I just saw a post at 5minutesformom.com saying they are giving away a cool new Dyson vacuum cleaner. If you've not seen these yet, they are the coolest vacuum cleaner out there now. If you'd like a chance to win one, head on over to 5minutesformom.com to sign up. Wait, maybe you better not. I don't want too much competition! Just kidding, head on over for your chance to win too!
If you are a Champagne and Wine lover, then this website is for you.
Champagneswines.com offers everything from fine wine and champagne to gourmet food and accessories. They also offer fabulous gift baskets and wonderful gifts. You can also join their Wine of the Month club and receive a different wine delivered to your door every month.
Visit Champagnewines.com today and see for yourself what they have to offer.
this is a sponsored post.
Just got off the phone with my mom and I am pretty sure we have our "work-out days" all set now. We are both going to start at Curves on Tuesday then will work out again on Thursday morning and Friday morning. I KNOW it is going to be hilariously funny. I have gone to a gym before and have used machines similar to the ones we'll be using at Curves, but my mom has never gone to a gym. Her favorite mode of exercise is walking, no equipment required. She's already saying that she's going to be the clown of the bunch and I'm sure she's not lying:) Should be interesting. I'll keep everyone filled in on our antics as they happen.
I found out a few weeks ago that my cousin is pregnant with her first child so I have been on the lookout for all things baby. I came across this wonderful website that sells all kinds of Upscale Baby Gifts & Unique Toys. Modern Crib Bedding, Designer Clothes, Jewelry & Natural Skin Care are among the other items Spiffy Baby sells.
They have a great search feature where you can find items according to a certain category. Shop by price, whether or not it is for a boy or girl, even by age! This is the best! They also have a baby registry where the mom (or dad) to be can sign up and list what she needs for the new baby. I am going to tell my cousin about this feature. I am sure she will find several things she would like.
I think my favorite part of this website though is their monthly Spiffy Baby contest. All you have to do to enter is send them a picture of your beautiful baby then Spiffy Baby members, friends and family vote on their favorite one. And they have prizes up to $50! Now what new mom couldn't use $50?
Spiffy Baby also offers a great parent resource center. This is in blog format and talks about everything from the best baby gifts to buy to the "working dad's perspective" on a new baby. If you are a new parent, I highly recommend "Spiffy Baby Talk - where one savvy parent meets another". It's a fantastic way to find out everything you need to know about parenting.
this is a sponsored post.
So, hubby is heading up to Michigan tonight and won't be back until tomorrow. He's going up to pick up the truck he purchased. Last weekend, him and my son went to Evansville IN for a boy's night out and the weekend before him and I were in Louisville KY. Hmm, I think he needs to stay home for awhile. What do you think? Well, that isn't going to happen because he's already got plans for next weekend too, another trip to Michigan and then a basketball game in Indy. Guess it'll just be the kids and me tonight and tomorrow. I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. And I KNOW next weekend, my daughter and I will have fun. It'll just be us girls so we'll have a blast. We always do:)
Yesterday I was able to visit with my best friend who is home for a visit from Iowa. She brought her three kids (ages 5, 4 and 2) and I can't believe how much they've grown. They're not babies anymore! I also can't believe that she drove almost 400 miles in her little car with three kids. They were all pretty loud:) I can tell I'm not around little kids anymore because I was deaf by the time I came home. It was fun though and I can't wait for them to come home for another visit this summer. By then I'll have the swimming pool installed and they'll be able to come here for a swim. That'll be interesting, I'm sure.
Being self-employed means that we don't have all the benefits as other employed people do, like insurance that is paid for by your employer. For the longest time, my family went without Health Insurance and I was afraid every day that something bad was going to happen. Someone was going to get sick or hurt, end up in the hospital costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and we'd be completely wiped out financially.
After much searching, we found a plan that was both affordable and the coverage that we needed. We found our insurance after hearing an ad for it on the radio, but you can also find places online too. Click HERE to get a quote for home, life, health or auto insurance fast. Check it out today!
this is a sponsored post.
| Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC |
 "Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last! |
| Your Hair Should Be Pink |
 |
Just off the phone with my mom and I guess she has joined Curves too! This is going to be so much fun. We are both starting next week and are going to go together, at least in the beginning, so we can work out and help each other along. I have a feeling we're going to be doing more laughing then exercising though. She was telling me today of some of the things that happened to her just when the manager was showing her how to use the machines and boy, let's just say she is going to be one fun girl to watch work out:0
On the diet front, I forgot to post my weigh in yesterday. oops! I was only down .4 lbs. Not a lot and I know it is because I wasn't 100% over the weekend. But yesterday and today I've been 100% dedicated. I even went out for a walk earlier to take advantage of the beautiful weather we're having! That's a major accomplishment for me. I also noticed that I can see finally see some light through all of my NS food. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever make a dent in it. I will get another shipment around April 5th and by the looks of things I should have plenty of room to store it all. I need to hit the grocery store at some point this week also to stock up on more fresh fruits and veggies. I only have enough salad greens for maybe two more salads and I'm completely out of fruit. I've been drinking grapefruit JUICE to make up for it but would really rather have a banana or orange to fill me up more.
It's that time of year when homeowners look over their property to see if they need to make any repairs. Sometimes those repairs tend to be bigger then the average person can afford out of pocket so a loan is in order.
If you are one of these people, why not look into a home equity loan. There are several qualifed Mortgage Brokers out there to help you find the loan that will work best for you. They will guide you through the different mortgage options out there and make them less confusing for you. They are also helpful in finding a lender if you have less then perfect credit.
this is a sponsored post
Tomorrow is the big day, the day that I go to the Curves gym here in town to get started. I'm excited, but scared at the same time. I know that I'm really out of shape and I know that going through the circuit will be pure torture the first day (and probably the entire week, truthfully), but I also know that working out is only going to help me in my weigh loss endeavour.
My sister in law is already a member at this gym and will be there tomorrow to cheer me on. I'm glad. I haven't been to a gym in over 3 years and I know going in is going to be the hardest part. I'm going to feel like all eyes are on me, but with my sister in law there I'm hoping that takes away from some of the self consciousness. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Mack Collier over at the Viral Garden has come up with a way to generate more traffic to some blogs out there that just aren't getting their fair share. Just copy and paste the following blog list into a new post on your website, add the web address of the blog that you copied it from and also some blogs that you think need some more readers, do NOT post your own link in the list(it's only fair that way) then publish your post.
domestic diva dot org
Connected Internet
Blog-Op
Mike's Money Making Mission
Time to Budget
Can I Make Big Money Online
Blogtrepreneur
Flee the Cube
Blogging Secret
Blogging to Fame
Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under
Quest to make money on the internet
Kumiko's Cash Quest
Calico Monkey
Internet Bazaar
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes!
Billions With Zero Knowledge Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
Two Hat Marketing
darrenbarefoot.com The Emerging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew's Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
NewsPaperGrl
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett's Pothole on the Infobahn Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
I think I told you all earlier that this week my son had two school projects to do. They are all complete now and thankfully there aren't anymore (that I know of) to deal with.
His first project was due yesterday and that was to:
1: find out what the poorer class of Ancient Romans would have ate for their meals. He did that and found out that it was mostly porridge that was consumed back then by the poorer familys.
2: find an actual recipe for that type of porridge. He found that.
3: actually make that recipe and take it in to school for all the kids in his class to sample.
His second project wasn't bad. He had to make an island model for a book that he'd read. I did have to get some special items for it too, but nothing that was out of the ordinary. At least this turned out good. He took it to school today and we're both hoping that he gets a good grade on it. It wasn't anything major. I guess the island in the book was deserted and there really wasn't much on it. Just a few palm trees and a shack really. We got the sand from our yard, the water is play dough, the palm trees are car air fresheners (that's why they're blue:) and the shack was made from popsicle sticks. The little thing laying beside the shack is supposed to be a fire. Apparantly it went out though because the tissue paper flames weren't there this morning when my son took it to school. His island will be on display for a week so we won't know what type of grade he's going to get until the first of April.
I just want to stay home for awhile, rest and get some "me time" in for a change. This week, and last week and the week before, seem to have flown by because all I've done is run, run, run. Do you ever get that way? You seem to constantly be on the go so when you get the chance to stay home, you just want to park it and not move for 48 hours? I'm to that point now.
Last weekend, hubby and I started off Saturday morning with a road trip to IN to look at a truck for our business and ended up in KY. Well, hubby told me this morning that he'd really like to go back to Kentucky THIS WEEKEND to actually look around a bit more since we didn't get the chance to see a lot of things last weekend. What? Another 4 hour drive? So soon? Ugh, I don't even want to think about it. I just want to stay here and relax. I might have to see if some persuasion might help hubby get this silly little idea out of his head. I would like to go back eventually, but maybe next month or sometime this summer, but not a week after I've already been there. I might have to break out some of the heavy duty stuff to get him to change his mind. I'll let you know if it works.
Update: No Kentucky trip will be taken this weekend, however, there will possible be a Michigan trip taken to look at another truck. Hubby is calling about it right now to see if anyone will be there on Saturday. I don't think I will be going along on this one. I really just want to stay home and veg this weekend.
I have never personally known anyone who has gone through a drug rehab program and truthfully I hope that I never do. But nowadays, it seems like no matter where you turn there is someone dealing with a drug problem.
If I ever do end up in this situation then I would want to find the best place possible to get help. Stone Hawk is the most successful drug rehab program in the United States. They are located in Michigan. Stone Hawk specializes in drug free treatment, which makes a lot of sense to me. There are several treatments out there that utilize drugs in their programs, but Stone Hawk feels that it is contradictory to treat a habitual drug user by introducing even more drugs into their system.
After going through the program, 3 out of 4 graduates are capable of getting back to their lives and leading a successful and independent life. That's a really good success rate.
So, I hope I never had to look for a drug rehab program, but if I do then Stone Hawk will be one of the first places that I check out.
this is a sponsored post
I'm always on the lookout for some free things. Why pay money for something when you can get it for free is my motto:) Here are a few things that I found online today. Enjoy!
Travel USA tee shirt
Free sample of tea
Lacoste cologne sample
Sore No More Pain Relief Gel
Pepcid AC sample
My days are finally slowing down a bit although yesterday I didn't think they were going to. My daughter ended up coming home from school with a stomachache. Luckily she is better today and did go back to school. Last night I also had to help my son with one of his projects for this week...building an island model to go with a book he is reading. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Tonight we have to make an ancient Roman porridge recipe for his Social Studies project. Hoping it turns out well too.
Diet is still moving along although I've had several temptations lately. Working overtime hasn't helped and I must admit that I've not ate completely on program the past two days. I've had Subway though which isn't TOO bad for me:)
I've yet to start exercising. I just haven't had the time or energy to hop on the treadmill. I'm hoping though that since work is slowing down a bit that I'll get motivated to hop on and start. I know once i get going that I'll feel better and actually enjoy it. it is just getting started that I have the problem with. Hubby said he is thinking about joining our local gym, but I don't think that is something that interests me. Not yet anyway. Maybe down the road.
The weather is finally looking more and more like Springtime this week. Temps are in the high 60's, low 70's for the entire week. Finally! I'm so ready.
When I first graduated high school, I received all kinds of credit card offers in the mail. And being the naive soul that I was at the time, I signed up for every single one of them. For the most part, I paid off the balance each month on the cards that I did use.
Over time, however, I got to where I was charging more and more and paying less and less and that's how I eventually ended up in big trouble. At that time, I ended up filing for bankruptcy. I wish I had known about getting one of the Bad Credit Loans that are available now though.
Getting a loan to help pay off my bad credit would have been so much better for my credit record then filing bankruptcy was for it. If you are having problems paying off a credit card or have other bills out there, why not check on getting a Bad Credit Loan to help out.
this is a sponsored post
There is a new dating website out there that will help you find that special someone. This Free Online Dating service is called JustSayHi.com and yes, you read that right, it is a FREE service. There is no credit card required to sign up.
Unlike other dating websites, JustSayHi.com has no gimmicks or tricks. It's just a great place to meet people.
Why not go to JustSayHi.com
now and see for yourself what it is all about.
this is a sponsored post.
After a cruddy Friday, my weekend turned into a nice bit of fun. Hubby and I took off Saturday morning to go check out a truck for our business. It was located in IN so we took off and figured we'd just spend the day out having fun afterwards. The day was very nice, sunny, but chilly. We got to IN and found the truck, but it was a total piece of junk so we left. Hubby decided that we'd just take off on the Interstate and see where it led. Ended up in Louisville KY!
We ended up staying the night there. It was so much fun! The entire city was celebrating St. Patricks day so there were several fun events going on. We ended up down on a place called Fourth Street Live. There are a collection of stores and restaurants there and that night they were having a concert to celebrate. There were several colorful characters out and about too. We saw several "leprachauns":) We watched a bit of the concert and just enjoyed the night. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and crashed. the next morning we were up and on our way back home. It was a four hour trip, but well worth every minute.
Last night, we took the kids to see the movie, Norbit with Eddie Murphy. It was pretty good and the kids really enjoyed it. It was a bit of fun for them to have this weekend too since they stayed home while we were gone. That is the nice thing about having older kids. You can go out without them every once in awhile and enjoy adult things:)
This next weekend, I guess, hubby will be going to Arizona on business. I won't be going on this trip though. It will be more business then fun so I'll just stay here.
This has been one heckuva day today. Between trying to do my regular business duties, my household chores and helping move all of our inventory from our rental building to our own building, it's been super busy.
Fridays are usually pretty quiet here. I don't know why, but people just don't tend to call on this day of the week, which is why I generally try to do any errand running that I need to do on Friday instead of any other day. Today, however, the phone rang off the hook. Every time I'd leave, there would be at least 5 messages waiting on me when I returned. I guess everybody just knew that I was super busy and wanted to add to my grief.
On top of all my regular stuff to do, we are in the process of moving all of our inventory from the storage building we have in town to our building out here. I had the guys (our two employees) run several trips back and forth, but I still had to be here to help tell them where to put everything. In between their trips, I was also trying to get laundry done. Needless to say, I'm STILL working on that.
And to top things off, my kids got out of school early today. I had NO IDEA that today was a short day. They didn't mention it to me and I didn't think to look at the calendar so imagine my surprise when they come walking down the lane. Do you think they've helped me out today though? No way. Granted, I didn't ASK them for help so they sure as heck weren't going to offer it. Silly of me to even let that thought run through my brain for even a second.
So, now I'm just waiting on 5pm to get here so that I can close up shop for the day. I'm ready for my Calgon moment!
I like to watch videos on my computer. Sometimes I do it in my free time and I also do it when I really should be working. There are so many websites out there with funny video clips and I would love to watch every one of them, but I just don't have the time to sort through them all. That's where coolvideoclips.com comes in.
Coolvideoclips.com searches the web for the funniest, most entertaining videos out there so that you can watch the best ones without having to waste your time sorting through those boring videos that we all know are out there. Coolvideoclips.com picks videos from YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Clickfish and many other sites. They actually search over 300 other video websites to find the videos that will be most interesting to you.
So, if you're tired of wasting your time sorting through all those video clips out there, check out coolvideoclips.com now to see the best ones available.
Have you ever sent a cd of pictures to family or friends and thought, "Hmm, it would be so nice if I could add some music to these and make it more interesting"? If you have then Fliptrack.com is for you.
With Fliptrack.com, you can make music videos out of your pictures. How cool would that be to see yourself as the rock star you've always dreamed of being? You can also add custom effects to your photos to give them that professional look.
If Fliptrack.com sounds like something that you would be interested in, please click here to visit their website.
this is a sponsored post.
I just realized that I didn't post my meals from yesterday. Oops! I'll post them first then my meals for today.
Wednesday meals
Breakfast-NS apple toaster pastry (a bit better then the strawberry, but still not great)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
1 slice toast
Snack-fat free string cheese
Lunch-NS spicy oriental noodles
1 thai style veggie burger
cabbage slaw (no mayo)
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
Snack-1 cup strawberries
Dinner-NS chicken patty
1/2 cup cooked cabbage
1 cup strawberries
1 tsp. olive oil (this is what I sauteed my cabbage in)
1 slice fat free, low carb bread
Dessert-NS peanut butter cookie
Thursday meals:
Breakfast-NS cinnamon swirl granola bar
1 container fat free vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
1 slice toast
Snack-
17 slices of turkey pepperoni
Lunch-NS New Orleans Style Rice w/ chicken
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
salad w/ tomato and fat free italian dressing
1 cup strawberries
Snack-
1 cup mixed fruit
Dinner-
NS Macaroni w/ beef and cheese
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
salad w/ tomato and fat free italian dressing
olives
5 melba crackers
Dessert-
NS chocolate cake
Ok, I am not quite there yet on my exercise venture, but some day I hope to be able to run a marathon. I know, people that know me are saying "What? You run a marathon? You don't even like walking out to the mailbox!" Well, that's all you know about it. I've always thought that I could be a marathon runner one day. I'm stubborn and once I have the stamina to do it, I know I would push myself to keep running even if my legs felt like they were going to fall off.
My cousin, who lives in Washington DC, has ran mini marathons in the past. Just last week, she was telling me that she is going to be running in the Wirefly National Marathon this month in Washington D.C.
This marathon benefits several DC area organizations and charities. Some of these are the Special Olympics District of Columbia, Fort Dupont Ice Arena, YMCA DC, Joy of Sports Foundation and Washington Tennis and Education Foundation.
Deb, my cousin, said that this marathon is only a couple of years old, but is growing pretty fast in popularity. They offer both a half marathon and a full marathon and they have already passed their goal of 4,000 participants this year. She was also telling me that Wirefly is the sponsor of the race this year. Wirefly is one of the largest online sellers of cell phones and got its start in business in the District about seven years ago so it's nice to see a local business sponsor this race.
This year's race route will feature a mix of famous memorials, landmarks and monuments along with Washington DC's emerging new neighborhoods. The race will start and finish at RFK Stadium.
Hopefully someday soon I'll be joining my cousin in one of these marathons, but for now I'll have to be content with watching her from one of the viewing stations along the route.
this is a sponsored post.
Yes, you are reading that little bouncing number exactly right. I weighed in this morning to an official weight loss for this first week on Nutrisystem of EIGHT lbs!! I'm so happy! Now on to the next week and hopefully another great loss:)
I am feeling pretty proud of myself. This is day five of following NS and I feel like I'm doing fantastically (now that the weekend is over. lol) Anyway, today is actually the first day that I've been stuffed! After eating my lunch today, I haven't thought about food one time, which is very unusual for me because the afternoon slump is when I tend to eat the most junk. Next week, I'm going to start in on the exercise. I'd planned on starting this week but came up with all kinds of excuses not too. Seriously though, I am super busy this week and although that's not a good excuse, it's what I'm going with. Next week, the billing period will be over and I wont' have any deadlines hanging over my head so that'll be the perfect time to get started.
My NS menu for today:
Breakfast-
NS scrambled eggs
1 veggie sausage patty (dairy or protein)
1 cup of strawberries (fruit)
1 slice toast (carb)
Snack-
17 slices (this is the serving size!) of turkey pepperoni (dairy or protein)
Lunch-
NS homestyle cheesy mashed potatoes w/ broccoli
1 thai style veggie burger (dairy or protein)
salad w/ tomato, fat free cheese, mushrooms, cucumbers and fat free dressing
1 cup strawberries (fruit)
Snack-
1/2 cup grapefruit juice (fruit)
Dinner- (haven't ate yet, but do have planned)
NS Wedged potatoes w/ sliced beef steak
squash (veggie)
salad w/ tomato, fat free cheese, mushrooms, cucumbers and fat free dressing
sprinkle of sunflower seeds (fat)
5 melba crackers (carb)
Dessert-
NS chocolate covered caramel corn (haven't tried this yet, but it looks delish!)
My husband's friend, Quinton, is newly single and getting back into the dating scene. He's been looking at some of the dating websites out there, but nothing has really been what he is looking for. When I recently came across a website specifically for Christian Dating, I had to let Quinton know about it.
He checked it out over the weekend and said it is exactly what he'd been looking for. This website is specifically for Christian men and women looking to date single Christian men or women. And it is FREE too! He liked that part the best:) He's already emailing a few women and getting to know them. Who know? Maybe he'll find his lifelong love.
this is a sponsored post.
Finally, spring has finally arrived! Today it is almost 80 degrees outside! I just wish it was going to stay like this, but unfortunately tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cooler then Thursday it's going to be back down in the high 40's/low 50's, which is normal for this time of year around here. Since it's so nice today, I've been thinking of my flowers.
My mom gave me a start to some of her black iris today. She bought them a few years ago and I've been begging for some to plant in my yard every year since then. Today she finally came through and dug up some for me. I wish they'd bloom this spring, but it will probably be next year before I get to see them. They're not really black. They're actually just a really deep, dark purple, but they look almost black at a glance.
I'm anxious for the flowers to start blooming and the leaves to start coming out on the trees now. See what a warm day does to me? I'll enjoy it while I can and once it cools off again then I'll try to wait patiently for another beautiful day like today to come along.
Ever wonder exactly what websites your kids are visiting while they're online? Or wanting to make sure that your hubby is steering clear of those girly websites? Do you think that the only way you can know what is going on is to stand over everybody's shoulders while they're online? Wrong! Why not invest in spy software to find out exactly what websites are being viewed on your computer.
You can find software like this at eblaster.com. They offer several different versions of spy software. One version, called eblaster 5.0 will actually capture incoming and outgoing email messages, chats and instant messages then immediately send you a copy. This software also records websites visited, keystrokes typed, files downloaded and programs that are launched.
If you want to make sure that your family is safe while online, I highly recommend getting some spy software to keep an eye on things.
this is a sponsored post.
I really figured after all the junk that I'd eaten this weekend that the scale would be cruel to me this morning, but when I hopped on I was pleasantly surprised to see a loss. My official weigh-in day isn't until Thursday so I'm not going to post the exact amount that I'm down just yet, but let's just say it is looking good.
My son is feeling much better today and is back at school, which is good because although he wasn't bad to have home (he slept for the most part) I needed my alone time today. I've gotten a lot accomplished this morning and I know if he'd been home that I would have delayed doing any of it for fear of either waking him up.
Today has started out well diet-wise. I'm back on track and feel that today I will stick with the NS program for every single meal even if it kills me to do it. This is where I had problems last time on NS, going out and not eating on program. I just can't do that this time if I want to reach my goal. I've got to have more willpower and more brains when I do go out to eat. And if I can't eat sensibly when I'm out at a restaurant then maybe I just don't need to be eating out at restaurants!
Ok, meals for today:
Breakfast-
NS cinnamon granola bar
1/2 cup skim milk (dairy/protein)
1/2 grapefruit (fruit)
Snack-
5 crackers (carb carried over from breakfast)
1 pack of fat free string cheese (dairy/protein serving)
Lunch-
NS black beans and rice
fat free cottage cheese
salad
1/2 cup strawberries
Snack-
1/2 cup strawberries
Dinner-
NS Hamburger w/ lettuce, tomato and mustard
green beans
salad w/ tomato, olives and ff dressing
1/2 cup butter beans
Dessert-
NS double chocolate almond cookie
Ok, I really stunk at following NS today. With having to set our clocks ahead an hour, I started out later with my day so I just had the NS peanut butter granola bar, 1/2 c. milk, 1/2 c. grapefruit juice and a slice of toast. Figured I'd just eat a light breakfast since it was only about 2 hours until lunch.
Well, hubby decided that he wanted to go shopping so off we go. He swore to me that we'd eat somewhere for lunch that I could eat sensibly. Where do we end up at? Taco Bell! Now, I know that you can order pretty much any item off their menu "al fresca" style which lowers the fat and calorie content, but still. I ended up just ordering two of their soft tacos and a diet cola. It didn't fill me up at all. We went to a few more stores then brought everything home. Hubby then says for me to go back out to the car. He had a surprise for me. Ok. The kids stay home and off we go again. This time we end up at the movies. Great. I've no problem with going to see a good movie (We saw Wild Hogs...so funny), but I'd not brought my NS snack and I was still hungry from not eating much at lunch. Hubby ordered popcorn and I ended up eating 1/2 of it before I even realized it. Movie Popcorn=No! No! in Lisa's book. After the movie, Hubby said we'd go get something at Subway. Ok, I can handle Subway. I can eat healthy there and this will also fill me up. good. So, we drive down to the Subway that is closest to the theater. it's packed. Hubby doesn't want to wait so we drive across town to another Subway. It's closed. Grr!!! By now, my stomach is growling loud enough for hubby to hear it and I'm also getting nauseous from being too hungry so I growl at him to just stop at the next restaurant that comes along. Well, that just happens to be RALLY'S. Ok, not the best place to eat, but I'm going to pass out if I don't put some food in my body soon! I order the spicy chicken meal, small, with diet cola. When I get it, I toss the bun out, scrape off as much of the mayo as possible and inhale the chicken patty. I feel better after that and slow down to eat the small fries. Well, didn't have to worry about me eating too many because after only the third one, I bit into something that was just awful! it was so bitter, I still don't know what it was. I immediately spit it out and dumped the rest of the fries. I guess that's one way not to go overboard on eating junk. By now, I realize this is just a bad eating day on my part and I should just stop and not even try anymore. So, once we got home I just drank a big glass of water then go to bed, telling myself that I'll do better in the morning.
Well, weighed this morning and am actually down a pound already from my start day so I guess the pizza and cappuccino didn't do too much damage. I'm back on track today.
Breakfast-
NS blueberry pancake (delicious)
1 egg, scrambled
1 slice toast
1 serving blueberries on top of pancake
Snack-
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
Lunch-
NS chicken stew w/ barley (it didn't look the greatest, but tasted pretty good. I added a couple shots of tabasco sauce to give it some kick)
salad w/ ff cheese (dairy/protein serving)
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
Snack-
1 pear
Dinner-
Ate out again tonight, but I ordered off the kids menu and had no dessert or alcohol so feel pretty dang good.
In about an hour, I have my nephew's birthday party to go to. I'm going alone. My son is still not back to 100%. His fever came back today so he's just laying around. I don't blame him at all. I just hope he's feeling better by Monday so he can get back to school.
My favorite game show on television right now is Deal or No Deal. I just love Howie Mandel and all of the fun and excitement he brings to the show. I call in every week with my guess to which case has the $10,000 in it too.
I love this game and have always thought it would be fun to play it online. Well, imagine my excitement when I found out that Winzy.com has a free version of the Deal or No Deal game on their website. Granted, you don't win any prizes with this game, but they do have several others on there that you can win prizes by playing. I'm going to go play a game right now. Open the case!
this is a sponsored post.
Alright, day one is behind me and it actually wasn't too bad for the beginning of a diet. I wasn't hungry except for one time and that was just because I waited too long between meals. Once I ate, I was stuffed and fine the rest of the evening. Today has started out great. I've gotten in two glasses of my water, ate my NS breakfast and walked on the treadmill. Here's my menu so far. I'll update later on:
Breakfast-
NS scrambled eggs w/ veggie sausage crumbles (yummy!)
1 egg (protein, I added it to my ns entree to give more bulk to them)
2 spiced apple rings (fruit serving)
5 small melba crackers (my carb serving)
Snack-
1 container vanilla fat-free yogurt
Lunch-
NS mashed potatoes w/broccoli (had this last time and still just as yummy)
bumblebee tuna fillet, teriyaki flavor (protein serving)
salad
2 spiced apple rings (fruit)
The rest of the evening was a total bomb. We ended up going out and although I didn't eat like I usually would, I did end up having 3 pieces of supreme pizza then stopped for a mocha cappuccino afterwards. I'll weigh in the morning to see how much damage I did. Hopefully not a lot.
Ok, there is something going on over at PayPerPost and I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what it is. I've read a few different blogs out there and there are some pretty good rumors floating around as to what this big announcement of PayPerPost's is going to be, but here is what I think it is.
So, since PayPerPost deals with online advertising maybe the big announcement is going to be that they will be offering more opportunities for us smaller bloggers. I know I wish there were more opps out there for me to take. Since my blog doesn't have a whole lot of readers (hence a lower PR) I don't qualify for a lot of the opps that are posted now. Or maybe it will be that the advertisers will be paying even more money to us little bloggers who type our fingers to the bone to help advertise their products. That would be sweet! Hmm, maybe Ted is announcing his retirement and they are appointing Colleen the new head honcho! Cool, a fellow postie in charge. Awesome!
Well, whatever the big announcement is, I'm sure it will be fantastic news. I look forward to hearing what it is soon. Hopefully they won't be keeping us in suspense much longer.
Even though today has been pretty hectic (had to take my son to the dr. Fever of 102. Diagnosed with tonsillitis), I started following the NS program. So far, so good although I've not gotten much water in. I was afraid to drink too much while out running around for fear of not making it to a bathroom in time:)
Anyway, this is my menu so far for today:
Breakfast-
NS strawberry toaster pastry (this is a new product and although it isn't bad it's not the greatest. Very dry and not sweet enough)
1 hard boiled egg (my protein serving)
1 piece of toast w/ spray of ICBINB (my carb serving since I have more then 100 lbs. to lose)
1/2 cup of grapefruit juice (my fruit serving)
Lunch-
NS cheese tortellini (very good. I don't remember them having this when I was on before, but the menu said it isn't new. Maybe I just missed it)
1/2 cup ff cottage cheese (my dairy serving)
salad w/ mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, ff cheese (my snack dairy serving) topped with ff ranch dressing
2 spiced cinnamon apple rings (my fruit serving since I have more then 100 lbs. to lose)
Afternoon Snack-
2 spiced cinnamon apple rings (I should also have a protein/dairy serving now, but used it at lunch)
That's it for now. I've not thought much about what I'll be having for dinner yet, but that's the nice thing about the NS program. I dont' have to worry about what to have. It's already made for me, all I have to do is heat it up, add some veggies and salad and there ya go. Voila! Now, I DO already know what I'm choosing for my daily dessert and that is the new NS chocolate chunk almond cookie! The picture of it looks just yummy and from the feel of the package it is a fairly good size cookie at that. I'll let you know more once I have it, but I'm really hoping it is as good as I'm hoping.
Update:
Dinner-
NS meatloaf w/ mashed potatoes (another new item, very good although could have been bigger)
1/2 cup green beans (my veggie serving)
2 spiced apple rings (my fruit or salad serving)
5 green olives (my fat serving)
1/3 cup butter beans (my carb serving since I need to lose more then 100 lbs.)
Dessert-
NS white chocolate chunk cookie (I was right, it was delish! Again, could have been bigger, but that's the whole point of NS, isn't it? Portion control!)
My really nice UPS guy just delivered my new shipment of NS food. I've not opened it up yet, but will here in just a few to make sure all is there and then try to find somewhere in my already crowded kitchen to put everything.
I've been debating on when to start the program and I think I'm just going to go ahead and start tomorrow. Even though it is a Thursday, I'm afraid if I wait to start on Sunday or Monday that I'll have lost all motivation that I have now. Besides, I'm anxious to taste some of this "new and improved" food that everyone on the NS boards have been raving about. From my last stint on NS, I know some of the food was delish while other things weren't so good. I'm sure this is how it will be again, but I'm hoping that it's more good then bad. I want to have the biggest majority of food possible so I don't get stuck in the rut of eating the same things over and over again.
Ok, off to unpack everything.
The month of March is full of birthdays in my family. My mom, my niece, my nephew and my dad's birthdays all fall within the first two weeks of the month. I've taken care of gifts for everybody on my list except for my dad. He is very hard to buy gifts for because he has pretty much everything he'd ever want to have. I've been searching though and think that I finally found the perfect gift for him. He doesn't do it often, but every once in awhile he'll get to invite his guy friends over for a game of cards. So, I thought why not get him something poker related and then it clicked. How about some personalized poker chips? E-Pokerchips.com offers all kinds of poker products from the nation's top manufacturers at discount prices. I think this will be the perfect gift for my dad. Who knows, maybe with these cool poker chips, his guy friends will want to come play cards with him more often.
this is a sponsored post
What an eventful day this has been. I'm glad that it is almost over and hopefully tomorrow won't be so busy. Like I said in my earlier post, I got my new car today. It's awesome, btw. But let's start from the beginning.
My list of things to do today was 1)take the kids to school, 2)go to the bank and get the check for the car 3)go pick up my car. Sounds simple enough.
It didn't end up that way. First, I did get the kids to school, came back home and started in on things I needed to do around here. then hubby called and said that he wasn't going to make it home in time to go pick up my car and I needed to find another ride over to the dealership. Hmm, ok, I'll call my mom. She's always home and would gladly give me a ride to pickup my car. I call, but unfortunately my brother has already hit her up to babysit my nephew. Darn. No ride from her. I call my sister-inlaw, but she was called into work today. Strike 2. then hubby calls back and says that his mom would take me over, no problem. Great. That's taken care of. I call the bank and let the loan officer know that I'll be in around 1:30 to sign the papers and pick up the check. I get his voicemail and leave a message only to have him call me back later asking if I could come in an hour earlier instead. No problem. So, I finish things up here and get ready to head into town when the phone rings. It's my son's school, he's sick, can I come pick him up? So, another snag in the day. I go pick him up, calling the bank on the way to let them know that I'm going to be a little bit late. No problem. Pick up my son, take him back by my mom's so she can watch him while I get all my running done then back into town to the bank. When I walk in, the receptionist tells me that now the loan officer has a customer in his office and it's going to be a good twenty minute wait. Great again. I patiently wait and finally get in to see him. Afterwards, I call my mother in law to meet her and drive over to the dealership where I sign all the papers and then officially drive my new car home. Get back to my mom's, pick up my son, and come home. My son immediately comes inside and goes to bed. He's got a fever of 101 and a headache. I really hope it isn't the beginning of the flu. he's been in his room all afternoon and evening. We'll see how he feels when he gets up in the morning, I guess.
So, after several delays and unforeseen events, my day is pretty well done. Tomorrow will be a new day and hopefully a more relaxing one.
After many years of drinking coffee, tea and sodas, my teeth aren't the whitest that I'd like them to be so I've been debating on having one of the Dentists in my area do one of the whitening procedures they do now, like the in-office whitening procedure. With that procedure, the dentist puts a bleach gel on your teeth then shines a bright light on your teeth. This causes a chemical reaction to occur allowing the gel to penetrate the teeth and get rid of the stains.
Some Dentists also offer at-home whitening too. With this procedure, the dentist fits your teeth with a tray and sends you home with a milder bleach solution which you use over a period of weeks or months. This procedure does take longer though and has less noticeable results.
I'll be checking into the different options out there to find what will work best for me.
this is a sponsored post
Over this past weekend, I found my new car. If you don't remember, we were looking for something for my daughter but after several test drives of junk, hubby and I finally decided to just give her my car and get me a new one. Anyway, over the weekend we test drove a Dodge Charger. After just a couple of miles, I was hooked! Hubby even liked it and that is a big thing because ever since we've been married, he has despised every single one of the cars that I've owned. They're either too small, not enough power, wrong color, etc.
Anyway, after the test drive we played it cool, took the car back and got some numbers from the salesman. We told him we'd think about it and left. All evening, we discussed how much we were willing to give for the car and was it something that we really wanted. It sure was! I have driven a "mommy car" ever since my kids arrived on the scene and I'm ready to get back to my fun, sporty cars that I love so much. 
So, Monday morning I called the dealership and talked them down almost $1000 from what they'd originally quoted, called the bank to get my loan in process and now am going in today to pick up my new car! I'm psyched! As if you couldn't already tell:)
The pictures I have posted are pretty close to what my car will look like. It's a 2007 R/T and the color is TorRed, a very shiny, bright red that looks awesome! I've already told my daughter that she probably won't be driving my new wheels and also told hubby that the only time he'll be driving is when we're all together. I know what he'll do by himself (hot rod!) and he doesn't need to be doing that. We'll see how long this lasts, but as of now I'm holding my ground. I also had to explain to my son why it was OK for mom to drive such a cool car. At first he wasn't too thrilled by the idea of his mom in a sporty car. He argued up and down that I should stick with a mini van or family sedan. Even when I told him that I used to drive a Mustang before he came along, he just wasn't seeing me in a car like that. Thankfully after much discussion, he caved in. plus the idea of his possibly learning to drive in it when he gets older helped a little bit too. 
So, I'm back to a sporty car (even if it is a four-door, it still seems like a sporty car!) and I am going to be lovin' it, lovin' it, lovin' it. Now to go pick it up. If you don't hear from me for awhile, it's because I'm out driving my new toy!
I checked online today and NS says that my food should be here tomorrow. It's coming via UPS instead of FedEx this time around which is good. I don't have anything against FedEx, but my UPS driver is just the nicest guy around and I love to have him deliver my packages. He's not too bad to look at either, but don't tell my hubby that I said that:) Anyway, I don't know if I'll start NS as soon as my food gets here or if I want to wait and start out a fresh, new week that way. My nephews birthday is Saturday and I know I'll have to at least eat a small piece of his cake so I don't hurt his feelings. When I start NS, I'd almost rather go at it 100%. Not saying that I'd eat a ton of cake at this party, but I think in the back of my mind, I'd be telling myself that I already screwed up and then just go hogwild on food the remainder of the day. Hmm, the more I think about, the more I will probably just wait until at least Sunday to start the program.
Ok, I've been debating this for several weeks now, but finally took the plunge over the weekend. I placed another order for Nutrisystem and as soon as I get my food, which should be some time this week, I'll be restarting the program.
If you don't know my story, two years ago I started the NS program and lost 43 lbs. within six months, but then the holidays came along and somewhere along the line I lost all my motivation and went right back to my prior bad eating habits. I eventually stopped using NS and promptly put those pounds back on.
I've tried losing weight on my own, but just haven't gotten it right so I'm hoping that by restarting NS that will be the extra motivation that I need to get back on track. I think just knowing that I'm paying my hard earned cash for their food will help, but they also have an awesome bulletin board that lends some excellent support when needed. My hubby is also eating healthier so hoping that helps me defy the temptations of junk food too. As far as getting back on the exercise bandwagon, that might be a little bit harder to do. I went to the mall this weekend and wasn't even able to walk around the whole thing. I only made it halfway before my legs were burning and I was gasping for air. So, I'm NOT in the best shape. Not to say that I won't be exercising, it just might not be as full speed to begin with as I'd like. I will just start out small and work my way up. Seeing progress will be a good motivator, I'm sure.
So, wish me luck in my new, no my renewed, endeavour! I'll be listening for your cheers:)
I found this while surfing online tonight. I thought it was interesting so decided to post it here on my blog.
When my kids are yelling and screaming at each other, I like to daydream and pretend that I'm a ski instructor on the slopes of a far away mountain range. I picture myself teaching kids how to go down the bunny trail without falling or instructing teens how to catch some air on their snowboard. Then at the end of the day, I am enjoying some hot chocolate by the fireside. Today is one of those days. Maybe I should start looking for some property in bansko in Bulgaria. It is located in the beautiful Pirin mountain range and is the most popular ski resort in Bulgaria. Of course, it would probably help if I knew how to ski beforehand.
I meant to post yesterday on this, but it was so stormy here I was afraid to plug my computer in for fear it would get struck by lightning. Stormy, stormy beginning to March so guess the saying In like a Lion held true for the day. I always wondered where that saying came from, but after searching online for something it seems nobody really knows. It seems to just be one of those things that parents, grandparents and great-grandparents said and passed down. In like a lion, out like a lamb. I hope the latter holds true for the end of the month. I'm ready for some lamb-like weather:)
Many of you know that I recently switched to wireless Internet service. This just means that my Internet service is now provided by a local area network that uses high frequency radio waves rather then wires to communicate between nodes.
When I first started using the Internet, I had to deal with dial up service because it was the only option here in my area. It was super slow and I lost my connection at least once every time I logged on. When I learned that there were finally other options to choose from that would work in my little corner of the world, I decided to start researching which would give me the best High Speed Internet Access. One of the websites that I found some great information on was www.dsl.vc. This website talks about all the different types of Internet access available and explains a lot of the things that you need to know to make an informed decision on what service will work best for you.
As for now, wireless is about as good as I can do, but there is a local company who says they'll be starting up satellite service in our area this summer. I don't know if I'll switch over to that once it becomes available or not. I'd definitely want to do a bit more research on the subject first.
I thought I was going to have one last night. For my son's birthday, he received an IPOD and ever since he has been online each evening, downloading songs onto it. Well, last night something went wrong and he completely froze up his IPOD AND my computer. After rebooting, my computer didn't want to come back on. Not good since all of our business information is on this computer! I sat in here and messed around with it for about an hour. When it finally came back on, the screen was blank! No programs showing up at all! I could just feel my stomach knotting up because all I could think about was having to try and remember our over 2000 customers, their addresses, billing information and our inventory. Sure, I have the program backed up on disk, but my head wasn't thinking about that at the time. I was just peeved that my computer was on the fritz. Thankfully, after several tears, screams and frustrated yells, my computer finally came back to life, all programs exactly where they should be. My son, who has sworn to never touch this computer again, was very thankful that he hadn't made his mom have a nervous breakdown too. We still don't know what happened, but do know that from now on the music downloads will be done from my laptop instead of this computer. That way if something goes wrong, I've not lost vital info. Whew!
| earn an online mba . |
