Donna's Blog

2011-01-04T08:43:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I said I would go back and catch up on anything but I find that I love when people post pictures on their blogs and since I came across these I thought I'd post these and go back and write about Molly's hospital stay.

She had been sick with a cold in the beginning of December and I didn't think much of it. She had a horrible cough, fever, etc. In the beginning she was going to school but when she got home she'd immediately lie down and fall asleep. Then she felt so bad that she couldn't go to school so by the 3 day of missed school I called the Dr. My husband was home so he took her while I went to work. I happened to be at the gym when he took her and when I got out there was a message on my phone saying that she was being ambulanced to UMass, Worcester. Apparently when she went in for Dr.'s visit her oxygen was severely low. After listening to her lungs the Dr. wheeled her down to the ER. They had her hooked up to monitors and 2 IV's w/in minutes. It was then decided to ambulance her to another hospital because our local hospital didn't have a Pediatric ICU and even though she didn't need it yet, she was on the brink of needing it. She had a severe case of pneunomia, poor kid. She was so sick and I didn't even know it. She ended up staying in the hospital for 3 days. She is fine now. It was scary though and she was a real trooper through the whole thing.

Hello 2011!

2011-01-03T11:37:00.004-05:00

Well, it's here 2011 and I'm sitting here trying to make 2011 goals. My cycling coaches and Pilates instructors always encourage us to do so and I'm sure I'll be asked about them soon. So far I know:

- Participate in the Harpoon B to B Ride, June 2011.

- Do as many century rides as my schedule permits (definitely want to do the Quabbin again, it's the hilliest one around, did the metric century last year)

- MS Ride (already signed up so that's a no brainer)

- Make up with running (I'm hoping to be able to reconcile with my running again after suffering the hip injury)

- Do at least one road race just for fun.

OK, so that's what's on the list so far. I always have a hard time with business goals but I emailed both my bosses and told them about wanting to make some goals for 2011 and asked them what I could do to do my job better and make this business more successful, I'm hoping to get some great feedback. I'd really love to be excited about my job again instead of dreading each and every day.

I won't even try to catch up from September but things have been great. No complaints here. My husband is finally going on days starting in about another week, only 5 more night shifts. I can't wait!!!! I'm hoping he'll finally start eating better again and start exercising (which he already has) and get some much needed sleep to improve his mood.

I'd love for another goal to be keeping up this blog, but I just don't know if that will ever happen, so I'll leave than one open ended.

COVAC Century 2010 and update

2010-09-15T11:13:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know, it's been a while again. I just haven't taken the time to sit here and update. All is well. The summer is over, the kids are back in school and I'll be sad, soon, to be riding indoors all too soon.

I won't even try to update what has happened since my last post, which isn't that exciting anyways. I'll just update from this past weekend.

On Saturday we participated as a family in the ALS Walk of Hope. A friend of ours passed away this past April of this awful disease, he was only 41. Last year he was there, at the walk, and it was sad not to have him there this year. The day was beautiful. My new profile pic is from that day. It was only a 3.5 mile walk but just nice to get out, remember our friend and enjoy the beautiful weather while we walked around the lake.

On Sunday I did a century ride with a friend of mine, 103.6 miles to be exact. Up at 4:00 to get ready and make the hour and half trip to Hatfield MA. We actually met a group, not far from my house, at a hotel so that we could all carpool up. Well, this group is from the local bike shop, not from the club I ride with, and even though there were a few people from my club, I felt very awkward. First of all, as always, it was mostly men, and we just felt like we didn't belong. Thankfully, the two guys that we planned on riding with showed up and made us feel a little at ease. The group that met up there always do this century and since this was my first year cycling this was my first. Next year we will just drive up on our own. The day was cool and cloudy but it was perfect for riding that distance. Once up there, we met up with a couple of other people from our club, who also ride with the other group and talked us into riding out with them. That large group races the course and I really wasn't up to racing since I have never done it before. I didn't want to burn out on the first 25 miles. From what I had heard, the course was pretty flat, except for the last 25 miles. It's along the Connecticut River Valley, up to Vermont, to NH and back to Hatfield MA. So, we took off with the group of 40 or so, and kept up with them for about the first 15 miles, but then decided to drop back since they were averaging over 20 mph. I got nervous that we wouldn't be able to keep up that pace. I felt good and all, but didn't want to chance it. We met back up with them at the first stop, at 26.2 miles. I really didn't even want to make this stop but we did anyway. I would have loved to just keep going and get ahead of them, ha ha. That group broke up a bit too as time went on. The ride was pretty uneventful, pretty easy course, lots of RR tracks though and pretty dangerous ones. The big group actually had a crash on one of them and 2 people ended up at the hospital. One of the guys in our group was definitely feeling wiped though. We worked together though and got him through. We always lost him on the hills and had to wait up, but it was okay, we started together and wanted to finish together. Funny though, after the last stop, I kept waiting for all these hills and they just never came, or at least I thought. I didn't think it was hilly at all! I felt awesome the whole time. We ended up with an 18.4 average and I could have pushed it way more than that. At the end of the ride we were pulling back into the parking lot and noticed one of our riders down. She had started with the big group but they left her at one of the stops and she just never caught back on. She ended up riding with a small group of people she didn't know. They held a really tight paceline but weren't great at giving signals. At the right turn into the parking lot, the person in front didn't signal and she ended up catching her wheel and down she went. The ambulance came and thankfully she is okay, no concussion, just lots of road rash and her hands got pretty banged up. That was sad to see right at the end. After the ride, that group always goes to Bertucci's, so we joined them. Again, it was a bit awkward since we were all in one big room together, but the four of us ended up at a booth, which was great. So, I will certainly do that ride again next year, but will just drive up on my own, with my group, and try to get there early and get a jump on them.

OK, so that's a bit of an update. I will do my best to get back on here more often again.

MS Ride 2010

2010-07-19T09:04:00.005-04:00

I know, I know, I've been MIA again. Sometimes I just don't know if it's worth spending the time writing here when I only have about 2 readers left and those people see me on Facebook anyway.

As I said in my previous post, the Cape Cod Getaway MS Ride was awesome!!! It was such a great event. The ride itself was pretty easy, I felt great after the ride both days. It was hot but we kept a pretty management pace both days. The first we all stayed together and crossed the finish line together and ended with about a 16.7 mph pace, the first day was hillier than the second. On the second day I just wanted to finish so a couple of us went ahead for the last 10 miles and ended up at 17 mph. I have to say, I was exhausted when I got home at 10:00pm on Sunday night. That day had started with a 4:00am wakeup call, but I had actually been up since 3:30, lying in the top bunk at Mass Maritime Academy having to pee like you wouldn't believe! It was dark and I wasn't good at climbing the damn ladder so I just waited for the other girls to wake up. We definitely spent more time than needed at the rest stops on that day but ended up at the finish line at 12:15pm. After loading up our bikes, retrieving our luggage and heading to the shower trucks we loaded up our luggage onto the trucks and headed into town. We were in Provincetown at this point. We had a great lunch and then had to be on the ferry to Boston by 3:30. The boat ride was just crazy!!! Too bad I was just too tired to be crazy with all of them. I had fun watching everyone else though. We finally got back into Boston around 7:00, had to find our bikes and luggage and I think got into the car around 8:00. It was a long ride home and then when I went to drop off my friend, she couldn't get into our house. By this time, my head was throbbing. Thank god she was able to get in touch with her son who was just getting out of work, so I could head home. So, that's a brief recap of that weekend.

I spend the next two weekends at the beach, at my father in laws. We've had such great weather this summer. I rode up the seacoast and it was just awesome. I even took my husband out with me one day, he rode his mountain bike, it was a slow ride, but that's okay. I even had my lady cyclist friends come up one Saturday and we rode 30 miles. Two of them didn't have their usual bikes because they just did the Seattle to Portland ride (204 miles in 2 days) and they had to ship their bikes out there. That was just this past weekend, so proud of those girls! Anyway, we only did 30 miles because they both were experiencing pain because they weren't used to their old bikes.

Last Monday I did my usual Monday night group ride. They normal support 3 rides, a C ride (beginner 12-14mph), a C+ ride (17+ mph, my usual ride) and a B ride (19-20mph). On this particular Monday, there were no takers on leading the B ride, so it ended up just being one huge C+ ride. There must have been 35-40 riders. It actually wasn't going bad, I was hanging on up front and was feeling a good draft. At one point, another group had joined us and the pace really picked up. I looked down at one point and we were going 24-25mph on a flat road. It felt good! Those other riders peeled off and I think some of our riders got confused and went with them. I continued with the original group and a few riders had dropped off the back. We waited at a local high school for them and when we all regrouped there was some confusion on what route we were taking. The bulk of the group took a left out of the parking lot and then about 8 of us decided to go right. We got about another couple miles up the road and 5 of the 8 decided to cut the route short and then went off before I could even turn around and join them. Now I'm stuck with two guy riders, who are easily B riders. They were going to continue on the original route which was supposed to be about 44 miles. I was torn on what I was going to do. I was feeling really good but I certainly wasn't as fast as these two guys. They convinced me to stay with them even after I told them I could just either try and catch up with the group or just head back by myself. So, off we went! They were super good to me, the lead rider kept asking if the pace was okay, and it was! Then we hit the hills, ugh, can't get around them around here. I think I did pretty well for the most part. It started getting dark and I could really feel my legs losing it. We were only a few miles from the end and I told the guys to just go ahead and sprint back if they wanted to but they wanted to stick with me. In the end we did 46 miles and I had an average of 18.7 mph. My best ride yet! The owner of the cycling club was still in the parking lot waiting for us because he saw that my car was still there and he was getting nervous, it was 8:40pm. I gave him my numbers and he said that's the kind of ride I should be doing all the time. He told me to stop riding with the ladies, but it's so hard to do that because I really like riding with them them. He later told me that the guys I rode with were impressed with my riding, which makes me feel really good. Tonight is another group ride so we'll see how that one goes. They are calling for scattered, strong storms tonight, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen around here. I love getting this ride in. I also rode this past Thursday by myself (only 23 miles) and again on Saturday (40 miles) with 2 other ladies.

For now, running and swimming is on the back burner. I did start lifting again, I have my 2 Pilates classes/week and I have been trying to get in a little cross training, elliptical and stairs. So many of my cycling friends do triathlons and as much as I'd like to do one, I don't see it in my immediate future. I wish I loved running and swimming as much as cycling. Right now I can't even run because my hip is still troublesome, I walked on the treadmill the other day and that hurt, never mind running. Swimming doesn't bother me physically but I just haven't been able to put in the time to get better at it.

Handlebar Palsy

2010-06-29T18:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, so why do all these strange things happen to me???? I noticed a few weeks ago that my left hand was getting weak, especially after riding. I was noticing that it was hard to button my pants, squeeze things between two fingers on my left hand, things like that. Well, this past weekend was the MS Ride and I rode 150 miles in two days. After the first 75 my hand was soooo weak! And I'm left handed. I couldn't even straighten out my fingers and bring them together. That night I couldn't even squeeze my contact lens solution bottle to get any solution out. The next day when we took off to do the 2nd 75 miles I had the hardest time switching from the small chain ring to the big chain ring, so much so, that I didn't even try after I realized this. Thank god I didn't even really need to, the Cape isn't that hilly. My team was great though, they wanted me to signal to them if I needed to pull over and they would shift for me. Such great gals! I'll update on the ride later, I hate to leave for Pilates very soon. Anyway, I did some research on my issue and found out that it is something called "handlebar palsy". I'm apparently compressing a nerve because of the way I hold on. I went to my local bike store and they moved my seat position and changed my handlebar position, to alleviate some of the pressure on my hands. My hand is getting better now that I haven't ridden in a couple of days. It was very frustrating though. Going thru the food line I was trying to use tongs and I couldn't, for the life of me, grab a piece of cheese. I was a bit nervous until I found out what it was. Anyway, the ride was one of the greatest things I've ever done, I'm already signed up for next year. I will try and update tonight or tomorrow about the entire weekend.

2010-05-21T14:17:00.002-04:00

Oh, and look over a week has passed. Lets recap! Last weekend my daughter had her recital, both Saturday and Sunday. I went to the one on Saturday, she did a really nice job. Very proud of her. I also squeezed in a 40 mile bike on Saturday with my group. It was a beautiful day and I felt really strong on the ride. On Sunday I had planned on doing a Metric Century Ride (62 miles) with 3 other girls. The day was destined to fail from the start. Three of us met at the gym for 7:30 and we were going to drive up together, it was about an hour away. One other rider was going on her own because she doesn't live near here. On our way there, I got a text from her saying that it wasn't a good day, she was just warning us. It was a husband issue. We all arrived and registered and got ready to take off, but one of the riders noticed that her shoe was clicking her easily so she stopped by the maintenance tent to see if they could do anything. We had to wait a bit but they replaced her cleat (for nothing!) and we started on our way. We didn't have any idea where we were going but we had a map, a cue sheet and the pavement was marked so we just had to look for that. We weren't even a 1/2 mile down the street when I felt something hitting on the back of my thighs. It was my damn saddlebag! I thought the straps had just come loose, but nope the damn thing broke! Now mind you, I have taken a lot of crap about this bag because it was fashionable, not functional. Some of the guy riders called it luggage and thought it was too big, howeve, I, did not. So now we have divide up all my stuff that I had in that bag, extra tubes, CO2 inflator, cell phone, and that's about it. We do all that and now we're on our way again. Things were going great. We were staying together for the most part, passing a few other riders and just having a nice time. It wasn't a race or anything and we wanted to enjoy the scenery, but we also didn't want to be riding for 10 hours either, so we were moving along. We got about 19 miles out and were on a side street and the road just wasn't in good condition. The lead rider was about 10 feet in front of me, then there was me, and behind me, the two others, not sure how far behind they were at this point, but we came upon a huge crack in the road. There was no avoiding it. The leader and I went over if with no problem, but the other two ended up colliding. I heard it, looked back and saw them on the ground in a heap. I threw down my bike and ran back to help them. One of the girls had hit her head, broke her helmet and was just making some awful noises, I wasn't sure if she had knocked the wind out of herself or what. The other girl was complaining that she couldn't move her left arm. Oh boy! We were lucky enough to have someone in a car stop, another cyclist stopped and some people walking by stopped. Someone called for help and in no time the police and paramedics were there. They took Sherry (the girl that hit her head) to the hospital, and of course, she was our ride. I couldn't even find her keys so that we could get into her car. I found out later that they were in the car, she had a keypad on her car. Steph (the one with the arm injury) didn't want to go to the hospital so she was still with us but we were not letting her get back on her bike. The fire truck ended up taking her, her bike and Sherry's bike back to the fire station. They gave us directions and we rode our bikes there. Once there we had to re-group and decide what to do now. I couldn't even get in touch with Sherry's husband because the paramedics took her cell phone. The other non-injured girl was able to get in touch with her husband and he was going to come get us. We also got in touch with the hospital and asked them to have Sherry's husband call us so that we could coordinate getting out stuff. It was just one long day!!!! They ended up keeping Sherry overnight, she had a concussion, and lots of road rash, but she is good now. Her bike got pretty messed up too. Steph did go and get checked once she got home and her arm was only bruised, thank goodness. She's doing better now too. No one really knows what happened but they had to be riding too close together. That's what really scares me about riding in a paceline, you do ride really close together. OK, so that's my story about Sunday. I think I would have been less tired if I rode the 62 miles.

I went on the group ride on Monday and there was a crash on that ride too! Some guy slammed on his brakes, downhill, to avoid a water bottle in the road. One of the female racers went right onver him. Poor girl, she was pretty beat up and was going to try on her wedding dress that next day. Then, a car backing down a driveway and not looking, almost hit a bunch of riders. Nice night huh? Plus, the fact that 80% of the people thought it was a race and not a group ride, made it really hard. A bunch of us complained about that.

I had another swim lesson this week. My instructor says that I am doing so well. I admit that my stroke has gotten so much better but I still have to work on the endurance part. I really hope that starts to come along. I think I need to push myself a bit more with that.

In other news, ha ha, I had my hair done last night. I just had to change hairdressers, long story, so I thought I'd do something new. For as long as I can remember I've been dyeing my hair in shades of red, I've been getting darker and darker and was ready for a change. So, last night I had highlights put in and went with a brown base, no red. It's going to take a little getting used to, but I think I like it. I haven't had many comments today, but then again, I work mostly with men and the one girl I work with isn't here today.

It's way too nice out to be at work today, it's in the 80's. I'm going to dinner with a girlfriend tonight, I can't wait, we're hoping to eat outdoors somewhere. Tomorrow I have my group ride and I have nothing planned for Sunday.

Phew! I didn't think I had all that in me. I hope it all makes sense, I'm way too tired to proofread.

Have a wonderful weekend!

2010-05-12T10:18:00.000-04:00

So, what's been happening in the past week? I'm not sure I even remember. Last week was pretty uneventful, the usual workouts, I was able to squeeze everything I planned, so that's good. I'm not running at all this week because I have a little pain in my Achilles so I'm listening to my body and waiting until that subsides before running again. This week I'll get in 4 rides, 2 Pilates and 2 swims. I had the group ride on Monday and that went really well. I felt that the pace was a bit faster than last week but there were more hills so, in the end, the average MPH was just a little bit more than last week. We didn't have the outdoor ride on Saturday due to weather, so we rode inside, talk about boring, ha ha. I will outdoors with the ladies on Thursday, definitely not a super duper workout or anything, but I like that group and it helps me work on other skills, like trying to drink water while riding, paceline skills, calling out road hazards, etc. On Saturday we'll have the progressive group ride, but I have to bail around the 30 mile mark because my daughter has her recital and I have to get home. Then, on Sunday, I'm doing a metric Century Ride. They have a Century (100 mi.), a metric Century (62 mi.) and a half Century (50 mi.). It's a scenic ride, at your own pace, etc. I'm doing it with 2 other girls. I know some others doing the Century, but I opted for the metric Century. I'm just a little nervous about cycling somewhere I've never been before. I'm not really sure how it all works. I know that they give you a map and cue sheet before you go an there are water and food stops along the way. It looks like there are arrow cues posted too, and boy, I sure hope so. I'm not sure how to look at a map and cycle all at the same time.

Mother's Day was really nice. The girls asked me to bring them to the jewelry store so they could buy me something. They had asked my husband, but he never did it, nice huh! So, I took them and they went in by themselves. I have been wearing Pandora earrings lately and they both bought me 2 pairs each. They used their own money too. I figured they'd chip in and buy me one pair, but I ended up with 4 pairs. So sweet of them! Molly had also bought me 2 plants from the school plant sale and they both made me cards. It was just a really nice day. And, I have to say, my husband did give me a massage that night, so he did something nice too.

I guess that's about it for now. Enjoy your week!

Finally!

2010-05-04T10:04:00.003-04:00

The group ride went really well last night. No flats, no crashes and I felt great! I flew up the hills with ease, and just felt great for the whole ride. It was different riding with so many people and a little confusing at times. We were supposed to be riding in a paceline and take turns taking pulls but that just didn't happen. It was also different having so many people that I didn't know. Not everyone was friendly so that part stunk, not all, but some.

When I got home last night I found 3 baby mice in our playroom, they had just been born, I'm sure there must have been more but they must have already gotten up and run away. They were so tiny and kind of cute. We have been catching mice in the house lately and the thought of having babies running around doesn't thrill me. I won't say what we did with the mice.

OK, have to run to indoor cycling class now. It's so beautiful out, I'd rather be cycling outdoors, but there is some value of doing it indoors once a week.

Rough day

2010-05-03T10:45:00.002-04:00

Well, I had my toughest day cycling this past Saturday. It wasn't that I couldn't handle the physical part of the training, but it was all the obstacles I had to endure. We traveled 42 miles and I got 3 flat tires and I crashed! The flat tires, well, 2 rear and 1 front, I was just so frustrated. We all concurred that there was something up with my wheels. I mean really, no one else even got one flat tire. Then the crash, totally my fault. We were just feet from our destination. There were 3 of us that had broken away from the group and I was third. I took a sharp corner too wide and met up with an SUV on the other side, he saw me, slammed on the brakes and I had to make the decision to crashed into him or head off into the woods. I chose the woods. I could have come out of this unscathed, but I couldn't get my foot unclipped fast enough so I had to fall. The guy stopped and was so nice. He was apologizing to ME for the incident. Seriously, it was MY fault and I was rather embarrassed about the whole thing. I'm glad there were only 3 of us there and that no one actually witnessed the event. I guess I haven't learned too much about cornering yet and I was going too fast to take hug the corner. I'm okay though, some cuts and bruises, but I got right up and just shook it off. I went to the bike shop right after and had them look at my tires. They did find a reason for all my flats, at least that's what they said, and took care of it and assured me that it shouldn't happen again. They said next time I get a flat it will be because I ran over something. So, hopefully they are right. I'm riding tonight so we shall see. I'll tell you though, after that third flat the only thing I could think of was that it was going to happen again and I just kept concentrating on the "feel" of my tires.

I'm thinking I need to invest in some sleeveless cycling jerseys, I'm getting that "truck driver" tan and it's not very attractive.

The rest of my weekend was pretty boring. It was really hot here and the pool is open but it's not clean yet. Yesterday I did 5 1/2 miles on the treadmill and I feel really good. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and errands.

I'm hoping for a good week, the weather is looking great and I have a full week planned.

Jen - my husband is going to his first Sox game of the season on Wednesday.

2010-04-27T07:58:00.003-04:00

I guess I missed my usual Monday post. Where the heck did Monday go?

I'm happy to report that I haven't had any flats since my last post. So yeah I've only been out once since then but still. Lets see, I left off at Thursday. So Friday is normally my duet session in Pilates but that was canceled for this week so I went in the pool and practiced my swimming. It went okay, I think I did well and am getting better. Friday night was the usual, boring, I don't plan much because of the Saturday morning ride. There were about 8 of us for the group ride on Saturday, me being the most inexperienced out of all of them. It was a beautiful morning, it started off cool but I think I made a good choice of clothing as it only got warmer and warmer. We ended up doing a total of 40 miles and this was the first time I felt challenged outside on my bike. This was definitely the fastest group I had been with and we didn't make a lot of stops, like I had gotten used to. Plus there were a lot of hills. There was actually one point where I felt like I just wanted to pull over, get off my bike and cry because I was so tired. Five members of the group had gotten ahead of me, boy, once you open a gap that gap just gets wider and wider and it's really hard to catch. And then I knew two members were behind me. I could see the group in front of me but just couldn't catch them, but I could no longer see the group behind me. I had no idea where I was and got nervous that if they got too far I wouldn't know where to go. I was so relieved when I crested a hill that they had all pulled off at a store and waited for the entire group. I was able to get control of myself again, had one of my gels, drank some water and we were off again. My legs felt really, really tired, but since now we were on the loop back I was told there were no more big hills. What a relief! The ride back was so much easier, not that it was downhill the entire way, but just easier. I felt so good when we got back and I got lots of praise about how well I did for being so new at it. It made me feel really good. After that I had to get home, shower and head to my Godchild's First Communion. She's the daughter of a my friend from high school and we don't get to see much of each other, so it was a nice day. I sat outside on her deck and sipped wine for most of the afternoon. Of course then I had an hour drive home, I was fine though, I really didn't have much wine and had stopped much earlier. On Sunday I was going to run, but decided to take the entire day off. I could see myself getting into that pattern of not taking any days off and I know that's not good. I got lots done that day, cleaning, laundry, groceries, errands, etc. Yesterday I ran at lunch, well, I did my walk/jog combo for a total of 4. 75 miles. Still feeling good. We were supposed to have our last Cycling 101 class last night but they called for rain and they didn't the rain was the optimal environment to have this class in so they rescheduled for tomorrow night. Of course it never did rain but is supposed to be real crappy tomorrow night so I'm thinking we won't have class then either. Grrrr......So, I ended up doing nothing last night. I could have gone and taken an indoor class but since I'm doing that this morning, I didn't.

Other than that, lets see, my daughter who is in 8th grade made her first "adult" decision. She's starting high school next year and has the choice of going to the local high school, where I went (well it's a new high school since I went, but the same public school) or she was accepted to a trade school in the next town over, that's where my husband went. Most of her friends are going to the public school and so she wanted to go there, but she has one good friend who decided to go to the trade school. So, this past Saturday she made a pros and cons list and the pros for the trade school greatly outweighed the pros for the public high school. Her decision was made, the trade school it was. My husband was so excited. She's not sure what trade she wants to pursue but she doesn't have to make that decision for a while. She will explore all the trades her first year there. Her interests are culinary arts. early childhood, cosmetology and graphic arts (for photography). She still wants to attend college after high school so I'm happy about that too. I hate to say this and I don't want to sound prejudice, but, I'm happy that she'll be attending school with kids that actually want to be there. Our town doesn't have the greatest reputation and so the school has a lot of "undesirables". The school she is going to attend has a zero tolerance policy, so you either keep your grades up and behave or you're out!

Well, that was longer that I anticipated. Have a great Tuesday!

Flat again!!!

2010-04-22T12:53:00.002-04:00

I just got back from a ride with my Thursday morning gals. It's a great group. It was so much fun until I got another freakin flat! The front tire this time. Why me??? No hot Italians this time, just me and the girls. Two stayed behind to give me a hand. It was a little troublesome this time but we changed it and got back on the road. Of course, I was super, super late getting back to work. OH well, it doesn't look like anyone was looking for me.

I had another swim lesson yesterday. God, it's really hard! It's just so much to think about, kick, breath, blow, pull, elbow high, etc., etc.....The instructor says I'm doing great and that she's going faster with me because she thinks I'm doing well, but I just feel like I'm a huge clod in the water. I'll practice tomorrow and hopefully eventually it'll just come w/o thinking so much.

Yeah, that's all I've got for now.

2010-04-19T15:34:00.003-04:00

And so here we are again, Monday, but at least the work day is almost over. My kids are on school vacation this week, but I am working all week. If we were going to have some really nice weather I would take some time off to do something with them, but it's not looking like that's going to happen.

My weekend was ok, the weather stunk! I did absolutely nothing on Friday night, I think I went to bed at 9:00. Since the weather was crappy we didn't ride outside on Saturday. The club offered a 2 hour class inside, so I did that. It was tough! Then it was home to shower, get ready, run errands and then I took an hour ride to see my friend who just lost her husband. She was having a girls night but I wasn't going to know any of the other girls, they were all friends from her town. It was fun, but since I was sober and everyone else seemed pretty drunk, the fun wore off quickly. I left around 10:30 for the hour drive home, which was torture because I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I was so happy to finally arrive at home. Sunday was a pretty quiet day. I did a little, and I mean a little, cleaning and then did my grocery shopping. I took Molly to the pool so I could practice my drills and she could swim, then we had a birthday party for my niece that night. That's about it for the weekend.

I ran/walked on the treadmill today for a total of 4 1/2 miles, and it felt really good. My hip didn't hurt at all. I'm very excited about that. Tonight is my Cycling 101 class. It's supposed to be a hill climbing class, but there is a discrepancy on the website. My schedule says hill climbing and the website says group cycling skills, close group contact, riding on/off road, etc. So, I guess we'll see what it is when I show up. Lets hope for NO flat tires tonight, at least for me, it's someone else's turn.

2010-04-15T15:44:00.002-04:00

Jen - The Italian was there! He didn't stop at first but came back around after to see how we were doing. So, for the past two night I have practiced changing my tire. I refuse to feel intimidated about changing a tire out on the road again. Next time I'll be a pro.

I took a swimming lesson today. I decided to give lessons a second chance. See, back in January when I was going to do the tri I enlisted the help of a swimming coach. He was recommended by the company that was putting on the tri. I told him that I could swim, basically, but that I had never swam for sport before. Well, the day I worked with him I completely felt overwhelmed. I just felt like I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing and as I was getting tired my form got worse and worse, so everytime I'd stop he'd say, well, now we've got 6 things to fix, or now we've got 7 things to fix. Then he left me with all these drills to do and I was completely lost. I was supposed to meet with him the following week but I canceled and never rescheduled. It just made me hate the pool. Recently I started getting in the pool again but of course my form still sucks and everyone always has a different opinion on how you should swim. So, I emailed one of the swim coaches at my gym and actually ran into her yesterday and explained my situation. We met today and it was awesome. She totally disagrees on how that other coach goes about things, even though she doesn't know him, but she knows the type. We started with the basics, kicking and breathing. She had me doing drills, but these drills I could do. So we worked for a little over a 1/2 hour and then I practiced on my own. I'll get in the pool again before our next session, which is next Wednesday. I just feel like this is a good pace for me and exactly what I needed in order to improve at swimming.

FLAT!

2010-04-12T21:21:00.002-04:00

So, I got a flat while out on the road today. We were heading back and it was starting to get dark and I felt my back tire getting "bumpy". I asked one of the instructors to take a look while we were riding and yep, I had a flat. Grrrrr.......I didn't want to have to practice my tire changing skills already. I had 3 guys that stopped with me and that made me very nervous. They were all really nice and told me to take my time, but they still gave me some help. The whole group had stopped up ahead and waited and I didn't even realize that until we started moving again. So, that was my night.

2010-04-12T08:02:00.003-04:00

I guess this is turning into my weekly update, I just don't seem to think of my blog every single day. Now to remember how the week went.

On Monday night I had my first Cycling 101 class. The title was "Getting to know you bike". So, we went over some things I already knew and some things I didn't. I learned how to lube my chain, which I did. I can't say I like the grease, but I'm able to do it. I also learned how to change a flat tire, which I did beautifully!!!! And, all by myself. The class is very small, there are only about 6 of us and there were 6 instructors, so lots of personal attention. The person that helped me was a 28 year old Italian cyclist, yeah, I'm not complaining. He's still got the accent and everything. We also went over some road safety rules and just some basic things. Tonight's class is out on the road, so we'll see how that goes. Oh, and Monday at lunch I got in the pool. I'm determined to get back in today at lunch, I NEED to work on getting better at that.

Tuesday I took cycling class in the morning and had Pilates that night. Tuesday night was also the night that my friend died of ALS, 41 years old. There are no words. He was diagnosed one year ago and leaves a wife and two boys, 4 and 7 years old. I'm so grateful his suffering is over, but just so sad for his family.

Wednesday I had my nail and toes done during lunch and went out biking that night. We had temps in the 80's and 90's that day and it was a gorgeous night. I went out with 3 others and we did about 20 miles. I didn't fall at all! I was very happy about that. And, I felt so strong on the road. The only mistake I made, and I have no idea why I did this, is that we had a steep hill to climb and, for some odd reason, I shifted up and made it harder to pedal, instead of doing the opposite. I came to a complete stop, couldn't pedal anymore and I couldn't figure out why. Thankfully, I was able to clip out and didn't topple over. One of the other girls stopped and noticed my chain and told me that I was in the hardest gear. DUH!!!! Yeah, I won't be making that mistake again.

Thursday was a cycling class and a hard one at that. That night I had to find something to wear to the funeral so that was about it. The kids needed something to wear too, so that's what we did. We didn't go to the wake, it was out of town, but my husband went for the whole thing. I felt guilty about not going but I really needed to find something to wear for the next day. Yeah, sounds lame I know.

Friday was the funeral and it was just so sad. The weather was rainy and gloomy, perfectly fitting for the occasion. Other than that, we did nothing. I was going to try and workout at some point, but that never happened.

On Saturday I went for a 30 mile bike ride with two others, a woman from class and her husband. I was kind of torn about who I was going to ride with that day. The training center is offering a 10 week program, which started Saturday. It's meant for those who are training for a charity ride or a century ride, which means me, because I'm training for the MS Ride in June. It's $179 for the 10 weeks. I have some people, telling me it's a waste because the road is free and you don't need to pay for it, and others saying it's worth the money, not for just the miles, but for the information you'll get about group riding. I certainly need that instruction about group riding. So, after talking with a few of the girls that rode with them on Saturday I think I'm going to try it this Saturday. I really know nothing about group riding yet. I know I'll learn some from my Cycling 101, but this will really reinforce things. Plus, I'll get to know some riding routes. Oh, and I fell this past Saturday, grrrrrr................We were coming to a stop sign and I thought the coast was clear, but we were stopping anyway, and I didn't unclip my foot and I toppled over. Opposite side than last week. This one hurt!!!! I was so mad, I ripped the leg warmers I had just bought. It was chilly that day so we had to dress warmer. So now both my knees are skinned and bruised and I have another huge bruise on my upper thigh. I really hope that I stop falling.

OK, so that's my book for the week. Sorry, all I seem to talk about is cycling, but that seems to be my life right now.

2010-04-05T15:30:00.002-04:00

Oh crap, a week went by and I haven't posted. I guess not a lot happened but I'll try and recap. I got in 3 indoor bike class, 2 Pilates classes, 2 weight training sessions and one outdoor bike ride. There should be 1 swim in there too, but I chickened out. I think that was it for the week. We had a bad week with cell phones last week. My youngest daughter's got stolen at school and then that same night she went to answer my iPhone and dropped in on the floor and cracked the screen. I was soooo pissed! So, right now she is using an old phone and mine is still working but looks in bad shape. I took Friday off because the weather was looking beautiful and the kids had no school. It was a great day off. I didn't do much except for Pilates and some running around but it nice not to work. On Saturday the kids and I all got up early and volunteered and the indoor triathlon at our gym. It was very inspiring to see. It was mostly women and they were of all shapes and sizes and all different ages and fitness levels. This was the triathlon I was supposed to do but pulled out because of my running issues. After the tri, a couple of the ladies I cycle with asked if I wanted to go for a ride with them. I told them that I had never ridden outside before and didn't want to hold them up or anything but they assured me that they were fine and wanted me to come and get my feet wet. So, I drove the kids home, changed, gathered up my stuff and headed back to go for my ride. It seems silly but I was nervous, not because of my fitness level or anything like that, but because having your feet clipped to pedals outside is so much different than riding indoors. So, they had my tool around the parking lot a couple of times and practice clipping and unclipping so I could get the hang of it. I did fine, but, I fell just standing there. I had my left foot clipped in and the right was free but I leaned left and toppled over. So, that was my first fall of the day, scraped knee on the left, scraped shin on the right, grease from the chain all over my leg. Everyone told me that I'd fall at least once so I was prepared, I guess. I just didn't think it would be from just standing there doing nothing. So, off we went on our ride. In no time I had the hang of it. It felt great! I was keeping up, I was staying on the wheel of the person in front of me, I was clipping and unclipping without much trouble. All was going. We stopped at a farmstand to use the bathroom and again, I was just standing there, one foot clipped in and down I go. AGAIN!!! Damn it! Same knee, ouch. So, that was the last time I fell on the bike that day and I think now I know how to prevent that. All in all, the ride was great, the girls complimented me on my riding and I'm excited to get back out there. Of course when I got home I still had my cycling shoes on and walking through the garage, all bloody already, the bottom of my shoe got stuck on the hose across the floor and I went head first into the garage wall. Very graceful huh? And I didn't even tell you that earlier that day, after the triathlon I tripped over one of the bike trainers. So, 4 falls in one day, I feel like a clutz. Of course I had shorts on yesterday and had to answer all sorts of questions.

So, Easter was great. I hosted, shocker! NOT! It's so much work though. I did some cleaning both Friday and Saturday. I cooked the creamed onions on Saturday and my husband did the stuffing on Saturday. Then I got up at 6:00 on Sunday and started with everything else. I had fruit to cut up, white chocolate bread pudding to make, a homemade caramel sauce and white chocolate sauce to make, potatoes to peel, green beans to get ready for a casserole, etc., etc......I really thought I'd sneak in a workout, but no, that wasn't happening. I didn't even get into the shower until 11:00. It was a beautiful day though and everyone enjoyed the food and each other. I was happy to see everyone go home though. Then, I proceeded to throw away all the leftover desserts and the rest of the white chocolate I didn't use. I can just see all of that tempting me when I get home. I really need to get back on the ball here. I took out all of my summer clothes and the shorts I wore yesterday weren't nearly as loose as they should be. It's all that Easter candy I had been eating BEFORE Easter.

Today I actually got in the pool for a workout today. Yay me! It's just really time consuming for me to go during the day. I have to take my eye makeup off, do my workout and then shower, do all my makeup all over again and do my hair all again too. It's definitely a 2 hour lunch day when I do that. I really want to get better at swimming though. It's just such a different cardio system than anything else. I can bike for hours with no problem but swim 2 laps and have to rest. My swimming stamina needs some work. Tonight I have my first Cycling 101 class. Tonight is all about "Getting to Know Your Bike". We'll be changing tires, greasing the chains, making adjustments, etc., etc. Sounds fun huh? It's all stuff I need to know though. I'm sure I'll be getting greasy.

OK, yeah, so that's my book for the day. I guess that's what happens when I'm trying to stay up to date with this thing.

2010-03-29T10:54:00.002-04:00

And it's Monday once again! And it's raining once again. I think it has rained for the past 4 Mondays. I guess I don't really mind since I'm at work and it's easier to work and a rainy Monday rather than a beautiful one. It's supposed to rain until Wednesday though so more flooding, ugh! We don't have a problem but it's all around us. We are going to break a record for rain in the month of March, it's crazy! Starting Thursday it's supposed to dry out and the sun will make its return and then they're talking 75 for the weekend, yahoo!!!!

On Friday night I went out for dinner with my girlfriend, she took me out to thank me for watching her dog. It was a nice night, only one glass of wine and I was home early. On Saturday morning I did NOT make it to bike class, boo hoo. I really should have gone but had so much other crap to get done that I talked myself out of going. I had promised to take the girls shopping but we had to be back by 3:30 so Molly could go to a friend's house and if I went to bike class we wouldn't even be able to leave until at least 11:30 and it's an hour drive, so there was no way we could have gone. We had a nice time shopping and we had lunch. we didn't buy much except at the Lush store, I just love that place. I didn't even buy anything at Lululemon, which is my weakness. That night, Molly slept at her friend's and Emily and I went and visited a friend of mine who just left her husband and moved into a condo. My husband had to work so he was sleeping. I had two glasses of wine at her place and that was just enough for me to wake up with a headache, so again, no bike class. I did get some cleaning done though and did groceries. That was about it for the day. And that brings us to Monday. Today I'll hit the gym at lunch for some weight training and then I have bike class tonight.

So, I'm on the search for a new hairdresser. Currently my niece is doing my hair. She lives and works as a hairdresser in Boston but comes home on Tuesdays and does hair at her mother's house. She converted their downstairs into a little salon and had quite a few people in this area, including most of my family. Her prices were great and I was always happy with her. She has decided not to do hair here anymore. She invited us all to have our hair done at the salon in Boston but I don't have the time to drive to Boston, an hour, pay for parking, and pay the crazy prices her salon charges. I was going to go back to my old hairdresser, she was pregnant a while back and had to stop working early on in her pregnancy due to complications, that's when I started with my niece. Well, her prices have gotten pretty crazy too. She's charging $50 for a shampoo/cut/style. I was only paying $25 before. I never just get a cut, I always need a color, but it would cost me $100 just to take my two kids! And, it's not like she did anything special. For me, with a color and cut, it would be $85, which isn't that bad, I was paying $60 before, but, for this area, it's still kind of high. I have one more appt. left with my niece and then I'll have to find someone else. I just hate starting with someone new.

Happy Friday!

2010-03-26T14:51:00.002-04:00

I'm so glad it's Friday, as always. Today was my for my duet in Pilates, which is just a semi-private class, I've been doing that on Fridays for a while now. I really enjoy doing that on Fridays. I've got about an hour of work left and then I'm going out for dinner tonight. The girl that I watched the dog for is taking me to dinner as a thank you. Tomorrow is my 2 1/2 hr. cycling class and then I think I'm taking the girls shopping. That's about it for weekend plans.

OK, so I'm an idiot! I really, really thought we had signed up for Direct TV, come to find out it's not Direct TV, but Dish Network. I have no idea why I thought that. So, now there is a reason why I can't seem to find Showtime or HBO on Demand, they don't have it!!! Ugh! You've got to be kidding me! Now I can't even watch Dexter. I'm so bummed. I'm not sure I'm liking this whole thing now. The On Demands sucks compared to cable. Oh well, too late now I guess. I wish my husband had done a little more research before deciding on this.

So, that's my short and sweet update just to keep this thing going.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2010-03-24T15:24:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I'm done doggie sitting, thank god!!! She picked up the dog yesterday while I was at work. It was such a relief to go home and not see the dog there. I never thought I could dislike a dog but I really was starting to resent that one. Before the owner left she asked me if I could watch her again next month if all went well this time. I am NOT watching her again. This dog has to be brought out at least every hour and I just don't have the time for that and I think it's mean to keep it in the crate ALL the time. She has already found someone else.

I had PT on Monday, it went fine. She watched me run again and is having me work my external rotation, my right leg does something funky when I run now and we're trying to stop that. Don't you love my medical term, funky, I don't know how else to explain it. I guess I'd have to video it to really have you understand. Monday night was cycling class and that went well. I felt pretty good. Tuesday was another cycling class in the am and then Pilates last night. I planned on going to do my PT exercises and some other weight training at lunch today, but, that didn't happen because I wasn't sure if there was enough coverage here at work. So, I guess it's just cycling class tonight and maybe I'll try and sneak in my PT exercises. Tomorrow morning is yet again another cycling class. I normally don't do this many in one week but it's just worked out this way. I don't have a lot of other choices for cardio, and the cycling really kicks my butt.

Oh, and we got our Direct TV installed but I can't find Showtime On Demand so that I can watch Dexter. I'm so bummed!

I just remembered about this and came back to blog about it. There is a woman in my Pilates class, she's probably around 55, certainly doesn't look it, but I'm thinking she just looks great for her age. She actually belongs to another gym but takes Pilates at my gym. I think she's a little obsessed with working out. When she came to Pilates last night she said that this was her 4th hour of working out that day. What do you think? A bit much???

2010-03-22T07:52:00.003-04:00

Wow, I can't tell you how much it pleases me to actually see comments. Yay, I still have some followers.

See, I'm really trying here to keep this up. Of course it's not the most exciting read, but then again, that's my life!

Another weekend over, yuck! Yesterday was a pretty productive day. I was up by 7:00, caught up on email and Facebook and all that non-important stuff. I got some cleaning done, got my workout in, showered and dressed and was out the door to run errands with the girls. We had to run to Petco to buy two new leashes. We are puppy sitting right now and the dog chewed through both my dog's leash and her own. She won't leave my dog alone so we've had to keep her leashed to a chair. She's not potty trained either so at least I know where she's peed or pooped. It hasn't been fun. I wasn't told about this before I offered to take her. Anyway, I bought the new leashes, went and got a birthday card for my brother, went to the bike shop to get a new helmet and then to the grocery store. I was done all of this by 2:00. I unpacked groceries and made a quinoa and black bean salad for the week and then played around on the computer until around 5:00. We went to my sister's house for a combined birthday party for myself, my brother and my husband and then it was home for a little TV and bed. I couldn't keep my eyes open to watch Amazing Race. I have to watch the rest this morning to see the end. I hope it's available on line.

We are getting Direct TV installed today. I'm so excited that we'll have Showtime now. I can finally watch Season 4 of Dexter. Of course, by accident, I already know what happens on the Season 4 finale so I'm bummed about that.

On tap today for today, besides work, is PT at 12:00 and then cycling class at 6:00. I'm hoping my stamina is coming back for cycling. I have a chest cold for about 2 1/2 weeks now and am finally starting to cough less. I'm certain it's something I caught from class since about 1/2 the class seems to have it. It's all that heavy breathing we do, we passed it to each other.

OK, so that's my boring little update. Please don't hate me for being boring.

2010-03-20T18:11:00.002-04:00

Thanks Irene for stopping by. I had read about your foot on Facebook. That stinks!

Today started off with an hour and a half of cycling and then it was such a beautiful day that I took the girls to the beach. We basically just went to get our favorite pizza, visit my father in law and do a little shopping. We did sit on the beach for a while but I really should have worn shorts and I was in jeans so I was getting a little toasty. It was such a nice day though. We strolled around Newburyport which is a beautiful town. It was packed, but it was strange to see no boats in the harbor. Normally there are some serious yachts docked there but none today. I would have loved if my husband could have come and we could have had wine on one of the outside decks but he couldn't come with us.

Nothing planned for tonight, maybe some cleaning. And nothing planned for tomorrow, probably more cleaning, hopefully a workout, grocery shopping and a trip to the bike store.

Have a great weekend!

2010-03-19T14:06:00.002-04:00

I was going to delete my whole blog but I thought I'd post just to see if anyone is still out there. I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll just update to what I'm doing now. Back in November I started indoor cycling, it's not your typical spin class, it's a class, using your own road bike on a trainer and it trains you for outdoor cycling. A lot of people in there are hard core cyclists. I'm not sure how hard core I'll ever be, but I've really enjoyed the group indoor rides and am looking forward to getting outside. So basically I've been cycling an hour on Monday and Tuesdays, an hour and fifteen minutes on Thursday and 2 1/2 hours on Saturday. The Saturday class is a killer. The classes start cutting down in April and then stop completely in May. Monday night group rides will start in May and then people just start breaking off and riding together. I have met some really great people in this class. Back in January I cycled in an indoor time trial in Boston at the Harpoon Brewery, it was a lot of fun. They ended up losing all our times and so, to make up for it, they gave us all a case of beer and are allowing us to compete in next year's event for free. I thought that was fair of them. I do well at cycling, better than I ever did at running. They periodically do a Funtional Threshold Power Test and that shows at what wattage you should be riding at. It gives you zones such at endurance, tempo, lactate and VO2. I took my 3rd power test yesterday. They suck!!!! You start with a really good warmup, some speed work, just opening up the legs and then do an all out 4 minute interval. You're supposed to give it your all and leave nothing, it's supposed to get your legs ready for the 20 minute test. After that we recover for about 10 minutes and then the test actually begins. It's a 20 minute test and your supposed to go at a wattage you think you can hold for the 20 minutes. You should be a 9 out of 10 on the perceived exertion scale. It's a mind game too. The first time I took the test was in November and since I didn't know what to expect, I think it was better. My power number ended up at 250, which I guess is excellent for a woman, the only other woman with a higher number was a seasoned cyclist and hers was 253. The 2nd power test was in January and at about 8 minutes in I bonked. I think it was mental, but I just had to stop. So, this time I was so worried about that happening again so I was real nervous for the test. I made it through this time and got a 252. So, not a huge difference but it felt great to get through the test and improve a little.

Back in December, the gym I go to was advertising a mini indoor triathlon taking place in April. It really sounded great and I wanted to do it. So, I tried running again and thought it was going, ok, not great, but ok, so I signed up for it. I started training for it, got in the pool, which I didn't love but wanted to give it a try, and started to increase my running. Well, one of the cycling coaches saw me running on the treadmill and asked me if I had hip issue. Hmmmm......well, hell yes, I had a stress fracture back in April, but it's supposed to be healed. I had my old running coach take a look at my running and she thought the same thing, that there is a problem here. So, back to the doctor for my hip. After an exam and an MRI I'm back in PT. The fracture healed fine but there is still some residual swelling in the femoral neck. So, no running right now and I had to pull out of the triathlon. I guess running just isn't for me, but I know I will try it again.

Ok, well, enough of that. I'm not even sure if anyone will read this, maybe I'll try and keep up with this again, who knows. I still make the rounds and check out everyone elses blogs, but just don't comment often.

I hope everyone is well. Miss you all!

2009-07-26T07:59:00.003-04:00

Well, I finally got to meet Jen from blogger world. Here is a picture of us at the Red Sox game. After I downloaded this picture on my computer I had to crop it because I looked pregnant. I'm really hoping it was just the shirt and that I really didn't look like that all day. We had a great time. Her picture came out a little better because we were looking at her husband when my husband snapped this picture. I can't wait to meet up with her again.

Update time!!

2009-06-18T14:12:00.002-04:00

I was leaving a comment on someone's blog and decided that I should get my butt over here and update, not that anyone comes here anymore, and that's my fault for not being better at this. Anyway, my injury ended up being a stress fracture in my hip, ugh!!!! Not fun! I wasn't diagnosed until maybe a month after the original pain. Irene was right all along. Since she suffered the same injury and unfortunately for her, hers ended up fracturing all the way, she knew the signs. She pushed me to keep bugging the doctors for further testing, etc., since I was told, too, that it was a hip strain. So, I was on crutches for a couple of weeks and now I'm walking again, but I'm still not painfree. I'm better though. I'm able to cycle now with now pain, but that's about it for cardio right now. I won't be running for a long time. I was supposed to run a road race this weekend too, bummer! I'm back to lifting weights again too, even though I could do that while on crutches, it was going to be easy to get around, so I didn't do that for a couple of weeks either. I did do Pilates during that time, though, because she was able to modify it for me to do only upper body. I go back in 4 weeks for another check and I hope to be even better by then.

I'm so excited! Jen (aka JunoJen, Jaceydee) is coming to Boston next month and we're going to get to meet. How's this for luck? She emailed me yesterday to say she was coming up the end of July and asked if maybe we could meet up for dinner and maybe a Red Sox game. I look at my calendar and we just happen to be going to the Red Sox game on July 25th, and that's when she's here. I ask my husband how many tickets we have and we have 4. He just figured we take the kids but they don't really care so we'll take Jen and her husband. It just works out so perfectly. I can't wait. Now I just hope for nice weather. It's been so crappy here lately so we're due for some warmer and drier weather.

Not much else going on. My husband is good, the kids good. My youngest just turned 10 yesterday and her birthday party is Saturday. A pool party and it's supposed to rain, just great! My oldest will be 13 on July 2nd. They are looking forward to getting out of school. Their last day is Monday. Molly is graduating from elementary school, so we have her "graduation" on Monday. That's always fun to see and a little sad too.

Work has been slow. I'm so thankful to have a job, but it's really scary. I've been here for 16 years and would hate to look for a new job. I hardly have any work to do. I watched seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Rescue Me in the past 3 weeks, ha ha. Now I'm listening to the book "My Sister's Keeper" on audio just to pass some time. Thank god I'm back to the gym, though, sitting here through lunch the past 6 weeks or so has killed me. I'm used to be being gone 2 hours during lunch and when you stop doing that, it makes for a very long day.

OK, so that's my update for today. Thanks to everyone who still stops by here.

2009-04-27T14:54:00.002-04:00

Um yeah, it's been a long time. So, it seems as if I only write when I have an injury of some sort so guess what???? I have a new injury! Go figure! Not my wrist this time, even though I still have issues with that, but I'm done dealing with the Dr. on that one for now. It's not horrible or anything but I still have pain. The Dr. thinks it may clear up on it's own in time. Anyway, my new injury is my leg, not lower like I always get with running, but right in the hip joint. I started working with a coach on my running about 6 weeks ago. My goal was to run injury free. Along with the running, it was nutritional assistance, physical assessment testing, etc. All that fun stuff! I've been enjoying it a lot and have actually gotten down to 136.5, my goal is 135. So, I was signed up for a road race for yesterday. It was only a 5K, but a good one to get my feet wet again. I hadn't run a lot outside, but was getting outside at least once a week since the weather got nicer. She also had me doing hill repeats on the treadmill and some speed work too. I also kept up with Pilates, weights and cross training. Anyway, during my hill repeats on Wednesday I started with this pain in my hip flexor region, just because I don't know what else to call it. It was bad enough that I couldn't continue running. I did feel some pain there a few days earlier but it wasn't anything bad and it seemed to have gone away, so I didn't worry about it. I let my trainer know about it and she gave me some stretches to do, told me to take Advil and ice it. I had Thursday off from training, weights on Friday and then she wanted me to run on Saturday, the day before the race. She had me doing 2.5 - 3 miles, flat surface, along with some speed intervals. On Friday I was still having pain so I emailed her to ask if I should still do my run on Saturday because I was afraid to make it worse. She told me to go ahead and run on Saturday, that it would be better if I did. So, 8:00am Saturday I head out, it was already almost 70 out, and I had my daughter follow me on her bike. I started off great. I started off pretty strong, it was feeling good and I was really surprised and thought to myself, maybe she was right, maybe this is what I needed. I got to about the mile and a half mark and took a breather to walk for a bit. I was heading up a hill and wasn’t supposed to do any hills (even though there is one in the race). When I started walking I noticed the pain coming back, but then it felt better to run, so I would run a bit. I started alternating running and walking and before I knew it, it was becoming very painful to do either. I basically limped home and almost didn’t think I would make it. I almost told my daughter to let me ride her bike and she could walk. I got home iced it right away and emailed her (Carrie, the trainer). She had invited me over to one of those “cash for gold” parties so she told me that she’d take a look at me while I was there. She did all kinds of things to me (she’s a Physical Therapist), put my pelvis back in alignment, checked everything basically but it did nothing to relieve the pain. She told me that from all that she did, I’d probably have some more pain from that. I, obviously, couldn’t run the race on Sunday, which was a bummer because I already paid for it. As that day went on I got worse and worse, hardly even able to walk. By that night I was on crutches. We had dinner plans and it was awful to try and get around. Even driving was almost impossible. I had to use my hand to lift my leg from the gas pedal to the brake. I went to bed Saturday night just to wake up in extreme pain at 2:00. I couldn’t take it so I took 4 Advil, 1 Vicodin and 1 Flexeril. I made my way to the couch and did get a couple of hours sleep. That seemed to take the edge off the pain, for the most part, for most of the day. I had to take the Advil and Vicodin again at 4:30 and that made it better again. Again, I didn’t sleep well last night but didn’t take anything. I just can’t get comfortable in bed. I took 4 Advil when I got up and now I’m at work, but everytime I stand and start to walk I pretty much wince in pain. I emailed Carrie this morning and gave her an update. She wrote back and told me the call the doctor, which I have not done yet. I guess I’m just frustrated because she told me to run and now look at me. Yes, I’m a big girl and should have listened to my own body, but seeing she’s supposed to be the expert, I trusted her. I have 2 more sessions left with her for the 8 weeks I paid for, but I’m stopping after that. I had wanted to sign up for another 8 week session, even though I can’t really afford it, but I was going to do it anyway. Maybe I just wasn’t mean to run, who knows! I always, and I mean always, end up with an injury.

OK, so that's my rant for the day.

Wrist Update

2009-01-27T14:55:00.002-05:00

So yes, I went to the hand specialist today. Really no new news, or anything other than I expected. He said that if I had come to him in the first place he would have had me in a long arm cast for 4 weeks, a short arm cast for another 2 weeks and then a splint for 4 weeks. After that he would have told me to wait 3 months before resuming heavy activities, i.e. lifting weights. So, for now I'm off the weights again to let this thing heal. The pain I'm having is normal and probably more than it should be because I've been trying to use it too much. I go back in 4 weeks and hopefully I'll be feeling better by then.

2009-01-26T15:51:00.002-05:00

I'm a much better skier than snowboarder. I went skiing both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. I went with my girls and we had a ball. Emily is still very timid about it, but Molly picked it right up. Emily stayed on the small hills and I took Molly up the chair lift a couple of times. She looks so cute skiing. I felt bad, I wanted Emily to give it a try but she's still too afraid. I'm hoping that she will get more comfortable with it and decide to try the lift. I wanted to maybe take them again on Wednesday, it's supposed to snow all day and they will probably have no school and our passes are good on non holiday weekdays, but as of right now I don't know if I can have the day off. I emailed both of my bosses but neither of them has decided to return my email with a yes or a no. Nice huh!

My dr. appt. is tomorrow morning. I'm anxious to find out what he says.

Oh jeez, look at the time. I'd better start shutting down. There's no way I'm staying here a minute longer than I have to.

2009-01-22T15:08:00.003-05:00

I finally sick enough of this wrist injury that I made an appointment with a hand specialist. I'm not sure if it's just not healing because I'm being stubborn and still trying to lift or if it's that it didn't heal right. I guess I'll find out on Tuesday. If they tell me to stop lifting then I will listen and stop lifting and just do cardio. I'm dying to do a decent bicep curl, but it's just not happening. I'm glad I lift at home most of the time because the faces I make trying to do them isn't pretty. Hammer curls aren't too bad, but everything else is so painful. I can't lift anywhere near the weight I was before the injury, but I'm trying.

Hmmm....other than that, what's new??? Nothing! I'm sick of winter. We have had so much snow and cold, it's been awful. I keep wondering why I live here.

Works sucks! We just have no new jobs coming in, no one is paying, etc., etc.....I'm thankful to still have my job but this is the first time ever that I have wondered if they place will make it. It's not a good feeling. I've been here for 16 years and I wouldn't even know where to go if I had to go look for a job. Fingers crossed that this economy will start turning around.

Oh, so do I have any good news? My husband and the kids are great, no problems there. My 40th birthday is right around the corner, March 12th. My husband turns 40 on March 8th. We plan on going to Mohegan Sun for the weekend, nothing big, the kids will come too and anyone else that wants to tag along.

Ok, so I guess that's it for now. I'm still reading everyone's blogs but I've been so bad about commenting lately.

2009-01-07T17:59:00.002-05:00

Ok, so it's been a while again. I've been hanging out at Facebook a lot lately. I just had to update you on my doctor's appt. today. Come to find out that my wrist has been broken this whole time. No wonder it still hurts after 6 weeks. She took another xray today and her words were, "You've got to be friggin kidding me!" There was a break and she could see it now because it's healing. She said it's healing nicely and at this point I would have been getting my cast off. I go back in 4 weeks and hopefully by then I will be pain free. If not, well then there's obviously a problem. Lets hope that I'm pain free by then!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

2008-12-16T08:51:00.002-05:00

I woke up to glorious power this morning!!! I didn't know until I looked outside and saw the neighbors lights on. We had shut off our main power because of the generator so I had to wait for my husband to come home from work to turn on anything, but it wasn't long and I was just giddy with excitment. I feel lucky because half the city is still without power. The kids haven't had school since Thursday and they will be making an announcement today regarding tomorrow and possibly the rest of the week. The roads are still a mess and so many are still without power so I don't think they will have it tomorrow. Some school districts have just canceled it until the new year. After this whole situation it's time to revisit the conversation of putting my mother in assisted living. She couldn't stay alone without power and she really shouldn't be alone anyway. It's really cruel that she's alone. I've mentioned this before, but, it's my brother and sister and took her out of the facility way back when, when my dad died. I thought she should stay but they didn't. She never bathes, wears dirty clothes and you can't leave any food at her house because she'll just eat it all at once. Yeah, I know, it sounds awful that she's alone, doesn't it??? I just hope my brother and sister are more acceptable to it now.

On another subject, the gym is STILL closed! I'm not sure why, well duh, obviously power issues, but jeesh! At least I can do cardio at home tonight. I still can't lift because of my wrist. How long is this damn thing going to bother me????

OK, back to work now. I was only here about a 1/2 day yesterday because we lost power here.

Day 4

2008-12-15T07:33:00.003-05:00

with no power!!! We've had the worst ice storm I've ever seen. I'm sure you've heard about it. It's awful! I woke up Friday morning to no power and never thought we'd still be out. As we stood out on our porch in the dark on Friday morning all we could hear were trees crashing to the ground. The sky was lit with transformers exploding left and right. Car alarms were going off everywhere from trees falling on them. We had a pine tree fall and hit our house and land in the middle of our driveway while we were standing outside. The kids got so scared. We were finally able to get a generator on Saturday so at least we have heat now. The house was getting mighty cold when the temps were in the teens. I'm starting to feel really depressed over this. We can't even get any information on when power will be restored. There are just lines down everywhere in the city. Christmas is next week and I should be baking, wrapping and getting ready, but I'm not. I don't have a thing wrapped and my baking is only about 1/2 done. Right now I'm feeling sleep deprived and I need a cup of coffee. There wasn't any place open on my ride to work so I got nothing. There is power here at work so I'm working today and it's kind of a relief just to get out and do something normal. I'm even going to the gym at lunch today. And on top of this all, my wrist is still not doing well, grrrr.......OK, that's all I've got, nothing good to say at all.

Edit - I just called the gym and they aren't even open today, grrrrr.............................

2008-12-11T08:06:00.003-05:00

I had my Dr.'s appt. yesterday instead of today. A mix up on their part, but I was glad to go a day earlier. No great or new news. They took another x-ray, it showed nothing new. She thinks maybe that I've got a secondary injury to the sprain and is now treating it like tendonitis. So, I'm in a new splint, one that immobilizes my thumb and makes life a living hell, well, not really, and I have to give myself ice massages. It's awful. It's so painful rubbing ice directly on your skin, but if it will help me get better I will do it. I did it once last night and again this morning. I go back in 3 weeks and if it's still not better I will get a cortisone shot. I sure hope to God that it's better by 3 weeks. I just want to get back to normal activity.

2008-12-05T17:54:00.002-05:00

So, I have an appointment with the Ortho next Thursday. Today I had the same, if not more, level of pain. Have I jumped the gun on this and made an Ortho appt too early? Katie commented on how sprains can take a long time. Am I just not giving this enough time? I just never thought it would hurt like this if it was a sprain. I don't know. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens at my appointment next week. If it starts getting better than I will cancel the appointment and let nature take its course. I don't want to waste anyone's time with this.

Tonight is pretty quiet. My husband is at his departments Christmas party and I just took the girls to dinner. Now I'm just waiting for my brother to drop my niece off. She's sleeping over. Tomorrow I'm taking the girls to gymnastics and then to the pre-opening of an indoor water park that is opening in our city. Our company did the engineering work so I was able to get free tickets. I just hope it's not so packed that the kids don't have fun. The kids are really looking forward to it. Tomorrow my husband is working a double so not much else is planned. On Sunday we talked about going skiing, but I don't know with my wrist. I can hold on to ski poles without a problem but I just don't know if I want to risk another injury yet. If my husband still wants to go I may, but I don't know. I'm sure my doctor wouldn't want to hear that. I really don't think it would bother me, but knowing my husband, we probably won't go. Since he's working a double, he'll be dead tired, poor guy!

I finally made my daughter an appointment with a Podiatrist. She's had an ingrown toenail and he's finally ready to have it fixed. She's been too afraid. It's hurting so much that she wants to get it fixed ASAP. But, of course I couldn't get her an appt. until 12/30, but we are on a cancellation list and she seemed pretty sure we could get in before that date.

Lets see, no workout today, I took today off. Just for shits and giggles, I tried to see what, if anything, I could do for weights. Yeah, that was a laugh! I took a 4 lb. DB and couldn't even hardly hold it with my left hand. I could do legs if I did them at the gym. I, obviously, couldn't do anything holding DB's but I could use a bar, the Smith machine or leg press, etc. I think next week I will at least do legs. I really couldn't find anything else that didn't cause me pain.

Well, that's it for me. Two days in a row, wow!

2008-12-04T19:43:00.002-05:00

So, it's been almost a whole week and I still have no relief for my wrist, ugh! I haven't lifted a weight in almost 2 weeks and it's killing me. I never go this long. I actually called the doctor today because I just figured I'd start to get a bit better by now. Yes, it's been than the weekend but still. I'm having trouble lifting things, i.e. my water bottle when it's full, buttoning my jeans and wiping my ass, yeah sorry, but so true! So, I called the doctor, explained my situation and also said, if it's just going to take more time then just tell me, I don't want to waste anyone's time here. The nurse called me back and again, I had to explain it all over again and she said she was going to talk to the doctor and get back to me. The nurse calls back and says that she thinks I should go to an Ortho, so fine, get me an appointment. She calls back late in the day to say that the Ortho practice has a clinic this Saturday from 11 -1 and that I should go to that. Well, that's good and all, but I can't go on Saturday. She then tells me that she can make me a regular appt. but that they are really booked up and that the appt. won't be for a while. Jesus! What the hell! There are 4 doctors in that practice and no one can see me? Then send me to another doctor. I was just a bit irritated. I told her that I guess I'll just have to make the appt and wait and see what happens. She hasn't called back yet. I hope that this pain just goes away because I'll be really pissed if the appt isn't for a month and I can't lift for that long. I've been doing some research on the internet, which can be a dangerous thing, but there is a fracture of your wrist, a scaphoid fracture, that doesn't show up right away. Normally it won't show up for a week or two after, once the healing begins and I have ALL the symptoms of that. I'm not saying that's what I have, I have no patience at all, so I'm probably just expecting too much too soon, but I just hate not knowing. OK, so that's my rant. And, oh, I think I'm going to switch to skiing. I'm feeling too much fear to snowboard right now, plus, I think I can start back with skiing sooner because I'm less apt to fall and hurt my wrist. Of course, I'll probably fall and break an ankle but at least that way I can get an appt with an Ortho, just kidding.

So anyway, I've done cardio all week, but I miss lifting. I just feel incomplete. I did do Pilates on Tuesday night and she adjusted everything so we mostly worked core and legs, so that was good. Everyone else probably hated it, but oh well.

I guess that's it for now. Not much else is going on except for this damn wrist issue.

2008-11-30T08:23:00.003-05:00

Well, I took my 2nd attempt at snowboarding on Friday. It was just me and Molly this time. I should have known that when my car wouldn't start that I shouldn't have gone. I took the other car and headed up to the mountain in the rain. It wasn't too bad when we got there. We took our 2nd lesson and there were 5 of us. After our lesson we decided to do some practicing. We went up to the little hill via "the magic carpet" and headed down, falling along the way. I think I still had too much fear and lost all the skills I had just learned. I didn't get hurt the first time down but definitely took a few hard on my butt. Molly wanted to go again so we did and this time I was even more scared than the first. I went down, fell to stop, got up and started again and this time I was down and stopped myself with my hands. Bad idea! It's the same thing my daughter had done the previous week. Right away I was like ouch! I unstrapped my board and walked the rest of the way and told Molly that was it for me for the day. As we were walking to return our rentals I said to her, you're not going to believe this but I hurt my wrist, just like Emily. By the time we got our belongings I was in so much pain and it was swollen. I thought for sure it was broken, so off to the ER for x-rays. I had the x-rays done and was shocked to hear it wasn't broken. I'm in a splint but I'm still not having any relief from the pain. It's my left hand too and I'm left handed. If it's only a sprain should it start feeling better by now? It's bruised, still swollen and sends me through the roof when I move my thumb. Grrrr.........So, needless to say, I haven't worked out. I really hope for some relief soon. I just folded some laundry and it sucked! I can actually type pretty well because it doesn't involved a lot of twisting of my wrist, which seems to give me the most pain. I just still can't believe it's not broken. I feel that I have a high tolerance for pain and this is sooo painful. I guess I've never had a sprain either. I broke my ankle before and actually walked on it while it was broken, but never a sprain.

I'm glad to say that Thanksgiving was great! We ended up with 24 for dinner. We had a couple of last minute additions. My sister in laws parents came, and my next door neighbors came. We had seen the neighbors out on Wednesday night and when I had asked what they were doing she told me that her mother wasn't feeling well (she has Cancer) and that they canceled Thanksgiving because of it, they were going to celebrate on Saturday instead. So, they had no plans and I invited them. I'm glad they accepted. We all had a great time. I didn't even have enough plates or silverware but we made out okay, using some old plates I had and having the kids use plastic.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sad to go back to work tomorrow, boo hoo, it's been a nice few days off.

Snowboarding

2008-11-24T11:05:00.002-05:00

So, I went snowboarding for the first time ever yesterday. We haven't had any natural snow yet, but it's been cold enough to make snow. The resort nearest to us opened on Saturday. It's only about 15 minutes away, nice and close. I had been wanting to start skiing or snowboarding for the past couple of years just to have something fun to do in the winter, since I hate it so much. The kids wanted to snowboard so I decided to do that with them. The past couple of weeks we have been buying cold weather gear to get ready for this. It's not an inexpensive sport. We're just renting equipment for now, but just the snow pants, jackets, base layers, goggles, etc. are expensive. So, we signed up for a package deal, which includes, 3 lessons, rentals for those days, lift tickets for those days and at the end of the 3rd lesson we get a bronze century pass which gets us lift tickets for all week days, holidays and school vacations excluded, and all nights, no matter if it's weekends or holidays, so it's a really good deal. We went yesterday for our first lesson and it was only the 3 of us, so it was like getting a private lesson. My daughter Molly seemed to pick it right away. I'm not doing so bad myself, I had a ball, and with a little more practice and more lessons I think I will be okay. My daughter Emily didn't fare so well. She spent a lot of time in the snow crying. She's very sensitive and I think she was getting very frustrated that we were getting it and she wasn't. At one point she fell and said she hurt her butt and back. She sat out for a little while. I convinced her to give it another try and the next time down she fell and this time cried and cried and said she hurt her arm/wrist and couldn't move it, etc. We took her over to ski patrol and they iced it and wrapped it for her. Molly and I finished with our lesson, nice mother I am, huh, but Emily said it was okay and we were just outside the ski patrol area. After that we went home and changed and then I took her to get x-rays, just to be safe, even though I didn't think it was broken or anything, it wasn't even swollen. She's milking this for all she can though. The doctor was just going to send her on her way without a bandage or anything but she really complained to he put a splint on it. I think she likes the attention it brings. She'll be fine but unfortunately she doesn't want to snowboard now. She thinks maybe she'll try skiing instead, which will work out fine if my husband does that too. He thinks he wants to. Molly and I liked it and can't wait to go back for another lesson. I just wish Emily had had a better experience or at least would give it another try.

Jacey tagged me

2008-11-09T20:09:00.003-05:00

Well, I got tagged and I'd hate to disappoint Jacey so here it goes. Of course I have no idea how to link, so I may do this wrong.

Here are the rules:

Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
7 random things about me:

1.) I am a twin.

2.) I am left handed.

3.) I have been at my current job for over 15 years.

4.) I have a hard time sleeping past 7:00am no matter what time I go to bed.

5.) One of my most embarrassing moments was on South Padre Island on Spring Break. I went with my boyfriend and some friends of his. We went to an Eddie Money concert on the beach and were drinking beer. The lines for the bathrooms were too long and no one wanted to wait so we drove back to the hotel but the traffic was really bad. I couldn't hold it any longer and ended up peeing in the car. When we got out, of course I left behind a huge wet spot and lied and said I had a beer spilled on me. Hmmm....do you actually think anyone believed me?

6.) I once flew to Texas for the weekend and never told my parents. I was in college at the time and living at home. They thought I was staying at a friend's house. My boyfriend was in school in Texas at the time. I finally told them when I was about 22.

7.) My favorite place to be is the beach.

Lets see if I can come up with 7 people here:

1.) Melissa
2.) Katie
3.) Irene
4.) Collette
5.) Pamela
6.) Tiffanie

OK, so I only did 6. Since I never seem to come over here anymore it's hard, I don't won't to bother anyone.

2008-09-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

I'm still here, just haven't had a chance to update. Quickly, this is what's new. My husband and I just celebrated our 15th Anniversary. We went to the Food and Wine Festival at Foxwoods in CT. It was awesome! What a great weekend. I'm getting better and better at running. My leg has been treating me well and I'm getting faster every week. The kids are good. Back in school, youngest is doing gymnastics. My father in law has been in and out of the hospital for the past 2 weeks. First it was nothing, then they found a blocked artery, they put in 2 stints, he was feeling better, but then yesterday he started with chest pain again so now he's back in. They can't seem to find what's causing it. So, I'm just waiting to hear what happens today. OK, so that's a quick update for anyone that still stops by.

2008-08-13T15:03:00.002-04:00

I figured I'd update before I leave for vacation on Friday. My phone, so, I ended up getting the new iPhone 3G. I went to the store not planning on it because I was told it was so hard to get, but when I got there they had them in stock, so I got it. It's pretty much the same as I had but it has a few more extras, GPS is one of them. That came in handy when my husband got lost in Boston the other day.

Last Friday night my neighbor came over to have a drink with me. She has been over my house before and for some unknown reason my dog bit her leg. I felt so horrible. I have a little Bichon Frise, well, not so little for a Bichon, but he's little to me. He has this aggression with the family next door but has never been like that with her, it's mostly with the boys, her husband and 2 kids. They have a dog also, and my dog and her dog do not get along at all. I don't know if it has something to do with that or not. Thank god she was understanding about it. To make matters worse, over the past few years he has also nipped the husband and one of the kids, maybe both, I can't remember. I'm not even sure what to do about it.

I'm trying to get my daughter back into the gym more often again. She's still doing the Pilates Reformer class but that's only once a week. We're in the advanced reformer class and that's pretty good for a 12 year old. So, I brought home a class schedule from the gym and told her to pick a class she'd like to take. And, of course I'd have to take it with her, even though I haven't done those kinds of classes in years. We decided to take a Body Pump class. I figured since I've been doing weights for years, it would be so easy for me. So, I loaded up my bar and off we go. Well, I didn't know we were starting with a warmup with the weights, so here I am with all this weight and I'm supposed to be warming up, but I'm working hard. I got through that and then got through the first leg part fine. I certainly felt it, but I didn't have to stop or anything. Then we get to chest, well, I was so embarrassed that I had to lower the weight. Man! I'm used to lifting sooo much heavier than that, but not used to doing so many reps with no rest. I got through the class and was sore for quite a few days after. It was a humbling experience. And, to my surprise, I had fun. We did it again this week too. Now tonight she wants to try Turbo Kick. I can hardly wait, not really. I already did my cardio for today, so this is an extra workout for me. I actually ran outside today. It's the first time in about a year and a half. I really enjoyed it. I wish I could bottle that feeling. If my leg is okay tomorrow I will do that again. I'm on vacation next so I figured the only workout I'll get is if I get outside on my two feet.

That's all I have time for now. Gotta finish up here at work.

Technology Sucks!

2008-07-31T10:59:00.002-04:00

Grrr...........OK, so I dropped my iPhone last night and now I can turn it on, but I can't do anything else. I cracked the screen and so the touch screen has ceased to work. So, you can call, text, email me but I can't answer. Sooooo, I look on line to see what my options are. That got me nowhere. I see that I can go to an Apple store, but the closest one is an hour away. I guess I could go on Saturday, but, after calling Apple I find out that to fix it is $200.00 and the new 3G phone costs$199.00. OK, so why pay the same for an old phone, why not upgrade my phone and pay the same amount. Well, I'll tell you why - you can't get your hands on a 3G. They sell out as quickly as they come in. This morning they had some in stock, they opened at 8:00 and they were gone by 9:00. And, you can't order one on line and have it shipped, nor can Apple ship you one. You CAN go to an authorized AT&T store and they can order you one. So, I just did that. They forget to mention that it had to be a corporate retailer, not an authorized re-seller. So, that was a wasted trip. I'd have to drive a half hour for that store. And it will take 7 - 10 days to get one in. And, I'm not sure if I even believe that. Ugh! I'm so disgusted. I'm not sure if I just want to go back to a regular phone or if I want to go through all this trouble for a stupid iPhone. I love it and all, but seriously, I don't really need all the bells and whistles.

OK, so that's my rant for the day.

Great Girls Weekend

2008-07-21T07:59:00.002-04:00

What an awesome girls weekend away! I'm already ready to make my reservations for next year. We were in Newport, RI and it couldn't have been more perfect. My girlfriend picked me up at 10:00 on Friday morning and we were on our way. The other two were meeting us there later in afternoon. We got there by noon and by 12:30 we went sitting at the outdoor restaurant, watching the yachts, eating and drinking. Our room wasn't ready yet so we had a bit of time to kill. We had a great lunch, a couple of drinks and then decided to walk around until we got the call that our room was ready. We took a walk along the docks to look at all the gorgeous boats and then headed towards downtown. We were almost there when we got the call that the room was ready so we headed back to the hotel. We checked in and got our luggage, checked out the room and then changed into our bathing suits and headed to the pool. It was a nice, hot sunny day and the pool was a salt water pool, kind of cool. Our friends showed up around 3:30 and then one of them announced that she was pregnant. She's actually had some trouble with staying preganant, having had 5 miscarriages and she wouldn't have even told us she's pregnant, she's only 11 weeks, but she knew we'd find out when she didn't drink. So, they got settled and met us at the pool where we stayed for a while. We had dinner reservations that night and had a really nice dinner. Dinner didn't start off great though. I had made these reservations six months ago and when we got seated we had the worse seat in the place. It was like we were in a hallway. I was so disappointed. We first spoke to the hostess and she said that it was the only seat they had available. Then we spoke to our waitress and she said that every Friday night some company reserves the entire front of the restaurant, which is on the water, and that they should have told us that. She then asked if we wanted to move outside and we were like, hell yeah! They normally don't seat outside for dinner, but she was going to let us since all of the confusion. It was absolutely perfect. We had the whole deck to ourselves, it was a beautiful night and the sunset was gorgeous. So all turned out well. We went into town that night and just sat at an outside bar with entertainment. It was fun except for the occasional drunk guy trying to hit on us. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at this bar that had karaoke and one of my friends and I wanted to stay and sing, but our pregnant said she wasn't into it and wanted to wait for us outside. Well, obviously, we weren't going to leave her outside, so we ended up leaving. On Saturday we all had appointments for massages, but my pregnant friend had to cancel hers, she was far enough along to have one. Two of our appointments were at 9:00, I was getting the ultimate massage, an 110 minutes hot stone and swedish massage and my friend was just getting a 25 minute massage. As we're waiting in our robes in the waiting room I happened to mention to my friend that I never asked if it was a man or woman giving the massage, but figured they would ask if it was ok if it were a man. So, my friend gets called in, by a woman and now I'm the only one waiting. Don't ya know, Scott comes out and calls my name. I almost DIED!!!! I couldn't believe it, my longest massage ever and it has to be by a man!!! I had to just close my eyes and pretent it was a girl. I didn't mutter one word the entire time. I did enjoy it, but I will make sure to insist on a woman next time. I met the girls in town after my massage and we had lunch and were doing a little when we ran into Rosie O'Donnell. She was in town on the cruise ship that had docked. After that I started looking around and realized that there were a lot of male/male couples and female/female couples, a lot with children. So, I did a search on my phone and came to realize that it was the R Family Vacations cruise for gay and lesbian families. I had seen a documentary on it a few years back. The rest of the day was spent lounging by the pool, heading back into town for dinner and drinks etc. Pretty much the same as Friday night. Fun times though! Our pregnant friend left very early on Sunday and we spent the day touring the Breakers mansion, shopping and having lunch. The mansion was unbelievable! Hard to believe that people actually lived there. What a great life they must have had. And that was just their summer home. There are 70 rooms and there New York estate was twice as big. I got home to reality at about 5:00 last night. I can't wait for next year!

2008-07-16T09:50:00.002-04:00

I'm still here! There really hasn't been much to blog about lately. I've been pretty busy though. I haven't taken any week long vacations but I've been away for the past two. The weekend of the 4th I took the girls to my father in laws for a few days. It was a nice visit and he seems to be doing really well. The weather was good so we were able to spend time at the beach. Last weekend we went to Maine, my brother in law and sister in law have a place there. My brother and his family also came with us. We had a great time. Now this weekend is my girls weekend with my high school friends. We're going to Newport, RI, which I love, love, love!!! We leave on Friday, two of us will get there earlier than the other two. We have dinner reservations at the hotel on that night. On Saturday we all have appointements for massages and then we'll probably just sit by the salt water pool all day. That night we'll probably shop and eat around Newport and then we come home sometime on Sunday. Maybe we'll do a mansion tour or something like that. It's such a beautiful town. So, that's what I've been up to. Oh yeah, we booked our next cruise too. We leave August 20, 2009, woo hoo! That should be a great trip. So far, there are 15 of us, all family. We even got the kids their own room this time, right next to ours. It'll be nice to have a little extra room, along with an extra bathroom.

2008-06-29T20:41:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been an exhausting past few days. It's a strange feeling. Now that the wake and funeral are over, I'm feeling a bit let down. It's just that we've all been together for the past few days and it's been great to have one another. I have a new respect for family after going through this. Thursday was spent making arrangements at the funeral home, church, florist, restaurant for the luncheon after the funeral, etc. That night we went to my sister in laws and went through pictures, etc. My sister, bless her heart, offered to do a video for us. I have had this song in mind for so long and so we used that one. It was "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me. It was perfect. The video was just perfect. I waited until we were all together to watch it for the first time. On Friday when we went to the funeral home to set up all the pictures we viewed it for the first time. We all wept like babies. You wouldn't believe the number of people that showed up for the wake. It was from 5 - 8 and we had the first guests are 4:45 and it didn't stop until 8:15. It was non stop the entire time. The line was outside of the building the entire 3 1/2 hours. What a tribute. We did a quick count of the friends and family from the guest book and there were at least 400 people that came through. My mother in law looked beautiful. She looked just as if she was sleeping. Everything was just perfect. Since she loved the beach so much my girls took some shells and put them in her casket. My youngest wrote on one of them, "Grandma, I love you and will miss you. I hope you like heaven." It was so touching. The funeral was beautiful. She had picked out all the music and it was perfect. Since my husband is a cop, they were out in full force. They came to the wake and stood at the doors and then led the procession to the way to the church for the funeral. They had all the traffic stopped along the way and even stood at attention when we drove by. It gave me the chills. We have a beautiful luncheon after the funeral and we weren't sure how many people we would have. We ended up with 242. Crazy! This just shows you how much this woman was loved and respected. I'm going to miss her so much. We had everyone over today to celebrate my father in law's and both my daughter's birthdays. Yesterday my FIL turned 70. I'm going to miss seeing everyone every day. Tomorrow is back to work, ugh!!! I can't believe it, but, I haven't worked out in a week. I can't remember when I've taken that much time off. I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers through this time. Every single one of them was appreciated.

2008-06-25T22:21:00.003-04:00

My mother in law passed away at about 11:00 this morning. She had a tough night, but thankfully God took her quickly. Up until yesterday she was still all there. Yesterday, while looking for relish, she chimed up, from a full sleep and told me where it was, that's just the way she was. Then, at 12:00 am she had started with a lot of pain and my FIL had woken up my BIL and SIL and my BIL asked her if she had seen the "light". Her response, "Not THAT light". I found that so funny of her and that will be something I will always remember. I wasn't with her when she passed. My girls were finding it very hard being around her. It was obvious that her time was short and they were making my FIL feel ever worse so I decided to take them down to the beach for a while. They drew pictures in the sand for Grandma and I took pictures. We were just getting to the house when my husband called to say she had passed. I'm glad she didn't have to suffer for long. She will be missed. Anyone that ever came into contact with her was touched by her. My husband wants to try and speak at her funeral and is writing his thoughts now. This will be one of the toughest things he's ever had to do. I told him that I would finish it if he couldn't. The wake is on Friday, the funeral Saturday. We're expecting at least 200people because we know the type of person she was and how many people will miss her. Thanks to all of you who asked about her over these past few months. We will be okay. She was one of a kind.

2008-06-24T08:01:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm leaving work in just a few minutes to go be with my family to say goodbye to my mother in law. My husband called this morning to say it wasn't good, she's losing her color. He's been up there since Sunday, my kids since yesterday and now I'll go up today. I just need to go home first and pack a bag. My husband is driving back this morning to pick up more stuff for himself and the kids. I've been feeling so guilty about not being there. I'm glad I'll get to see her one more time before she goes.

2008-06-19T06:46:00.002-04:00

Today is the party!!! And yay, we have a pool. The weather could be a bit warmer but at least our pool is heated so it'll be nice and warm for the kiddos. I'm off of work today and tomorrow, so nice. The party doesn't start until 4:00 so I have pretty much the whole day to work out, make a cake, go shopping, do a bit of picking up, etc. I have one guest, my niece, coming early because her last day of school is today and it's only a 1/2 day and her big sister is going to a party after school. She's a doll though, so that's fine with me.

No new news on my MIL. She's still hanging in there. Funny story - she sent my FIL out to get a birthday card for Molly and he came home with one meant for a much older Granddaughter and my MIL was so mad at him. I thought it was funny. Molly called to thank her and she made sure to let us know that my FIL picked out the card. Molly turned 9 and the card made reference to their little girl turning into a woman, ha ha.

I'm having nightmares about snakes!!!! I HATE snakes and my husband saw a very large one in the yard yesterday, ugh!!!! I have been so lucky. I have not seen even one since I had lived here, 13 years! I know it's just a matter of time. Last night my dream was about a snake not letting me get into my house.

My kids have a pet crayfish fish. It's one of those pets that just won't die. It lives in an aquarium in water, etc., like a fish. It looks like a small lobster. Anyway, the water in the tank was low the other day so I filled it. On Tuesday my husband was doing work outside and was coming into the house from the back. He came into the living room and saw the crayfish on the floor holding up his claws in defense at him. It scared my husband to death. He thought it was a scorpian, ha ha. Even funnier, he must have gone behind the couch and came out with a huge dust ball on his back. He scooped him up in a cup and put him back in the tank and he's still alive. I guess I can't fill up the tank all the way, that little bugger. I'm shocked my dog didn't get him.

That's it for me. I need to finish my coffee, get downstairs and do weights and then get my ass showered and shopping.

Have a great one!

2008-06-14T07:20:00.002-04:00

Our pool parts arrived yesterday via Fedex, for they were only shipped on Thursday. Nice how they lied to us over and over again, saying they had shipped much earlier in the week. No wonder they couldn't get us the tracking number. Anyway, putting up that pool was a bitch! I was sooo wishing we had hired someone. My husband was so stressed, and I don't blame him. Thankfully, a neighbor came over to help, without him we never could have gotten it up. Right now it's ready for water and I'm a little afraid about that. I just hope nothing else goes wrong. I'm just hoping he can get the wrinkles out w/o a big problem and that it just gets up and running. This has not been a pleasant experience, from beginning to end.

The Red Sox game on Thursday night was awesome. What a perfect night for a game. Those seats are incredible. The wind wasn't in our favor for having any balls hit in our direction though, but that's ok. We had a great night. And, how about those Celtics! I couldn't believe they came back the other night. I don't even like basketball!

Today is my nephew's graduation party. I have to make something for it and have no idea what I'll make. Actually, I'm sure she'll have plenty if I don't, but I still feel obligated to. The only thing I HAVE to do today, is workout, but I'll have to hit the grocery store in order to make something.

Well, I can't wait to hear how Sundie does today in her competition. She's such a class act and looks beautiful. She has worked so hard and deserves to enjoy her day.

Have a great weekend!

2008-06-12T12:33:00.002-04:00

Still NOTHING!!!!!! My husband called again at 4:00 yesterday and still got nowhere. I've called twice today and gotten nowhere. How hard is it to get a friggin tracking number so I can find out where this package is??? I'm so fed up today that I emailed a local news station about it. They have a woman who does a consumer watch dog type program. I'm fed up!!!! When they talk about blood boiling, that is me right now.

I'm leaving for the Red Sox game soon, god, I can't wait!

2008-06-11T15:37:00.002-04:00

Well, no pool parts yet! Grrrr..........Supposedly they shipped yesterday, but I don't have much faith in them. My husband called on Monday and was assured that they would ship on Tuesday. I called Tuesday to try and get a tracking # or something but after 2 calls and much waiting on hold, I was told that they wouldn't have a tracking # until today. My husband tried to call today and was given the girl's voice mail and hasn't received a call back yet. He's going to call again at 4:00. It's just ridiculous. They are the worst company ever to deal with. And, of course we just had a 4 day heat wave. From Saturday until yesterday we had temps close to 100 and humidity too. Today is warm, but drier, thank god!

My week is screwy for workouts. On Monday I had to miss my lunchtime workout because the girls and I had dentist appointments and then I had a nail appointment. So, after dinner, I did a kettlebell workout and it was HARD. It was a new video I hadn't tried yet and man, it kicked my butt. I was dripping from head to toe. Tuesday was a normal day, cardio at lunch and Pilates at night. Today I planned on having a normal day but due to work issues I had to stay here, so I didn't get my cardio in. I had planned on doing legs tonight, but now I might do kettlebells again, just so that I get both cardio and strength in. Tomorrow I'm leaving work early again to go to the Red Sox game so there will be no lunchtime workout or night workout. So, unless I get up by 4:00am, there is no workout tomorrow. Friday I'm off so you'd think I could work out at some point. I know that, if we get the pool parts in, I'll be helping with that and Molly also has field day at school and I'm supposed to go watch her do that too.

No new news on my MIL yet this week. I know she was getting a wheel chair on Monday since she's been getting too weak to walk. She fell last week while visiting a neighbor and got herself a nice, big gash on her shin. She was able to make it down on Friday to my SIL's. She was beat at the end of the night, but it was great she could make it down.

So, that's about it. Wish me luck getting those gosh darn pool parts!

2008-06-06T17:17:00.002-04:00

Another day goes by and we STILL have no progress on the pool! My husband was golfing in a tournament today so he left calling Namco to me. I got right on the phone and waited and waited and waited until someone finally tried to help. I first asked for the person my husband had talked to the previous day but he was on the phone so long that the girl who answered tried to help me. I explained the situation to her and she put me on hold while she looked it up. She came back and said that the problem was that she could see that an order was placed but that the order was blank, no parts were listed. So, she asked me what it was we ordered. I had no idea what we ordered, this was the first time I had ever talked with someone. I tried to conference my husband in but couldn't get in touch with him. Don't you know, he didn't take his phone with him. He just got home and when I explained what happened when I called he said, that's bull! They know what we ordered, they had it all the day before. So now I felt bad for not pursuing this all day. I tried and tried to call my husband all day but I didn't know he didn't have his phone with him. And, of course, now they are closed. I don't know how much more I can take.

I also have this virus/spyware/adware crap on my work computer and can't get rid of it. It's some Outerinfo pop up bugger and none of the sweeps that I've done gets rid of it. Today it disabled my audio, so I sat in complete silence all day today. That was fun!

So, I didn't have such a great day.

Tonight we're off to my SIL's. My nephew is graduating from high school and she's having us over to celebrate that and his birthday. Next week is the big party. My MIL is supposed to come so I hope she's up for it and that I get to see her.

Well, this is something, 3 posts in one week. Who knows, maybe I'll check in over the weekend.

2008-06-05T14:53:00.001-04:00

Oh, look at this, another post. Isn't that 2 in just one week? What the hell is wrong with me? I'm blogging because I'm running this Spybot program thingy right now and it's making my computer crawl so I don't feel like working at that pace.

So, I'll tell you about my utter disgust with Namco pools right now. We had damage over the winter to our pool. We started the whole process back in April when we realized the damage. We tooks pictures, sent them to Namco to find out what was still under warranty, etc. We got the runaround back then, so I don't know why I'm surprised now. My husband had to call at least 3 times to find out the status of this. Each and every times he was told that they were sending a fax. Each and every time we never received said fax. Finally, a few weeks after we were originally told about this fax, we got it. We were pretty pleased because they were covering most of the damage. All we had to do was bring down the fax to the local store and order the parts, no problem. That was done and the parts arrived super quick and so now all we had to do was fix the problem. My husband was going to do this himself. When he started taking down the pool he realized that there was more damage than originally thought, so he contacted Namco, explained the further damage and asked them to order the parts. He said that he didn't know if they would cover those parts or not, but that we would cover the cost if they didn't. Since those other parts didn't take long we figured this would be quick too. Guess what??? No such luck. He lined up some people to help him last Saturday but the parts never arrived. We were irritated, but since it hadn't been such a nice weekend we weren't too disappointed. He called Namco on Monday to find out the status of the parts, because, again, he has people lined up for this Saturday. He was told that it looks like the parts haven't even left the warehouse yet. WHAT??? The person at Namco was going to send an email to find out what the hold up was. We never heard back. Yesterday my husband calls again and speaks to yet another person. This person looks it up and says that it doesn't even look like the parts have been ordered. WTF? You've got to be kidding me? He asks to speak to a manager and is told that a manager won't be there until Saturday. Yeah, whatever! So, my husband asks that the parts be overnighted and we'll pick up the cost. That is how it ended, so I don't even know if that is going to happen. I haven't talked to my husband yet today. Of course, my daughter is having her pool party for her birthday on June 19th. What the hell am I going to do with these kids if I have no pool??? And, we're heading into a heatwave for this weekend. I'm just so disgusted. I sent them a nasty gram today. OK, so that's my rant for the day.

OH, yay, the Spybot is done. Looks like it found lots of crap. God, I hope this fixes it.

And some good news. My daughter, Emily, the one that takes Pilates with me is looking so great. Everyone keeps telling her that. Since her last Dr.'s appt., almost a year ago, she has grown probably 3 inches and lost over 10 lbs. She's really looking good. She still complains though. She knows she's doing great though, I have to keep buying her small sizes in pants.

OK, I guess I have no more excuse to not be working. I should get back at it now.

2008-06-02T10:11:00.002-04:00

Oh boy, I guess it's been a while. I'm fine, there just hasn't been a lot to blog about so I've been reading everyone's blogs but I haven't been commenting a lot. I guess I'll start with an update about my MIL. Last Tuesday she decided to stop all treatment after asking the Dr. how much time he thought she had left. He told her a month, so now Hospice has been coming in. We went to see her yesterday and she's so upbeat that it's hard to believe that time is so short. She looks good and everything, but she feels very weak. She is not in pain and our only hope that is she remains pain free and comfortable as long as possible. It will be hard on all of us, but she's fought a long, hard battle and she deserve some peace now.

Other than that, I've had my daughter's dance recital, many parties to attend, a lot of gardening and yardwork, work, workouts, crappy eating, etc., etc.....I've had some neighborhood drama too, but I can go into that on here.

So, that's about it, not much going on. I just wanted to give a little update for those who had asked. Thanks for always checking in. I really appreciate it.

2008-04-18T07:55:00.003-04:00

I guess it's time to update again. Things have been going well. My mother in law came home from the hospital last Sunday morning, after being in there for 9 days. The doctor didn't think she'd ever be going home, but she surprised them all. We talked to her last night and she was feeling well. She goes to the doctor today for a check, hopefully they won't put her back in like they did last time. She's been getting her affairs in order. She sent a check for $200.00 the other day for the kids. She's giving each grandkid $100.00 to buy a new outfit for when the "day" comes. That was hard to swallow. Yesterday she went and bought the outfit she wants to be buried in, again, gulp! She's also going through all her jewelry and sorting out what she wants to give to the grandkids. The rest of it she wants the daughter in laws to draw numbers and pick what we want. I'm a little uneasy about this. I'd rather her just pick what she wants to give us and leave it at that. I'm not one to worry about what the other two are getting. I'd be happy with just one piece to remember her by. We will do whatever she wants though. It's just going to be hard.

Last Friday, two teenagers (14 and 16) were involved in a bad car accident. When I read the article in the paper I realized that they were the children of a guy I know from the gym. He's a great guy. He's the Vice President of a local bank, father of 4 kids, went to HS with my brother in law and sister in law, his wife went to school with my boss, and is just well known in the community. The 16 year old was driving himself and his sister home from the movies and went to pass a car in a non-passing area. He lost control and crashed into a stone wall. The two were pinned in the car for 40 minutes before they could be extracated. The EMT's thought they were dead when they got there, it was so bad. I saw Jim at the gym yesterday and got to talk to him for a little while. Both kids are still in the hospital but are doing amazingly well. His son, 16, should be getting out today or tomorrow. He has a broken leg and broke his jaw in 3 places. His daughter, 14, has to go to a rehab facility for 7 - 10 days. I'm not sure the extent of her injuries, but I know that she had internal injuries and a concussion. He is so thankful that they are going to be okay. He definitely thinks that there was a higher power involved. Both of his parents died recently and he thinks that they were looking over them. His son was not wearing his seat belt, for some reason, but that is what saved his life. He was thrown (Jim thinks that someone from above threw him) to the backseat. The engine of the car ended up in the front seat and would have crushed him. He also thinks his parents gave him a sign that everything would be okay when he saw a double rainbow on his way to the hospital. His mother had always told him that when he saw a rainbow that it was a message from God and he took it as that, and seeing a double rainbow just proved it. I'm just so glad that the kids will be okay. From what I hear, the driver is a good kid, just made a bad decision in trying to pass that car, there was no alcohol or anything like that involved.

We have been having such great weather this week. I've been able to drive around with the top down, so nice! Tonight we have a neighborhood party to go to. I want to make it an early night though. I want to get a good night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow I'm heading into Boston with my girls and a girlfriend. I think we'll just bum around in the Quincy Market area. That's always fun. On Monday we're going to the Red Sox game, it's kind of a tradition now. It's also the Boston Marathon so there is so much activity going on. The weather isn't looking great, but at least they are not calling for torrential rain either. We never seem to get a nice day for that.

Ok, phew, I haven't written that much in a long time. I'd better get to work now.

Just a quickie

2008-04-04T15:43:00.004-04:00

Everytime I try to start this, I get interupted and can't finish. So, this will be quick. Everything is going just fine. My mother in law is feeling well so far and now that the news has sunk in everyone seems to be dealing with it. The kids took it really hard, and that was sad, but they are better now.

I had an awesome week with my eating. I had a horrible week after Easter and was eating so much sugar, but this week, none! Yay me! My running was great this week too. I ran 4 days this week. Of course, tonight I'm going to The Melting Pot with a girlfriend so it will be a big cheat meal. I eat normally all day today so I wouldn't be starved tonight. That's about it for weekend plans though. My husband is working both nights, so there goes that.

So, that's it, I'm still here, plugging along, nursing my "oh so sore" body.

*Edit Saturday a.m. - My mother in law is in the hospital, we got the call last night. We're hoping this is just a bump in the road, but we have to wait and see. I haven't gotten any new news since last night, but my husband isn't home yet. I'll keep you updated.

2008-03-24T18:25:00.005-04:00

I hate to follow up my last post with more bad news, but here it comes. My MIL has been fighting liver cancer for almost 3 years now. She's had a great attitude and has fought like hell. Well, the Dr. told her today that she has heart damage from the Chemo, so after this round that will be it. They are giving her 2 - 6 months to live if this doesn't work. We're going to think positive and hope she pulls through, but it's a hard thing to hear. She's the glue of this family. You wouldn't believe how awesome this woman is. She's loved by so many people. She gets cards daily just from people who are thinking of her. By the way, she's not even 70 yet. Please say a prayer and keep her in your thoughts.

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-03-12T15:27:00.003-04:00

Yes, today is my birthday, I'm 39 today, ouch! Birthdays don't bother me though. Today has been just like any other day, nothing special. Danny is cooking fish for dinner and then making Bananas Foster for dessert, instead of having a cake. Hmmmmm.....yeah, that's not good for the waistline, ha ha. He's going through the trouble of making it, I can't NOT eat some. I'm feeling good lately though, not so much like a loser anymore, ha ha. Thanks everyone for your support.

I have to go to wake for a 12 year old tomorrow night. It'll be my first time going to one of those for someone so young. He's a friend of ours son. He was born unable to walk, talk, hear, etc. His parent's have taken care of him since Day #1 and have done such a great job. His life expectancy was only 7, and he made it until 12 and would have been 13 this month. I just feel awful for them and to boot, she was 20 weeks pregnant with twin girls and lost them about a month and a half ago. Life just doesn't seem fair sometimes. They still have another son together, the son that died was hers from a previous marriage. Makes me very thankful for having 2 very healthy children.

Ok, off to finish my work for the day so I can go home, do legs and enjoy my birthday dinner.

2008-03-09T08:14:00.003-04:00

OK, so I feel like such a loser posting this, but, I decided that working with Beka was not for me. I was so excited to do it, but after getting meal plan and trying it, I just knew that would never be something I could keep up and I was starting to feel really depressed and stressed about it. Maybe it's just the wrong time for me? I know, that's just an excuse, but, I started thinking about how my birthday was on Wednesday and I couldn't have any cake and then I was going out with the girls on Friday, no wine, no food that they were eating. Then, we have a party on Saturday, again, have to stick to plan. On Sunday, we're having the family party, not on this Sunday, again, bring your own food. Then, there's Easter and we're going out for dinner, etc., etc.....I know, all excuses, but that's my life. And then, all the supplements, my head was spinning. I hate taking pills and I had to take 7 a day. I already take the multi-vitamin, so that wasn't a problem, but 6 fish oil caps, ugh! And then there's the ACV/LJ, oh gross! The green tea extract, ugh! I just always told myself that I wouldn't choke down things for a diet because I knew it wouldn't be something I would be able to do for long and there I find myself doing it. So, for now, I go on my journey alone again, well, I know I'm not alone, I have plenty of support from all of you. I've done this before and I KNOW I WILL do it again. Summer is just around the corner and I have what it takes to lose those few extra pounds and lean up. Sorry if I disppointed anyone.

I did it!

2008-03-05T09:37:00.002-05:00

I'm am officially starting with Beka and I'm excited about it. We just had our phone consultation. She'll have her first workout to me today, to start that tomorrow and then meals on Friday. What a time to start, though. Out for dinner on Saturday night, family party on Sunday, I think. My sister wants to cook for us, but I think I'll just tell her not to go through the trouble, so I can just eat what I need to and not feel guilty about not eating what she has cooked. She doesn't even like cooking, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I just placed an order through GNC for overnight shipping because it's pouring rain out and I don't feel like taking a trip to the mall. I'm sure I'll have to get something I forgot, but I figured I'd get some of the things that I remembered. I took pictures this morning and yuck, is all I can say. Beka said they really weren't bad, I had to ask her if she had her glasses on. To me, they weren't what I wanted to see. I'm looking forward to seeing some changes. I ordered some new tops from Nordstrom just to give me movtivation to get those arms that I want. They are halter styles, so they are perfect to show off in. I just keep picturing what I want to look like in them, over and over again.

Wish me luck!

2008-03-03T08:04:00.002-05:00

Another weekend is over. Blah! I had a wedding on Friday night and a comedy show on Saturday night. The wedding was so so, but the comedy night was fun. I drank on Saturday night, wasn't hungover on Sunday, but all the crappy eating on Saturday along with the drinking didn't make for the best workout on Sunday. While I was at the gym I decided that I really need to do something. When I got home I emailed Beka to ask her about her program. Maybe if I had someone to report to I'd do better. I don't know. I just NEED to do something before I get outta control. Of course, yesterday I did awesome all day. When spring/summer gets here I want to look like I have muscle without having to flex. Is that really vain of me??? My Pilates instructor has the best arms and I want that. I do, I really, really do! I think I put in the work with my workouts, but with this crap I keep getting into, it's not helping me one bit. I have a couple of social events coming up that I'll need help getting through. My husband's birthday is Saturday and mine is next Wednesday. I'm already planning on telling my office NOT to get me a cake because then I'll just feel obligated to eat it. We're going out to dinner for my husband's birthday on Saturday, not sure where yet. Then on March 14th, my friends are taking me out. And, I'm sure either this Sunday or the next my sister will have a combined party for me, my husband and my brother (we're twins). So help, help, help!!!!!!

2008-02-27T09:25:00.003-05:00

It's been a little over a week so I thought I'd better get over here and update. I ended up getting sick last week so I missed 3 days of working out, *gasp! I haven't missed 3 days in a row for quite some time. I'm fine now though and I got back at it on Saturday. On Saturday I went to the gym with my daughter and did legs, back and biceps and then later on at home I ran 6 miles. On Sunday I did kettlebells. Monday I ran 7.3 miles and did chest, shoulders and triceps. Yesterday I did the elliptical and bike for a little over an hour and had my Pilates Reformer class last night. I bought new sneakers and got a little blister on the top of my little toe so I couldn't run yesterday. I'm hoping to be able to run today. And then I'm not sure if I'll put in another workout tonight or not. We'll see. I got brave and weighed myself this morning. Yeah, pretty much what I expected, lets just say that I put on about 6 lbs. and it's NOT staying on. Now that I've done the dirty deed and stepped on the scale I'm sure I'll be doing it a little more often now and that seems to keep me a little bit more in check with things.

The past few weekends I have had nothing and now, this weekend, I have plans both nights. On Friday night I have a wedding. I have already committed to remaining alcohol free for this event but now I just have to get through the dinner, which is a buffet. On Saturday night, we're going to a comedy fundraiser and I haven't decided whether I'll induldge in a glass of wine or not. If I do, it will be sipped very slowly and I WILL NOT overinduldge, that's for certain!

Other than that, I am soooo sick of winter. I'm ready to put the top down on my convertible and open the pool, wear shorts, run outside, etc., etc. And, I know once I have to start baring more skin it will be easier for me to keep accountable.

2008-02-19T10:44:00.002-05:00

I had a long weekend, but why does it still seem so short? And I did practically nothing all weekend.

Saturday - I was up nice and early because I had gone to bed early. I got my kettlebell workout in and then showered and got dressed. My oldest ended up with the cold and fever so I really didn't plan much for the day. I was able to get a little cleaning and laundry done. That night was our Valentine's Day dinner out. We went to a restaurant called The Castle. We had heard such wonderful things about this place, it's been around forever. It was good, just not as good as I thought it would be. My husband had a great seafood appetizer, said it was one of the best he had ever had. He had the Steak Au Poivre, which is prepared tableside, but he said that steak was just ok, kind of tough. I had the Swordish special, which had scallops and it was very good. I wasn't thrilled with the dessert offerings, but got one anyway and didn't finish it. I also had 2 glasses of wine with dinner, but it wasn't enough for me to even "feel" it, so I felt good about that. I wasn't supposed to have a drink until March 1st, but my challenge partner gave me a pass for the night, ha ha. My husband got a dessert coffee, which is also prepared tableside. That was really neat. The guy lit it on fire and everything. It was a really nice presentation. I think we got home around 10:00 and I went right to bed.

Sunday - I was up and got my vacuuming done early. After that, I worked out and then got ready. The only thing I did was get my niece a gift and then went to my sister's house for the birthday party. Not very exciting at all.

Monday - I had the day off, so I did my weights at home in the morning, showered, took the kids and my nieces to the movies, and they got popcorn and candy and I got nothing (thank you very much!). We came home and then I ran 7.5 miles, HA! All while watching the Food Network, how much torture is that? There's just nothing on mid-afternoon, unless you watch soap operas. I had a nail appointment and that's about it. There was nothing on TV so I spent most of the time watching the live Big Brother feeds. Yes, I have no life!

So, that's it! My weekend in a nutshell. Eating during the weekend was just so so. Right now I'm trying to win the small battles, like no popcorn at the movies and then maybe eventually I can win the war.

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T14:17:00.002-05:00

I'm not doing anything for V Day today. My husband and I are going out to dinner on Saturday night. We're going to a place called The Castle. We've never been but it's one of those places that doesn't put the prices on the menu for me to see. There will be no wine for me though, just lots of good food. And yes, I will be getting a fancy dessert. I'm only human!

Today I ran 7 miles and even though my calves are killing me, I'm not in any other pain. It's a good pain, not a hurt pain. Tonight, Emily and I will head back to the gym. I have chest, tri's and shoulders and she'll do her thing.

My youngest has been sick all week, poor kid. She's had a fever, cough and general cold symptoms. She hated to miss her Valentine's party at school, but I just couldn't send her. I hope she's better for tomorrow. Next week is school vacation and I'd hate her to miss almost this entire week. At least she'll have plenty of time to make up all her missed school work.

OK, gotta go eat my turkey, salad and apple now.

2008-02-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

I think I'm getting the running bug again. What's up with that? Yesterday I ran 5 miles and then hopped on the Gauntlet and today I ran 6.75 miles, hmmmm......what can I hit tomorrow, 7.5??? And I feel good, no pain at all. I certainly won't be running outside until Spring hits. I can't stand this weather we're having. Yesterday it was like 7 degrees, ugh! And tonight, snow! Blah! Probably another snow day for the kids, or at least a delay. It just seems like a very long winter.

My youngest was home from school today with a fever and she just called me to ask if she could go outside. Uhhhhh, no! You don't go to school, you don't get to play outside. Not happening!

My weekend went pretty well. No alcohol, but, of course I didn't go out anywhere either so that was easy. I took the kids to the mall and my oldest, Emily, found a new stores she loves, it's called Ruehl, it's owned by the same company as Abercrombie and Hollister, her 2 other favorites.

I'm also doing really well on my water lately. I've been getting in over a gallon a day. But, of course, I'm peeing like crazy!

Happy Saturday!

2008-02-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

Good morning all! I just love weekends. Everything has been going well with eating so far. Last night I did have a bowl of light vanilla ice cream, but considering how I had been eating, that's an improvement. I just wanted something sweet and didn't want fruit, so that's what I chose. I've had my breakfast already and am just trying to decide what time I'm going to head downstairs for kettlebells. I have no plans at all today. I thought about asking the kids if they wanted to go shopping. Either that or the movies, but there is nothing really good playing. I just don't want to sit home all day and do nothing. Oh sure, I could clean the house, but who wants to waste time doing that, ha ha. There's always tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2008-02-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

I feel like I'm really on a roll here. Three days, three posts. Eating is still going well. I haven't been tempted once yet, but, yes it's still early. I had just fallen so out of it, that two days is a big deal right now. I was eating crap every night and the weekends, well, just forgetaboutit.

It's funny, about the whole alcohol issue, I'm really not worried about it, but it seems like everyone else around me is. It's like they want me to drink. It's make me feel bad, like I'm no fun unless I'm drinking. And boy does the news get around. One of my neighbors actually emailed me and said, I heard you're on the wagon, what are you doing that for? Nice huh? And then, when I was out to dinner a couple of weeks ago and ordered a diet coke, the whole table just about fell over. I mean, really, I never really drank that much, so what's the big deal? At least my immediate family doesn't drink much, so it won't be a big deal around them. Enough on that subject.

I ordered some new workout clothes to inspire me to look good in them. I love the stuff at Athleta.com and Title9.com so I got some stuff from both sites. I should be getting an order in today. I love getting packages.

Oh, I'm loving the kettlebell workouts. I'm using the Art of Strength videos and it's just so much fun. It's just different and it keeps me motivated. I have three of the AOS videos and the next one I'm going to get is one the involves used 2 kettlebells at a time. Fun fun!!!

OK, I've gotta go eat something now.

So, I just had to add something here. Today I started thinking about a girl I used to work with at a health club and remember her getting involved in fitness comps, etc. I decided to google her. And wow, she has really got it going on. Her site is http://www.maggiefit.com/. She designs suits now and everything. I just emailed her to let her know I had come across her site. Wow, what a small world!

Feeling better already

2008-02-05T09:58:00.000-05:00

So, one fully clean eating day under my belt and I'm already feeling better. Yesterday I was just so bloated and swollen that it didn't take much to feel better. I drank tons of water yesterday to help flush it out. Of course I had to get up twice last night to pee, that wasn't fun. Yesterday I only got cardio in since I had to go to the grocery store and then to my nail appointment and then home to eat dinner. By the time I was done, it was 7:15 and yes, I have worked out at that time before, but felt I was safe since I had such a good day. Today it will be two workouts, cardio at lunch and then Pilates tonight. I also have double workouts planned for Wednesday and Thursday. I know I'll be pushing hard because my eating will be spot on. It's funny how your workouts mean so much more when you're eating well. I have always been that way. I think I am just ready again. Do you notice how I stay away when I'm not doing well with my eating. I think because I'm reaching out again that I'm just ready to do this. I have a challenge with my girlfriend about not drinking. She says until March 1st, and she picked that date because we have plans to go out, but I think I may try to go even longer. It'll be tough, I have 2 events in February that would normally include drinking. One is our Valentine's dinner out and the other is a wedding. I can do this though. Honestly, I feel so much better when I don't drink.

OK, so two posts in two days, I'm on a roll!

2008-02-04T08:57:00.001-05:00

I have to say, this is a disappointing day. The SuperBowl didn't go as we expected and it's sad. Oh well, baseball season is right around the corner. The Pats still had a great season.

So, I did end up having some wine over the weekend. I didn't enjoy it as much as I used to. We went out for dinner on Saturday and I had a couple of glasses there and then one more at home and I woke up with a headache Sunday morning. It wasn't worth it. Then, just because of peer pressure, I had a couple of glasses during the game yesterday. Not enough to even "feel" it, and I switched to water early on. I tell you though, I woke up swollen this morning because of all the crap I ate yesterday. The salt really kills me. Chips, taco dip, etc. I'm finally at that "Aha" moment and I need to get back on track here with my eating. I work out way too hard to ruin the results with my eating. I want definition again. I want my pants to slide on again. I know I can get it back again. I've done it and sometimes I guess I just need to slide a bit to realize what I want and how important it is to me. Anyone who wants to give me a kick in the ass, please do so. I need a little encouragement right now. You'll be glad to know that my candy dishes are empty and we have little left over from yesterday, nothing that I would be tempted with anyway. The sweets are the only thing that tempt me. I've thought about getting a nutritional consultant but haven't gone that route yet. I've done fitness training on and off again for years, but that's really not my problem, it's the eating that keeps holding me back from getting to where I want to be. So HELP!!!! I know I can do this!

2008-01-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, here I go again, letting so much time go by between posts. Honestly, not a heck of a lot has happened. The holidays were fine, busy, but it was nice, even nicer to get things back in order once they were done.

Working out, as usual, is not a problem. I'm doing cardio, normally, 5 times per week. I've even been running again, not a lot, and, only on the treadmill right now, but it's more than I've done in the past year because of my past injuries. I never just run though, I always end up moving to the bike or elliptical. Once the weather gets warmer I'd like to do a few runs outside, with the kids, in preparation for a local 5K in June. The girls want to run it with me, so it really won't be for time, just for fun. It's put on by the Police Department and since my husband is a police officer we know a lot of people who run in it. I think it would be great for the kids, and me too. I'm still doing the Pilates Reformer class once a week with my daughter, Emily. She's doing so much better in it. She used to be such a complainer in class and now she hardly says anything. I've also started using my kettlebells once a week too. I've bought some DVD's and have been following those. I normally do that on Saturdays. And I'm still doing good old weight training too, normally 3/4 times a week. So yeah, working out, not a problem!!! Eating, on the other hand, well, lets just say that I can't seem to get a hold of it. Ugh! The weekends have been atrocious. I do great Monday thru Friday during the day, here at work, but once I get home, forgetaboutit! I have this addiction to chocolate right now, more than ever! And, stupid me, I keep buying it. I've got to stop buying holiday themed candy dishes just for the excuse to buy candy. So, that's my eating and fitness update.

One thing I have really been working on cutting back on is, alcohol. I just found myself drinking a lot more wine in 2007. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think I had a problem or anything, but jeez, all those wasted calories. I actually had an alcohol free weekend last weekend. It felt good. I can't remember the last time I went a whole weekend without any alcohol. And I'm not saying that I get rip roaring drunk every weekend, I rarely do that anymore, thank god! And, I only drink wine now, no mixed or frozen drinks anymore. This weekend is looking pretty quiet so far, so I think I'll be able to do it again. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and we're having people over, but since it's Sunday and I'm working the next day, I won't be drinking.

Ok, so that's all I can think of at the moment. It's been so long, I'm sure I have lots more to say, but I'll start with that and see if I can get back into this blogging thing again.

2007-12-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

I figured that I'd post one more time before Christmas. We are having quite a winter. We've had more snow already than we had all season last year. It's not even officially winter yet and I'm already sooo sick of it.

I'm off to the Hannah Montana concert with the girls tonight. My youngest is so excited. My oldest, not so much, or at least she won't admit it. The hype around this concert has been so ridiculous. I was able to buy tickets on line for face value but people are paying incredible amounts for them. Crazy! My hair dresser was offered $1,200 each for her 4 tickets. I told her that she was crazy for not taking it. Her kids don't even know that they are going. That's a vacation! I wasn't going to go out soliciting to sell my tickets, but if someone came to me with that kind of offer I would take it in a heartbeat. It's only a concert!

So, out front goodies keep getting delivered but I just sit here and eat my Greek yogurt with frozen, thawed cherries, one of my favorite things right now.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

2007-11-28T07:56:00.000-05:00

Oh look, it's only been 2 days and I'm going to write another post. Not that I have much to say, but I'll give it a try.

Last night Emily and I had Pilates. I just love that class. I wish I did the reformer class twice a week, but the other classes don't quite fit in my schedule right now and it gets really expensive, especially when you times it by two. And, I know if I do another class, Emily will want to also. Yes, Evelyne, I agree, this is so good for her and I'm so proud of her for wanting to do this. I don't know many adults that cross my path who even exercise at all and here she is starting at 11. Isn't that sad? Hardly any of my relatives exercise. I have quite a few friends that do, though. Last night on the biggest loser they have a trivia question and the answer was that by the year 2015, 75% of adult Americans will be overweight. That is something that needs to change! I think schools really need to start adding gym back to the curriculum, and not this once a week crap, everyday, just my opinion.

I'm going to order pre-made gingerbread houses today, so the kids can decorate them. I thought about making my own, but I'm afraid I'll just screw it up and then we'll never get to decorate. My aunt made them a few years back and the kids loved decorating them. I'm looking forward to that.

We have our first holiday party this weekend. It's our neighborhood Christmas party. It should be fun. Adults only, and we do a Yankee Swap. It was a good time last year. I'm bringing my chocolate fountain, yum! Other than that I have no plans for the weekend. I'd like to go to one of the bigger malls this weekend. I want to get our Pilates instructor a Lulumon gift certificate for Christmas and you can't get them on line, bummer. Lulumon is a store that sells yoga/fitness clothing and gear, really nice stuff, and I know she loves it there. She's been so good to us that I want to show her my appreciation. Plus, I have a 25% off certificate for Coach and you can't use it on line, damn them! I have to buy one of my girlfriends, the only girlfriend I exchange with, a gift from there.

Well, look there, I found something to blog about, a lot of nothing, but oh well.

2007-11-26T15:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been a very good blogger lately. Look, another month gone, ugh! I used to be so good at posting and leaving messages on other people's blog and now I'm just lazy about it. But here I am again, refusing to just give it up.

So, what's going on? Thanksgiving was great! We hosted for about 18 people. Everyone had a nice time. It was a busy day, but nice to get together with everyone. Then I had a nice 4 days off and am back to work today. I've started my Christmas shopping, mostly on line, but still it's getting done. My list is considerably small this year. We have finally decided to stop exchanging with my brother and sister and their spouses, just because it's always a big gift card exchange and really, what fun is that? I love getting gifts for the kids and watching them get excited about it, but buying for adults is just not as fun. It's more of a pain if you ask me. And, believe me, I love Christmas, but sometimes it all just gets to be too much. I took down all the fall decorations yesterday and put up the Christmas tree and all my decorations. We're looking festive.

The kids are good. They both got great grades on their report cards. Emily decided to stop taking dance, boo hoo, but I told her that she needed to do something else for activity, since now she would only be doing the Pilates class once a week. So, she wanted to join the gym and start going with me. Now she is a member at my gym. It's kind of a pain for me because I have to go more often now, which doesn't sound like a problem, but I used to like doing my weights at home and now I'm going to the gym more than ever. Like today, I already went and did cardio at lunch and normally I would do my weights at home tonight, but she wants to go to the gym, so, after dinner, I'll take her. I think it's great that she wants to go, though. She's getting such an early start and I do love that.

I've noticed a few people have gone private on their blogs so I haven't been able to access them. I always wonder if something happened and that's why they turned private.

I guess that's it for now.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Oh yes, I'm still here.

2007-10-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

Man, I've seemed to drop the ball on this blog again. Damnit! Well, I've been busy party planning for the past 2 weeks so that's my excuse. The party was a HUGE success. I think the final count was about 110, all in my house, ugh! My BIL and SIL were so surprised and thrilled. They couldn't believe that we pulled it off. They never thought we'd have something so big at our house. And it was a beautiful day. We're having such nice weather here right now. Today it's going to be 80. And how about those Red Sox! World Series baby! And those Patriots, need I say more?

I really have nothing new to report. My life has continued on it's drama free course and it's been very refreshing. Pilates continues to go well. I emailed my trainer today to tell him that I'm taking a bit of a break. I was just getting to the point where I didn't look forward to my sessions anymore and I was starting to deviate from his workouts so I'm going to keep my $60/week for now. If I start to slip I'll go back, but, for now I'm going it on my own. I am certainly more that capable.

Lets see if Blogger will let me post some pictures.

I guess it's about time

2007-09-20T08:23:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't slipped into some sort of depression since the cruise, I've been busy here at work, home and just with life in general. So, what's going on?

First off, my oldest daughter and I have started taking a Pilates Reformer class. We had our second class on Tuesday night. We are both loving it. It's different from anything I've ever done before. I'm finding that I'm so much more aware of my body positions since I started it, it's strange and great all at the same time. I'm sitting different, standing different, etc. My back feels better than it has in months. What more can I say??? I'm still keeping up the cardio and weights too, this is just something extra. Oh, and my last weigh in, I was 133.5.

My 14th wedding anniversary is Sept. 25th and my husband and I are going away this weekend. On the actual day, which is Tuesday, we are going to the Red Sox game. And ugh, what the hell is going on with them! I just decided to take tomorrow off so we can get an extra early start. My in laws are coming down to watch the girls. We probably won't leave until afternoon, but it will be nice to sleep in a bit tomorrow. My husband is buying a new Envoy and we have to do all the paperwork for that tomorrow too.

Wow, as I'm rereading what I wrote, my life sounds very boring, ha ha. I was going to add that I've been scrubbing the tile and grout in my kitchen but that makes me sound even more pathetic. You wouldn't believe how good it looks though. After 12 years I guess I just got used to it looking dirty. I'm embarrassed to look and the before and after pictures. We really aren't dirty people or anything. Now that it is clean I am going to seal it and hopefully it will never look that bad again. We're hosting a surprise 25th Anniversary party for my BIL and SIL next month and that's what has gotten us to do this.

So, I guess that's about it. I just didn't want anyone to think that I had disappeared or anything.

Do you know anyone that hasn't gained weight on a cruise?

2007-08-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, if you don't, now you do!!! I really can't believe it. I was so afraid to weigh myself, but something just told me that it wouldn't be bad, so I did and wowza, was I shocked. I guess it's because the food wasn't all that great, and I really couldn't be happier, ha ha. Don't get me wrong, it was horrid or anything, it was good, just not great. The meals in the dining room are quite small, even though you can ask for as many meals as you want, but I never asked for more than one. And, the desserts, well, lets just say they were fair. On our last cruise there were nights when I couldn't decided between 3 desserts and my husband told them to bring them all. This cruise, I didn't have that problem, I actually didn't even like a few of them. And, I didn't have one frozen drink on the cruise. Not a one! I drank wine with my dinner and that was pretty much it. I did have some rum punch on the catamaran sail but it was very watered down.

On Monday I started back to working out and it just felt so great. I felt strong, I ran fast, I could go on and on, no problem. Maybe my body needed a rest. I just signed up for a Pilates Reformer class too. I am SO not a class type person but there will only be 4 people in the class, and that's if all the spots get taken. This will just be an addition to my current workout. It starts 9/11 and is at 7 pm, I haven't worked out at night in so long, but since I'm shelling out extra cash for it, I'll be going. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

Here are some pictures too. The group one is ALL of us, minus the baby, he was sleeping. Actually, I just realized I posted the wrong one, the smaller group one was our dinner table along with our waiter, asst. waiter and bartender. I think everyone had a great time. I believe we'll do it again, just minus the drama next time. I think it's best to just keep it just family or just friends and not intermingle the two, or at least make sure everyone gets along first..

I'm back!!!

2007-08-27T07:57:00.000-04:00

We just got back last night. We have a very long drive home after fighting horrendous traffic. It should have taken us about 4 hours from NJ but ended up taking over 6, ugh!!! I didn't think a Sunday would be that bad. Anyway, it was a great vacation. Sun and heat every single day. I don't think I've ever been this tan before. I can honestly say, though, I'm sick of sitting in the sun. We weren't affected by the hurricane at all. And I'm happy to say, no drama at all!!! Things were fine between everyone, I think everyone just wanted to have a great vacation. I am so happy to be home though. Nine days on a cruise is long. I'm sick of eating and not working out. I worked out on the 2nd day of the cruise, but it was tough. I started on the bike and kept feeling like I was going to pull the bike down on myself, it was kind of rocky on the water that day. The treadmill was a bit tough too. So that was the only day I attempted it. Today will be my first day back to working out. I did well in the Casino on the last day of the cruise. I ended up $265.00 in Roulette and cashed out and on my way out of the Casino I decided to drop a $20.00 in a slot machine and hit for $1,000.00. I was so psyched. I never gamble and it was so much fun to win.

I'll try to post some pictures later.

Hurricane????

2007-08-13T14:48:00.001-04:00

So, I've made the mistake of getting involved with some message boards related to our cruise date. Well......there is a friggin tropical depression or something that is brewing and it may become a hurriance that will affect our cruise!!!! There is talk that if this hurricane comes North, our cruiseship will change it's path and head towards Canada. WHAT?? I didn't sign up for Canada, I want to go to the Caribbean. I don't want to pack sweaters, I'm packing bikinis. I have no interest in the hockey hall of fame. Send positive thoughts my way and pray that the hurricane either goes out to sea or heads in a different direction.

7 days and counting......

2007-08-10T10:32:00.000-04:00

until we leave for the cruise! I can't believe it. I'm getting super excited now. I actually haven't slept well for the past 3 nights and I'm hoping it's not because I'm excited, because it's going to be a long week if it is. This cruise is going to be very interesting to say the least. One of the couples is talking divorce, and the two of them haven't spoken to each other for a while now BUT they are still going. Right now they only communicate via email. Nice huh? It puts us in a very awkward position. We're dining companions with this couple and their son. Oh, the drama!!!

So, you'll see I posted some pictures of my new bathing suits, well only 2 of them, I bought 3 new ones for the cruise, but I didn't have time to put the last one on. I was at 132 this morning, lowest I've been in a while.

We're going to Fenway tomorrow for "Futures at Fenway", it's looking like a nice day too. And, we're going with the couple that is having all the trouble. We're only driving with them, we're not sitting together, thank god!!! After we get back we're packing up and heading to the beach for the night. If we didn't have to come back and get the dog we'd just go right from there. My in-laws just got back from a cruisetour of Alaska so we're going to visit with them for the day. And the weather looks great for Sunday.

I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to post before the trip but I'll try, especially if anything happens regarding our cruisemates.

2007-07-30T15:41:00.001-04:00

OK, so enough of seeing those pics of me! I had to post something just to move those pictures down the page a bit.

My neighbor situation is pretty much resolved. She came around and started speaking with me again, just out of the blue. She was away for a week and I guess she decided that she missed me. I've seen her twice since the whole fiasco, but things do seem a bit off between us. Oh well, I guess I've realized that I need to distance myself a bit with them anyway, so this may be a good thing.

I'm still hanging at around 135.5, as of last week. Workouts are going great. I had to make myself take Saturday off, and even felt guilty about it. With the cruise just around the corner I want to look my best. I just bought some new bathing suits and I want to do them justice. I had some back issues but it's getting better. The leg feels great though. I've been running at almost every cardio workout, but only 3 or 4 miles. I think the cross training is working best for me. I don't think I'll be running outside much anymore either. We'll see, I guess.

I'm going to the Red Sox game with my husband and kids tomorrow night, so the kids are excited about that. It's their first game this year, my third.

Other than that, not a heck of a lot going on.

2007-07-13T12:40:00.000-04:00

So, what's new with me???? Ugh! Don't ask! I'm having huge neighbor/friend issues. And this is the couple that is supposed to be coming on the cruise with us. It started with them having marital difficulties and somehow I got dragged into it. As of right now, I am not speaking with either of them. Nice huh? I wish they'd just cancel their cruise. I have other family going so I'm not canceling. It's a big ship right??? I can't go into too much detail since this is public. The stress of this seems to be affecting me physically, I'm down to 134.5 now, and I'm not sleeping. GREAT! I think I slept a total of 2 hours last night. I couldn't even fathom a workout this morning. Enough! I need to stop let it bothering me. Easier said than done. In good news, I'm running again. Nothing incredible or anything, I'm up to 3 painless miles. I could do more, but I just don't want to. I normally start with the 3 mile run, then the bike, then the stairs or elliptical. I'm headed to the Red Sox game tonight, hopefully I can relax and stop thinking about this situation for a while. Of course, the husband of that couple is going with their son. It would be just my luck to run into them. How do I get myself into these situations???? Jesus!

Anyway, I posted a few pics from this morning, just because........

Does anyone else sweat like crazy????

2007-06-26T14:28:00.000-04:00

Holy god! I think there is something wrong with me, how can anyone sweat as much as I do??? It's gross! Now today it was really warm in the gym. Our temps outside are in the 90's and it's humid as hell. The air conditioning at the gym obviously can't handle it. I was sweating before I even started. An hour and 14 minutes later I was drenched from head to toe, and my feet were sloshing in my sneakers. Yuck! People look at me funny, like I just jumped in the pool or something. I'm even running again, which I'm afraid to even say out loud, fearing another injury. I'm only running on the treadmill but I've been doing 2.5 miles consistently and no pain at all. I follow that up with 30 minutes on the bike and then the remainder on the Stepmill. I think I start to have problems when I start running outside. So, for now, I'm just going to keep working at my speed on the treadmill. Oh, and my weight on Friday was 136, which I'm pretty proud of.

Other than that, things are going well. I haven't gotten myself into any trouble lately, ha ha.

We're leaving for our cruise on August 17th, so that'll be here before you know it. I'm still a little leary of how my SIL and friend will act around one another. My SIL isn't looking forward to the cruise because of her and I feel bad, but, I'm going and am going to have a great time. I can't worry about anyone else and how they feel about each other. Just get over it already!

Jen, regarding the Sox, I'm so sick of them being on the west coast! I haven't seen a game for so long. I feel out of the loop!

I guess that's it. Sorry, boring, I know.

Ok, ok, already, an update!

2007-06-12T14:12:00.000-04:00

Carol is bugging me for an update here. I actually had houseguests for the past 4 days and they just left this morning. It was someone I had met on line 3 1/2 years ago and we just met for the first time in person. And yes, she and her 2 kids stayed at my house. How brave am I??? Thankfully, it was all good! She didn't turn out to be a psycho or anything, ha ha. She is from Arizona and had never been to MA before. We did it all while she was here. I need a vacation from my vacation! She arrived on Thursday and left first thing this morning. They had a ball while they were here. I hope she enjoyed herself as much as I did. Our kids all got along great, so it was just a great visit. I think our lifestyles are completely different, but that's okay. It's nice to step out of that "comfort zone" for a little bit.

Other than that, lets see. Workouts, other than the past few days, have been great. I've been holding pretty steady at 137 and have been pretty happy with the way I look.

Things with my SIL are absolutely fine now. We've seen each other quite a few times and picked right up where we left off before the whole email fiasco.

It's just me and the girls for the next few days. My husband is leaving right about now for a golf trip, until Friday.

Molly's birthday is Sunday and she's having her party on Saturday. It's a pool party so hope for sunny and warm weather. So far it's looking good, but you know how that goes.

So, how's that? Enough of an update for now? I have a lot of work to catch up on here.

Recital Pics

2007-05-21T09:16:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh.........the recitals are over. It gets easier each year, but it's a whole weekend that I get nothing else done. The kids had fun. It's funny, both kids, by the time recital time comes, each say that they are not doing dance next year, but each year, after the recital, they both want to do it again. Go figure!

I was very pleased with my 136.5 weigh in on Saturday. Yay me!!! I don't really have a weight goal in mind, I'm kind of playing it by ear. I've been as low as 125 before, but was told by several people that I was too skinny at that weight. Of course, I didn't think so, but it's a hard weight for me to maintain. I'm 5' 7" so I think maintaining 130-135 is manageable.

I had my alarm set for 4:30 this morning to get my weights done, but when I was still awake at 2:12 this morning I knew I wouldn't be able to function on 2 and 1/2 hours sleep. So, at 4:25 I reset the alarm for 5:30 and committed to doing my weights after work today. I have nothing else going on so it won't be a problem. It's just been so nice getting it over with in the morning, before work. I will, of course, still get my cardio in at lunch. Can't miss that!

My leg is feeling GREAT! I have not tried running, but I think I may this week. Just a little bit, nothing crazy, just to test it out.

We have our 12th Annual Neighborhood Get Together this Saturday. It's always a good time. We all bring food to share and just have a big ole' party. Of course, after my little incident with drinking last weekend I have no desire to drink at this time. I already know that I will get some ribbing about this. Why are people like that? It seems as if my neighbor revolves around alcohol and partying. It's ok every once in a while, but every weekend??? I don't think so. I'm fine not drinking next Saturday so I don't know why it bothers everyone else. I'm looking forward to getting up Sunday and feeling good, not hungover. I guess what everyone is saying is that, I'm more fun after a few drinks. Well, sorry, you get boring Donna on Saturday. It's just fun sometimes watching everyone else make fools of themselves. I'm making a Cold Corn Salad that I haven't had since last Summer, it's so yummy!

So, that's it for me. Off to get some work done, or at least try to.

Looking Better - this is from today.

2007-05-18T09:13:00.000-04:00

2007-05-16T09:25:00.000-04:00

Well, I took an updated picture of my eye this morning, but I forgot my camera at home. The swelling is way down and now it's a very pretty purple and yellow color. Nice! My cheek is still very sore though, hurts to the touch. This whole thing has been a bit embarrassing. I really don't feel like drinking for a while. I feel like people must think I have a drinking problem or something. Two friggin drinks and I'm blacking out, not good. And, I feel so awful that my daughter witnessed the whole thing and was hysterical. I don't ever want to put her through that again.

This weekend is recital weekend for us. I'll be sure to post pictures of the girls in their costumes. We had dress rehearsal last night, what a long night!

I'm feeling really good these days. I've dropped some weight without even trying. Well, without trying I mean that my eating hasn't been "that" good with my eating, even though my workouts have been killer. So, apparently, my workouts have helped. So now I've been trying to watch the eating a bit more and drop a few more pounds. I was 138.5 on Friday and I'd like to get back to 135. I have to buy some new pants today because all the ones I have bought are too big. And by big, I mean, I can get them on and off without unbuttoning them. I love it, but I bought so many new pants this year and I hate for them to go to waste. I can still wear them but I want to go get some new ones too, just so it makes me feel good.

Oh, and the latest on my SIL. I still haven't seen here, but I have emailed her every week to see how she and the family were doing. We had a nice conversation back and forth yesterday and I invited her and my brother out to dinner with us on the 25th. We were already going out with my husbands brother and wife, so I asked her if they'd like to come along and she accepted and thanked me for the invitation. So, at least now maybe out first time seeing each other won't be so awkward. My other SIL doesn't know anything about this, so I think that's good. I'm looking forward to getting that first meeting out of the way.

Anyone care to take a guess on what happened?

2007-05-14T06:15:00.000-04:00

2007-05-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

OK, so you want an update. Yes, Carol, the pool is open. My kids went in yesterday. My husband put the heater on so it would be warm, well, warm to them, warm to me is like 85 - 90. I'm not sure what the temp is because we haven't put the thermometer in yet.

I got up and did my weights at 4:30 this morning. Now that it's nice out lifting at 4:00 pm is getting less appealing. So, on nice days or days that I have afternoon plans, I will get it over with bright and early, well, I guess not so bright at that time of the morning. I'm still doing lunchtime cardio, which I will be heading out for shortly. I tried to run last week, but ouch, not ready still. For the bulk of my cardio, I'm biking, but then I switch to the Elliptical and Stepmill, just for a change of pace. I've actually been liking my cardio workouts lately. I never thought I'd say that.

I've emailed my SIL for the past 3 Mondays in a row to ask how her weekend was and she has responded but that has been the only communication between us. I've been kind of hoping that she'd email me first, but nope, not yet. The first time I see her is going to be really awkward.

Well, I must run to the gym now, I hate to get off schedule, but since Carol wrote that I need to update I thought I'd do it while it was fresh. Thanks for checking in.

2007-04-29T07:28:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd post a quick update.

Nothing else has happened RE: The email fiasco. The last time I heard from my SIL was last Monday and her last words were that she'd forgive me and move on, but I haven't heard from her since so I'm assuming she's still steaming. We normally email each other during the week and she hasn't. She had told me that I have done all that I can do so now I'm just giving her time to hopefully forget about this whole thing, but I doubt she ever will.

I've been enjoying the new car. I miss having my satellite radio so yesterday I went to Circuit City to buy something so that I could listen to my IPOD in my car and ended up buying a whole new stereo, speakers, etc. I couldn't get the satellite hookup yet, though, because they didn't have the receivers in the store because I guess they just came out with new ones. But for now I can listen to my IPOD, which just plugs into the cord in the glove compartment and shows right thru the radio on the dash. We had to wait 2 hours for the radio to be installed so I took the girls over to the mall. They got their nails done and Molly got her ears pierced (again), she had let her ears partially close a while back and recently had been trying to get an earring into it. When we went back the car was all set to go. Last night was pretty quiet, I finally got caught up on a few shows which I had DVR'd. Today we're heading up to the shore to visit the in-laws. We haven't been there in so long and thought they'd enjoy a visit from the kids. It'll be a bit cool though. So, that's about it. Nothing too exciting going on. Just living life.

The girls ready for ride.

2007-04-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

I need your help, comments, anything you can give.

2007-04-22T09:41:00.000-04:00

OK, so pics of the car will come but I've got myself into a mess in the meantime and it's consuming me. Without going into a lot detail (because this is public) I need to hear your comments on how this could have happened. On Friday I had a hair across my ass about something my SIL in said (or did not say, for that matter) and in an email to a friend I called her a bitch, no, not nice, I know. Well, when she responded she made some really "not nice" comments. Yes, she knows my SIL and has always thought that she didn't like her. That was all that was said on the subject. The email was sent on Friday morning before 9:00, and when she responded she sent it to my verizon account so at first I didn't get it because I was at work and hadn't checked that email. She then forwarded it to my work one. When I did check my verizon email I read the email and then deleted it, all before 9:00. At about 2:00 I got an email from my SIL saying that she had received an erroneous email and that it was about her. Oh, guess what email she received??? YUP! The one about her. WTF! She was furious of course and I couldn't understand how she ever would have gotten it. She later on forwarded me the email and it was sent from my Verizon account sometime in the afternoon. I deleted that email in the morning and never sent anything from that account all day. I even went into my sent items and there was nothing. How could this happen? I was floored, sick to my stomach, crying, I didn't know what to do. Yes, I said something bad and that is how I felt at the time, but never in a million years would I want that to get back to her. I, of course, apologized many, many times. And, of course, that didn't make it any better. Her email address isn't even in my address book in my Verizon account. Any ideas people???? So now, I read an email this morning from her saying that she received 2 phone calls from my cell phone on Friday night and one left a lengthy message and she could hear my friend and I talking. WHAT??? There are no calls to her from that night and how in the world did this happen? I'm spinning right now. It's like there is someone out there to get me. Does anyone have any ideas on all of this? I don't know how I'm ever going to put the pieces back to this relationship.

*EDIT - Well, the phone call situation has been solved. I just looked at my daughter's cell phone and it was HER! She must have sat on it or something and of all people called that #. What luck huh??? I'm not sure what she heard but at the time we were all in the car and I really don't think we said anything bad, we've only been talking about how bad we feel about the whole situation. I'm sure if we had said something she didn't like she would have told me. I feel so horrible about this and right now can't stop crying, fuck!

2007-04-19T18:59:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm on a roll here. What's this, like 4 posts this month???

The sun finally came out today and it looks like it's here to stay. That does wonders for my mood. On Monday I made it to the Red Sox game. It was pouring when we left here at about 7:15 am. On our way in we found out they delayed the game but since we were already on our way we continued. We went to a bar and I had my first drink at 8:45, uggghhh! We left there at about 11:50 to head to the game, which was just across the street. Needless to say, I was feeling no pain. It was a great game, nice and dry and they won, sorry Tom! By 8:00 that night I was feeling so horrible. I was so glad to go to bed and sleep off all that alcohol.

OK, I have always wanted a convertible and today I finally bought one. I bought a red Mustang convertible. Of course I still have my SUV because this is Mass and I'll need it for the winter but now I have a fun car to tool around in. It will hopefully be ready for pickup tomorrow. The weather is looking nice for the weekend so I'll be able to cruise around with the top down. The kids are excited to get it.

My leg is feeling pretty good but still no running, I'm sticking to it this time. I can't even say that I'm 100% pain free yet. I can still feel some tenderness when taking stairs and when I do certain things. I have to say, though, I am really liking biking right now. I really feel it and I can make my heart rate soar. My legs have even felt leaner since I started, maybe it's all in my head, but I'm going with it.

I guess that's it. Wish me luck that I get my car tomorrow.

This picture just about sums up my mood.

2007-04-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

Great weather we're having huh??? I have Red Sox tickets for Monday, hmmmm....I hope they cancel. I will not be happy sitting in the cold rain watching the game. No amount of beer could mask my unhappiness in that situation. They are even having talks about the Marathon, they are not talking about canceling yet, but they are keeping an eye on the weather. There is a meeting today with EMS, which they always have the Thursday before the race, but I'm sure the weather is a big part of the talks today.

2007-04-10T10:59:00.000-04:00

So, we still haven't warmed up yet here in Mass but my yard doesn't look that white anymore. It's still only in the 40's, and they are talking about maybe a N'oreaster for Thursday. Just great!!! I have Red Sox tickets for Monday and it's looking pretty chilly, which is also the day of the Boston Marathon. We normally go and watch some of the Marathon after the game too. It's a great day! Warm weather would be nice.

Easter was nice. We hosted it for 19 people and boy can these people eat. We cooked ham, turkey and prime rib, 10 lbs of potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnip, butternut squash, creamed onions, green bean casserole, rolls, etc. and we have no leftovers. I'm actually very happy about that, but jeesh! That's a lot of food. I'm now trying to get rid of the leftover candy, which isn't too much. I made it through yesterday with only one piece of chocolate, one little foil wrapped chocolate from my favorite place.

The leg is okay, still a little sore, but it's been 2 weeks since my last run. I am waiting 6 weeks after it's pain free to try running again. Make me stick to it ok??? I'm doing a lot of cardio lately though, I think it's because I just don't want to come back to work. I'm averaging about an hour and 10 minutes, 5 days a weeks right now. I'm actually liking the bike, who would have thought? I'm still weight training too, normally 4 days, sometimes 5. Now if I could eat clean all the time, I'd have a rocking hot body. Of course my husband says that I already do. I was looking back at pictures on my blog from last April, where I was complaining and weighed 138. Ha! I didn't look so bad. I'm probably about 5-7 pounds above that right now. It will be easy to lose once I put my mind to it again.

I just heard that a show I got into, The Black Donnelly's, has been canceled. Man! The same thing happened to me when I started watching The Nine. I've started watching October Road too and I'll bet that'll happen to that show too.

Well, there it is, a bit of an update, and look, it hasn't even been a month.

Happy Spring????

2007-04-05T06:28:00.000-04:00

Will Spring ever get here??? My kids actually have a 2 hour delay today. Ugghhh!! I just pulled out the boots again. Jeesh! I'm sick of it. You probably can't see them in the pictures but my trees have little Easter eggs hanging from them. So much for that!

2007-04-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

Is it really April??? It's about 40 out and rainy and they are talking snow for tomorrow night. What the hell is that about???? I just bought 7 new pairs of shoes and I want to wear them! Of course they are all summer shoes.

I never did update about my dentist bill, it came in at $587.00 for 3 cleanings with xrays. We are switching dentists. I don't know what others charge, but I did not like all the "extra" charges that were in the bill without our consent.

About 2 weeks ago my leg was feeling good again and I should have let it rest a while more, but nooooo, I had to try running on it. I started off slow, I only did a 1/2 mile in between my other cardio. I did that every day and by the end of the week, it did hurt a little, but by the time Monday came around again, it felt good again. So, I bumped it up to 1 mile and did that 4 days. Again, it hurt by the end of the week, and by Monday it still hurt just a little but, being as stubborn as I am, I went for it and ran 1 1/2 miles. Damn!!!! The next day I could hardly walk. That was it for me. Now I'm going to do the right thing. Once I'm pain free again, I'm waiting, hopefully 6 weeks, if I can take it. For now I've started doing the bike, along with my other cardio, because that does not hurt my leg one bit. I've always hated that stupid thing, but it actually hasn't been too bad. So, for now, my cardio will consist of biking, elliptical and stepmill. And, of course, weight training, that's goes without saying.

I feel like I don't have a lot to write about. Things have been pretty quiet. My husband and kids are doing well. No complaints there. There is drama going on in our neighborhood but I can't possibly get into that in here. With my luck someone (one of my neighbors) would find this.

2007-03-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

I figured that since I had to change my profile to reflect my new age (my birthday was last week) I may as well post something. Now, what do I say???? I had a nice birthday, no fireworks or anything.

I went to the doctor for my leg a little over a week ago. Like I figured, it was a waste of time. He tells me that my problem is that I'm not stretching enough before I run, and that it's lasted so long because I'm getting older, duh!, really???? Wow, I wonder how much that diagnosis costs my insurance company. He told me that I could start running again when I was feeling no pain and that to start with .25 mile at a time, yeah right! I'm listening to a little advice, but tweeking it. My leg was feeling pretty good last week, so I stretched, did 30 minutes on the Elliptical, ran 1/2 mile and then did another 30 on the Stepmill. I did that 4 days last week. This week I'm upping the mileage to 1 mile, which I did yesterday. It's not totally without pain, but not too bad either.

Eating has been so so. I have a really good week, and then a so so week. I just can't seem to stay motivated for long right now. So, I'm taking day by day, week by week. I seem to do better when the weather is nice. Last week we had 70 degrees and then the next day we got 15" of snow, go figure! I felt really good on that 70 degree day. I wore sandals, I wore a pair of pants that were too snug when I bought them for Florida, but now fit great. Then, the snow comes and I'm back to "I don't care" again. Huh??? I will get a hold of myself again. Thank god I never let my workouts slide.

How is everyone??? I've been surfing a bit today, but my comments have been sporadic, to say the least.

More dentist woes!!!!

2007-03-02T19:11:00.001-05:00

Oh, get this!!! I just found out that I know quite a few people who go to my dentist, one is my next door neighbor. I heard through the grapevine that she wasn't feelin' the love with the new dentist either. Well, I emailed her about it and just heard back from her. I guess he told her that she needed a crown and she found out that he's told a few other patients the same thing. Now she's thinking of getting a 2nd opinion. Then, a friend of hers just went with her daughter for a cleaning and they were charged an extra $78/each for a consultation with the dentist. She was told, as was I, that he was going to come in every time we had a cleaning, just to check on things. Are you kidding me??? I'm going to get a bill for $78 x 3 ON TOP OF the charge for cleaning???!!!! I don't think so! My husband already has said that we are not paying that, and that we are switching dentists. We weren't even notified about the change in dentists! I just can't wait to see this bill. OK, I'm done ranting now.

The Dentist

2007-02-28T08:13:00.000-05:00

I've had the same dentist and hygienist my entire life. I have always been very happy with them. The girls and I had cleanings yesterday and found out that our dentist has sold the practice. My old dentist is now an associate of the practice and is only working 2 days per week. The new dentist has made some changes to the look of the place and has also invested in some new equipment, digital xray equipment, etc. The hygienist told me that I will now have to see this new dentist at every cleaning. I only saw my old dentist when my hygienist questioned something or if it had been a few years and felt the need to just check things out. I never had a problem with this system. My hygienist knows her stuff and knew when something needed attention. Yesterday, during my cleaning she noticed a spot that was slightly occluded but said that he'd probably say to just keep an eye on it. In the past, the dentist has always agreed with her opinion. That was the ONLY spot she mentioned, and like I said, I trust her opinion. I have never had any mouth pain or problems in the past. The dentist came in, and I didn't like him from the get go. He looks at my teeth and all of a sudden has me making an appointment to come back to have 2 fillings! WHAT???!!!??? I don't get it. The one spot I can see, but even that, the hygienist thought we could just watch it. The other spot??? She didn't even mention anything. When making the appointment they asked which dentist I wanted to see and of course I said my old one. He's out with a broken leg right now, but I'll wait. I want to see what he thinks. This whole thing is just really bothering me, like he's trying to get my money to pay for all his new fancy equipment. I didn't like the way he interacted with the hygienist either.

Ok, yes, it's been a while.

2007-02-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

I'm still here! I just haven't had the motivation to sit and write anything lately, too much to catch up on now.

My Florida trip was great. The weather wasn't so great, but still better than it was here. We came home to below zero temps, brrrrr......The girls survived us being away, but it was a rough first 24 hours. Emily was a mess! When we landed there were already 2 text messages from her and a voice mail. She didn't even go to school that day. She could not stop crying after we left. My poor Aunt didn't know what to do with her. Then, Molly, my youngest, just couldn't understand why she was so upset, she was absolutely fine. She did finally settle down. I was good though, I didn't cry once knowing how upset she was. I was actually getting a bit irritated at her. OH well, it's over and done with and it certainly won't be the last time we go away without them.

I seem to have mustered up a bit of motivation to eat well again. It's been about a week now and I'm hoping to keep it up. That's about all I have on that subject right now.

I re-did another room in my house last weekend, the full bath upstairs. I really like it now. I got all kinds of new decor to put around the tub, new pictures, etc. and it's really looking nice now. I want to do the 1/2 bath downstairs now. It should be pretty easy once I pick a color out.

My leg has still been bothering me. It's been way too long now, so I finally called the Dr. yesterday. I still think it's shin splints, but I just can't seem to shake them. I was hoping that they would just send me to PT, but she's sending me to an Orthopedic. My appointment is not until March 9th. Of course, wouldn't you know, today it's feeling better than it has in a long time. I think that if it keeps getting better, I'll cancel the appointment. Then I'll go and talk to the PT people at my gym and see about getting some help when I go back to running. Advice on preventing this from happening again, etc.

OK, so that's it for me. I just wanted to get something down here.

2007-01-30T08:21:00.000-05:00

A few pictures of Molly's new room. I haven't had time to hang her shelves, memo board and a few other things that we got, but you can get the idea.

Thanks everyone!

2007-01-24T14:08:00.001-05:00

Thank you all for your wonderful ideas. Lots and lots of them. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I'm actually thinking of having an edible arrangement sent. Both of my kids love fruit and there is a local edible arrangement store and I think they would love that. I was going to do the cookie thing, but I'm afraid the cookies might go to waste, my kids are picky, but I know they would eat the fruit and my Aunt who is watching them is on Weight Watchers and she may like having the fruit around too. I'm starting to get a little sad about leaving the kids. I know they'll be fine but I'll miss them. I hope my oldest does okay with us leaving, I'll be a mess if she's crying.

Things have pretty much been the same around here. Work has been the same, yuck! I guess I'm getting used to it though.

I'm in the middle of painting my youngest daughter's room right now. I can't wait for it to be done. It's hard only having small chunks of time to do it. On Sunday I painted the ceiling and primed the attic pull down. On Monday, after working, getting my nail done, cooking dinner and cleaning up, I primed 3 of the walls. Last night after working, working out, then eating dinner, I finished priming the last wall and put a first coat on one wall. Tonight will be first coat on another wall and 2nd coat on that one wall. Ugghh!!!! What a pain! Molly will be happy to be back in her room. I'd like to get her back in before we leave for Florida next week.

So, that's about it. Exercise is going well, food, not so well. My leg is still killing me, so no running, it's been so long now. I haven't decided how long I'll wait before calling the Dr. I guess I just know what she'll say and since I'm not going to listen, why go? I know, I know.

Oh, Melissa, if you're reading this, where are you??? I can't locate your blog and I don't know why.