Great sale at My Twinn this week

If you haven't been to their site, you need to go check it out. Up to 85% off! My niece will be in heaven I tell ya.

If you haven't heard of...

Dave Ramsey, you should check it out. A real no-nonsense way to make your money work your you, pave your way to a debt free life and have financial security you never dreamed of!

He does a 3 hour live radio broadcast every weekday on AM channels in almost every market. He also has a website that talks about his approach and how to get started. I can't wait to get to the last baby step and to be able to call in to the Dave show on a Friday and scream 'I'm debt free!!!!!!!!!!'

Time to shift the focus!

I have been so focused on family and work for so long that I didn't have time for any good hobbies. Turns out I found a few things I enjoy and that I am quite good at too. Wanna know what they are? Huh, do ya?

Financial planning and management
Landscaping
and
Shopping frugally

Stay tuned for a lot of new info and exciting tips from yours truly!

Binge

Binge... One word pretty much sums it up. I have been on a MONTHLONG eating binge (give or take). What the hell am I doing. I think that I have gained 15 or more pounds. HELP!

Teetering on the edge

Of sticking to a plan. A good day, then a terrible day, then an ok day. At least I am now cognizant of the fact that I have some new goals.

Random other thoughts for today...

Since DS was born, DH and I both work full-time jobs and I do the 'second shift' on my own. I drop off and pick up DS. I do groceries. I do the cleaning. I schedule vendors for repairs. I pay bills. I deal with extended family obligations. I do the doctor visits. You get the picture. DH's excuses are things like, "But I just don't notice those things." "That being dirty doesn't bother me as much." "You're better at remembering all that stuff." "I don't know where anything is." Granted, we are living separately until that damn house sells, but this is ongoing whether we live together or apart. I will never get that about him (or guys in general).

when was the last time

That I posted 3 days in a row. Yay, me! I'll take all the victories I can get; albeit they might be small.

I have a plan. Not well vetted yet, but it is in the works. Here is the 'outline' of the plan:

1) I can't go full force the way I did it last time. Not for lack of drive, but for lack of the same contributing factors (this single parent thing, the parent thing in general, time or lack thereof).

2) BUT, that is not going to stop me from getting started. This is a big step for me, since I am usually an all or nothing kind of girl.

3) I am putting my calories spreadsheet back on my desktop so that I know every single calorie going in every day. Like I said, it is all about accountability with me.

4) I will resurrect (sp?) my goal spreadsheet where I track my weight progress and see how close I am to reaching my near and long term goals

5) My a$$ is getting on the treadmill (even if only for 10 minutes) every day. I will probably have to start with some jog/walking but my goal is to be a jogger/runner again.

6) Avoid sweets, heavy fat foods and focus on veggies for dinner. Not as strict yet on breakfast and lunch, but those are next. Lean meats and tons of veggies for dinner. I can do that.

7) Water, water everywhere. I have been drinking more water lately, but still not enough. I bring a 32 ounce bottle with me to work each day and I need to not just drink it (but refill and drink it again).

Those are my goals to get this thing started again. I will keep adding on and reporting on my progress here. Any other advice, words of encouragement, etc. I could use it.

why i don't post and why i come back

It's the same reason that you don't step on the scale when you have totally abandoned your good eating habits. Its about the accountability and forcing yourself to own up to the fact that you are 'failing' in one way or another.

When I re-emerge, I like to post about things that aren't about me. See, it is easy for me to point fingers, have opinions and type out responses when I don't have to point them back at myself (see yesterday's post about football).

I would readily keep hiding if it were working for me. But when I hear the evil little Dr. Ph1l ask me "How's that workin for ya?" I have to admit that it's not.

And you know what brought me out of hiding this time. Reading that Shannin has reached 170 pounds with only 5 to go. What a success story. Why not me. Wah, wah, wah. I'm such a loser.

College football ruckus

I read this article on ESPN today that resonated with me...

Let’s see if the NCAA , Miami, and Florida International University really give a damn about college athletics. Oh sure, the NCAA is all too happy to declare a player ineligible for taking a few bucks, and now it has to show that it won’t tolerate violence by going to the video tape and declaring permanently ineligible the Miami and FIU players who were kicking, stomping, bashing with helmets and more in their ugly fight. There’s no place for that anywhere, there’s no place for that in college football, and there’s absolutely no excuse for that to happen. If you’re going to represent your university, you can’t be out there stomping on players, like Miami All-American safety Brandon Meriweather was doing, and you can’t be whacking players with your helmet like Miami’s Anthony Reddick did, and you can’t be involved in a fight like that. Defending yourself is one thing, but the ugliness in the Orange Bowl was something different. The schools took a good first step by suspending 31 between the two, and now that should be the end of their careers. Playing college football is a privilege, not a street fight. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Remembering 9/11

At our offices that morning we had no internet connection or incoming phone lines. Verizon was screwing around with the building. So when the first plane hit, none of us really knew. Again, no internet and people weren't getting incoming calls.

Then when the second plane hit, you could hear 50 cell phones go off at the same time. It was the scariest sound you can imagine.

Then when we all got the news, we turned on a radio in the office and listened, horrified.

A few minutes later, under the perfect blue sky we heard and felt thunder, the building shook. But it wasn't thunder. It was the plane hitting the pentagon just a couple miles away. We went outside and saw the smoke, heard the sirens and bowed our heads to pray.

Panic ensued. All of us have friends and family working in the pentagon. The cell phone lines were all busy, for hours upon hours. When we did hear from people we knew, we got other phone numbers and promised to let their families know that they were safe. My sister had to walk 8 miles to get out of the Pentagon area too.

I was scheduled to fly out on a business trip the next morning to New York. Thank god it was supposed to be the next day.

It is too soon for me too. I don't want to see the movies out or spend too much time watching tv today. I'm just not ready yet...

When the honeymoon is over...

I posted on a message board today about when you feel like the 'honeymoon' is over in a marriage. Not always a bad thing, but I feel like we are in a rut. I have also heard that these years of a marriage (5-6) are sometimes the hardest. We just kind of co-habitate, like roommates for the most part. Sometimes the comfort of the structure and routine is all I need to get me through. But I do miss the spark, the energy, the profound feeling of lust and love.

Someone responded with this:
"The honeymoon ended???? DH and I have been togther 20 years/married 18. The communication is the key. Phases come and go - being a couple , being a couple with babies - then school aged kiddos - now teenagers and looking forward to being a couple with an empty nest.... We have had wonderful years, long years and even one year were we weren't sure we wanted to be a couple anymore... communication of honest needs got us thru. Enjoy the journey - its not where you go - its who goes with you. "

I need to get to that place in my own head I guess. Someone send me a map, please!

My trip to the ER yesterday

So I am walking down the hall at work, minding my own business. I walk from the carpeted area to the hardwood reception area and I slip. I fall and know that both the receptionist and my boss (a VP) have just seen me do it. I was totally embarassed. I knew I had twisted my ankle, but I thought it was nothing more. Then I looked down. And there it was. My KNEECAP showing. My left knee had hit the raised metal border around the hardwood just perfectly. It cut a flap of skin about 6 inches long in a semi circle on the top part of my knee. It was totally loose and you could only see bone. I almost freaked out. At this point there was no blood and I really wasn't in any pain. I just said "Oh My God" over and over. Then people starting coming over and the looks on their faces showed me that it was as bad as I thought.

My boss (a great guy by the way) came up and looked terrified and then had someone get the first aid kit. He wanted to put some pressure on the wound, but it still wasn't really bleeding which was the weird part. Then some other people came along, they looked at it and everyone ran to go call 911. I was calmly sitting there and said 'oh do you think I need to go to the hospital or get stitches', and they all were like 'of course'.

So the ambulance arrives ten minutes later, the EMS people laugh because I said I didn't think it was a problem and didn't need to go to the doctor. We get to the hospital and they give me a tetanus shot, clean the wound, use a needle to numb the area (by sticking it in the wound 5 separate places OWWWWWWW), then he stitched it up as best he could. I was in soooo much pain. I also couldn't look at it since it was so huge and gross it was making me lightheaded. I took some antibiotics to be sure as well.

He did say I was really lucky because another millimeter would've landed me in the operating room. He also noted that since I cut the entire top of the knee open that is why it didn't bleed much (the blood vessels run down not up), but that he was very concerned that this wouldn't heal properly since the tissue might not get enough blood flow.

My ankle is bruised and sprained too, with some rug burns too, but that was the least of my worries.

They put a dressing on it and a huge knee immobilizer (like when you dislocate it) and sent me packing. I have to see an orthopedist on Tuesday and a plastic surgeon after that.

So I am in the new house (4 level split, so 4 sets of stairs) with the baby and DH is still at the old house in DC (he comes down on the weekends). Man, when it rains, it pours.

we're heeeeeere

Picture a cute little blond reaching out to the TV as you read that...

The move is complete. The new job has commenced. And thanks to the stomach flu in the middle of the move I have lost a couple of the pounds I had regained.

Jackson is adjusting to daycare, but already picked up a bug and is totally snotty (literally) and grumpy. He has also passed it along to me, which isn't helping me adjust to my first week of work.

We had a lot of trouble with the move, the movers, vendors, service people, etc. but it is now mostly done and we are totally unpacked. Only a few more pics to hang and a few more pieces of small furniture to buy.

DH is still in northern VA in the empty house waiting until we sell it. He had to keep that job in the interim so that we could pay two massive sets of bills until it does sell. It makes it tough during the week, since I am basically a single parent, in a new house, in a new job, in a new city... You get the idea. I am determined to make it work though!

new beginnings

Got the job. Accepted the job. Found a house. Selling a house. Planning a move.

Getting back in SHAPE!

Another reason to subsidize IVF

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060620/hl_nm/fertility_britain_dc

bullies be damned...

Why can't people leave others alone? We don't all always agree and in cyberspace it should be easier to agree to disagree. But someone has mingled the real world with the cyber world and sent Karen running. Asshat.