Hello it's me

Not sure if anyone ever comes looking for me this way anymore, but if you do and want to see what I am up to these days, you can find me here.

I'll leave the light on for you.

You heard it here first

This is just to say that IF I ever learn to knit, as I desperately want to, and IF I ever blog about it, the title of my blog will be "Knitty Repartee."

That's all.

The Beginning of Summer

Pickle officially finished her 1st grade year on Friday.   The most noticeable growth this year was in the realm of reading and writing.  She's not laboring laboring to sound out every sound of every syllable like she was in September.  She glides easily through many books now and is even able to read well enough that she can add inflection to her stories as she reads to me.  Her writing has become interesting and detailed and although she fussed working on her spelling sentences from start to finish this year, she's can get through them now entirely on her own.

With the end of the year came the reams and reams of papers, artwork, workbooks and all the remnants of learning.  It will take me at least a couple weeks to go through it all, deciding what gets tossed and what few pieces we'll keep for posterity.

My favorite workbook that I've seen so far however, is her spelling notebook.  Apparently, each week they would write out their spelling words and then write one "interesting" sentence that used at least two of the spelling words. 

Let me share with you some of the highlights.  (The words in red are the spelling words from that week)

They start out normally enough:

Don't splash your milk when you drink.

I saw a rose on my trip to the lake.

How do you plug in the black clock?

She then takes a little creative liberty but still well written and easily understood:

I will dust the cute bun for him.

The bug can spell best of all.

Were the flute and the grill in the grass?

Which white whale will chat with the chum?

Pickle moves into metaphor and poetic expansion:

We must spin on the last drop of mist.

I have a backpack full of sunshine and footballs.

The giant circus was in the space in my garage.

Then she goes to a whole new level:

We taught the clown how to draw a mouth with his claw.

Clearly, Stephen King took over her Language Arts class and no one told us.

Week One Wrap Up

If you are also on Facebook, you know that I started last week realizing I misread the scale and I actually weighed five pounds more than I originally thought.  So my beginning weight was actually 150lbs, not 145lbs.  The exciting news for me is that as of Monday morning I have lost four pounds.  Not a huge, number, but I had originally set my sights on two pounds, so really, I am pretty pleased. 

The week went pretty well- I did take off Sunday, my body really needed one day of rest and although I didn’t eat optimally, I certainly ate more mindfully and often made better food choices than I have lately.

The exercise routine is tough.  It’s only a twenty-minute workout, but I was maybe as sore as I have ever been for the better part of the week. Truthfully, I like the length.  I think if this DVD was thirty minutes long, I would have already walked away.  Somehow pushing my self to my limits for twenty minutes seems much more doable.  The first couple workouts were humbling and there were sections I just couldn’t get through.  But I am surprised at how fast my body adjusted and responded.  I’m not all the way there yet, but I have gotten to the point where I can keep up with the workout.  Somewhere around Thursday, I anticipate moving up to level 2. We’ll see how that goes.

I can’t imagine that I’ll keep up the pace of four pounds per week, but man, it’s a heck of a way to start.  That number will definitely keep me motivated throughout this next week.

Enough.

Today is day one. I should post a picture- I will eventually, I just can't bring myself to do it today.

I weigh 145- while it's not the heaviest I've been ( I reached 160 sometime last summer), I. Have. Had. Enough. This is too much on my 5'2" frame and knees and quite frankly on my psyche. I am stunned when I see pictures of myself. I know the way I feel and how that impacts the rest of my outlook on life.

My diet was okay for a long time and then I slipped into some really bad habits- soda and mayo and less fruit and vegetables and more rice and pasta. Of course, I cannot forget my biggest downfall- french fries. I can walk aaway from chocolate in a heartbeat but french fries pave my own personal path to hell. Since November, I've gotten markedly better again - very little caffeiene, more fruits and veggies, smaller portions, a major cut down in the amount of snacking. That's where I got the first fifteen back. About a month ago I swore off french fries- which means I only have them once in a while. And I rarely eat more than a few. Compare that to Wendy's twice a week and at least once more eating dinner out someplace and I feel like I've made real progress.

But exercise has been a bigger issue. The truth is that it's really hard for me to exercise when I'm not already in shape. And as a mother of two with more than full-time work and a husband who is working a tremendous amount of hours, I haven't had the luxury of many choices about when I can work out. Although I will be the first to admit that it hasn't been a priority and there are places where I can work some exercise into my life.

So today is about no more excuses. I'm fed up. There is so much in my life right now that feels like it's spinning out of control and this is one place where I can have a direct influence. I need to reclaim some of my own strength in my life.

I started this morning with Jillian Michael's DVD "The 30 Day Shred". She's not screwing around. I got done and my quads were so taxed I almost couldn't stand up. I like her methods- she's supportive, but doesn't coddle. She wants you injury free but that isn't an excuse for taking it easy. She is the first to admit that if you want to look good, you have to work hard at it and she expects that out of everyone whether you want to lose 1o lbs. or 310lbs.

My goal weight right now is 124. I don't know if that's realistic or not. But for now it feels real. This one workout DVD won't do it for me, but my plan is for this to be a gateway- to get my fitness level up again to the point where it is easy and fun again and makes me want to find more time to workout.

I don't know who is still checking up on me around here, but I needed a place to post and make it real. I'm throwing my intention out to the Universe so there are some stakes involved. I'll keep you posted.

I wonder what it means--

when the girls play pretend and I am always referred to as the "Grandmother?"

Okay, so I'm really behind these days blogging -- and in everything else in my life.  It's not that I don't think about it, not that I don't want to do it,  but, well, you know how it goes.  Funny thing about that life stuff- it just keeps plowing along.  Sometimes I'm driving that big yellow plow but lately, I've been caught up in the swirl of rocks and snow and debris spinning around the concave blade, spat out on the side of the road until another plow follows in it's wake.

(Jeez, you'd think I was from Maine ambushing you with a snowplow metaphor like that.)

Anyway, the Pickle did manage to turn seven in January in case any of you are wondering.  I baked another silly cake, this year dipping my toe into the process of fondant.  It was a spa theme and for the first time, we had the cake at our house instead of the community club house. She originally wanted a rock and roll party, but I figured if we were going to have 20 girls in our tiny little house, perhaps the theme should be a bit more-- calming.

I finished my eight-month coaching class a couple of weeks ago.  I'll be starting another one in a month or so (not as long as the first one) as I meander my way towards certification. Certification is not required in coaching but it's definitely an important element IMHO.  The way I see it, if I am helping somebody change their life, wouldn't it be great if I had some extensive training to help them do it and a governing body (in this case, the International Coaching Federation) to say, "Hey, not only is Regina legally allowed to do it, we actually think she is qualified to do it!"  I'm working on a website that I hope to have live in a couple of weeks.  I'll keep you posted.

Pepper is a magical three year old.  She's full of life and creativity and enthusiasm and self-expression.  I actually love three.  Both the girls have navigated it well, avoiding most of the temper tantrums and stalwart willfulness and embracing the fun and the explosion of learning and putting themselves out there into the world.  It's a delicious time for me.  I try to drink it all in as much as possible.

That's me in a nutshell.  The fog that's covered my brain for months is starting to disperse and I'm wanting to return here and write more.  I hope I will.  I hope those of you that have been out there also continue to come back here too.  I like meeting up with you once in a while.