Ugh

It's been soooo stressful around here these past couple of weeks. Running your own business sucks! I think I'm actually getting an ulcer from all of the worrying that I've been doing lately. What with keeping the customer happy, paying the bills on time and keeping the household running, I feel like I'm in way over my head.

This past week has been especially bad. This is the slow week of the month, but it seems like the busiest when it comes to the bills being due. Plus, I'm trying to get invoices ready to go out on the 15th and its just very overwhelming, for some reason, this time around. Maybe I need a break. Or better yet, some help! Hubby has two employees that help him out. Maybe I should look into getting someone at least part time to help me.

Anyway, the part earlier about my getting an ulcer, I think that could be a real possibility. The gnawing in my upper stomach is getting worse every day. Today it feels like something is going to actually eat its way all the way through. Not good, huh? If I don't start feeling better soon, I guess I'm going to have to force myself to head to the doctor.

Times like these I wish there was a magic little pill that you could take to make all of your worries disappear.

I'm back in the saddle again

It's not been a full week yet since I rededicated myself to following NS 100%, but I couldn't help myself and went ahead and weighed anyway. I'm pleased to announce that the scale showed a 2 lb. loss for these past 5 days! I'm psyched! I was hoping that once I set my mind to doing this that it would work. I'm doing the happy dance and burning off more calories as I do!:)

New exercise dvd

I just finished exercising to the new dvd that I bought and just wanted to hop on here and say how much fun it was. I've been searching for different tapes to do, but have never found ones that I can keep up with. Either the dance steps are too complicated (and I trip over my feet) or they're just too high impact and I can't keep up.

Well, I'd heard a lot about the Carmen Electra dvd (Aerobic Striptease) and thought I'd give it a try. I found it on half.com and purchased a copy. I got it in the mail yesterday and decided to try it out this morning. I was afraid that it was going to be just as complicated as all the others I've tried, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. I actually made it through the whole dvd, no problem. That alone is a big accomplishment for me because half the time I can't even make it through the warm-ups! Anyhoo, this will definitely be a keeper in my collection. It was easy enough, but not so easy that I didn't feel that I wasn't getting a workout. I probably won't be doing it while anyone is home though. It might not be stripping, but there are some sexy moves included in it and that's definitely not something I feel my kids should be subjected to seeing their mother do:)

March 1

I saw this cartoon and thought I'd share. I wish they had this already.



Huh, well, this cartoon was supposed to be moving. Wonder why it's not? Oh well.

Anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and check in midweek to let you know how things are going with my "starting over" process. Well, so far, so good. I restarted following NS 100% this past Monday (2/27) and, although it's been hard and I've been hungry, I've stuck to it. The exercise part has been going along well too. I'm not back to where I was when I quit walking on the treadmill, but I'm getting there. The time and miles will accumulate the more I walk. I couldn't believe how much I went downhill though. When I stopped walking on it, I was at 2 miles a day. Now I'm lucky to walk a mile before I'm huffing and puffing. And my legs are so sore. Ouch. But, I'm pushing onwards.

I peeked at the scale this morning (I just couldn't help myself) and it looks like it is going down so happy with that. I will have my official weigh-in Friday. I want to post a big loss so bad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Starting Over

Alright, you all know how hard this diet has been for me these past few months. I've not been able to stay motivated or stick with it at all. The past few weeks I've actually been eating whatever I feel like, for the most part. And, truthfully, I've felt awful after each meal. The heartburn, the upset stomach, the feeling like I'm going to explode if I eat another bite. It made me stop and think if that's really how I wanted to feel after eating. It didn't take me long to answer that with a firm NO. So, as of Monday, I'm going to hit NS full force and get back on track. I know, you're all saying that instead of waiting until Monday that I should just go ahead and start today. But (yes, here comes the lame excuse) I want to have one last hoorah in the eating department before I go back to NS. I know, I know, that isn't a good reason. However, that is the mindset I'm in right now so don't argue with me. lol

I was looking over my NS profile the other day and here it is almost a whole year later and I'm not even halfway to my goal weight. I had hoped to be AT my goal weight by now, but because of these last few months and my lack of willpower it isn't going to happen. I'm hoping, though, that by recommitting myself to following NS 100% that by April 17th (my one year anniversary) I will at least be close to that halfway mark.

Friday Weigh In

The scale shows the same weight as last week so guess any pounds that wanted to come settle on my big ol' butt decided that I'd had enough grief and stayed away. I'm so sick of not being motivated to do this anymore. The pounds are slowly creeping back on. I just want to scream.

Rambling Thoughts

I was sitting watching tv last night when I got to thinking about Nutrisystem and how I've been doing on it lately. I thought long and hard about WHY I started Nutrisystem last April. I thought of all of the reasons I wanted to lose weight and all of the things that I wanted to accomplish. After doing that, I started thinking about what I've been doing to get to those goals and I came up with pretty much ZIP. ZILCH. NADA.

You see, ever since Thanksgiving, I've just not been in the mood to follow the NS plan. Actually since that time, I've lost a total of 3 measly pounds and last week I GAINED 2 of those back! And the way I've been going, that last one will come back this week.

There are days that I have all the motivation in the world when I get out of bed, but by the time lunch rolls around I'm at the McDonald's drive-up window ordering a Big Mac and fries. I'll be gung-ho about walking on my treadmill, only to let it slip by the wayside and then come bedtime, I've still not done any walking.

I remember how excited I was when I first started NS and how much motivation and willpower I had then. I diligently ate nothing but what was on the NS plan. I passed right by the fast food restaurants. I got as many steps in on my pedometer as I possibly could by taking a longer route to the mail box or parking farther away at the stores. I drank all my water. But now, for some reason, I just can't do it. I've tried almost everything I can think of to get that motivation back, but it just doesn't want to come my way.

I talked to my cousin today and we seem to think that it might be because of the winter months and not being able to get outdoors. I know in the past I've had problems with being energetic in the winter. There were times that I'd be in bed at 7pm. I just couldn't stay awake. It's not that bad now, but I do tend to notice the lack of energy and get up and go around this time of year. I hope that once the weather turns warmer and the sun stays out longer, that my motivation returns and I can kick this diet back into full gear. I don't want to gain back the 41 lbs. that I've lost. I don't want to lose all of the things that I've accomplished because of my weight loss. I don't want to go back. I want to move forward.

How to say I LOVE YOU in different languages

I thought this was interesting.

Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
Albanian - Te dua
Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)
Armenian - Yes kez sirumen
Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu
Bulgarian - Obicham te
Cambodian - Bung Srorlagn Oun (to female)
Cambodian - Oun Srorlagn Bung (to male)
Cantonese/Chinese Ngo oiy ney a
Catalan - T'estimo
Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse
Creol - Mi aime jou
Croatian - Volim te
Czech - Miluji te
Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig
Dutch - Ik hou van jou
English - I love you
Esperanto - Mi amas vin
Estonian - Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian - Ewedishalehu : male/female to female
Filipino - Mahal kita
Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua
French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore
Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort
German - Ich liebe dich
Greek - S'agapo
Hawaiian - Aloha wau ia oi
Hebrew - Ani ohev otah (to female)
Hebrew - Ani ohev et otha (to male)
Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hai
Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Hungarian - Szeretlek
Icelandic - Eg elska tig
Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
Inuit - Negligevapse
Irish - Taim i' ngra leat
Italian - Ti amo
Japanese - Aishiteru
Korean - Sarang Heyo
Latin - Te amo
Latvian - Es tevi miilu
Lebanese - Bahibak
Lithuanian - Tave myliu
Mandarin Chinese - Wo ai ni
Mohawk - Kanbhik
Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik
Navaho - Ayor anosh'ni
Nepali - Ma Timilai Maya Garchhu
Norwegian - Jeg Elsker Deg
Persian - Doo-set daaram
Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay
Polish - Kocham Cie
Portuguese - Eu te amo
Romanian - Te ubesc
Russian - Ya tebya liubliu
Serbian - Volim te
Sioux - Techihhila
Slovak - Lu`bim ta
Slovenian - Ljubim te
Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo
Surinam- Mi lobi joe
Swahili - Ninapenda wewe
Swedish - Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di
Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li
Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Thai - Chan rak khun (to male)
Thai - Phom rak khun (to female)
Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu
Vietnamese - Anh ye^u em (to female)
Vietnamese - Em ye^u anh (to male)
Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu
Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh
Zimbabwe - Ndinokuda

TGIF...Finally!

I'm so glad that this week is over. It's been a long, frustrating and stressful one to deal with. So stressful, in fact, that I "stress ate" my way UP TWO POUNDS for the week. I knew I was doing it though so nobody to blame but myself. I'll work harder next week to get rid of it.

The water leak has FINALLY been taken care of also. The plumber came out Wed and replaced the storage tank. We thought that took care of the problem, but yesterday I noticed another puddle forming underneath the pipes that they'd replaced leading to the storage tank. They were leaking now. So called the plumber back and they said they'd come back out today. So, they came back out this morning and repaired that so hopefully there won't be anymore water on my floor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. At least we don't have to pay for this second trip out here. Since it was their mistake (they used inferior pipe fittings according to the guy today) we aren't going to be charged.

My son got great news at the Dr. last night too. His wrist is 95 % healed and he no longer needs to wear the splint. Yay! He just needs to take it easy for another week, still no contact sports at school and he might have some soreness from starting to use his muscles again, but other then that, he's back to normal.

I need your opinions

I have a question that I'd like some opinions on. It's pertaining to my son's school work and his broken wrist. Whenever he first broke his wrist, the teacher stated that since it was his writing arm that was disabled that I could help him out on his homework by copying it to make it legible. No problem. He would work out the problems on a scrap paper and I'd copy them (even if I knew they were the wrong answer) into his workbooks. He has also had an ongoing project this year regarding the 50 States. He has to do a small report on each state that includes the population, state bird, state tree, some interesting facts about the state, etc. I distinctly asked the teacher if it was ok if I helped him on those also since they needed to be nice and neat. And so that he wouldn't get too far behind on them. She said that would be fine. So, each evening when my son got home from school, we would sit down in front of the computer, look up all of these facts for a state and he'd tell me what he wanted written down. We did that each evening for the past 4 weeks. Ok, here comes my dilemma.

Yesterday my son came home from school, practically in tears. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that his teacher was now saying that his 50 state reports hadn't been done by him and that he wasn't going to get credit for them. I called the school to find out what had happened and his teacher told me that she didn't believe that he had done any of the work on the reports because they were too neat! WHAT?!?! I told her that I'd written them up for him after he'd looked things up on the computer and told me what he wanted written down, but that I'd also called and asked her if that was ok. She'd said yes. I told her that he sat right here beside me at the computer each evening and we'd look up the information and he would tell me what he wanted to write down. Her comeback on that was that there was no way he could have finished that many state reports unless I'd been doing them throughout the day for him. Huh? Let's do the math...1 state report each evening for 5 days (we didn't work on weekends) would equal 5 states each week multiplied by 4 weeks would equal 20 states at the end of that period. I think that's entirely possible to do. She argued with me up one side and down the other. I argued back that I have NEVER done either of my kids homework and have always been adamant about them looking things up for themselves instead of coming to mom or dad for a quick answer. She just kept going on and on and then came the words that ended our conversation. "I don't' believe that your son did this work. I think you are lying about it to keep him from getting into trouble" Nobody calls me a liar! If his teacher had been standing in front of me, she would have walked, no make that crawled, away with some major physical damage. I took the high road though and told her that if she didn't believe me that we needed to take it up with the principal.

So, today, I get a call from the principal stating that they were only going to give my son credit on HALF of the reports and the other half he had to redo. When I asked why, the principal told me that his teacher didn't believe that he'd done them and wasn't backing down on that at all so rather then fail him on all of the reports, they came to this compromise. This compromise came between the teacher and the principal. No word from my son or me on the matter was taken into consideration. It was just between those two. There was no arguing with her on this either so I just let it go. I mean, it could have been worse. BUT, in your opinion, what would you have done if you were in this situation?

Well, that didn't work.

We went yesterday and picked up a new washer and dryer. I love them. I chose the Whirlpool Duet set. They are both front loading. So far, I've loved everything about them. They use less water, less detergent, less electricity and are much faster at washing and drying then what my old ones were. They were a tad on the expensive side, but hopefully they'll last a long time with no problems.

The only problem though is that it didn't solve the water leakage problem. Yes, there was water coming from the bottom of my old washing machine. But, after installing the new appliances and cleaning up all the old water mess, I noticed that there was another puddle forming over by the water storage tank. I cleaned it up, thinking that it was just a leftover spill from moving out the old washer, but it came back. SO, it looks like now the storage tank is going to have to be replaced. That is something that we'll need to hire a professional to do too. My hubby can fix a few things, but this is one that he would rather let someone else do. Just too many things that could go wrong. It is frustrating that all things seem to be breaking down at the same time, but I guess that is all part of the fun of home ownership.

Saturday news

Hello all,
Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but had some major problems here. I'll explain in a bit. First of all, my Friday weigh in. Wasn't good, but wasn't bad. I stayed the same as last week. Happy I didn't gain, but really wish the stupid scale would go DOWN!

Now for the major problems. Our washer AND dryer decided to both die on me this past week. First the heating element went out on the dryer and now the washer has decided to break. That happened yesterday when I was doing a load of towels. I noticed after it had been running for awhile that there was a small puddle of water coming from underneath it. I finished up the load and let it sit until hubby got home to take a look at it. When he was looking it over, he noticed a stale water smell coming from underneath. Come to find out that the washer hadn't been draining completely after each load and all of that excess water was just sitting in the bottom of it, stagnating! Yuck! Anyway, he also found a crack in the drain (not the hose, but the machine part) and figures that all that stagnant water was what was leaking out onto the floor. He called a friend of ours who works on washers and asked him if it could be fixed. Well, it could be, but he said that it would probably be cheaper if we just bought a new one with a warranty. So, looks like this afternoon we'll be heading out to buy a new washer and dryer. I can't complain (too much anyway) because we've had these since we first got married (15 years) so we have gotten our money's worth out of them.

On to better news, only 5 more days before we head back to the doctor to check on my son's wrist. He's been counting down the days since Day One to when he'd get this silly splint off and get back to normal. I really hope the xrays show that he is healed and he can take it off. Besides the fact that he'll be able to do things for himself again, which will be pure heaven for all of us who've been doing things for him, we'll get rid of the pungent smell coming from the splint itself. It's getting pretty ripe. We didn't think it would get this bad since it could be removed and aired out, but he has been so afraid of hurting his wrist even more that he won't leave it off for more then a couple of minutes tops. That just hasn't been enough time to air it out and get rid of the smell. So, we've been spraying it with Febreeze and hoping for the best. But, hopefully this week will be the end of having to wear it. We'll find out Thursday.

Weigh In

I was hoping to have at least a 5 lb. total loss for the month of January, but didn't hit it. I lost one pound this week for a total of 3 for the month. Not bad, but I want more. More! More! More! Maybe if I would quit eating off program, that might help. Hmm, makes sense. Now to just do it. No eating frenzies this weekend for me. I'm also going to get back on the treadmill and get moving again. I was doing so well on that before I got sick, but then when the bronchitis caught me I just couldn't get my butt on there. I think I would have passed out from lack of oxygen anyway if I'd even tried to walk. Just getting out of bed and walking around the house wore me out. That sickness is over with now though so I have no excuses not to get back on track. As long as hubby doesn't give me his cold, that is.

Daughter's test results

Just got off the phone with my daughter's doctor and thankfully all of her test results were normal. No low blood sugar, no thyroid problems, no heart problems. Nothing. The doctor said that she doesn't need to come back in for another appointment either since she's been feeling fine these past two days. I am just supposed to keep an eye on her and if she starts feeling that way again, especially if it is recurring, THEN they will run more tests. But as of now, this girl.......



is pretty dang healthy. And her mom is breathing a big, huge sigh of relief. Whew!

Which Peanuts Character are You?

You are Linus!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I just took this quiz which I found posted on Karon's blog and this is what came up for me. I think it does describe me to a point, but not exactly. At least I don't think it does.

Round and Round

I feel like I'm on a carousel and I can't get off. I'll be so glad when warmer weather gets here and the sickness and colds aren't as common. A few weeks ago, my daughter was sick. She quickly gave the cold to me which turned into bronchitis. Then my son broke his wrist. After that I thought things would calm down. WRONG! Yesterday my hubby woke up with a bad head cold. I also got a call from school to come pick up my daughter because she'd passed out in class. Not good. We took her to the doctor for that, they drew blood to run tests, but we won't find anything out until tomorrow or Friday. She is feeling fine today so we think it was possibly low blood sugar, but we're not positive.

Anyway, I think I'm ready to get off this merry-go-round and get on to better health for the entire family.

Eating Frenzy Weekend

What a weekend! I really wish I could get a handle on my thinking that just because others are eating crap that I can too! This was a terrible eating weekend for me. I completely and totally let myself go. We went to St. Louis for the weekend. Friday evening, on the drive there, I was starving (not a good start to this) so we stopped at McDonalds. Instead of getting the grilled chicken salad, I ordered a Quarter Pounder w/ cheese, LARGE fries and diet coke. I inhaled all of it! Then when we got to St. Louis and to our hotel, hubby decided that he wanted a midnight snack of pizza. He ordered one and when it got there, even though I was NOT hungry, I ended up eating four slices of it! Granted it was thin crust, only one topping and the slices were teeny tiny, but still. I didn't need it.

Next morning, we get up and go downstairs to eat the complimentary breakfast. I tried to eat light, but they only had biscuits and gravy, muffins, donuts and juice. They HAD cereal, but it was all gone by the time we mozied our lazy butts down there. So, I ate one biscuit with just a spoonful of gravy and one muffin. Also had one small glass of oj. We then went out and about for the day, visited the Arch, did some downtown driving and sightseeing then out to lunch we go to Burger King! I did manage to order the smaller burger (whopper jr.) with onion rings and diet coke. I ate all the burger and only half the onion rings. Truthfully though that was probably the least amount I ate at one meal the entire weekend. That night we again had pizza and I again ate a ton.

Sunday morning, I was still bloated from the pizza so skipped breakfast, only had some juice, but lunch was again at Burger King (I had the small chicken fries, onion rings, diet cola) and dinner last night was Arby's (Big Roast beef, small fries, diet cola). I felt like such a pig last night when I went to bed. I am afraid to even step on the scale to see how much damage I did.

Today I'm back to following NS, but I know it's going to be hard getting back in the saddle. I know I'm going to be hungry all day especially later tonight. But, I'm determined to do this. I've lost 42 lbs. since I started and I don't want to gain it all back so I NEED to get going in the right direction. No more eating frenzies! Wish me luck:)

Back to normal

Weighed this morning to no loss. What's new there? I lost last week, but know that's because I was sick. I truthfully wasn't even expecting a loss today. It's gotten to the point that whenever I hop on the scale anymore, I KNOW it's not going to be a different number.

Things have finally calmed down here though. At least that's good. My son is getting along fine with his broken wrist. He's actually doing better then we thought he would. When he first broke it, he just knew that the next month was going to be terrible, but after going back to school and seeing how he was going to be waited on pretty much hand and foot, well, let's just say he's liking all the attention:)

I'm feeling much better too. The only symptom I have leftover from my being sick is a slight cough, which doesn't even show itself until I go to bed at night. Then I get a tickle in the back of my throat. Even that is occurring less and less though. I have actually managed to go the last two nights in a row without waking up with a coughing fit. Hopefully within the next week, I'll be back to 100%.

Friday the 13th

If I were a superstitious person, I'd still be in bed with the covers pulled over my head. But I'm not.

It has been a hectic week here though. My son swears that it's because today is Friday the 13th that there have been so many problems this week. To start off, I woke up sicker then a dog Monday morning. Thought it was the flu, but have now come to think it is more like bronchitis instead. The coughing and hacking. The fever. Ugh. Will I ever feel better? God, I sure hope so.

My daughter has also been sick. She's better now though. Young bodies seem to bounce back so much quicker then the older ones.

My son, however, isn't going to be bouncing anywhere for awhile. Yesterday, I got a call from his school nurse, asking if I could come pick him up and take him to the doctor because he'd fallen during recess and hurt his wrist. It was swollen and he couldn't move it. She thought xrays would be a good idea. So, even though I felt like crap, I drove into town, picked him up and took him to the medical center. After waiting only a few minutes, they called him into an exam room and looked him over, sent him downstairs for xrays then back up to the exam room while the doctor looked them over. Unfortunately, he did have a break or buckle fracture as she called it. The bone didn't actually break, but buckled up. They put a splint on his wrist and he has to wear it for four weeks. If, after that amount of time, he's healing then he'll keep the splint. If he's not healing then they'll go to a regular cast for six weeks. So, he's not happy and he swears it is all because today is Friday the 13th. Even though he hurt himself on the 12th:) The doctor also told him that he can't participate in any contact sports or PE for the next month. He's really annoyed about that because he was involved in a championship basketball tournament and his team was one of the top contenders for first place.

A bit of good news did come from all this mayhem though. I hopped on the scale this morning to a 2 lb. loss for the week! Granted, I've not eaten much, no NS food at all actually, and know that's why the weight has disappeared, but I'll take it anyway. I hope once I start eating again that it doesn't come back, but if it does oh well. At least I'll be able to enjoy a meal again. Yesterday, even bland mashed potatoes tasted bad! And I'm a mashed potato fanatic.

So anyway, I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Mine will be spent trying to feel better and tending to my son.

Not a nice post today

Ok, I'm in a crappy mood so this will be a super short post. I weighed this morning to another week with no loss. I'm starting to get really po'ed with the scale. Two weeks in a row of being 100% on plan and no loss? What the f**k?!?! Sorry, but I'm really upset. I knew last week that I probably wouldn't show a loss because it hadn't been a full week yet, but why did I not show one today? I drank all my water, ate only on plan, walked, etc. If the scale doesn't move down next week then I'm going to really wonder what's going on. I'm gonna go now before I really start ranting. Hope you all have a good weekend.