Weigh in - 10/30/07: My Wacky Math

So, tonight as I drove to the gym to weigh myself, I realized something that I didn't factor in last week. I didn't subtract 2 lbs for my clothes! This makes a huge difference! It means that I didn't gain 3 lbs, but actually only gained 1, which is totally doable after the weekend I had!

Tonight, I did not make the same mistake. According to the scale, I lost 1 lb this past week, and unlike those whiners on "Biggest Loser", I'm going to high five myself on this loss. And this was after having home made mac n cheese for dinner!

So, I'm back to my starting weight. I've been down and out with a horrible cold, so no real workouts, but hopefully that will change by next week.

Thanks for all the support! I'm off to watch tonight's episode!!!

Coming Soon to the Emerald Queen Casino

You know you've hit it big when you're performing at the EQC! This one's for you Angie!

We've made it to 1,000!!

Thanks to everyone that comes to read our little slice of the Internet! We've had over 1,000 visitors! That's more than I ever imagined! Keep coming back, it'll only get better!

...And They Fit!

I've been sick this week, and that's been the pits. Not only am I sick, but my boys are too, which means little to no sleep. Couple that with the horrible smell in my house from burning bread in my microwave (yes, it CAN happen), and you've got a pretty below the line week. I also haven't been to the gym for a good workout, but I did take a few walks with the boys in the (bitter cold) sun to get some fresh air.

Anyway, so the week wasn't that great, but then came today. Today I woke up feeling a bit better. Not 100%, but I felt rested. My husband said it was "clothes shopping day!" For him that means picking up some new hooded sweatshirts and some Jeans. For me...that means going into the dressing room and trying on clothes you're not sure will fit and either leaving elated, or feeling like a beached whale. I decided I needed SOMETHING to wear beside my bleached stained jogging pants, even if they weren't in the size I wanted, so I agreed to go.

Well, the Gap in Bellevue Square only goes up to size 16, so I was convinced before even walking it that nothing would fit. I thought, "at least I'll get a sense of how much farther I have to go." Its been a while since I went to the mall to shop. Usually I go to Old Navy and buy Jeans that are to big in the waist and to small in the legs for cheap, but Rob wanted to go to Champs for his hoodies, so I went to the Gap.

First, I had a wonderful sales woman (that wasn't the size of a toothpick!) help me find the right fit. For years I've been wearing "boot cut", because I like a wide leg, and because I thought all the other jeans would be to skinny in the leg for me. I was wrong! This Angel of retail showed me a few different styles, and while I spoke with her, another retail goddess took the items I was holding and "began" a dressing room for me. What service!! After a few more suggestions, I was off to the dreaded dressing room. "Welcome, Beth!" was written on the little chalk board on my dressing room door (fancy, right?)...like I should be excited to be there.

The process began with my saying to myself "none of these will fit, don't get upset." The first pair of jeans fit me beautifully everywhere, but were a little tight around the waist. Not so tight that I couldn't live with it though, it wasn't a HUGE muffin top. Jean #2 was a totally new ball game. These fit, they fit all over and around the waist! I was so thrilled!!!! I couldn't even stand it. Suddenly my whole view of myself changed. I tried on the third pair and it was just as wonderful. TWO pair of jeans that fit, that I liked, that were "hip", but not uncomfortable! I couldn't believe it. Yea, the jeans were a bit more than I would normally pay, but they were beautiful and well worth the feeling they gave me. I'll tell you one thing, they will NEVER go in the dryer!

This week, I'm looking forward to my weigh-in. Even if I didn't lose weight, I am feeling better. To everyone out there that's going down this road with me, don't give up!

OK, now I don't feel so bad....

I'm sitting here eating my "skinny coy" ice cream sandwich, feeling pretty good about my day. I had a good breakfast, healthy snacks, a good lunch (although I chared some bread in the microwave...at least I didn't eat that :)) then I had a bit of a binge dinner, but I was hungry. I need to learn to have a snack in the afternoon so I don't eat so much at dinner. But it was still a good day.

Skinny cow...hahahaha. I want that to be my new nick name. My friend Jeannine saw me today walking in the rain with the kids (I had a rain guard!) and she said "did you weigh in yesterday?" I said "would I be walking in the rain if I hadn't?" It felt good to get a workout in, rain or shine.

OK, so to the point of the post. THE BIGGEST LOSER! Who watched? This is amazing, here I am thinking its impossible to physically gain 3 lbs in a week and then Neil totally blows my theory and gains 17 lbs in a week!!!! WTF! How does that happen? I'll tell you this much, I'll never take that extra bite for granted again!

And will someone PLEASE tell Alison Sweeny to let the hair dressers do her hair? That's what they're there for!!!!

Is it really possible?

OK, I went to the gym tonight ya'll! I did an hour of cardio: 20 minute intervals on the eliptical, 10 minute run at 5.0, 10 minute walk at 3.5 with an incline of 7 and a 20 minute bike ride at level 4. Afterwards I stretched and walked home. But...before I left I did my weigh-in...twice. Am I discouraged? Hell yes. I didn't even think it was possible to gain 3 lbs in a week. Will I give up? No. I can't. Being over weight isn't healthy and I want to be healthy and comfortable. Hopefully this is some "not getting enough sleep/water" bloating nonesense, but just in case, I am kickin' it into high gear when it comes to food intake.

My goals for this week?

1. Breakfast within 20 minutes of getting up, and meals every 3 hours, so I'm not raiding the pantry/fridge while I make dinner each night.
2. WATER!
3. only two glasses of wine or two beers this week.
4. Track what I eat - 1500-1800 cals a day.
5. Gym/workout everyday except Sunday (active everyday!). Maybe try going in the AM!

This time next week I will have lost at least 1 lb.

Weigh in - 10/23/07

I gotta admit, I'm feeling very scared about tonight's weigh in. I wish I had a personal trainer killing me 3 hours a day, but this weightloss is up to me and me alone. There was a lot of excess this past weekend from celebrating my birthday, and I doubt the three times I went to the gym last week will make up for it. I'm trying not to get discouraged, but something REALLY needs to change. I thrive on routine, and organization, but those two things are nearly impossible with two boys. I'm lucky to shower each morning,and right now I'm not willing to get up at 4:30AM to get myself worked out, and ready for the day before they are up. My only option is to go when Rob gets home from work, but that means no dinner time with the family. I could take Youngest to the infant room while Eldest is in school, but I don't like the room they have there. Can I make more excuses? I sure can, but as I sit and write this I'm seeing the 20 yards of extra skin spilling over the top of my jeans and realize these excuses need to stop. So I don't eat dinner with my family a few nights a week, that gives Rob alone time with the boys, and me time to work out ALONE. So Youngest has to sit with kids of all ages for an hour. He's so laid back, he'll be fine (so long as they keep the older kids from stepping on him). Oh well, we'll see what happens tonight.

Thanks Ladies!

I have the best friends out here! This past Friday they threw a surprise karaoke birthday party for me, and it was so much fun. We sang everything from Hank Williams Jr. to Salt and Peppa. After a few glasses of wine, some of us even got into character for a few Madonna classics! It was a lot of fun, and made me realize how lucky I am to have these girls in my life.

Although hundreds of photos were taken, I'll keep them to myself...and I'm sure my friends appreciate that!

Halloween Decorations

I love decorating for Halloween. Each year I've purchased another gem from Target to include in my collection of tombstones, spider webs, and lights, but since moving to our new house two years ago, decorating for Halloween hasn't be as fun, and here is why:


















Yes, that is a huge spider on the house on the left, and REAL candles in the front yard. She even has a strobe light in her upper left window. I give up. Why bother putting out my stuff, it wouldn't even get an honorable mentioned compared to this. Marcus the Carcass would be a joke! The best part? On Halloween her older kids sit on the porch and hand out candy in Grim Reaper costumes. I mean, this woman has a line to get candy from her house each year...A LINE! Maybe when my kids are older, I'll roll up my sleeves and bring the noise, but until then, I am waving the white flag.

The Day the Lights went out at Kidzbounce

Last night it was all over the news. "BIG STORM HEADED OUR WAY!!! WIND, RAIN!!! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!!!" Well, mother nature didn't disappoint. This morning the Autumn leaves, and the branches they were attached to, were blowing all over our neighborhood.

I usually take Eldest and Youngest to Kidzbounce on Thursday mornings. This is a great place filled with bouncy houses, and other toys for kids to play in/with. Eldest usually chooses to play in the front desk area, but they got a gate, so today I was looking forward to not having to chase him every five seconds, but when I saw the weather outside, I thought twice. Do I really want to go out in this? At 7:30, I said "no, not today". By 8:30, I said "hell yes, today! Eldest will destroy my house if I don't go!"

So, we left the house during a break in the rain (not the wind, that wind practically blew Eldest over!), and high tailed it to Kidzbounce. It was busier than I expected, but not too crowded. We went through a bouncy house or two together, then Eldest found a balloon and was happy as a clam. Ahhh, I finally got to actually sit and talk with my friends! It was great. Then, the lights flickered. All the mom's went silent and slowly looked up at the lights as if we were all in some bad horror flick. Then it happened. The lights went out and the sweet sound of air blowing into the bouncy houses was no more.

Mom's shot up like lightning to rescue their kids from the quickly collapsing bouncy houses, a switch went off within the kids that turned them to primal beasts and they started screaming and running even more wildly than they were already. Some wanted to jump on top of the collapsing houses. Some wanted to get in them. My son wanted to play in the pitch black bathroom. Eventually the adults gained control, and the kids were getting their coats on asking why we had to leave (as if it wasn't obvious enough). I decided to let Eldest use the dark bathroom (with flash light in hand). I figured it would be more exciting than our normal potty trip and it worked. He went without a fuss. I grabbed our things, packed us up in the car and sat for a minute deciding what to do. In the end, I knew I couldn't go home. We would have no power, and Eldest isn't into crafts, so that would be a nightmare. So, I called Rob and we met up for lunch at a McDonald's with a play land. Eldest had a blast, and my diet went to hell, but it was better than being at home!

The power is back on now, but the winds are said to peak between 4 and 7...also known as the witching hour. The Gods help me!

*The tree in the picture was full of leaves last night!

Time to Weigh In

Weight loss is a problem for most Americans. I mean, just look at the "Biggest Loser". I've posted a few times how this show has inspired me to get healthy again, but inevitably I am good on Wednesday, and then go slowly downhill until the next Tuesday when I see contestants creeping up on my real life weight. Well NO MORE!

I was weighed at the Dr.s office yesterday and although the number showed that I had lost almost all the baby weight, I was reminded of all the weight I still needed to lose from when I was pregnant with Harrison! That was it, instead of sitting down to watch the "Biggest Loser" last night, I was going to start becoming the "biggest loser". It felt good!

I remembered how well I do when I have someone to answer to, so I decided to take a huge leap and post my weight and size on the blog. My big picture goals are to be comfortable in my skin and inspire others to get active. My immediate, tangible goal? To lost 8 lbs by Thanksgiving. With the help of my workout buddy, and the support of my family and friends, I should have no problem.

My weight does not define me, but losing some of it will make me more fun for my family and friends to be around...that is if you believe I could be more fun than I am now!

To Legit Indeed

I used to love this song. What am I saying...I STILL love this song!

Pumpkins!

We went to Jubilee Farms today to pick pumpkins! After years of going in the gloom and doom (and sometimes pouring down rain) we were blessed with a beautiful day! Here are some great photos of the kiddos!

Ripple in the Water

After waiting 7+ years to see Train, last night I got to experience the pleasure of seeing Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train) live at the Showbox in Seattle. I went into this experience a little apprehensive. Pat ventured out and did a solo album without his band, and although I like his solo album, I was secretly praying he would also sing some songs by Train, but figured he wouldn't because he wasn't touring with the whole band.

After dinner, drinks, and GREAT conversation with my friends Tracy (yes, the same Tracy with 3 kids that kept me out until 12:00AM last Saturday) and Thadd (my ex-boss from Nintendo), we went across the street to get in line for the show. Thadd and I are long time fans of the band Train and we talked extensively about the songs we were hoping he would sing. Thadd has seen him before and told me the covers he does of Led Zeppelin are unbelievable. I'm always been one that loves to "get the Led out", so I was even more excited.

The warm up band was good, but I really didn't give a rip about them. I saved all my energy for the main act. after the opener, I pushed my way through all the middle aged women (wait, am I middle aged??) to get as close to the stage as possible and then the lights dimmed and I couldn't help but scream as if I was a Beatles fan in the '60s....and I never stopped. Not only did he ROCK the songs from his new album, but he sang almost all the Train songs Thadd and I were hoping to hear AND did covers of Led Zeppelin ("Ramble On" & "Whole Lotta Love"). The highlight of the evening...catching the guitar pick thrown by Pat into the audience. Well, I didn't actually catch it, but no one else did either, and Thadd found it on the floor and handed it to me.

We ended the night listening to his new album, on the way to Burger Master for burgers, fries and shakes. I wish my words could describe better how awesome this show was. He's one amazing performer...and he is Fly with a capital F!

I.C.S.E.

You've heard about I.C.E. on the news. Its an In Case of Emergency number you program into your cell phone, so when they find you unconscious outside of the Last Supper Club from to many drinks, they'll (whomever 'they' are) know who to call to come pick you up. However, the other night, my husband and I thought up a new reason for the I.C.E. Actually, we would call it the I.C.S.E (In Case of Social Emergency) and here's why.

A friend of ours recently went to a party with her family. This was a party that a lot of people were supposed to attend, at a woman's house that no one knew well. Not one to ever miss a party, our friend (we'll call her Dawn) showed up with her son on time to an empty home...empty except for the woman she didn't even know. Time passed and no one else showed up. Had Dawn had an I.C.S.E. number in her phone to call, she could have had someone come right away to join the fun, or get her out of there quick with some excuse about her husband having explosive diarrhea

So, the lesson learned is the next time you're set to go out on the town with your single gal pals that are prone to picking up duds, or your mom friends that are flakes, think about programming an I.C.S.E. into your phone. I'll be your contact if you like!

Happy Anniversary

This past Sunday was my parents 40th (YES 40th) wedding anniversary. It stinks not being close enough to celebrate this special occasion with them, so I decided to post a few photos of their wedding on the site.

On October 7, 1967, Jane & Roger Gorey were married

The wedding party consisted of 3 of my mothers sisters, my fathers two sisters, and my fathers brothers.

This is a photo of my fathers parents with some of their kids and their significant others. I just LOVE the clothes from 1967! So stylin'!!

WIND!

If you've never had the pleasure of visiting us in the winter, then you've never experienced the Snoqualmie Valley wind. This is a good thing. Those of you reading this that are new to the area...no, last nights wind is not a fluke, it will remain that strong and loud until April. Yep, sorry to be the Debbie Downer.

We've dealt with this wind for the past 7 years, and you would think by now we would be "used" to it, but that's not the case. Each October, there's a night like last night, when the wind picks up and we're awake all night wondering if something is going to crash through the window, or fly around the yard making noise. The worst is when it arrives on Garbage night and you're wondering whose trash will be in your yard the next day. It never fails, the newbs in the 'hood put their garbage out at night in those little cans only to wake the next morning with their garbage all over the 'hood and their can no where to be found. Its almost a rite of passage in this place. These same newbs also believe they must be smarter than everyone else and post such insightful messages with advice like “tie down your garbage with a bungee cord.” on the various sites for the area. Really? I have never thought of that after 7+ years of being here. You are so darn smart!

Last year we had a horrible wind storm that blew our power out for five days in the coldest part of the winter (while I was 5 months pregnant!) Sharing a bed with my husband and three year old became very uncomfortable, so we got a hotel room in the city and spent the rest of the nights with friends that had their power back. Rob and I refuse to go through this again, so we purchased a generator this past Spring and are in the process of getting our power box upgraded so we can hook it up to our main power supply. Of course, after last nights wind, I'm sure Lowes and Home Depot are selling out of generators, and ever electrician is being booked. Hopefully Rob's phone calls last week were early enough to get us an appointment before the wind really picks up!

Winter has arrived people! Get your bungee cords out!

My "Last Supper" Experience

On Saturday night, I was one rad mother...and by "mother", I mean "Mom". What a bizarre night. I left the house thinking I was just having dinner and would be home by 9:00, but dinner easily turned into seeing a DJ at the Last Supper Club and not getting home until 12:30AM. Believe me, this is NOT my normal evening, and the best part...it was another MOM (with 3 kids) that convinced me to go with the flow.

This other mom, Tracy, had e-mailed me while the plans were being set saying "I dont' want to stay out to late, let's carpool so we can skip the DJ." I was fine with that. I knew I could use a good nights rest, especially since Sunday is my morning to get up with the boys. While getting ready, I chose something sensible to wear for the weather (turtlneck sweater and jeans) and I brought my comfortable purse.

Well, at dinner, one of our "non-mom" friends starts talking about the DJ, and starts trying to work her magic in getting us to come out. To my utter amazement, without hesitation, Tracy says "Yeah, let's do it!" Maybe it was the two lavender cosmos, or her overwhelming need to get out, but she wanted to go see this DJ as if she'd waited her whole life for his performance...even though she doesn't even listen to Techno music! Not one to be a buzz kill, I agreed to go with (I was her ride after all).

After searching for parking in Pioneer Square (the scariest part of Seattle in my opinion), we finally made it to the Last Supper Club. I walked in wearing my "mom" sweater (NOT MOM JEANS!), and my "comfy" purse looking like the biggest dork that ever set foot in this bar. The music was loud and Tracy didn't like that we couldn't really hear each other. I told her it would only get worse, and figured we would leave within an hours time. WRONG! After the DJs started, not only were the two of us dancing (WITH OUR PURSES ON!), but she actually loved the music and I had to make her leave at 12:00. Here I was, Boozer Beth, usually the first to show and last to leave, dragging my friend Tracy from a bar in Seattle at 12:00AM.

The lesson learned here is, next time Tracy says "let's carpool, so we're not out so late" I'll know she really means "where something cool, leave your purse at home, and tell Rob we'll be home at 2:00 AM"

Tracy, you're "da bomb!"

Oooh! And the quarterback is sacked!

Beth is out for the evening with some of her lady friends and I am holding down the fort with the two boys.

As you can see, our future Seattle Seahawk is all sacked out right now. Very nice.

Cavemen

OK, so in my previous post I said the show wasn't that great. Well, it did start off pretty slow, and predictable, but I got a few laughs in the end. I am going to give it at least 3 more weeks. We'll see by then if Cavemen can play with the big boys, or if they're only good for selling car insurance.

Fan Girl

As some of you may know, I recently quit my job at Nintendo to stay home full time with my two wonderful little men. A decision I have yet to regret, but for now I am going to pretend like I still work there. I L-O-V-E-D working for Nintendo, and was one of the biggest advocates for the company you could find. Since leaving, its been hard to see new commercials on TV and hear about new games and other industry news online like "normal" folk would. The worst is when my husband (who works within the XBox group...yeah, we had many a debate about who ruled the school back in the day) tells me what's going on with my old haunt, but I'm making do.

So anyway, tonight I'm watching the premier of Cavemen on ABC (which isn't all that great, but whose surprised there?), and they actually had a Wii in their show! After years of seeing XBox and Playstation as the game system of choice in shows, it was nice to see Nintendo in the fore front. Go Nintendo! I also saw one of their new commercials tonight as well, which focused on the Wii's unique ability to bring families together and get people up off the couch. I must admit, about three years ago, when the design for the Wii controller came out, I thought we had another "Virtual Boy" on our hands. Yeah, I wasn't to impressed, but demoing the Wii at E3 in 2006 really changed my mind.

Its a great system and I recommend it to anyone, young and old (the DS is awesome too! my 60+ mother loves to play Brain Age!). OK, enough...its not like I'm getting paid to plug the company anymore :).

The Biggest Loser...Week 3

Phew, the blue team sent Patty home, and it looks like she managed to keep up with the program despite her doubts of being able to handle things on her own. Who do you think will have the most drastic change? I'm routing for someone from the black team to win, because I love under dogs. Maybe Hollie.

This weeks episode was pretty good. If I had to be on this show (and believe me, I wish I could be!), I would pick Jillian as my trainer. She just pushes her people to the limit, and is a total bad ass! What about you, who would you pick?

I think the remaining players are pretty dedicated, not to many whiners left...except for Amy, but then again, she did pull off that challenge with the rest of her team. I don't know, the show still remains an inspiration to me to lose more weight. Its to bad they don't have an episode where they show you how to do it in real life while also taking care of two kids and keeping house (hmmm, maybe that does count as my workout!)!

Is that church music....Oh wait, no. That's Halo 3

Some of my fellow wives (girlfriends/boyfriends) out there may be hearing what sounds like a choir of monks coming from their family/entertainment room at night. As soothing as this sound may be, it only means that the violent sounds of gun fire aren't far behind! Why did they make the theme music for Halo 3 so soothing and creepy at the same time? There's nothing like hearing that hypnotic chanting and then "BOOM!", you're hearing bombs blasting, fake people barking military orders, and gunfire...incessant gunfire! Who else is going through this? Come on, don't be shy, raise your hands. Of course, I don't mind my husband playing video games, its his way of winding down...kinda like mine is watching three hours of uninterrupted television each night (when I'm not blogging of course). However, there's something about walking into our family room, and seeing him with his headset on talking to someone he's probably never seen before as if they're life long war buddies that cracks me up every time. I love my big nerd. If you (or your significant other) want to play with him, you can "Press the Start Button" to the right of this post and get his gamer tag.

**the above photo is Rob and Harrison (about 6 months) with the original Xbox controller. I would post a photo of Master Chief, but I don't want Microsoft or Bungie coming after me!

Trader Joe's and Cane

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? If so, then you may know the joy of shopping there. This store is the definition of the NW in my opinion...very tree-huggin'-hippie, but that's a good thing. When I first started shopping at Trader Joe's, I didn't like it much. I was shopping there at the recommendation of my dietitian, and thought "how can anyone actually LIVE off this store's food alone? Where are the pop-tarts, Bologna, and Ben & Jerry's?" However, the foods that I ate from Trader Joe's did help keep my weight in check and once my experiment was over, I went right back to Safeway. Now that I'm staying home, trying to lose the baby weight, and on a smaller budget, I thought I would give Trader Joe's another shot. It may not have the name brands, but it's cheap. The only problem with Trader Joe's, is no matter what I buy there, the hippies working and shopping there give off a vibe that whatever I buy must be good for me, and I won't gain weight eating it. The Truffle Chocolate Brownie's must be fat free and calorie free if they're from Trader Joe's, right? WRONG! To make it worse, they're SOOOOO good (and cheap). Oh well, next time I'll try the "mini-peanut butter cups" I'm sure they're made with a special peanut butter that speed up metabolism. Meanwhile, I'll keep eating the brownies while I watch "The Biggest Loser."

Now, onto Cane. This is a new series on CBS and those of you that watched the mid-season drama King Pin will enjoy this show. Its not as racy, since it doesn't deal with illegal drugs, but that's not to say illegal activity will not occur! The show follows the lives of the Duque family and their feuds among each other and the other large sugar cane field owners in Florida, the Samuels. The first episode sets up the rest of the season when we find out that Pancho, the patriarch of the Duque Family, has 6 months to live, so he decides to get his affairs in order and leaves his adoptive son Alex(played by Jimmy Smits)in charge of his company, passing over his biological son Frank, but Frank isn't down for the count. He's secretly "sleeping with the enemy" (aka, Ellis Samuels) in an effort to undermine his adoptive brother. Its a sexy show. One that I think you'll add to your rotation if you give it a try.