The definition of "Redundancy"

This morning I drove almost all the way into work next to a guy smoking in his car with the windows up. I have a 35 minute drive. It was a chain smoking marathon. I was so amazed, I became the jerk who drives right next to the car in the right lane going the same speed. I couldn't stop watching the train wreck! So is every one cigarette equivalent to 3 in those conditions? It had to be why, because it is a beautiful day out, so there's no reason not to have the window at least cracked a bit. And what does that car smell like inside? How far away can you smell that guy when he's walking down the street? I can't stop thinking about what this guy's lungs must look like. Yikes.

Career thoughts

I don't know if it's because it's summer, or because my career is sitting on the launchpad and I hear the engines firing up beneath me and it quite frankly scares the crap out of me, or because C-man's 4 and I love this age more than anything, or I'm just burned out... but lately I've started to really wish I were at home. I don't think I've ever hit a "is this worth it?" moment quite like I am right now. And all the reality checks the world don't seem to help. I feel that so few mothers who stay at home around me are truly happy. The majority of them complain about it and what they're missing out on. Then again, the ones who are good at it tend to be amazing. (I tend to doubt I'd be one of those amazing mothers come mid-winter). And we really are set up for C-man and our futures like nobody's business because we're both working great jobs. And C-man loves playing with friends at school. But all the "ands" in the world don't seem to be making me feel better right now. I'm looking forward to the long weekend...

Good weekends shouldn't have to end

Enough said.

Satisfying Summer Saturdays

The first churro of the farmers market season... Post farmers market playground time What a difference a year makes. Last year he struggled to get up this. This year, he went up it in about 5 seconds flat. Then it was off to Miller Park to get some more tickets for upcoming games. (Are they ALL sellouts these days?) Another t-ball team, another photo day... It was a hard-fought game against the stinky Cubs Beerman is considering trying to teach him the Ryan Braun airplane when he hits the ball. I think his way is just fine. He was so proud of almost catching a fly ball. And after 2 amazing innings, it was time to call it a game and head off to a birthday party.

Three Things I Vow to Not Do Today

1. Talk about celebrities I would not have otherwise thought about except for the fact that they died.
2. Complain about the weather
3. Eat like I did yesterday. (Thank God a new CSA basket came yesterday!)

Now I can exhale...

Drumroll please... In 3 months, I officially lost 20 pounds and 9% body fat. I don't have my before and after photos. And I don't know what all my measurements were/are. (Or you can guarantee I'd be showing them) We aren't privy to these until the big reveal in July sometime. But I went from a size 12 to an 8, so I know they improved. And my essay is officially in for judging purposes. So now I wait and see about the contest part of it all. In the meantime I'll be happy I'm not fat on the BMI scale. About 14 seconds after I weighed in, I celebrated by eating a giant blueberry muffin . It was the best damn muffin I've ever eaten. I have plans to continue celebrating through today. (Although the pancakes I ate this morning made me feel a little sick, so we'll see how much I can actually stomach.) Tomorrow it'll be time again to get back on the train to drop those 9 remaining pounds. But for today, I'm letting it all hang out.

The Finish Line

Today is my final bootcamp weigh-in, measure, body fat test and photos. Can I hear a "Hell Yeah!" from the crowd please? I'm counting down the desperate, waterless (I'm dehydrating for photos), uneneding hours. And tonight, I vow to eat a normal dinner. No chicken. No spinach. No gagging down the 3 servings of vegetables on my plate. And I might even go crazy and eat some carbs with it. Look out world, because this is almost over. (And then I wake up and remember the 12 remaining pounds I have to lose, but I'll worry about that again in a few days)

T-Ball Recap

It was photo night

But he still got in three fabulous hits. I guess all those hours in the backyard do show...

Then again, so does the fact that he never has to share fielding the ball... But it was a great game of the Red Lightning vs the Grey Squirrels anyway And somehow in the 90 degree heat, he still had energy to hit the playground after.

Red Lightning

Tonight is the night for the Red Lightning to come out and play. (They got to name themselves last week. C-man suggested Red Lobster, but the Lightning won out in the end). He can hardly wait, he's so thrilled.And I absolutely love that he's this excited. He's always been incredibly stubborn, which causes some serious "debates" at our house. And when you mix in how hugely passionate he is about the things he really loves, things can become quite emotional in a hurry. But that's what makes him who he is. And that's what makes me love him so much. I've never understood parents who call their kids derogatory names... monster, sassy, naughty. It has always seemed like a self-fulfilling prophecy, or an expectation from the parents of sorts. So as he gets older, and his stubbornness shows no signs of diminishing, I need to constantly remind myself how much fun his passion and drive are when they're allowed to grow. And I'll keep taking pictures of those incredible moments to remind myself of that, especially after we have a morning of tears because the right "squishy" shorts that he needs for baseball aren't clean. Sigh...

So here's to the Red Lightning! As usual, I'll take enough shots to make you feel like you are there too.

Water, water, everywhere

18 hours in the car to go to a wedding on a chain of lakes. 3 days of drinking 2 gallons of water a day (help me, I'm drowning) to make it through this final detox program to the Wednesday weigh-in. 4 inches of rain on my gardens. I'm ready for it all to dry out for a bit...

Weren't we supposed to have that beam me up scotty crap by now?

Remember all those futuristic movies? You know, the ones that you could telelport somewhere. Or at least travel via hovercraft? Yeah. Totally unrealistic. Because I've got 10 hours of driving in front of me. And if I don't get some eggs and coffee along the way, one of us isn't going to make it. Beerman said it's okay, because 10 hours in a car is all he ever wanted for Fathers Day. It's a good thing he aims high. See you on the flip side.

Farming... sort of...

Our CSA boxes started today. Since it's early, it was small. The photo is of half of it. We also got a 4-pack of herbs, but I planted them and gave half of the box to our neighbor (we're sharing it) before remembering to take the picture. I can't wait to eat the beans tonight. Yum!!!

Wordless Wednesday - A rainy t-ball night

Wordless Wednesday

Coach

A while back we signed C-man up for a second t-ball league with his soon-to-be-school thinking that it would help him to get to know some of the kids before he started school. We knew it was on Tuesday nights, but didn't know when, since we had to return all the information with the payment. And we hadn't received any follow-up. So imagine our surprise when we got a message on our machine last night that went something like this, "Beerman, t-ball starts tomorrow night. And as I imagine you know, you're the coach. So please arrive at 6:15 tomorrow to pick up your team's t-shirts. And I have you down for bringing the drinks for all 13 of your kids on the 23rd." We laughed and laughed and laughed. Because we didn't know he was a coach. It starts tonight. And if there are 13 kids, and he's coaching, why in the hell are we assigned to bring a drink? Beerman's response to me about this? "I told you that you should have been the manager!" Oh hell no.

Oh yeah, that's what

So as I wondered what I was going to do yesterday, I found a bunch of stuff. C-man was happy as a clam, spending about 7 hours of non-stop playing with the neighbor kid. (While in the bathtub, he proclaimed, "I'm going to get out, get my jammies on and go to bed." Yes. Tired kid.) Beerman spent the day mowing and weeding and all that kind of stuff. It was so beautiful, it was the perfect endcap to the weekend. So let me recap: Friday night = date night out at the Old German Beer Hall. Saturday = t-ball, Costco and backyard baseball. Sunday = outside work and playing. Pretty much perfection if you ask me. So I'm going to go on ignoring that it's Monday, and continue to bask in the glow that was the weekend.

Now what?

This never happens. The laundry was done yesterday. As were Costco and grocery store. I took Harry to the dogpark this morning, and he's now in a coma. Beerman's mowing the lawn. I am going to swipe through the house with a vacuum, but dear God, I don't have any other "chores" to tend to. And it's a beautiful day. I must be forgetting something. I'm going to go outside and enjoy myself before I remember what it is I'm forgetting.

A great day

It's Saturday. Which in our lives right now, means it's time for the very first t-ball game. Today's matchup was a serious one between the Twins and the Padres. The team is anxiously awaiting the start of the game.

And finally, it's C-man's turn to get his very first hit in his very first official game. So I made sure it was well documented.

I'll let him explain how much he loves his Saturdays...

After two tentative innings, he finally got into the fielding thing.

After 3 whole innings, they called it a game. Is there anything cuter?

We celebrated the fun by going to Lions Fest in Thiensville. And what good would a festival be without playing carnie games?

And winning a big inflatable bat?

And then enjoying a red dye #1 sno-cone? What a great day.

The day I've waited for the whole week

Dear God, it's finally here. What I thought was just exhaustion is officially sickness. My throat feels like a cat crawled down it and died. My muscles feel like someone took a sledgehammer to them. And my mind has been going crazy. So the best news ever is that we've got a night-out planned. I'm not sure what we'll be doing, since all the movies are crap right now, but having babysitting arranged is 90% of the battle. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. And I might even indulge with a nice glass of something tasty. Cheers to Friday!

Happiness

Ahh, life is a bit nutso in my head lately. So it's times like these that I turn to my dog Harry. My completely consistent companion. Feeling down and want to cuddle? He's game. Got some energy and want to play? It's on. Feel like getting dressed and forget to cover your assets? Get sniffed. Predictable. Loveable. Happy.

Counting Down

Two weeks from today, I have my official weigh-in. And my body is ready for it. Especially after today's 60 minute sprint/jump session in the sand. I think my mind is even more ready for it. I can't obsess about this much longer. And eating a big juicy burger on occassion doesn't sound too bad either. The good news I found out this morning is that the woman I consider my biggest competition is going on vacation all next week, so this is her final week. So no off-week to drop the water weight, and one less week of boot camp. Then again, she's been losing 20 lbs each weigh-in when I hope to hit 20 lbs just from boot camp, but hey, it's something to hold on to. Two more weeks... I can do this...

Progress

So I had my 6-month rheumatologist appointment today. It was a really good discussion, as it always is, ending with my refusal of low-dose chemotherapy "treatment" and him reminding me that my psoriatic arthritis is still actively progressing. Ah yes, progress. But then he pointed out that I've lost 25 pounds since I saw him 6 months ago. 25 pounds! Here I was quibbling about whether I was down 17 or 18, and really, I'm down a full 25. Now THAT is the kind of progress that almost makes me forget about all the other progress that has been happening. ************* Just for fun, what were you doing one year ago? Because this was my life. Ahh, how sweet things really are.

8 things I wonder on the 8th

1. Why does the remote control mysteriously "disappear" the day Beerman comes home? 2. How many times can I tell people I'm now a size 8 before they really tire of me? 3. What is the right decision about my job? {sigh} 4. Who still thinks Will Ferrell is funny? 5. What new technique will Beerman think up to thwart the sneaky raccoon in our garage tonight? 6. What new excuse can I come up to give to my rheumatologist tomorrow as to why I'm still not going on medication? 7. How many times am I going to remind C-man in a day to put his glasses back on? 8. Considering the current environmental conditions, would building an ark be a good investment?

Pantry Raid

So yesterday, my trainer Catherine came to the house to do my official pantry raid. In other words, she went through my cupboards, fridge and freezer and threw out the crap I shouldn't have. Since I've been on this semi-ridiculous diet for 2 and a half months now, I wasn't really all that concerned. I knew she wasn't going to throw out my eggs and spinach, after all. But she threw out a ton, and I mean A TON of stuff. The good news? None of it was anything I was eating. She kept asking me how I was feeling about all of this. I had to refrain from telling her that I was just shy from full-out mouth kissing her. I mean seriously, this woman came to my house and for two hours threw out crap I was sure nobody had seen since 2002, and then organized it all. Full-out mouth kiss. That's how I felt. **************** For what it's worth, Land of the Lost is not worth it. (As if anybody would think anything to the contrary, right?) But, it was cold and rainy and had dinosaurs in it. So overall, a total hit with C-man.

The day he's been waiting for his whole life

Ladies and gentlemen, it is t-ball season. And we've got a Twinkie. (At least it wasn't the Cubs.) Tell me you don't just want to eat up this cuteness?Despite being one of the smaller ones (it goes from ages 4 - 6), he wowed the team with his hitting. He has no fear of getting dirty to get the ball. (Now if we could just get him up out of the dirt. Although, at least he wasn't the kid picking up dirt with his glove instead of practicing.) And he can really whip the ball. ("Straight" is something we're still working on.) So next Saturday it's the hot interleague battle between the Twins and Padres at 10:30 a.m. on field #2. And #5 can hardly stand the wait. I am pretty sure we've just found his version of heaven. I'd better find some comfortable chairs. I think we're going to have a lot of this.

Glasses

2-ish weeks to go

I have two weeks left until this boot camp challenge ends. Then I have until the following Wednesday for photos and weigh-in. I am really glad this thing is coming to an end. I really want a burger and a beer and not have to think about how many grams of protein I've ingested by hour on the hour. My post-essay is pretty much baked, finally. I don't know if it's a winner, but it's what it is. Now I'm verociously reading on how to drop as much weight for a weigh-in as possible. There are some pretty ugly techniques out there I WON'T be considering, thank you very much. I think I need to find myself access to a sauna though...

Something about a candle and both ends... I'm too worn out to remember

I feel myself dragging downward. I'm not sleeping well. The mere thought of working out harder exhausts me. Don't even get me started on what all the protein is doing to me. And when I wrote down my to-do list on Monday and almost cried. The good news is that the bathroom walls are painted. But it made me realize I have to add "bathroom ceilings" to the list. Sigh... On an entirely different note, 15 years ago today I had my ACL completely reconstructed. And it's the anniversary of D-day. I know this because when I woke up out of my surgical haze, that's all there was to watch on TV.

3K

C-man had his end-of-year 3K fieldtrip to the park. After I found the right park (Brown Deer Pond, Brown Deer Park, whatever), he had a great time. And since we got the official letter saying he passed his developmental testing, he's officially on his way to 4K in the fall.