My Reunion Story

My husband & I attended my 30th High School Reunion.  I wasn't going to go, but was coaxed by some old freinds who kept calling.  I wasn't part of any "click" in school, but I was freinds with all most everyone.  When we arrived I looked around and thought to myself "who are all these old people"?  Totally in denial that I have aged...lol  Even though I'm no where near my target weight, I still felt comfortable and confident in the way I looked.  And people accepted me and looked at my smile and personality rather than my weight.  I really expected to go there and be judged, but instead we had fun, danced, talked about days gone by.

I got my first star

I went to my WW weigh in yesterday and lost 2.2#.  Woohoo!  Add that to the 4.2# lost since Sept 1st and that's 6.4 which awarded me my first star.  Let me tell ya it felt so good to hear people applaud for me.  This has been a struggle to the point of almost giving up.  But this is the motivation I needed...heck only 3.6 till I get my next star.  At the close of the meeting one of the lifetime members said "Keep reaching for the stars, they are obtainable only if you make it happen."

Another Year Older

Ok, I am officially going on record to say that I'm going to make some changes this year.  Aging has this funny affect on people to re-evaluate their lives.  I just need to get healthy and the only way I'm going to that is to lose weight.  High blood pressure, high cholesteral, arthritis, knee replacements is not the way I want to live my life.  I've witnessed my mom and siblings go through these things, so it's sort of a wake up call for me.  I've been caring for my mom who's 82 and has arthritis so bad in her shoulders that she can't really do anything for herself anymore.  I turned 48 today and realized I still have a long life to live, if I take care of myself now!

A special "shout-out" to Kimquilts. Thanks for checking in on me.  I know I've been MIA lately.

Where has summer gone

I can't believe how time is just flying by.  My son and furure DIL were in town from TX last week.  We were finalizing their wedding plans and had appointments with the hall, florist, photographer, church, etc... We got a lot of things done  And I threw a bridal shower for her.  I invited her side of the family too since her parents are in TX I figured I should throw this party.  There were about 50 people there.  It was nice getting everyone together.  I had a TX Beach BBQ theme since she's from Padre Island.  Now I have to ship all their presents down to them.  Some people were smart and ordered on line and had the items shipped right to them, and others gave money or gift cards.  Anyway, the only thing that stressed me out was that I also invited my ex-in-laws and my ex's girlfriend.  My mom was mortified and said I shouldn't have invited her.  But I had to rise above all the hurt of the past and do this for my son and future DIL.  My old Italian mom didn't understand that.  I explained that I've moved on and I'm very happily remarried and I don't even think about the past anymore.  But the more I reflected on this, the more I realized how hard it is to always be the strong one. I really don't think about  the past and how I was hurt, but it is awkward to "fake" being nice to someone I despise.   I can't let people see that I'm weak.  Now I understand why I'm an emotional eater.  After internalizing the stress, I went home and ate. I was the pillar that held me and my boys together after my divorce ten years ago.  It seems that I subject myself to this stress, so in essence I'm doing this to myself.  Like when my youngest son came home from Iraq in 2006, I had a huge party and invited the ex and his family too.  And when my oldest got married, I went through this two years ago. But I'm doing this for my kids.  Why should their lives be torn just because I'm divorced.  Do you think they realize the emotional sacrifice I make?  I've tried to keep things normal for them even now when they are adults. I do have to say that all three of them have commented on how they can depend on me.  And it's always my house that they hang out at. And when my son & future DIL are in town, they always stay with me.  I guess their dad is too busy chasing girls and too busy with his own life to be dependable.  My boys have good values..they must take after their mom..lol

Ok enough about that.  On a healthier note...I've been walking at least 3 times a week and trying to inventory my food intake.  I do a lot better when I preplan my meals, especially what I eat at work.  I went to my WW meeting on Saturday and lost .4 #'s.  Not much, but at least it isn't a gain, especially for skipping two meetings.

Lunch Break

Ok this is going to be fast since I'm at work and only have access to the internet during lunch hour.

I came to a realization the other day.  I need to stop talking about how I'm going to lose wieght and just do it.  Food has been a struggle for me.  It's both my enemy but yet it's my best friend.  The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across Fit TV and was watching these people exercise when it hit me.  I'm not going to get thin by watching this, I have to do it.  I can't wish myself thin, I have to work myself thin.  So this week I've been walking everyday after work for a minimum of 30 minutes.  It curbs my appitite and stifels my boredom.

OK time's up...I'll write more later

Speed & Dependability

We finally got a new computer!  My old one kept locking up on me.  It was feeling it's age...it was 9 yrs old.  So now my frustrations are gone, and I'll be able to blog more regularly.  I find that I'm more accountable when I log my activity and food intake.  But mostly I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you

Today I'm going shopping for my grand-nieces birthday present...she'll be 10 yrs old.  So I asked her mom what she's into and what she likes.  I can't keep up with what's "in".  I was going to get her some, High School Musical or  Hannah Montana stuff only to find out that is soooo yesterday!  Get with the program Auntie Rosie!!  Rumor has it she's into the Jonas Brothers now...Who??  Then I find out that her grandparents are buying her a Wii and that most everyone is getting something for it.  So is this a Wii party now?  I'm going to Kohl's to buy her some school clothes.  That's safe. She's into the new hip styles.  I can't go wrong.  Heck she wore what I gave her last year for her school pictures. 

The party is Monday at 6pm at a pizza place.  So I'm going straight from work.  How am I going to survive.  Can I limit myself to one slice of pizza.  Can I skip over the garlic bread?  Situations like this kill my efforts.  Oh well, wish me luck.

All Work & No Play...Not Me

Well to my surprise we are done painting the house.  We have a ranch home with vertical cedar siding just on the front of the house.  There's white brick on the bottom and the cedar goes to the top.  Hubby scraped and caulked earlier this week, so on Thursday his Bday, we started painting.  We got done early cuz I surprised him by going out to dinner and having his daughter there too.  This was the first time we had gotten together since she moved out in April.  I was a good girl at the restaurant and had a salad and ahi tuna. On Friday we took the day off from painting and went to the parade.  I forgot the sunscreen, so my legs, arms and chest really got red.  Our town has a comminity festival for the 4th so we went there walked around and listened to the bands. I just had to have a corn dog and some beer...OK 3 beers, but they were Miller Lite and it was hot out.  Saturday was back to the grind of painting.  Hubby did the high peak of the cathedral ceiling area, and I did the low areas and the garage, plus all the trim.  I never knew I had triceps until they reminded me with a burning hello!!  This morning we went to Menards to buy new exterior lights to complete the look, and hubby installed them right away.  I picked up my mom, and my son & DIL came over for a cook out.  This weekend was the right balance of work and play. 

Hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend.  Back to work tomorrow. Have a great week!

Good Day

Well today was a good day.  I packed my lunch for work and only ate what I brought.  A turkey sandwich with chees and lettuce, a sugar free jello-pudding snack, and 68oz of water.  Then I came home and had salmon on a bed of wild rice and fresh green beans. YUMMO!!

Today was also good because I had my annual review at work.  My boss gave me excellent scores.  Did I tell you'all that I acheived my NICET level 1 cetification in Fire Sprinkler Inspection & Testing?  I took the test a while back.  I'm just a one or two elements shy of getting my level 1 in System Design & Layout.  WooHoo!!!  As a woman in the construction industry I felt I had to validate my knowledge and receive this certifaction.  There are guys in my office that don't have this yet!! 

Well, I'm off to spend some "quality" hubby time.  He's home this week cuz of the holiday and his Bday!!

Another month gone

Wow, I can't believe another month has gone by.  My computer has been giving me some problems where it locks up on me.  I have a lot of family photo's saved on this thing, so I think it's time to save to disc and delete from the computer.  This thing is about 8 years old, so it's time for a new one anyway.  I took hubby to Best Buy yesterday to buy him a GPS navigator for his big rig.  (his birthday is July 3rd)  I had one picked out, but want him to check them out to make sure it's what he needs.  After researching them we decided on the Garmin.  The thing talks to you to tell you what street to turn on.  Pretty cool.  So anyway, while we were there we meandered to the computer section.  I found a laptop that I liked.  Once I calculated the cost, I decided now is not the time, especially after spending $300 on the Garmin.

So let's see, what else is new.  Oh I made an appointment with  a new hairdresser for a consultation to change my look.  She straightened my hair!!  and suggested to go shorter...to the top of my shoulders and definitely shorter on top.  You see I have been wearing a head band for the last 20 years with the same style.  I'm over due for a change.  I'm going to try to download the pics my hubby took after my consult.  I scheduled an appointment for July 11th for the actual cut.  I always figured that I needed big hair cuz I have a big body.  Boy was I wrong.  Seeing what the style would look like helped me understand hairstyling on a different level.  TaeBo Diva gave me some great pointers too. (Thanks)

I've been busy with wedding plans.  This month I interviewed 6 caterers and provided a report for the brides parents.  It's hard planning a long distance wedding.  My son and future daughter-in-law will be here mid August.  I have her bridal shower planned for the 16th.  It's going to be a Texas Beach BBQ theme.  Since they live on Padre Island, I wanted to bring a little of their environment to Wisconsin. When people here think of Texas they think of cowboys, longhorns, and Dallas.  I'll share my decorating plans with you later.

I'm doing OK on the WW plan.  I need to be honest with the points.  When hubby is home I tend to cheat on the plan.  I haven't gone to the gym in a while.  I'd like to start on the eliptical.  It's less stressful on my bad knees.

Well enjoy your week!  I took a vacation day for Hubby's birthday on the 3rd so I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend.

Rosie

If at First You Don't Succeed....

Try, try again.

Ok so I had a little set back and I told you how I injured my knee.  Well apparently I took that as full liberty to feel sorry for myself.  You see I was rockin' with a regimented workout plan.  Then that came to an end when I was on crutches.  At first I was mad at myself and tried to push the limit, but that set my recovery back even further and ended up wearing a brace for a month.  I was mad, sad, and very disappointed that this was happening to me after I committed to eating right and working out.  That's when old habits quickly came back.  I spent many evenings after work icing my knee to alleviate the swelling, so that's when I took the liberty to over indulge in foods that were quick and easy to fix and provided a lot of comfort, like pizza, burgers, Chinese take-out.  Since hubby was on the road, I needed to take care of myself.  But ultimately I realized this routine was very damaging, not only to my body, but also my state of mind.

My daughter-in-law called me one day and mentioned that she rejoined WW.  (we both had joined two years ago before her wedding) She doesn't have a lot of weight to lose.  I admired that she acknowledged her need for dicipline and accountability.  After that call I jumped on my scale and realized I had gained five pounds in just under two months.  All my hard work was lost.  That's when I decided to rejoin WW with my DIL.  I've been on the program for three weeks and have lost 1.6 pounds.  I'll slowly get back into working out with more of an awareness to my knees.

I took time off from blogging, 1. because my computer is in our basement office and I couldn't do stairs, and 2. because I was too embarrassed to let you all know that I was sitting on my butt feeling sorry for myself.  So here I am trying again. 

Rosie