This is a picture of Steph and I on my birthday. I'm on the left. I was just happy at that point to get out of the house! lol 

PLateau broken?

I can hope. If if was in fact a plateau.

Are you ready for me to say how much I lost?

Okay. Here goes.

4 POUNDS!!!

My total so far is 51 POUNDS LOST!! I'm not kidding! I'm so excited, I'm thrilled! I'm actually beyond thrilled! I'm now halfway to my goal!

I was SO nervous stepping on the scale this morning. I had a major case of the butterflies! I thought for sure I gained, even though I did great following my points this week.

But lo and behold.....4 POUNDS!

Sorry, just had to type it again!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

TGIF!!!!

I'm so glad its Friday! Heck, I'm just happy I KNOW its Friday. Seems these summer days just kinda meld into one another...lol I'm usually not even sure of the date.

The week usually drags by... mostly because of WW. I use my flexpoints on the weekend, so anything I may want during the week, I need to wait on. But knowing I'll weigh in tomorrow, and then be able to have a REAL Dunkin' Donuts coffee, with REAL cream and sugar...lol Its the little things, ya know?

Don't know if I lost any weight this week. I wrote EVERYTHING down, didn't go over flexpoints, but didn't get in any exercise either! I do plan on doing my WATP dvd today, the 3 mile one at that, but it probably won't help get my metabolism going , at least not to show a big loss tomorrow. Next week is another week though. Can't get down about it. At least this week I won't cry. I'm totally expecting a gain, so at least it won't be a shocker for me! lol

I finally got my bike! It was my b-day present from my Mom. I took my first ride the other day, and was so scared! lol Its been at least 12 years since riding anything with 2 wheels, but as the saying goes, you never forget. I'm hoping to use that as a form of exercise, if I can get over my fear of riding in the dark.

And I have a date with a steam cleaner this weekend! Carpets, here I come! It really doesn't take much to excite me! lol


Thats about all going on around here. Boring, I know. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

The Races!!

Tonight the whole family is headed to The Waterford Speedbowl!!! It promises to be lots of fun! The kids have never been , and although I used to go as a kid, and later as an adult hung out in the pits with my Uncle who raced, the Saturday night races have been to expensive for us to go as a family.

But tonight kids are free! And adults are only $5! Can't beat that! We're going to have so much fun! Everyone is super excited... I just hope the rain holds off!

Free movies!

The local movie theater here offers free movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings this summer! They're usually older movies, but not too out of date, and I figured it was about time I moved my butt and brought the kids, so I did! My SIL also went with us, and between the two of us, we had 8 kids, so needless to say it was a little crazy!!

But, we all had a great time. I ended up buying popcorn and some drinks, which added up to a pretty penny. If we go tomorrow morning, I'm going to smuggle in some juice boxes and some snacks. :)

I'm also making some plans to go to a beach in Rhode Island soon, and get everyone together to go hiking. I need to keep these kids busy until school starts up again! lol Its either that or go crazy!

The dreaded plateau

I've hit a plateau. About 95% sure anyway as far as I'm concerned. I was sooo sure I was going to lose weight this week. I was damn good this past week... not going over my points, not using all my flex points. I gained .8! Even worse than last week where I gained .4, even though last week was my b-day week and I ate cake, and a blizzard from DQ, and all sorts of cookout food, along with baked ziti, with lots of cheese! I stood on the scale, and in disbelief saw the gain. Yeah, its not that much, but considering my average of 6-7 pounds lost a month, I've lost 1 pound this last month. I cried. The sissy that I am. I really should be happy that it wasn't more. Heck, my sister has had a MUCH harder time of losing weight than I have, and actually gained 2 lbs this week, so I shouldn't feel that bad. I need to just suck it up.

But , I'm wasting time here. I still have 55 pounds to go. Not a small goal. One thing I have noticed, is that, even though I'm sticking to my points, I haven't really exercised the month since school ending. Kinda hard to get to the gym with 4 kids, and a husband that works 12 hours a day. I'm making excuses for myself though. I could have walked the neighborhood with the kids, if they didn't dawdle, stopping at every bug, every crack in the road. If the sun wasn't blazing, with the humidity up to 100% , it would have been easier too.

So, I'm journaling EVERYTHING this week. Even the flex points that I don't usually write down. I have a goal to use my WATP dvd 3 times this week. I'm going to bring in my journal for my leader to look at, and see if we can get the ball rolling again. See if I can get this weight to start melting off again. If I keep going this way, I won't be losing my 30 pounds by the end of the year, like I want to.

In other news, it seems as if New England isn't the only part of the country enjoying this mellow weather. High of 68 today! Overcast skies, the threat of rain, I love it. Very comfy. Apparently this cool front has stalled on top of us, and I'm not complaining!

I have more to write about the biological asshole, or "Jack", but my fingers need a break. I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Weird Day

Strange. Weird.

-Molly wanted relish. It was 4pm and I explained that it was past lunch and there wasn't any tuna made. So what did she do: she MADE her own relish sandwich! YUCK!

-Emilie threw a fit and tossed most of what was in her room into the hallway. I didn't give in, and told her she wasn't getting dinner or going to bed until it was done. Despite her whines of wanting help, I stuck it out, and she actually did it! I guess there's a 1st for everything!

-Because of her outburst and actual cleaning of her room, the entire house was CALM for the rest of the day!

-I was able to make dinner, read a little , clean a little, and RELAX! My sister called and she actually thought I was SLEEPING because I sounded so mellow.

See, I told ya! WEIRD! LOL

Almost over?

I'm done with summer. It works out this way every year. I'm ready for some order around here. Ready for some sort of schedule. Of course, I could make one, but its much easier to sleep in, and play by ear. I'm tired of the humidity, tired of the kids' fighting...lol Yeah, I'm whining, I know.

Not much going on around here. We've all been sleeping in late, with no real order of things. I spackled the livingroom walls the other night, and actually bought primer , so maybe I'll get to that one of these days.

I want to bring the kids to the beach, or the park. Need to actually DO it though...lol Its the motivation thing. But the kids are driving me and each other crazy, it'll probably do them some good.

I'm outta here... hope everyone has a great week!

Why now?

What the fuck!! Why is it, just when I've gotten out of the plus sizes, that's when Old Navy decides to carry them?

Go figure.

No big deal

So WW went okay yesterday. Gained .4, not a big deal. Better than 2+ of a gain. I'm feeling good about it. I can get back with my "regular" eating routine now that b-day's are over. I can splurge, in a small way, on the weekends, and during the week stick with my daily points. Next week, I feel, will be a good loss week.


Ryan's eye is doing much better. Turning all wonderful shades of blue and yellow...actually quite pretty. lol The swelling around his eyebrow is still there, but the Dr. said it would take a few weeks for it to completely go away, so I keep telling Ryan to be patient.

Not much planned for today. I didn't get up till 10:30am! Now that its almost lunchtime, I'm still drinking my coffee, and haven't even thought about eating, or feeding the kids anything besides cereal! I still need to do the weekly grocery shopping, and want to head to Kohl's with a gift certificate I got from my b-day to find a swimsuit that fits. The old one isn't offering much "support" anymore, if you know what I mean..LOL

Even though its now been a week, I'm determined to get my pictures up from last weekend! Just need to find the time and peace to figure it out. One of these days! lol

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Luck

Only by pure luck will I actually lose something at weigh-in tomorrow. I mean it this time. I KNOW I went over flexpoints this week. I know I'm pms'ing, which means I know the chocolate and stuff I've been stuffing my face with, will probably cause me to gain.

The only thing keeping me from thinking I've gained this week, is the scale showing I stayed the same. Totally unreliable though. It wildly fluctuates from day to day anyway.

But, I've had a couple of slow lose weeks, so MAYBE my body needed more food. Maybe it'll jump start my weight loss again to a lose a bit more than .6 , although I'm thinking I've either stayed the same or gained. Please don't let it be more than 2 pounds.

I'm rationalizing way too much.

Go figure.... only MY child

Ryan and Emilie came home from camp yesterday, and as much as those little stinkers annoy me, I was glad to have them home!

Chris and I had gotten a call Sunday night from the camp telling us Ryan had a little incident. Turns out his cabin was playing a game with a football, and he ran straight into another kids head! His eye connected with this other child's skull! Needless to say we were told he had a black eye, but the swelling had gone down with ice. So when I picked him up yesterday I was expecting black and blue. I wasn't however expecting for his entire eye to be black, not blue, and swollen to the point his eye was practically swollen shut. Turns out his eye had been completely swollen shut! I'm assuming that his glasses had pushed into the part right above and right below his eye, so that's where most of the swelling was. And the white part of his eye is bright red! My poor kiddo! My mom took him to the Dr and had his vision checked and glasses adjusted. He's going to be a-okay though.

On another note, after my complete indulgence in food this past weekend, I forced myself to go somewhere I haven't been in the last month. The gym. I actually spend 40 minutes on the eliptical. The longest time ever. 430 calories burned. Go me! I'm feeling much more in control of my eating today, after yesterday's encounter with pretzel flipz!

Nothing much new going on. I didn't receive any offers of help in posting pictures, but I've been doing good figuring things out, so no doubt I'll figure it out without any problems.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Birthday Blues

No more 20's for me. Kinda sad. Yeah, pretty sad. In only 10 short years I'll be 40! Its a long time away but we all know how the years fly by.

We did have a great night out Saturday night though. Went to Stash's, a bar usually classified as a biker bar. We had tons of fun! There were loads of people there from the fireworks display on the Thames River, so the place was packed. There was an awesome band playing that had our feet dancing and the drinks flowing! We left at closing and headed to Denny's for a late night snack.

We met quite a few interesting people to say the least. The guys of course, were all hitting on Jen, but I did get told many times that I only looked 25! Jen did make it a point to tell anyone and everyone within listening range that I was turning 30 though. I cringed everytime it was mentioned. Its not that I feel old, or look old, its just that I used to think when I was younger that it WAS old!

We finally left as the sky was growing light! Talk about a long night! I slept over at Jen's in order to sleep in, although it turns out it was for my surprise party!!

All my family, including my Dad (who never goes anywhere my Mom is) were waiting at my house for me! Turns out my wonderful husband cleaned the entire house, and slaved over the stove and grill making lots of food. It ended up being a wonderful birthday....if I could only forget what age I now am!

As soon as I figure out how to add a picture, I'll post a picture of last night. After seeing my new pics of last night, I realize how different I look since the weight loss.

Okay, and I might as well put out a plea for help. I know not that many people read this, but if anyone knows how I would go about posting a picture, could you possibly email me and help me out?

I'm outta here... heading to DQ for some good 'ol ice cream. Hope everyone has a great week!

Readers beware... I'm venting!

I'm so pissed off right now! I finally remembered to call child support this morning... actually just got off the phone with them. For anyone familiar with the "biological asshole", his name will now be "Jack", short for jackass. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Cyndi, for sharing this alternative with me!

"Jack" had told me 3 weeks ago, when I asked him if he had a job yet, that he had just gotten a job. I asked him where, he refused to tell me, but told me that he was working in East Lyme. He said he'd be paying child support on his own, versus the state having his wages garnished. I knew that he wouldn't keep up with it, so I told him that I was going to call the state and bring him to court. He said that was fine, but I'd get less if his check was garnished instead of him sending it in, because he wasn't making much an hour. I decided to give him a few weeks, just to see what would happen, and if he would send it in. Its now been 3 weeks, and I haven't gotten a cent. Not that I'm surprised... on the contrary, I knew it would happen. Guess he hasn't changed, like he's stated. Thats something I already knew though.

So I called up child support enforcement, and they haven't received anything. She puts me on hold, and comes back a minute later to tell me that they have an employer listed, and they'll send the paperwork to them. I asked her if she could at least tell me the town, since "Jack" had told me where he was working.

Again, not that I'm surprised, but the place listed isn't even CLOSE to where he told ME he was working! To top it off, he supposedly started this other job weeks before he told me he got a job!! I'm royally pissed! So now I have to wait 2 weeks and call back the state. By then they'll know whether or not he's actually working at this place they have listed, and if not, we'll have to start the proceedings to bring him to court!

I need money now! Chris just called me from work, and because of the $$ being taking out for health insurance he's bringing home $100 less. To top it off, I'm not working because school's out. I do get unemployment, but its less than 1/2 of my regular paycheck. We could really use the child support, even if its only $72/a week for two kids! What we could really use is the $$ he owes me. Now totally over $8,000!

Its a little easier knowing that its only going to be this way for another month and a half. Then I'll be back to work, and I'll be making more. But shit, when the kids need stuff, we need to find the money for it! They NEED a roof over their heads. They NEED food in their stomachs. When they NEED shoes, we can't wait 2 months, we NEED to find the money! Chris does make a decent salary, but we're seriously not going to have extra these next 7 weeks, and we'll be lucky if we make it. I would much prefer that "Jack" give up his rights, so that we can just do it on our own. He could pay off the arreage. I already know that he'll never change, and I've pretty much accepted that, but he picks the wrong times to screw up. I'm so tired of him not acting the "responsible parent" part. We're lucky enough though that the kids have 2 responsible parents that bust their butts for them. I'm so ready to give "Jack" a piece of my mind!

End of rant.

A piece of cake

Taking care of 2 kids, that is. After yesterday of doing load after load of laundry and finally helping to pack their bags last night,Ryan and Emi are officially at camp! I dropped them off at 8:30 this morning, and they'll be back next Wednesday. Its amazing what a difference it makes to have 2 versus 4 children. Ryan and Emi are pretty self-sufficient, but they like harassing their younger siblings. All pretty normal, of course, but it doesn't make Mommy's job any easier!

So I have lots planned this week as far as the house goes. I want to deep clean the girls' bedroom, change it around, and maybe repaint it. I also took down the 2 sliding doors in their closet, so I'm thinking of getting some fabric to make a curtain, a la "Trading Spaces". Should be interesting to see if it actually happens. lol

Friday,Steph will be coming with the twins for a visit and to go out this weekend for my birthday! Matt and Molly are super excited to say the least! Chris is also happy because he'll have only 4 kids to keep an eye on versus the 6. I don't want my birthday to come, but honestly can't wait to go out, and not worry about driving! lol

I have a feeling this week that the kids are gone, is going to go by way too fast, but I'm going to enjoy while it lasts!

can't think of a title

No really title to this post.... my mind is shot. So much to do, and never enough time to do it in! I noticed my mistake with the year on my last post too... only took me 3 days to notice...lol

This weeks weigh-in showed a 1.2 pound loss! Pretty average, if I do say so myself. Total of 47 pounds now... not bad, but still a long way to go.

4th of July picnic was held at my brother and sister in law's house. It wasn't supposed to be, but my SIL has this thing of always having to have her own way. I decided ahead of time that I wasn't going to count my points, but I wasn't going to go crazy either. I think I did okay though. Since Friday my food has consisted of pizza, cake, mcdonalds, cake, cookout food, cake.. can you see the trend? It'll be interesting to see if I lose next Saturday or not. lol

Ryan and Emilie leave for camp on Wednesday. Kinda sad, kinda glad... mixed emotions this time. They went last year, but I drove them. I was able to walk them to their cabins, and say goodbye there. This year, I'll be putting them on a bus and saying goodbye. I won't be helping them with the transition. I'm kinda iffy about it. I'm sure they'll be fine, but I'm just going to wait and see. So , in the meantime, I have lots of laundry to do, lots of packing to do, and lots of last minute shopping to do.

Now if I could only LIVE in my air-conditioned bedroom, instead of breathing in the humid air, life would be perfect.

Ah, the Memories...

On this day, in 2004, I was in the hospital waiting to be induced. I had a pretty easy pregnancy overall. I did have a problem with high amniotic fluid, and it caused me to look as if I was carrying 2 or 3 babies, instead of 1 baby. My kidney function or some other organ thereabouts was lacking a bit, which caused me to see the Dr. a little more often than usual. I had quite a few ultrasounds because of he size of the baby. A week before, she was meauring at over 8 pounds, which isn't that big, but because of my trouble delivering Matthew,who was 8lbs 4oz. and the use of forceps after pushing for 3 hours, the Dr.'s and I wanted to be on the safe side, and try to avoid a c-section.

Since this pregnancy was to be my last, neither Chris nor I wanted to know the sex of the baby. I wanted to be surprised just once. I had everyone from my Dr. to my awful Mother-in-Law telling me with great certainty that I was having a boy. I was positive I was having a girl. I craved sweets, I was carrying all in front..the list went on and on. Of course, regardless of the sex, I would have been happy, but I did want to even the odds in my family, with 2 boys, and 2 girls.

I remember sitting in that hospital bed, wishing that the Dr would get there, and just induce me. I was only being induced a few days before my due date, and was so anxious to meet my baby, and end the all too familiar signs of pregnancy... difficulty sleeping, not being able to breath, not being able to see my feet.

The Dr finally came in 3 hours late. I wasn't happy, but was glad that this labor was finally going to be started. He broke my water, and we waited to see if that would start my contractions without pitocin. It didn't. Since this was my last pregnancy and labor, I was determined to make it through without an epidural. Don't ask me why...lol I was finally started on the pitocin, and was happy that I was handling the contractions so well..I even had my cross stich out and I was calmly working on it. My SIL was one of the people included in the birth, and since she lived in the town of the hospital she decided to show up early.

So, anyway, since the contractions weren't bad yet, Chris wanted to go to Melissa's, and get some movies. I didn't have a problem with that, but wouldn't you know, as soon as he was gone, the contractions got really intense.Chris made it back, and tried to help me through them, but of course, they were way past the point of dealing with them, so I ended up getting the epidural.

Not a big deal in the end.... I was comfy, and was ready to deliver 10 hours later. Even the nurse was sure I was having a boy! When I finally pushed her out, and it was announced that it was a girl, I actually clapped my hands, I was so excited!

Molly was born weighing in at 8lbs 10 oz, 20 inches long.

My baby is 4 years old today. Not really a baby anymore, but she'll always be my baby. I'm sad though. Sad that I'll never again be pregnant, never again give birth, never again nurse, and NEVER again be woken every 2 hours! lol

My baby's growing up.

Happy Birthday to my little miss Molly!!!!