Three Day Weekend... You Are The Peach In My Pie!

Man, oh man. I sure was in need of that three day weekend. When three days feels like a week off... man. That's good stuff.

The downer to this weekend was a toothache that rocked my world for about 48 hours. It's not hurting at all today, but you better believe I will be taking care of that ASAP! I'm telling you, excruciating pain! Not like, please let me die, pain, but DEFINITELY take some Tylenol PM so I can just keep sleeping til it stops. And I did! It was a dull pain all day Friday, but it really started to pound when I got home from work. I took some meds and rested a bit and then we headed out to dinner for a quick baked potato from Red Hot and Blue. That's good stuff! And nice and soft. And then we headed to Kroger to grab a few groceries that we needed for some Saturday food plans, and then we came home to watch a movie and just kick it for the night. As soon as I got home, the pain started to climb. I made it through the first half of The Bourne Identity (I really like those movies! I've only seen them a couple of times each, so it still feels kind of new when I watch them... exciting!) before I had to take some Tylenol PM. That was around 10:00. When the movie was over, it was REALLY hurting so I just laid down. Brett was wide awake, so he stayed up for a bit and I was completely zonked when he came to bed. The pain woke me at about 5:00 a.m. so I got up and took MORE Tylenol PM and that was the end of that until about 11:00 Saturday. The pain was there all day, but not as bad as the previous day. And THANK GOODNESS, it was not bad enough to deter my Saturday night plans...

Sex And The City 2!!! WOOHOO!!! I loved it =-) Dinner with my girls was GREAT and the movie... was like hanging out with a whole other group of friends. The best thing about this film was getting to see sides of Miranda and Charlotte that had been missing for a while, but were still totally genuine at the same time. The clothes were great, the scenery was great, Samantha's "hot guy" fixation was WAY hotter than the first film. All in all, two very enthusiastic thumbs up. I'm hoping to see it again with Jenina after I make her come watch the first one over here. Krista, that goes for you too! You should TOTALLY come with us! I'm sorry you didn't make it Saturday =-( We missed you.

It was a great night. Jennifer gave me this little plaque that is hanging on my wall now that says "I am fairly certain that given a Cape and a nice Tiara, I could save the world." Umm... I'm fairly certain I've spoken those exact words. I LOVE it! And I got beautiful flowers that are sitting on my counter and a gift card to one of my all time favorite stores... Hobby Lobby. Score! And some really sweet birthday cards. It was a late birthday celebration with my chicas, and to top it all off, my sister Melanie bought my dinner and movie ticket! Which was really helpful because I'm broke. haha.

Sunday was a really nice day. My tooth was feeling MUCH better. Church was wonderful, as usual. We went for burgers at DQ after church because it is on the way to Sprouts, and Sprouts had cherries on sale for $1.89 a pound. Are you kidding me? Heck yes! Then we came home to make a grocery list and relax a bit before heading to my parent's house for our monthly family dinner. We are all kind of spread out across the metroplex these days, but the last Sunday of every month we meet for dinner at my parent's casa. I love it. And since everyone had today off, we took our time and got to hang out a little more than usual. On the way home, we did our grocery shopping so we wouldn't have to worry about it today, and then just relaxed and did laundry and things like that til we were tired!

Today was a busy morning! We were truly blessed to be able to meet a need with Brett's old car. It is in serious need of some TLC, but we happen to have a friend who we jokingly say has the spiritual gift of cars! He knows his stuff. And his son has been in need of a car for quite some time. So this morning we got up and gave the car a good scrubbin' and a fresh oil change. It took a while and we were hot and sweaty when we finished! So we showered and relaxed and waited for our friends who came around 2:00. We had a great visit with our friend and his son (who is one cute kid!) and have spent the day just relaxing and enjoying each other.

I love a three day weekend that is not crammed full of plans. It's one of the good things about being broke... keeps you from having too much to do! We are going to have to be pretty serious about our budget for a while, and I want very much to be serious about my food again. This weekend was about relaxing and enjoying each other, but starting tomorrow, I will be paying much closer attention to my food. I have been craving ice cream and Tex-Mex like mad lately! But I have enjoyed it several times in the last two weeks, so it's time to tame that beast! Hopefully, I will be back to weighing in this Friday. I really wanted 29 to be the year that I got healthy. Well, the first three weeks of my 29th year have been big fails in that department. But I still have 49 weeks to make changes. I need to do it, whether I feel ready or not. I won't be able to afford new clothes if I outgrow these! And I sure would like to have more than one pair of jeans that are comfortable. I have four pairs waiting in my closet for me to drop a size.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy last week of school to Jennifer, Jenna, Krista, Marie and any other teachers reading my blog. I hope it's a great week!

Mourning... Again

This is the second time in a year that I watched a friend lose a baby. The circumstances are different this time. When my friends Jeff and Karen lost their baby several months ago, the baby was 5 months old. (I think it was 5 months... it's crazy how quickly details that are forgotten so quickly by outsiders will never be forgotten by those who lived them.) My friend who lost her baby yesterday was 6.5 months pregnant. She is in labor right now, and will probably be most of the day.

Once again, I find myself speechless. Having no words of comfort, not even knowing what to pray, just thinking the word "How?". How does someone recover from a loss like this. DO they ever recover? And finding no answers. God's only response to me, when I say "I don't know how a parent deals with losing a child" is "I do". It's a painful, potent reminder that we serve a God who knows exactly what it feels like to lose a child.

Brett and I were just saying a couple of days ago how difficult times in life can make things complicated and simple at the same time. It's always nice to have things clarified... to have a reason to forget the trivial and focus on the significant, but man... sometimes the price of those clarifying moments feels so high.

Pray for Stephanie and Dustin. No need to pray for baby Duncan anymore. He is in his Daddy's hands.

It's On My Mind!!!

I can't stop thinking about crafting! I would really like to get some kind of action plan. I'm thinking of starting an Etsy store. Anyone reading this have one and have any advice for me? I'm thinking I could sell paper crafts on Etsy so they are cheap to mail, and do some of my other ideas at craft sales... I just have to get in the craft sale circle! Hmm... What to do, what to do.

I am totally broke! But I have some supplies to start out with. I want to be legit though. Create a business and all that. But then I have to learn to pay taxes and all that. Jenina, Jennifer... let's talk!

The Best Thing About a 5 Year Lease...

is that it gave me an opportunity to look 5 years into the future. 5 years is a long time! 5 years ago, Brett and I were just friends. (We just hit our 4.5 years together point.) A lot can happen in 5 years.

I have done a lot of thinking about the future lately. We are really making an effort to pay off our debt this year. It may not happen by December 31, but if nothing crazy happens, it should happen with our tax return for sure. And then our lease will be up in March, and we will be gettin' outta here! We love this apartment. Almost everything about it is great... great size, great view, great location. BUT... it's pricey. I think that we could do better. Not in this area maybe, but somewhere. And – this is the worst part – we've got bugs. I thought bugs might be an issue living by the creek, but it's not that wall where the bugs are a problem. We had the apartment sprayed last week, and this weekend Brett put out serious bug killer. But we hate the bugs. If I say anything else I will creep myself out, so moving on.

We would like to rent a house. With the credit card debt gone, and renting somewhere cheaper, we will be able to start saving for a house. And if I were to get a teaching job at a public school for the coming school year, it would speed that up somewhat. I don't want to count on that though.

Work was so weird today. My mind is starting to detach from that job. It feels temporary now. I was truly stunned by how temporary it felt today. Walking into work, I felt like I hadn't been there in a week! It was a busy weekend, yes, but more than that... my mind was thinking about my future job, not my current job. Walking into work was like going back in time. I shouldn't do that too much. Shouldn't completely live in the future. Each day is a blessing. And I've made the mistake before of missing out on blessings because I wanted to be somewhere else. AND... I wish that I wouldn't let them upset me so much. One person in particular. She is just so stinkin' bipolar! One minute I am her best friend, the next minute, she acts like I should be paying her to talk to me! Like it is KILLING her to stand in the room long enough for me to finish my sentence. And I tell ya! I am like a freakin' Labrador! It doesn't matter how hard she kicks me, every time she is nice, I celebrate like I just won the lottery! I don't mean to do that. But after she has been SO mean all day, one smile at 4:00 feels like someone pouring water on a fire, when really it is a snake putting me in a trance so it can finish me off. haha... dramatic, I know! But it's crazy. This chick can make me cry with her rudeness, not because of the extremity – it can be very subtle – but because of the suddenness! I am never expecting it. WHY??? I should expect it every day! I feel it every day! Sigh.

Monday is done. Tomorrow I am meeting Jennifer for frozen yogurt, and it will be greatness. Thursday I am going to dinner with my mom, hopefully at Boston Market, and Saturday I am going to see Sex In The City 2 with some of my most favorite ladies in the world! I am VERY excited. And also VERY excited to have next Monday off. I hope that we relax on Monday.

I know you haven't heard from me very consistently lately. I'm trying to get my act together. I will keep trying.

p.s. Can you tell I just read Paula Deen's memoir? I sure am droppin' a lot of Gs!

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Oh my gosh!!! We just bought a new car!

Correction - we leased a car. Which is something that we never intended to do. But God had a plan, and when it was all said and done, He made it possible for us to drive home tonight in a 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander.

Can I just say, Don Herring Mitsubishi in Irving – YOU ROCK! I cannot believe all that these guys did to make this car affordable for us. When the lower model vehicle wasn't available, they offered us the higher end, which is WAY more than we would have ever gone for on our own, at an INSANE price! And they made our first payment so we wouldn't have to borrow from the money we have set aside to pay off my car (which I'm going to go ahead and do this morning - WOOHOO!). I just feel so blessed! And now we own a car that displays a picture of what is behind you when you put it in reverse! What???

OH! And my favorite part! We have a sun roof. When you consider all of the gadgets inside this car, the sun roof is the least impressive, but I have always wanted one.

Thank you, Lord, for making a way when we sometimes can't see it.

A new car means a lot for us right now. Brett's previous car was in a condition that we only felt comfortable with him driving it to and from work. And mainly because his work is two minutes from our apartment. A new car means freedom to look for a new job when the time is right, to go back to school, heck, just to drive to the good comic shop in Dallas! Last night, for the first time in quite a while, I was a passenger. It felt like a date! haha.

I am thankful the weekend is getting closer. I will be doing some serious sleeping, cleaning and working this weekend. But sleep is my first priority. We need it! Brett will be playing with the car =-)

A Recap

Thirty minutes ago, I was thinking:

"If I knew Kung Fu, I'd be KICKIN' ASS!!"

Fifteen minutes ago, I was thinking:

"God, please forgive me for becoming what I hate. For responding to rudeness with anger and letting frustration take over my mind."

Five minutes ago, I was thinking:

"You know what would make everything better? A donut."

One minute ago, I was thinking:

"Time to break out the fruit."

Now I am thinking:

"These strawberries are awesome. Wish I had some whipped cream."

What a crazy day.

All week I have been thinking:

"I need to make time to blog before my head explodes."

and

"I miss Jenina =-( Why haven't we talked in so long? Is she busy? Or did she decide to break up with me? Please just be busy..."

and

"I love my husband. God chose the perfect partner for me and I am so humbled by that gift."

and

lots of other things... mostly about job stuff and crafting things and how I can combine the two. Hopefully I will have something coherent to say soon. Sorry I haven't been around much. I just can't seem to juggle it all right now. But I had a bit of an aha moment last night. I wonder if I have been thinking too small lately... I mean, I spend a lot of moments desperate to get out of this job, so I consider things that in the long run, may not be the best choice. I need to remember the big picture and how the choices I make today, particularly job choices, could impact my family for years to come.

Sigh.

Sometimes being grown up kind of sucks.

Sorry =-(

Sorry you didn't hear from me all week. You know... all of you out there just biting your nails every day hoping to read a post from me. Uh huh.

I just haven't been feeling it. I told Krista and Jage on Thursday that I have been feeling lost lately. Like I'm walking around in the dark. No. Standing in the dark. Almost numb. And frankly, after I made myself sit down to blog tonight, I still don't really feel like I have the right words to say.

I went to the Frisco job fair today. I fought it all week. I just didn't want to go. It's hard to say why because I feel like there are lots of reasons and no reason all at the same time. Ya know what I mean? I confessed to Krista and Jage on Thursday that if I'm being honest, I don't really feel qualified to teach. Krista was very quick to tell me that nothing prepares you for teaching except teaching. The lady who I stood in line with today said the same thing. Actually, she said that her four years of school didn't make one difference. Everyone is a new teacher when they walk in the door that first day. I really appreciate the kind words from those three sweet ladies this week. Krista, Jage and the lady in line today. And although I have to admit that I didn't really like the format of the job fair today, every single teacher that I talked to was INCREDIBLY friendly. They all seemed genuinely pleased to be there speaking with us. Not a single school was hiring but they were all happy to take resumes for positions that may open over the summer. It was fast. I left the house at 6:55 this morning, but because I was probably somewhere around the 200th person in line, which isn't bad considering the hundreds of people who stood behind me, I got through it all pretty quick. I was back home by 11:00.

Job fairs? Not something I'm good at. Leaving today, for the first time since this whole thing started, I considered subbing next year as possibly the best outcome. I mean, the salary of a teacher would be a huge thing for Brett and I at this point, and subbing would be inadequate income. I would definitely have to find another way to bring in income. But if that is what happens, it wouldn't be devastating. I know that subbing doesn't begin to compare with teaching, but it's experience inside a school. And it's a MUCH better way to meet teachers and principals and such, than a job fair. Maybe not for everyone, but definitely for me. I fought a LOT of anxiety this week. A LOT! After having a rough day on my birthday Monday and then embarrassing myself at church Wednesday night (I don't want to talk about it), I was feeling 100% drained of any and all mojo. And being there today with a thousand other people, 750 of which are already experienced teachers, could easily feel like a waste of time. I know that it's not completely a waste of time, but it's also incredibly unlikely that anything will come of it.

I applied at a private school this week. I have no idea if they are hiring, and I haven't heard back from them yet, but I was really excited about it at the time. It's the school that my niece went to.

I was up too late every day this week. I need to be in bed by 10:30 during the week, and that didn't happen this week. And after a week of not enough sleep, I spent my Friday night working on job fair stuff, after going to dinner with my mom and niece, and then went to bed around 11 to get up at 5:00 this morning to get to the job fair early. Tomorrow morning I am getting up at 4:00. We are driving to Houston to see my favorite 6 year old get baptized. I am really looking forward to it. I napped today and am about to go to bed and I know that we are going to have a great time seeing friends tomorrow and celebrating what God is doing in everyone's life. I am tired though. And I won't get much sleep until Saturday. But I plan on having a productive week this week. I'm not sure how much blogging I will do, but I am doing my best to come back to life. I had some really good personal prayer time this week, and if I could get some of that with my husband, that would be really rockin'.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I am way behind on reading blogs, but I will take care of that soon!

SImpsons Quote of the Day - 5.14.10

Homer: Marge, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen.

Nice Night!

I don't want to talk about my day. It was blah. Food was fine though... not quite plentiful enough, but not bad. Tonight, however... much betta!

I came home super hungry and not sure what to do about dinner. I had a chicken dish on the calendar, but I was hungry right away! I didn't take enough food with me to work, and I was worried that I would overload on our planned dinner, which is a decent choice if you are careful with your portions. I was not confident in my ability to be careful tonight though! So I had a serving of Baked Cheetos before I even started to cook. It took the edge off and kept me from snacking while I cooked. Of course, when I finished the Cheetos, and Brett was no where near hungry and was considering leftovers later instead of chicken when I cooked it (we need to eat our leftovers... tomorrow is trash day and it will probably be time to say goodbye to them) I decided to go ahead and make the chicken tonight, but to portion it out for my lunches this week. That will give me some much needed protein mid-day. And I ate my leftover stir fry and a big salad for dinner! I felt good about my choice!

And thank goodness... I made another good choice. I went for a walk. Last week, my walks just weren't happening. I think I only got one in. It was a crazy week! But I want to keep walking. So all day I tried to send myself subliminal messages about walking being a good idea. It didn't really work. But I put on my walking clothes while I was cooking, and when I finished dinner I decided to head out the door.

We all know I love the park where I've been walking. It's beautiful and family friendly. But that is actually part of the problem... it is SOOOOO crowded! I just have a lot on my mind these days, and I don't want to be in the middle of a huge crowd during a time that has the possibility to be a mental break. So tonight, as I was driving to the park, dreading the crowd, I decided to give the outer loop a try. The park is in the middle of a huge ring of apartment. There is sidewalk the entire way around the apartment fronts, and I have seen walkers on that loop, so tonight it sounded like a better option.

AND WAS IT EVER!!! I loved it! I passed less than ten other walkers on the loop and they were all sans stroller and very courteous. It is a longer distance, but without the roadblocks, a.k.a. other people, I was able to keep a steady pace and work up a fairly decent sweat. It felt good. This is the best I have felt after a walk in weeks. AND... the outer loop is the perfect place to start teaching my body to jog. There are regular breaks in the sidewalk at the entrance of each apartment complex, so I could easily jog one section and then walk one section. Or two. I jogged a bit tonight, but not much. But it felt good =-) So just wanted to share that little discovery!

I also sent my resume and what turned out to be a pretty nicely worded email to a private school in my town. It's just a thought that has been growing in my mind for a few weeks. Not really ready to expand on that thought here yet, but I am happy that I sent the email, so I thought I would share.

My goal for tomorrow is to get some MUCH NEEDED fruit and veggies in my system. MUCH NEEDED!!!

Night all =-)

Turning 29

Today is my birthday. I am officially 29. This is the last year of my twenties. I have good intentions to use it well... I sure hope it works out that way!

My birthday weekend was lots of fun! The drive in Friday night was SO much fun! I'm very happy that we went and even happier that we stayed for both films. I liked Iron Man 2 just fine – it's not as big of a story as the first movie. It's more just showing the natural progression of life for a super hero who becomes public. The bad guys weren't really scary and it didn't take much to bring them down. But the cast was good and I had no complaints when it was over. I have always been a Robert Downey Jr. fan, and I really like Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper. She's adorable! I was also very pleased with how much I enjoyed the second feature of the evening, The Losers. I mean, it was good! I only new a few of the cast members going into it, but I thought everyone was good. And the guy who played Cougar? Whoa! Was he cute!!! The weather was perfect, as was my date, and the whole thing is so inexpensive, it almost feels like steeling. A double feature for $6? Come on!

We got home super late and didn't get to bed until around 2:30, so Saturday we slept in and it was glorious! We went to lunch at The Cheesecake factory where the food is just okay but the dessert will blow your mind. Seriously. I got Chris's Outrageous Chocolate Cake which is a mixture of cheesecake and chocolate cake with my all time favorite: coconut icing. INSANELY good! Or I guess I should say outrageously good. I enjoyed it both times that I ate it! It's too much to eat at once, but way too good not to take home to finish the next day.

Brett had killer allergy issues on Saturday, but he was still wonderful and took me on a shopping birthday trip. We went to Target where I got some crazy cute gold sandals, two shirts, 3 journals (I got all three because they were super cute and only $7 each... I couldn't pick, so I decided at that price, I should just get them all!), a picture frame and a scrapbook project box! Can I shop, or what??? Then we went to Fry's to replace a controller of Brett's that stopped working and get my mom Avatar for Mother's Day. I know... not the most fantastic gift. But she really wanted to see it. While I was looking for Avatar, I found Troop Beverly Hills for $7. I grew up loving this movie! It's one that I always check the $5 DVD section at Target for and when I saw it at Fry's, I just had to get it. I watched it last night and it still makes me smile =-)

Saturday night we went to the Sunday School Cinco de Mayo party. It was fun... mostly. I did okay in the beginning, but then after an hour or so, I started to get really anxious. I can't pinpoint exactly what caused it. Actually, I think I can. A group of us went inside to get a piece of the cookie cake that they had for dessert. My piece was a totally normal size, the same as what everyone else had, but when we all went back outside, a guy zeroed in on my piece and started talking about this double layer cookie "as if one layer isn't bad enough" and how he and his wife don't eat sweets. It made me so uncomfortable. And then Brett mentioned to someone nearby that we had eaten at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch, and all I could think about was what this guy must be thinking of me. And then it just got more and more awkward for me from there. Even before that, I was sitting in this plastic chair outside that wasn't strong enough to hold me. I was trying desperately to not let anyone else realize how the chair was wobbling, but it was horribly uncomfortable. I think only one guy noticed the chair bending and almost falling over when I sat down. I got up and moved the chair pretending that it was the uneven surface that made the chair buckle, but after that, I was balancing very precariously and trying my darndest to keep up a normal conversation with the people around me. Tyler pretended not to notice. I'm immensely thankful for that.

But we stayed for almost two hours before I asked Brett if we could leave. I want to go to the social events because I really want Brett and I to make some couple friends. But this is the second one in a row where I ended up kind of freaking out mid party. I wish that I could say that moments like that are motivating for me... that they make me want to eat super healthy things and run five miles every day. But the truth is, they make me want to eat a Twinkie in the dark and then lay down and die. Dramatic, I know. But those are the feelings that I have to fight off sometimes.

Anyway, when we left the party we picked up a Mother's Day present for my sister and some cards for all of the moms we were going to party with the next day.

Brett taught Sunday School on Sunday morning and it was great. Afterwards, we ended up going to lunch with a couple from our class. It is the first social interaction we have had with another couple from the class outside of class events, and I'm really thankful that it was this particular couple. I would love it if we became friends. Lunch went well and we made plans to make plans to go bowling...

Sunday afternoon Brett napped while I read some New Moon and then we met my family, along with Brett's mom, for dinner at Los Lupes. It was perfect. I am so in love with my family. It was my entire immediately family along with my dad's brother, mother, sister and niece. We had a great time and Brett's mom seemed totally comfortable, so that's great.

Last night I stayed up late, watching Troop Beverly Hills, and reading. So it was a good day.

Today got off on the wrong foot. My days off never seem to go as planned anymore. Today I seemed to ruin the day before I even got out of bed. I was supposed to accept a package from Fed-Ex this morning, but I thought they weren't coming until 10:30, so at 8:00, when I woke up with a headache I decided to stay in bed and "rest". Well I fell back asleep and didn't hear Fed-Ex. When I got out of bed at 9:30 there was a note on the door that I had missed them, and Brett was in a panic because he couldn't get a hold of me. I didn't hear the door and I didn't hear my phone, and there was nothing I could do about it. Brett came home and got the package on his lunch break, so it wasn't a big deal, but he was still pretty upset that I had worried him this morning, and I just don't handle it very well when he is upset with me =-( So blah. Not a great start to the day.

But I did a pretty decent cleaning of the apartment. I vacuumed every bit of carpet, I cleaned the mirrors, sinks, counters, floors and toilets of both bathrooms. I didn't want to spend the time cleaning the showers, so I will try to do that soon. And I ran out of floor cleaner and Lysol before I could get to the kitchen. But I threw out every single piece of trash and even dusted, so that's definitely progress. I finished cleaning at about 11:30 so I took a shower and ate lunch with Brett when he came home at noon. We have lots of leftovers from this weekend!

I left the apartment at 1:00, but I spent some time in front of the dumpster cleaning out my car. We had a box of junk explode in my trunk when we moved. That's right... 16 months ago. And I had never cleaned it out. Well today, I finally did! And then I went to get my car washed. I planned on vacuuming it really well, but was foiled when they told me I couldn't use the vacuums, I could only pay them to vacuum it. No thanks. I'll do it somewhere else. So my car is cleaner, but still not clean. But again, it's progress!

After that I had about a million stores that I wanted to go to and two movies that were options to see. One of them (The Joneses, which I was really interested in seeing) was playing at 4:20 and the other (The Runaways, which I was sort of interested in seeing) was playing at 5:15. So here's how the day ended up going post car wash:

- Starbucks for a Venti Iced Chai

- Borders in Lewisville for Hungry Girls new cookbook (I had a coupon for 30% off one item which was totally cancelled out when they asked me to donate a bag of coffee for the troops that ended up being a $12 bag of coffee!!!)

- Mardel for $1 clearance books. I bought 12. I'm hate not having anything to read.

- Bed Bath and Beyond. I went for one set of picture frames and bought two sets. Oops. But so cute.

- Back to Irving for Half Price Books where I returned a movie that Laura gave me yesterday but I already own (Labyrinth... love it!) and used the gift card that she gave me to buy a fresh copy of Jane Eyre because mine was in tatters, Paula Dean's memoir and a book about a certain crafting project that I have been considering trying out

- Grapevine Mills for the 5:15 showing of The Runaways. Wish I had made The Joneses.

- Lane Bryant to pay my bill and use the gift card that my MIL gave me to buy 2 shirts

- Home to get Brett

- Dinner at Pei Wei

- Grocery Shopping

- And now it's way past my bedtime and I am blogging.

I got tons of birthday messages on Facebook and my phone and they really brightened my day. Overall, it was a good birthday. I love my husband and my family, and I still have some celebrating to do with friends that I am totally looking forward to.

Back to work tomorrow. I am in such a weird mental place about career stuff right now. This post has already been a mile long, so I'll talk about it later. Probably.

Hope everyone had a good time celebrating motherhood!

My last year of my twenties has begun. I hope it's a good one =-)

Weekly Weigh In 5.07.10

Same as last week. 239.6. I think that I would have been down, but we had Pancho's for dinner last night. If you're not from the area, you don't know what that is, and if you are from the area, you may be laughing at me. There are definitely two schools of thought when it comes to my beloved Pancho's Mexican Buffet. People either love it or hate. I'm a lover. BIG TIME! I was so sad when the one in my town closed, but it's probably a good thing. I would eat there WAY more if it were closer. As it is, it's only one town over, so for special occasions, it's totally acceptable to head that way. What's the occasion? It was the kickoff to my birthday weekend. And today is Friday so... it's HERE!

We are going to the drive-in tonight for a double feature of Iron Man 2 and The Losers. This drive-in is about an hour away, but it only costs $6 for a double feature! $6!!!! And you can't bring food in, but the concessions stand is about a quarter of the price of regular movie theaters and it's mostly meal items, like corny dogs and burgers, as opposed to mostly snack items like popcorn and candy. Of course, they've got it all =-) I plan on getting a corny dog, french fries, a drink and a small box of candy for my double feature. WOOHOO!!!

We will be up crazy late from the movies tonight so our first order of business tomorrow is to sleep in! After that, it's whatever I want to do until we have to be at a Sunday School party at 6:00. Our plans include going to Target to pick out my birthday present =-), eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (I'm really just excited about the dessert... who cares what else you eat when you're at TCF???), and that's all that we know for sure. We may visit a car dealership in Lewisville to sit in a few new cars. Not for birthday fun, but because we're only about a month away from having a down payment for a new car for Brett. It will be just in time! We don't want to think about his current car having to go through another inspection. But if we go to the dealership in Lewisville, we will also be stopping at Mardel so I can peruse their GIANT clearance section! It may not always be great books, but for a dollar??? I'll give 'em a try =-)

The Sunday School party kind of throws a kink in our plans, but we feel like we should go. We really would like to make some real friends out of the class that consists of "church friends" right now. So we will go tomorrow and I will do my best to have fun and not be uncomfortable among all of the super models. And you know what? It's my birthday weekend, and we don't have to stay any longer than I want to. So if I start to freak out, we'll go. So there.

Sunday is Mother's Day. We had plans to take Brett's mom to lunch, but after I slaved away for a few days making her a scrapbook of our wedding that she requested, she cancelled on us. I totally understand why... her sister decided to come to town. That's good news for her. But I hate that we're not going to see her, for two very selfish reasons. First because I made her a gift and second because I was hoping to receive a gift card from her for my birthday which I planned to spend on Monday, my actual birthday, on my day off. I know that is INSANELY selfish! But I love to shop... and I was hoping to get to do a bit of that on Monday. Bratastic, right?

Sunday night we are all taking my mom to dinner at a little Mexican place that she likes. That should be fun =-)

Monday I am off!!!!!!! The only thing I know for sure that I am doing is going to see The Joneses at The Angelika. I'm nervous to drive there... it's in the middle of some crazy highway action. If that movie ends up showing at Grapevine Mills, I will go there instead, but as of yesterday, GM didn't have movies for Monday posted yet. The rest of the day... who knows? But I'm determined to enjoy it.

So those are the plans! I will definitely have a mix of healthy eating and eat what I want this weekend. Someday, the "what I want" will include more healthy food. But that day might not come this weekend. It could! But I'm not really expecting it.

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Michael Scott Words of Wisdom - 13

"Ryan's about to attend the Michael Scott School of Business. I'm like Mr. Miyagi and Yoda all rolled into one."

Is It Seriously Only Wednesday?

Weird week already. I guess I'm glad it's now officially half over.

My co-worker is out of town this week. We have been slow lately, which is never good, but of course once he left for the week, business is pouring in. I'm glad to have work to do, but I could do with a little less urgency on some of these jobs. How can EVERY job be rush? Seriously people... chill out.

Also... a school called me yesterday. It's a charter school in Lancaster, which is about 40 minutes from me (according to MapQuest). I don't know anything about it, and I have no idea how they got my name and number. Probably I was just on a list from my Alternative Certification Program. But I would love to find out that someone that I know and trust gave them my name. The woman called me late yesterday afternoon and left a voicemail. I just called her back and she was unavailable. I have Monday off, because it's my birthday, so if I can schedule an appointment with her for Monday, I will go check it out. I have heard teaching at charter schools is really hard and you don't get paid much. But hey... they may be the only school that calls! So I should at least go check it out, right?

Okay... I guess I just wanted to get that off my chest. I'm feeling really antsy about it. Eek!

On another note, my walk was easier last night. The park was the most crowded I have ever seen it. So much so that I had to park further down the road than usual so I started the walk in a different spot and went the opposite direction that I usually do. It was easier! The inclines were at the beginning of my walk instead of the end and when I finished the lap, I thought I may have been able to walk it one more time. I think I'll try that tonight.

Did I mention I'm ready for this week to be over? Just checking.

SImpsons Quote of the Day - 5.3.10

Homer: I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here.

Post #600

That's a lotta bloggin!

So, this weekend was an improvement. I'd say that I ate 50% better than I have been eating on recent weekends.

Friday night we went to Joe's Crab Shack because Brett won a gift card at work Friday afternoon. I have been once before, but it was years ago at a different location. This was a MUCH better experience! And frankly, Brett and I needed a nice surprise. Something to brighten our day =-) Brett and I both left the restaurant liking every bite we put in our mouth. We ordered calamari as an appetizer. It was not what you would call health food, but seriously good! And then I ordered the broiled something or other platter. It had two broiled tilapia fillets, 6 grilled shrimp and a crab cake. And then a TON of really tasty broccoli and some delicious rice! There were no tempting cheddar bay biscuits, like at Red Lobster, and the crab cake was mostly crab and not a ton of filler. At least it seemed that way to me. I ate almost all of the crab cake, one tilapia fillet and 3 grilled shrimp. Plus all of the broccoli and probably 3/4 of the rice. I stopped eating when I was full, which was pretty much a miracle, and I left feeling good. Just saying that makes me smile =-)

Saturday started out pretty well. Like I mentioned last week, there was no walking on Friday. I needed to just be with my husband. Saturday morning I usually sleep in and then go for a walk, but this weekend I woke up early and went to help my sister move. Laura moved into a WAY cute townhouse with a good friend. I am so excited for her! It feels like a good beginning. So I missed the walk, but there was plenty of walking going on, up and down stairs I might add, and some carrying of heavy things. Not a ton... Laura got rid of a lot of things the last time she moved, so it was actually fairly easy. The weather was perfect and she and my mom and myself were able to get it all done in four hours.

After that I RACED home! I had a Southern Living party to attend at 2:00 in Euless. Have you ever been to one? It was fun! It's all home decor and everything was SO cute! I saw about ten things that, on another week with less bills, I would have struggled not go buy! So I raced home after helping Laura, to shower and inhale a couple of turkey dogs and a bag of Baked Lays. 8 points for a fast and tasty lunch. Not bad! At the party I ate a little fruit with a little fruit dip (my mouth is watering just thinking of the tastiness!) along with two little cream puffs. Is that what you would call those Jennifer? They are about the size of a donut hole, filled with a light cream, and dipped in chocolate. I could have eaten about 20 of those. But I stopped at 2. So not bad!

Dinner was not as great though. It wasn't terrible... Brett's mom took us out for Mexican food. We went to a restaurant that she goes too often, we have been to once a few years ago, and have recently wanted to try again. Our first trip to Uncle Julio's a few years ago was pretty tasty. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for this weekend's trip. The appetizer, queso flameado, was just okay. I ate one serving with a tortilla and dipped another servings worth with chips. Then I ate three bites of a chicken taco, that was just not good, a pork tamale that would have been better without the chili sauce, and a chicken enchilada in salsa verde that was not bad. So I ate more than was necessary, and it wasn't even very good. Go figure.

After dinner, I got really frustrated on our trip to the grocery store, and then it took us a while to get home because we needed to help Brett's mom with some things at her house, so on the way home we stopped for Frosty's. I took a wrong turn leaving Wendy's and it sort of pushed me over the edge. Thank goodness it was dark outside so Brett couldn't see my crying. Ugh. What can I say? When my body runs out of words, it's reaction is to cry. I was just tired. And I know that I've said this a lot lately, but it's still true - life is a little overwhelming right now. I'm doing my best. Every now and then I need to cry. And unfortunately, every now and then, I want some ice cream. If we hadn't had groceries to put up, we would have stopped for frozen yogurt instead. But a need to hurry left me voting for a drive through. My Frosty was good, even mixed with my tears. Stupid Kim.

Today was half and half. For breakfast I had an English muffin with a tablespoon of Better n Peanut Butter. For lunch had some DELICIOUS Jason's Deli that I was thrilled to discover! The Mediterranean Wrap, minus the olives (yuck) and tomatoes (I wish I liked them, but I don't) with a side of fruit. WOWZERS! This stuff was super tasty! It was my first time to try hummus. I'm not used to the creaminess on a sandwich (I'm a mustard girl), so every time I felt it in my mouth, it made me wary, but the flavor was great!

That's pretty much the end of my good eating for the day. I had two snacky items this afternoon that we temporarily have hanging out at the apartment. They are old favorites and I had some points to spare, so instead of torturing myself trying to avoid them, I ate them. Just one of each though, and I would have liked two. I know... that's not exactly a victory, but you have to admit, it's progress. I don't need to worry about them anymore though because tomorrow, they will be leaving the apartment. We had frozen lasagna for dinner. I ate a big salad, one piece of bread (even though I wanted two) and one serving of lasagna (even though it was a slightly larger portion than the suggested serving). I didn't walk today. That's the only thing I am disappointed about.

But did you hear that??? I ended my weekend only having one thing that I was disappointed about, and it wasn't even something I ate! Well, okay... I guess I would be proud of myself right now if I hadn't had that Frosty last night. So that could have been better. But honestly... it's a major improvement over the last dozen weekends!

Next weekend is my birthday weekend. Our plans have changed and may continue to change depending on what the weather does Friday night. I know there will be some indulging involved, but this week will be full of good food and lots of activity. I'm looking forward to it. Pretty much. =-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!