Here I go again!

This morning I'm off on my third and final trip of October. Two coworkers and I are going to a conference in St. Louis. Two awesome coworkers, even! I think it's going to be a great time. Both of them have convinced me to bring workout clothes, but I'm not sure how that is going to turn out just yet. I'm an early morning exerciser, so I may be on my own if I actually venture down.

Anyhoozle, my alarm just went off, so I better get moving. I'll be computer-less this week, so while I'll be reading lots, I probably won't be commenting too much. Hope everyone has a great week!

NSV!

First things first... random number generator picked MandaPanda to get the mineral veil and lip gloss! Email me with your address!

Now onto my NSV...

Friday after work I was running some errands, and I decided to stop into Loehmann's to see if I could find some work clothes. I have mostly avoided this place because they don't have plus sizes. Why bother, right? Well, it's time to bother! I walked out with only one sweater, but that is not what I am so happy about. They have those "public" fitting rooms. You know... where there's a bunch of mirrors and benches and you just try on your clothes right there in a big room? When I first walked in, I had a deep urge to turn around and walk back out. Then I thought, hey, why not? So I tried on my sweaters and didn't miss a beat. I never would have done this even 20lbs ago!

Strangely enough, the scale is still barely moving, but I continue to get compliments and people asking if I've lost more weight. Things must be shifting around in there or something. I just wish I could say, 'Why yes, I've lost another 30 lbs!" Soon enough!

Rain, rain, go away!

It is raining cats and dogs here! I don't like the wind that came with it because it kept blowing my umbrella inside out, but I do like the sound of it on the roof. As long as there is no thunder to wake up my kiddos, I'm a happy camper.

This week has not been a great one. I'm facing a very difficult situation at work which will come to a head tomorrow. I have faith it will all be water under the bridge in a few weeks and we can all get on with life. Until then however, I'm going to have to call on all my communication/leadership skills to get my team through it. Thank God I just took a seminar in Cruci@l Convers@tions. I learned a lot and realized I already possessed some of these skills. I just didn't know I was doing it!

Also, my little guy is sick AGAIN, so I've been scrambling for babysitters all week because I just cannot afford to not be present at work with all the shenanigans going on. He seems to be doing better today, so now I'm just praying my tater tot doesn't catch it. I've been ruthless about them not sharing spoons/forks/sippy cups, etc, which is hard because I normally don't care. I swear he's cried more because I've taken a sippy away from him than anything else.

On the band front, I've been fluctuating in tightness. I'm OTR suddenly -- a couple days early than I was expecting. I haven't been very vigilant about food, though I can tell my volume is down, so I'm coming out fairly even. I still haven't visited the gym. I'm not trying to make excuses -- I know I could be staying on track even with the work stress and the sick kids. I feel I've sort of dropped back into planning mode, and I've got to kick myself back into action. I want to make November a big month!

If you've made it this far, here's a little fun. I was cleaning out my makeup stash and I found a couple things still sealed that I will never use. If you're interested, I have a Bare Escentu@ls Illuminating Miner@l Veil and lip gloss in Praline. Like I said, they are still sealed, never used. I hate to throw this stuff away, so let me know in the comments if you want them, and I'll pick a random number.

Metabolism - a poem

This poem is hanging up in our cardiac rehab office. I liked it, especially the last two lines, because it really is all about the tools we have been given and what we intend to do with them!

Metabolism

 

My metabolism fell asleep.

My system didn't know what to eat.

My body grew, my clothing shrunk,

My mind was in an awful funk.

I searched for answers off and on.

This is what I finally found...

A doctor wise beyond his years,

A nutritionist to allay my fears, and guide

my progress through the years.

They provided the tools for a smaller me,

And this is what I intend to be.

 

W. Vigneau

Home again

Well, I'm back from trip #2! We went to Virginia this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was insanely fun as I rarely get to a) hang with my VA cousins, b) have my far-flung family all in one place, and c) travel with my sister. Good times! The wedding was gorgeous, as was the bride. One of my cousins works for the hotel we stayed at, so we lucked into a junior suite for cheap. I so enjoyed sleeping in a king-size bed with no kid interruptions for two nights! My uncle chartered a bus to take the out-of-towners from hotel to church to reception and back to hotel again. Thank God because it got me out of being the DD in a strange place! All the roads are so twisty-turny around there... I'm used to my grid system here in metro Detroit!

Anyway, I am home this week, and then next Monday I'm off to a conference in St. Louis. Any BOOBs in the vicinity? Let me know!

My week thus far...

Oh, it has been pretty sucktastic around these parts. First my ailing hoo-ha, then my cat died on Tuesday, then I got stuck in class all day Wednesday (which I almost forgot about!). Last night, I had to get up at 2:30am to cover up my little guy because he was cold, and I couldn't get back to sleep after that, as usual. So I play some Lego Star W@rs for awhile and finally got a shower and went outside to load up the cars. This is where it gets really awesome: my keyfob for hubby's car suddenly quit working a few days ago. No biggie because I hadn't needed to drive it. Well, today, it was in the driveway, so I had to take it. I told hubs that I needed his keys, and he was all like, "hello, you can just stick the key in the lock 80s style." Ok genius, I'll give it a try. What happens? It set the damn car alarm off! At 5:30 in the morning! Right outside tater tot's room! Lord help me. And of course, it's dark in the driveway, so I can't find my house key to open the door and grab the other keys to shut it off. Seemed like it was honking for 5 minutes straight! 

Yesterday I indulged in a little retail therapy since I didn't want to binge over losing my Snicker-cat. I got a Sonia K@shuk sparkly eye quad, some deep wine nailpolish, and some of that Sally H@nsen design stuff -- it is black and silver sparkles. I think I will try to do it on the plane tomorrow. Better than a bag of candy corn, right?

One bright spot? My staff bought me fancy tea, Godiv@ chocolates, and orange roses for boss' day! I guess they do like me after all!

Monday night ramblings

Warning... crotch-talk ahead...

Oh people, what is a girl to do? I have an infection of sorts in my nether-regions, and the medicine the doc gave me cannot be taken with alcohol. Like, one little drink would make me seriously ill! Now, it's not like I can't go without, but we're going to my cousin's wedding out of town this weekend with NO CHILDREN. So, not only can I not get laid, but I also cannot imbibe. Really. W.T.F. I have the worst luck.

My hubby has tried to get me to see the silver lining in this. He says that 8 days of no drinking could be a nice jump-start to weight loss. Now that is something I sorely need! I've been maintaining fairly effortlessly since freaking May, so one would think that with just a shred of effort I should be able to get some poundage off. I have a mere 35lbs to get to my goal, which seems like almost nothing since I've already lost 70!

I've been a lazy-pants all week, mostly because I'm still trying to kick this cold. I'm pretty sure the other people at the gym would not take kindly to me hacking up a lung next to them on the treadmill. My muscles are feeling so tight -- I should at least make an effort to stretch this week.

So what is the plan? I don't know. I'm still liking the paleo/primal thing. I wouldn't say I'm anywhere close to 100% there, but my daily intake of processed food is way down and I'm eating more veggies and my protein sources are more varied. It's a start. Maybe I need to suck it up and go whole hog. No more fake sugar, no more real sugar, and maybe I'll even buy some coconut oil to cook with! Exercise, well, I think I need a come-to-Jesus there. I've been farting around for too long. I still want to do my Cross Fit on Wednesday nights, but I am thinking of incorporating the interval training from The Paleo Solution for the rest of the week. Time to dust off my kettlebell!

Anyway, if you don't see me around much this week, it's because I somehow have to work 30 hours in the next three days, pack for my kids to go to my inlaws, and pack for me and hubs to go to an out-of-state wedding. I'm tired just thinking about it!

BYOC

Holy crap. I think this is my third post today! Guess I'm making up for the rest of this week!

1. If you were given $1,000,000 that you had to spend ONLY ON YOURSELF....how would you spend the money?

Travel, like to Europe and Africa.

Shoes (who wouldn't, really?)

Expensive makeup (as if I didn't have enough already)

Jewelry (I likes me some bling)

Electrolysis so I would never have to wax between my eyebrows again.

2. Who would you say is the one person that's had the most influence on your life? By that, I mean the person that has molded you in to the person you are today?

Hands down, my mom. So obvious, I know, but it is what it is. I still talk to her every day on my way home from work. We are very different, but I think that's why it works (besides the mother/daughter connection). My mom is one of those people that everyone wants advice from. She's level-headed, smart, and gets tipsy off one little glass of wine. She's the best.

Aside from that, I have a very good friend that had really pushed me to become my own person, challenged me to think for myself. Despite that, she's one person who has always love me, as she would say, "warts and all." She's one of my soul-mates, and I know I would not be the same person without having known her.

3. What is your normal morning routine? Are you a bear in the morning, or is the morning your favorite part of the day?

I am the consummate morning person. I annoy people, especially my husband. Kids want to wake up at 5:30? Whatev, let's do this thing. Boxing class at 5am? I'm there. I don't even need coffee. Bam!

4. If you're a Facebook and Twitter user, which do you prefer and why? If you're just a Facebook user, what do you think of the new changes? 

I have never gotten into Twitter, though my husband thinks I should pimp my blog on it. I really just don't care that much to attract more people. It's not like I'm trying to make money or something. There are a few feeds I follow, but they stream into my google reader, so it's hard to even remember that they're coming from Twitter, except for the fact that they are always very short posts.

I much prefer Facebook, and while I was a little annoyed at the changes, some of it is growing on me. I like the option to "Unsubscribe" from certain people, and I have most definitely taken advantage of that. None of you lovelies, of course. 

5.  Repeat question....how was your week in real life and in blog land this week? 

Real life: back to work, back to reality. Still trying to kick my cold, and not having much luck. I coughed about thirty times just while I was typing this.

Blog land: I mean to post more, but well, you know how that goes. I'm very glad Ronnie posted some of my Chicago pics because I am just too damn lazy to do it myself.

Bullets!

• I'm sitting in my office trying to bang out the rest of these appraisals, and my current favorite song comes on... Bruno Mars' Somewhere in Brooklyn. So, of course, I must dance. Luckily, I was not caught. Hell, I will dance all day if it keeps me away from the cursed candy corn.
• I still have my cold. Balls. Of course, the entire ho/spit@l staff sounds like they're hacking up a lung. 
• Last night my three year old discovered how funny bathtub farts are. Love it! Both of them have started this thing where they use the washcloths to "wash" the tub and tile while they're bathing. I guess I must be setting a decent example in that department. Either that, or I don't do it enough and they are staging a toddler protest.
• I had a latte yesterday. I'm paying for it today. My stomach is killing me. No dairy!
• I discovered a coworker who is trying to go paleo too! It's nice to have a like-minded person around who doesn't think it's weird that I eat bacon for breakfast every day.
• My vitamin D level is up to 30. Still not high enough, so I'm going to start on a maintenance dose of 5000IU a day. It's much better than it was back in January though! I practically had rickets!
• And really, who puts a bowl of candy corn out at 9:30 in the morning? Cripes. I should keep a bowl of bacon on my desk (like the one at Texas de Br@zil)!
• How many more exclamation points can! I! use! !!!

Temptation

This is sitting a mere three feet away from me. It's the good kind too.

Where my BOOBs at!

I am missing you guys already! Good thing I have the instant facebook feed to keep me occupied today!

First, I have to send a big thank you to the planners. You guys have outdone yourselves once again. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your hard work -- it was truly fantastic and greatly appreciated!

I had such a great time with you all this weekend -- I don't even know where to begin!I will try to get my pics together and put some up over this coming week. For now, I'm trying to get my house back in order... you know what it's like when dad is left in charge for a few days!