but it was 12:30, and I wanted to take advantage of the rare opportunity that I didn't need to be home...everyone in my house had bought their ticket to Sleepy Town hours ago, and so I suggested we get coffee. But BJ's was closer. ;0)
We had so much fun. I didn't have anything to eat or drink...my throat was still pretty painful. But we did manage to close out the bar just chit-chatting at 2am with my bottle of water and my throat lozenges, HAHAHA!
Sunday was spent lying on the couch again. I did manage to get up and take Wyatt out in our street for 30 minutes for a session of training him how to ride his bike without training wheels, but after that I was spent! I literally had to lie back down on the couch and catch my breath. This sickness has kicked my booty. :0( By the end of the night, I had watched the 4th chick-flick on that DVD from Target, and my sore throat was 97% GONE!...but has progressed into a full-blown head/chest cold. Lame. :0(
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