Taking a Break... From WWTC?

Hello, everyone! During my time off from the real world, I have decided to take some time off as well from my fun things, too! I will start posting again on Tuesday, June 5! I will hopefully have new adventures of myself and PIC #2.

Stay tuned!!!!
Trish and the WWTC? Staff (Trish)

Finding MY motivation

I've been struggling to get my mentality back in the game. After spending so many weeks just surviving and trying to help Ty along, I kind of lost myself in the mix. I don't like the way this is feeling and I just want to be back to high energy and high motivation. As I continue to duel the traces of bronchitis, it doesn't help my situation.

I need positive energy, positive self-talk and a really good workout. I love Insanity, but I don't feel "good" at it yet. I know that it will come with more practice and the harder I work, but it makes it hard for me. I may also have a bit of separation anxiety from TurboFire, the workout that I knew so well. The biggest difference is that TurboFire had routines that I could memorize. Insanity is more in the moment and I can't memorize the "routines" just yet, if ever. Maybe my lack of memorization will keep Insanity fresh and new in my mind and keep me from getting bored? Just a thought and maybe wishful thinking.

I am going to send myself to Trisha's Motivation Workshop which includes reading previous posts and trying to remember where I was. I will DVR "You Got Served" and watch that a couple of times. I am also going to watch the workouts that I feel I struggle with the most to become more familiar with them. I am also going to STOP being so hard on myself. I'm going to watch more workout infomercials.

I am also going to praise myself on all the things I DO accomplish rather than focus on the things I didn't accomplish. A co-worker always says, "I'm not in a race, I'm in a marathon." Never have those words had so much meaning and really rang true. One day isn't going to set me back that far and it won't get in the way of achieving my goals. It is when that one day becomes a habit and then, I'm doomed. I've gotta keep my eye on my end goal and not continue to focus so much on today. It will all eventually come together and I will reach my goal. What were they again? I don't even think I know anymore!!!! See how bad my focus is?????? Sigh.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering how (once again) to get the last couple minutes of your life back (again), until next time...

Mother's Day

I know, a little late in posting this, but I had too much that I wanted to get out last week that I couldn't post this any earlier.

This Mother's Day was the first one that Brett took Ty to the store and let him pick out my Mother's Day gift(s). Brett asked Ty, "what should we get mommy for a present?" Ty replies, "cups." Plain and simple. Yes, cups.

Let me back-track a bit and explain a bit. The last two gifts that Ty has helped give have been cups. I bought both sets of grandparents some small, plastic, kid cups to keep at their houses because neither one had any. After I bought them, I had Ty give them to each set of grandparents as a present for no particular reason, but to just give a present to someone else.

Okay, back to Ty wanting to get ME cups. Get it now? Yeah, makes sense in the mind of a 2 1/2 year old. So, Brett and Tyson went to Target and Brett let him pick out the brightest yellow acrylic cup with bright yellow straw, just like the green ones that Ty and I have at home, except he got me the 20 ounce cup! Talk about a dream come true. And no, I'm not joking. I love those insulated cups. Love them! Obviously, Ty knows that I love them, too!

Along with my yellow cup, I got a four pack of bright orange kid cups!! Ha! It still makes me smile to recall pulling those out of the gift bag. See my back-tracking for the explanation, if you missed it.

Also in the gift bag was a FIFTY (50) pack of Crayola markers!! I love to color. I love to color with Ty. How perfect was that? I know, part of his gift was self-serving, but really, when you get down to it, there really isn't anyone on the planet that spends as much time coloring with him than myself. I'm actually surprised I didn't get a bunch of stickers, too.

And because Brett didn't want me to just end up with a bag full of crap (in the event Ty didn't do so stellar), I also got a gift certificate for a pedicure at my favorite salon. Perfect!

It was a pretty good Mother's Day all in all. I spent the majority of it with my little family and we did carry-out for supper. Dream come true. Loved every moment spent with them.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wondering what in the "h" this has to do with chewing, working out or motivation, until next time...

Insanity Days 11, 12, 13 and 14

Day 11

Woke up. Felt exhausted for no apparent reason, went down and started to workout and found that I couldn't see very well. Apparently, my seasonal allergies have kicked in and now, I have cloudy eyes! Yay!!!! Sigh. I'm sitting in the chair, blogging right now, eyes are clearing up, but it is after 5. Going to try again tonight and also take some allergy meds before bed. Sigh.

I ended up doing a little Tae Bo instead because it was Cardio Recovery. After the night I had with Ty, I couldn't get myself to do the workout that I loathe.

Day 12

I went for it full force this morning!! Cardio Power and Resistance is my favorite thus far. I have a little negativity towards one of the gals on Insanity. Okay, okay, quite a bit of hostility. She is overly dramatic and while she is in good shape, I find it extremely hard to believe that she is pushing herself THAT hard and needs to make THAT face all the time. For fun, I imitate her while I workout.

With TurboFire, you don't see much of the other people in "class." It is focused on Chalene, Alee and someone else going high impact at the front of the room. It is group vs. class setting. Group gives me the entertainment of others while class feels more like I am a part of the action.

I did notice that I pulled a muscle. My left pec, to be specific. It is a challenge to keep form intact when pushing myself.

Day 13

It was Pure Cardio. I did this during nap time and after I had colored my hair (and rinsed this time). It is pretty crazy. Ten minute warmup, five minutes stretching, then fifteen minutes of nonstop high intensity calisthenics.

I was slated to do Cardio Abs as well, but Ty woke up with about ten minutes of Pure Cardio left and he wanted to watch Mickey. I obliged because I was already sweating like crazy and all I could focus on was showering.

I started Cardio Abs to see how long it was. Only 16 more minutes, but I had already made Ty wait another 10 and let me tell you, when someone is repeating, "mommy, I watch Mickey?" while you are trying to kick ass, it doesn't make anything go any faster or easier. It is actually pretty distracting. Ty saw the beginning of Cardio Abs and he thought he would like to do it...tomorrow. Ha! So, tomorrow, I will do Cardio Abs on my "rest" day so I can do it with Ty. I hope he likes it!

Day 14

My day off and I popped in Cardio Abs...with Ty in tow. I am proud to say that I did half of the workout (the sitting part) with Ty either in my lap, on my legs or on my back.I introduced Ty to Shaun T. He was immediately confused upon seeing him on the TV and was asking, "who that?! Who that, mommy?!"  Ty loved the standing ab work where we get to jump to our hearts' content. He was in heaven doing this.
In the short, 16 minute workout, I sweat more than I do normally in a forty minute workout. I think, in part due to the thirty pound child on my body the whole time. It was like I hadn't lost a pound. I always wondered what it would be like to be a contestant on the Biggest Loser when they give them backpacks full of the weight they lost. I got to try it out. With a little monkey on my back. Nice.

I really enjoyed the Cardio Abs workout. It was also simple, easy to follow and in minute intervals of the exercises. Incredible how long a minute seems when you HAVE TO do something for one minute. With a little monkey on your back.

Tomorrow is my 2 week Fit Test. I am looking forward to seeing if I have made any progress in two weeks. I'm not too confident that I have, but I guess we will see and I will let you know!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you Googling pictures of Shaun T, until next time...

Spiders. A How To Approach.

I am the Spider Slayer of the household. Brett doesn't like to squish them if he doesn't have to. Lately, we have had a serious amount of spiders in our house. Not unusual for this time of year, but man have they been big! I'm talking bodies the sizes of quarters, with legs, they are about the size of half dollars. Yikes! I usually whack them with a fly swatter, if they are in optimal position like the floor or an easily accessible wall.

Now, I kind of like spiders because they eat smaller insects. The reason I don't like spiders - they get in your bedroom and bite you while you sleep. When you wake up, you have mysterious bites and can end up feeling violated and sick.

In the past, I have been incredibly diligent about making sure the windows in my car are up before I park it for the night in the garage. With Ty adding his flare of distraction or wanting one of the back windows down for the ride home from the sitter's house, I continue to leave windows down while it is in the garage. One morning, I was driving to work, still a little bit dark and there, dangling in front of my face was a spider. I had to grab him with my bare hands. I couldn't get the heebie jeebies out for the entire day.

When Brett and I moved into the house we are in now, we had just had my sister and her husband over and they left. I went down to start some laundry and found the biggest spider I have ever seen. It put the half dollar spiders we are seeing now, to shame. I called them to ask if it when they put the fake spider down there because I didn't recall them going down there. They had no idea what I was talking about. I showed the spider to Brett. He left the room. I was left thinking, "how in the world should I approach this thing?"

Some of you may ask why I asked myself this. Well, let me tell you. There is always this lingering feeling that the shoes you are wearing aren't flat enough to squash the spider efficiently, meaning if you were wearing tennis shoes with treads, the spider COULD get through the treads and get on TOP of your shoe and then crawl up your leg and send you into a screaming frenzy. What if you were barefoot? I was this time around. If you go to get an adequate pair of shoes on and you come back and the spider isn't there, are you going to be sleeping that night? NEVER take your eye off the spider. EVER. There is also the thought that if you use a paper towel, it is rather difficult to hold a paper towel with enough flat surface to do the squashing while having a sufficient grip on the paper towel to avoid it jumping on TOP of the paper towel and up your arm, commencing the same type of screaming frenzy. Okay, so use a tissue? Well, HOW MANY should you use? One, the spider might break through the delicate tissue. Two, you may have created too many ridges (see paper towel example). If you use a tool, like wood or a newspaper, you again run the risk of it getting on TOP of your tool. More screaming frenzies.

Just as I am running through my options and haven't found one that I am satisfied with, Brett returns to the basement with a BB gun. Yes, a BB gun. He took care of the spider with a BB gun. Yes, a BB gun. Right there, that should tell you how large this spider was because most spiders would get blown across a floor with the air puff of a BB gun. Not this one. Huge, I tell ya. Huge.

I keep meaning to go around the outside of the house and spray Home Defense because it really does work. But I am sitting here blogging and it is dark and I really do not want to get under the deck in the dark. That's a concussion waiting to happen.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you scanning your walls and ceilings for spiders, until next time...

Yet another uncle

I have an uncle with whom I am pretty close. As I type, I realize I need to call him very soon. He and my aunt are WONDERFUL people. They had two golden retrievers and have stayed at Le Chateau Miller (say it with a French accent) when they have come to town to visit. Unfortunately, they had to put their oldest baby down not too long ago. He was a giant bear. We still keep his picture on our fridge, Dutch and Ruca still know his name and we tell Ty all about him.

My uncle was a trainer in Los Angeles for a very long time. He got out of the business needing a change. The last time I was serious about losing weight and getting on the exercise wagon, I consulted him when I hit plateaus. If you aren't sure what a plateau is, it is what they call it when your weight is at a standstill. He recommended some good supplements for me to try and even the company I should buy. He also evaluated what I was eating during the times of plateaus, which can definitely play a huge part in things, even if you are eating healthy foods. During one particular plateau, I was eating a lot of tomatoes because my parents' garden had an overabundance of them. I love home-grown tomatoes and was eating incredible amounts of them. I learned they could be high in sugar. I didn't stop eating tomatoes, but I did cut back on them. Too much of a good thing. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. I tend to go a little crazy sometimes. Ha!

Ever since I can remember, my uncle has been very health conscious. He would workout at local gyms here when he would visit. Not to mention that he has ALWAYS been a very animated person. I truly love that about him. He's always staying active and moving and doing SOMETHING. I love that about him as well. As I look at the way he was raised, he was raised with very rich, fattening food, but still found his way to fitness and healthy living. So, it could be something with which you are born, but it doesn't mean that your parents dictate what path you choose.

The reason I tell you about my uncle? I love him a lot, but not only that, but that there are people amongst you that can help you reach your goals and stay on track. Think hard about the people in your own family circles. Think about friends, think about co-workers, think about the people that you would like to model aspects of your life. I also tell you about my uncle because he CHOSE to be health-minded. You can, too! You can choose your own path. You can pave your own road. You can sod your own lawn. Oh yeah, that's deep. So, find your path, road, lawn and get to it! Go for it with all you have. START SMALL. Eat tomatoes. But not too many.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you hoping I'll get off the heavy talks, until next time...

Things you CAN change

You know how sometimes you can get carried away worrying about things that are out of your control? You know, the price of gas, the price of groceries, irrational fears taking over, etc. etc.? Those things are things that you have absolutely no control over. And I must say, depending on whom you talk to, some may think we have no control over anything and a higher power is in charge, but I think that is a completely different topic and way more complex than a blog about me eating and jiggling my fat can really hash out.

We all have probably been to that point of worrying about things we cannot change instead of focusing on the things we CAN change. Some people tend to dwell on the effort and work involved in starting a workout regimen instead of finding the smaller portions to make it happen. I'm here to tell you that you CAN change yourself, no matter how old or young you may be. You CAN do it. Whether it is the way you think, treat people, act or what you may or may not be doing.

My previous post was about me taking dance lessons. This was in my adult life. You gotta get past the idea that you are going to be stellar and awesome at everything you do and thinking that it is a bad thing to try out new things and not be so great at it. Something happens as you get older where you don't put yourself in situations to make an ass out of yourself publicly...as much. But how are you ever going to know if you truly like something or if something fits you if you never try something new?

START SMALL - check out something that is reasonable in price and is something outside of your comfort zone. One of my part-time PICs posts frequently on FaceBook about stepping outside of your comfort zone. There is a lot to be said about this statement and I am soooooooooooo going to say all that I have to say about it. Read on, I know you want to.

In the past, I would consistently stay within the things that didn't scare me. Hey! At least I was consistent!!!!!!! Anyhoo, I wouldn't venture out of what I knew how to do and what was familiar to me. I'm not sure if I was afraid to fail, afraid to make an ass out of myself, afraid that I would injure myself, I don't know what exactly. Example would be when I would see the Insanity or P90X infomercials, I had it in my head that it was way too hard for me and that there was no way I could do it. Once my BeachBody friend recommended TurboFire to me and I got it and first read through the warning at the beginning of each DVD, I was really scared. I thought to myself, "holy balls, what am I getting myself into?" Then, I talked myself down by saying, "why can't you do this, Trish? You have already 'mastered' the stuff you have at home, why can't this be the next?" It wasn't until I was knee-deep in TurboFire that I found out that TurboFire is in the same "advanced" category as P90X and Insanity. Being knee-deep and loving it, I started to look at those infomercials a little differently. I started seeing them as new challenges and skills to master rather than being intimidating and something I couldn't ever achieve. I began looking at those infomercials as the "next step" rather than a goal I would never see. Funny how you can change your own mind, right? I changed my own frame of mind and my own thoughts by doing what was uncomfortable for me at first. Then, it became familiar. Really, wasn't there a time when the familiar was unfamiliar? I think so, we just forget that unfamiliar time once it becomes rote and familiar.

What are my typing-happy fingers trying to tell you? What exactly am I trying to say? I'm saying, you can do whatever you set your mind to. You can change your mind. You can change your frame of thought. You can change you. After all, YOU are the only one that can change you. No amount of blogging that I do can change you. You have to want it to make the change. So, cue "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson and make a change for once in your life, it's gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you with "Man in the Mirror" stuck in your head, SHAMON! SHAMON! WOO! WOO! WOO! until next time...

Insanity Days 7, 8, 9 and 10

Day 7

Sundays are "rest" days for Insanity. Bonus for me since Sundays are also my free days. It was a rough weekend, so the extra rest day was welcome. However, in true Trisha style, I will be doing something else on Sundays to get my workout in. Already looking forward to it so I can workout with Ty.

Day 8

Today was a repeat of a class last week. It was Cardio Power and Resistance. I am already seeing a ton of improvement in myself. That really does help the motivation. Note to anyone wanting to know: this is the one where Shaun T starts out wearing a long sleeved shirt and takes it off mid-workout. The man is ripped. Yuck. (that is for Brett and my cousins Adam and Amanda if they happen to be reading this. Tee hee.)

I will also confess that after this weekend's craziness (Ty got sick, long story, very short for now), I DID crawl back into bed when I woke at 4:14 a minute before my alarm went off. I am so glad my brain kicked in and made it impossible for me to sleep and was literally screaming at me to get my ass out of bed and workout. I am glad that I did it. I would have regretted it if I didn't get up. It is now 5:30, workout is complete, a load of laundry switched out, coffee made, diaper bag packed and I am blogging about it. Talk about a productive morning!

I am on another round of antibiotics and am not supposed to have calcium within two hours of taking the pill. This is unfortunate because I am not taking my usual protein shake with milk, but instead am opting for a protein bar with less calcium. For some reason, my body doesn't like chewing this early in the morning. It is making for an interesting ten minutes.

Day 9

We are going to forget that today happened. My alarm didn't go off today. Funny how yesterday I woke up before it went off and today I just kept on sleeping.

I walked during breaks at work and that's about it.

I am back on the horse tomorrow. Getting my head in the game. Tomorrow. Just more proof for you all that, contrary to public belief, I am NOT superhuman. Except when I wear my Wonder Woman shirt, then the gloves are off. I admit, I ate more Doritos today than anyone should in a month. Nice.

Day 10

Since I missed yesterday's workout, I did it today. Plyometric Cardio. This is the same as workout #2 last week. Out of breath and muscle fatigue set in. My brain wants me to keep going, but my body just can't seem to join the club.

I give it my best, but find myself upset that I didn't do better. Confession: as I have a coughing fit, am incredibly sweaty and feeling a little like the control I usually have over my body is taking a break, I once again wet my pants. Yes. I did. Another reason for me to not join a gym. I don't think I would magically stop whizzing my pants if I joined a gym. I think my body just gets confused during high intensity workouts.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you whizzing your pants, until next time...

While We're Talking About Hair

As I was typing my previous post about my Liberty Bell hairdo, I remembered a couple other times that I had some horrendous hair mishaps. No, I'm not talking about my 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade or 7th grade hairdos. Those don't count. I'm talking in my adult life. And no, I'm not talking about the senior year cheerleading picture, either.

When I was in college, I was sitting at home watching Lifetime movies and the star of the movie I was watching had the CUTEST haircut EVER. She had long layers and it just looked so nice. Having the same face shape as yours truly, I thought that would be a nice, subtle change-up with my current cut, which was just long and long. I wasted no time in heading to the mall to a Regis salon. I was met by a middle-aged woman and I described what it was that I wanted to do, having the shortest layers being about the bottom of my ear length when dry, the rest would be longer yet and just a trim off the bottom. She sounded and looked like she understood what I was saying. She shampooed and conditioned my hair and divided my hair up and used clips to hold chunks of hair out of the way.

She started with the front right quadrant of my head. I was not totally facing the mirror, but could tell once she started to cut that something wasn't right. She lopped off about 6 inches to bring the front quarter of my hair butt up against my earlobe. I exclaimed, "WAIT! What are you doing?!" She said, "isn't this what you said you wanted?" I said, "NO!" And that's when I began to cry. She whispered in my ear as I am sobbing, "this was just a miscommunication." Ummmmmmm, no shit?! She proceeds to ask ME how she wants me to fix my hair!!! Yes, you, the professional, ask the woman sitting in your chair in hysterics how YOU should "fix" her hair. I'm crying and in between sobs I say, "I don't know! How do you fix something like this!?!"

Well, let me tell you how she "fixed" it. She gave me a mullet. Yes, a mullet. No, I'm not making it up. Granted, it was what I would envision someone who is trying to grow their mullet out would look like. The front quarters of my hair were at least 6 inches shorter than the back half of my head. Nope, not joking. It was awful. I got a 10% discount for that cut, which, by the way was the same discount as my student discount.

I left the salon and had to pass through the store my now brother-in-law worked. Fortunately/unfortunately, he was working as I passed through looking like I had just heard the saddest news on the planet. He stopped me and wanted to know what was going on. I had just stopped crying, but upon having to rehash the horror, I said, again sobbing, in the middle of Scheels, "Jay, I got a haircut and I ended up with a MULLET!" He immediately starts to laugh and says, "Come on, it can't be THAT bad!" I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair to reveal the mulletude. Me, still crying. In the middle of Scheels. He says, "Oh. Oh, man." He is again laughing and says, "Wow, Trish, when I saw you crying, I thought your Sunny had died or something!" I said, "Jay! This is SERIOUS! I. Have. A. Mullet!! I have to go." I abruptly left the store and headed for home. In the meantime, Jay called Brett to give him a heads up on the situation.

I arrive home to have Brett react almost the same way, but have some sort of compassion for my outburst of emotion for the trauma of sporting a mullet in the new millennium. No one should have to do that. No one.

The next day, I called the salon, spoke to a manager, who told me to come in immediately and she would fix it AND refund my money. She completely understood what having a mullet meant to me. I went, she fixed, I lived to tell about it.

I might as well give you the synopsis of the last mishap with my hair. It was 2 months before our wedding, I colored my hair at home, which I had done a million times over. This time, however, the dye left a red stripe all around my head like a very strange halo. It was two inches from the roots and was a stripe about 3 inches wide. ALL THE WAY around my head. For the next two months before our wedding, I had to go to a salon twice a week for three weeks, then once a week for 3 weeks to have my hair stripped and detoxed only to have it dyed again days before the wedding. That was over 300 dollars worth of "oopsie." Never happened again after that. Odd it HAD to happen right before I was about to get married. Go figure.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you really wondering how I don't have my own sitcom, until next time...

The Things You Do for Family

My sister-in-law is a hair stylist.  Let me also preface this with the fact that she has been a stylist for some time now and this is an old story that I am telling because it makes my sister-in-law laugh until she is crying because only up until this year, 2012, did I confess to her what truly happened that day.

When she was first in Cosmetology school, which was over ten years ago now, she needed to have people come in and get their hair cut so she could be graded. This was before she was technically my sister-in-law because Brett and I wouldn't be married until the next summer.  I had never been afraid of getting my hair cut because my mantra was always, "it will grow back!" Just take a look at my senior year of high school cheerleading pictures. Eek. Anyhoo, Brett was a little worried about me letting her cut my hair and kept asking me if I was sure if I wanted to let her do this. I had longer hair, past my shoulders and told him, "it will be fine! It will grow back!"

So, I happily agree to let her cut my hair and we set a date and time. I remember having to request a half day of vacation that day because I commuted to DSM for work at the time. My appointment was at 11. I was thinking that I would go, get my hair cut and have a couple hours to burn doing something fun afterwards. I can't recall if it was before Christmas or right before New Year's that this appointment was in the books. Either way, it was December.

I arrive at the appointment, get my hair washed and conditioned. I sit down in the chair and tell her that I think a shorter cut, right about shoulder length would be good. Nothing fancy because I'm a wash and wear type of gal. She gets to cutting. And she cuts. And cuts. And cuts. No, she's not cutting off a lot, she's just extremely slow because she is just learning how to do all of this stuff. No biggie. Two and a half hours go by and she finally starts to finish up and begins to style it.

As she styles it, I try not to stare at what has become of my hair. There really is no turning back now. She styles and has to cut a couple more strands to even things up. She goes and gets her instructor for her to take a look at the finished product.

Instructor to me: Looks nice! Do you like it?
Me: YES! It is SO COOL! I LOVE IT!!! (yes, I was enthusiastic and genuine about it because, after all, this was my future sister in law's future career and did I mention my future sister in law?)
Instructor: Yes! It is a GREAT holiday cut.
Me: Umm hmm! (with a smile)

Okay, when I went in there, my hair was long, layered and easy to manage. When I left there, my hair was cut like a bell. Yes, a bell. Like the Liberty Bell. It was a little longer than chin length and it flipped up hardcore. Over three hours in the salon, too!!

When Brett came home and saw what had become of my experience at the salon with his sister, he encouraged me to tell her that she should fix it. I told him there was no way in hell I was going to say a thing to her because she was so nervous and trying so hard that I wasn't going to say a word. Plus, there was really nothing she could do to fix it at this time. Only time would prove to be the best thing to fix this. I wore the bell. I wore the Liberty Bell until it grew out. I didn't let my sister-in-law cut my hair again until she graduated. She asked a couple of times and I kindly said, "I would be happy to let you cut my hair when you are done with school!" She wasn't a fan of that answer.

It is 2012 and I finally tell my sister-in-law why I wouldn't let her cut my hair again. She laughed so hard and couldn't believe I sported the Liberty Bell until it grew out and I never told her that I didn't like it. The things we do for love. This is the same sister-in-law that I had to enlist to help me "fix" the unfixable when I had to cut a chunk of my hair out due to the lemon sucker slapped in my hair (refer to previous post regarding taking Ty to the doctor). I am still growing that gem out. It's hot. Really hot.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that have had a bad haircut or two in your lifetime, until next time. . .

Insanity Days 4, 5 and 6

Day 4

Soreness in my right calf didn't even matter today. It was a Cardio Recovery class today. It reminds me of Chalene's Stretch 40 class. It is a fast-paced yoga class...more or less.

I don't want to be a Negative Nelly, but as welcome as this change of pace may be for some, I really don't like these classes very much. I would much rather be jumping around, out of breath and sweating like crazy. I do, however, understand that there is probably a reason for these (extended stretching for more pliable muscles, increasing flexibility and toning and sculpting purposes), but it doesn't make me enjoy it more. This coming from someone that used to do yoga daily. I need to find a way to get past the dread I already feel of doing Cardio Recovery again.

I did sweat today, just not as much as I would if I were doing cardio. Looking forward to jumping back into it tomorrow. Bad pun intended.

I have decided that I need mirrors on my workout area so I can see how my form holds up. I'm pretty sure Brett will not be down with the mirrors.

Day 5

My wish came true. Pure Cardio today rocked my world. And when I say "rocked my world" what I mean is that I was so sweaty, I had to take my shirt off. It was not pretty. Me sans shirt, that is. The sweat was beautiful.

My coordination is not that great at 4:30 in the morning. If I get the chance sometime this weekend, I want to try Insanity in the evening to see how much better I can execute the moves.

I had to stop the DVD and stretch twice because my quads and calf muscles were so tight. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to finish because I couldn't pick my legs up.

I finished even though Shaun T said something about skipping ahead to the cool down if you needed to. I noticed that my obliques are sore today. I do like that I feel something because it is the confirmation I need to say that this is working.

I find switch kicks almost impossible to do for some reason. Impossible because my feet aren't getting off the ground very far. Sounds like a goal to me!!!!

Day 6

Didn't get to do day 6. Have still been battling the bronchitis and am on round two of antibiotics and have an inhaler!! Yesssssssss. Not really.

And although I was not able to complete the sixth day, I still lost over two pounds. Yessssssssss! Really!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you still thinking about doing Insanity, until next time....

Corn Dogs and VitaTops

I was incredibly pleased to see that VitaTops were on sale for 2 for $7.00 at Target this past week. I was not very pleased to see that they were very picked over. I was extremely pleased to see that they now carry the Banana Choco Chip flavor. I was not pleased to see that they hadn't restocked 3 days after I bought the last 4 boxes.

The Banana Choco Chip are now my favorite flavor. They trump my Deep Chocolate flavor, hands down. Love them. Preservative-free, loaded with flavor, filling, low calorie and the nutritional value is phenomenal for a little muffin top. (Not to be confused with the muffin top hanging over the top of my pants) I love these VitaTops. Great breakfast snack!

I may or may not have mentioned MorningStar Farms. These are vegetarian foods sold in the freezer section. I am not a vegetarian, however I do appreciate vegetarian cuisine. I especially appreciate the MorningStar Farms products not only for their taste and flavor, but their nutritional value as well. In the world of calorie counting, I can eat more of the MorningStar Farms (if I want/need to) for the same amount as one serving of non-vegetarian foods. I am quite fond of their veggie corn dogs. They are really really good. They are 150 calories per corn dog. They really do taste great. I did try their mini veggie corn dogs, but I was not fond of these. I tried them a couple of times to see if it was me and the preparation. Nope, they were rubbery and didn't get crunchy like the veggie corn dogs. I stopped trying them after the 4th time. MorningStar also makes chick'n patties. These are pretty good as well. I have fallen in love with a couple newer products. They now make a "bacon" egg and cheese and a "sausage" egg and cheese breakfast biscuit. These are packed with flavor and so filling. I love these. LOVE these!

If you haven't given either of these brands a try, give them a shot! See what you think because you don't have to take my word for it! (loosely quoted from Levar Burton on "Reading Rainbow")

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you with the "Reading Rainbow" song in your head, until next time...

A Chapter from the History of Trish and PIC #2

To lighten the mood of some of my recent posts, since I've been down in the motivational dumps, I thought I would share with you a great story from history. Not leaving any detail out, of course. A little foreshadowing: I don't sunburn easily.

It was the 4th of July. I had come back from IC with Brett for some reason and PIC #2 and I decided to hang out for the day. We thought it would be a great idea to catch some rays at "The Pits" because it was a hot, sunny, summer day. (BRILLIANT IDEA #1) I remember we went early and were pretty much the first ones there. We had grabbed my parents' old school chaise lounger chairs. You know, the ones that fold up into a small square and the head part folds out as do the feet part? Metal legs, plasticky cream colored vinyl. (BRILLIANT IDEA #2) Wicked awesome.

I will tell you that I was STILL wearing a two piece suit at this time. (BRILLIANT IDEA #3 and actually there is no sarcasm with this brilliant idea, it will prove to be my most brilliant idea yet, keep reading) Why was I wearing a two piece suit? I really don't know. I know I shouldn't have been wearing one at the time. I don't think I have worn one since. (Thank all that is holy for small miracles, I know. I know.) I have a naturally tan complexion and I honestly do not burn easily. However, we decided it was a BRILLIANT idea to cover ourselves in baby oil and lay out. (BRILLIANCE #4)

After about a half hour in the sun, it got really hot. I thought it would be a good idea to drag my chair to the water and put the feet part in the water. (BRILLS #5) After a couple hours in the sun, feeling great because I wasn't hot at all with my feet in the cool water which surprisingly, I didn't get any sort of disease from that water, we were hungry and decided to go to Taco Time for some lunch. Taco Time only because it was PIC #2's fave and mine when I was back in town.

We go to Taco Time and they have booths there that are covered in vinyl. We each had shorts and t-shirts/tank tops to put over our suits, so we were fully clothed. We sat down, ate our lunch, having a great time and when I was done, I stood up to put my tray away and throw my trash in the garbage can behind me. When I stood up and went to the garbage, I didn't like the feeling of my legs peeling away from the seat of the booth and I said something to the effect of my legs being melted to the seat. PIC #2 simply stated, with a gasp, "Ohhhhhhhh, Trish!" I stopped and looked behind me, saying "What?! What is it?!" She said, "you are really burnt!" At the same moment she said this, I caught a clear shot of my calf. I was burnt. So burnt in fact that I. Was. Purple. Yes, purple! I'm not even kidding. I can't make this stuff up. I sat back down to wait for PIC #2 to finish her meal, afterwards, she dropped me off at my parents' house. I showered and slathered on some greasy lotion. By the time Brett and I headed back to IC later that afternoon in his car with leather seats, I was feeling the burn, literally. I covered the passenger seat in towels for the ride home.

We arrived home to find that the ceiling of our apartment had been blown out by a leaky pipe, so we had to go elsewhere for a few hours while the crew cleaned it up. We went to buy some pure aloe vera gel and headed to our friend's house to go watch fireworks. Brett was being so helpful, he tried to rub in some of the aloe in my back, but the touch of his hands was way too much even being as gentle as he could. I told him to just squirt it at the top of my back and let it run down, making sure it coated the entire area. He did. Bless his heart.

I was miserable at the fireworks and Brett kept forgetting about my awful sunburn and kept trying to put his arm around me during the fireworks. Bless his heart again. We finally got home late that night and I had to sleep in the buff that night. It was awful. I was radiating heat to the point of making Brett sweat. No joke. He would just spray that aloe gel on my back and let it run all over. It was the only thing that helped. The next day, my skin was so tight and still VERY tender. I took a shower that felt like someone was poking my back with a million needles. I was getting dressed, panties first then bra and then when I went to put on shorts and moved a bit, I realized it was not going to fly wearing normal bras and panties. I hand washed my two piece swimsuit and was able to wear loose clothing for the next few days. I continued to hand wash my suit until I could bear to wear something else.

The weeks that followed were not pretty. I blistered, then I molted, shed and peeled. Rinse and repeat. Awful!

I have not put a lawn chair in water since. I have not used baby oil since. I have not worn a two piece suit since. I have not had to use aloe vera gel since. I have eaten Taco Time, though. SPF 700 is my friend.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that are searching for your sunscreen, until next time...

Motivation from a weird place.

Get your minds out of the gutter. Not THAT weird. I don't consider myself one to be a TV junkie or one that cannot live without TV. I rather like not having the TV on and listening to music instead. I do have a few shows that I really love and the DVR is always ready to record. I love the new Hawaii Five-O. The girl that plays Kono has a rocking body like I have never seen. Her body type is way different than mine, but it doesn't stop me from having my moments of pretending for a second that I am THAT fit. I also love True Blood. Anna Paquin's body is pretty rocking, too, not to mention that the men on that show are incredibly fit as well. Side notes: I am totally Team Bill (Stephen Moyer), but he could shave his chest and I'd like him better. I'm Team Alcide (Joe Manganiello) for the sheer fact that looking at that man without a shirt on is like Heaven in my living room, on Sunday nights starting in June for about 12 weeks. I'm Team Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) because it so happens that the thin, yet fit men are "my type" see a photo of PIC #1.

Okay, so I didn't set out with the intent on gushing about True Blood or Hawaii Five-O. It just sort of happened in true Trisha form. Anyhoo, onto my point of this post: when I would workout on the Gazelle frequently, I would watch TV. Now, you all know that when I would hop on the Gazelle at 4:30 in the morning that I would watch infomercials (which, by the way, I DID buy a Lint Lizard in a store, but not off the infomercial) and reruns of Dr. Phil and "Full House." When I would workout at night, I would find myself watching "The Biggest Loser" and "Celebrity Fit Club." These two shows, however unrealistic for the average person, seemed to motivate me when I would see other people working out, too. My stride was longer, I would go faster and keep going until before I knew it, an hour had passed. I did put this theory to the test and popped in different movies, "What Dreams May Come" and "Big Fish" to see what my speed was while watching these. First of all, don't try to workout to a tearjerker, you will spend more time blowing your nose and sobbing than you will getting an actual workout. My speed was significantly lower when I would watch these movies while working out.

I started to take notice how I felt when I would watch different movies, trying to find ones that would enhance my workouts. One that I would watch rather frequently was "You Got Served." Yes, you read that correctly. The movie is about street dancers similar to the concepts of the "Step Up" movies. There is something about watching other people continuously moving that motivates me to move as well. Not only by watching these types of movies would they increase my intensity and speed of a workout, but also motivate me to get off the couch if I hadn't yet worked out yet.

Obviously watching something that makes you want to get up and move is somewhat brainwashing yourself, but really, I don't see much harm in brainwashing myself every once in a while to help motivate me. These types of movies may or may not help you along because I sure don't get the same kind of motivation watching Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal or Dolph Lundgren movies. Maybe Brett does? I doubt it because I've never caught him street fighting after watching any of those movies. Maybe he just pretends he is a great street fighter???

I would also like to say that in addition to the season premier of True Blood, I am also anxiously awaiting the beginning of the new Dallas series. I'm not joking. I'm really not. You know what is even better? True Blood and Dallas premier the SAME WEEK!!!! I may be busting out the Gazelle again!!! I mean really, if I am going to be watching TV, I might as well be burning calories, too!!!!
Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you Googling Dolph Lundgren right now, until next time...

Insanity Days 2 and 3

Day 2

I didn't watch the workout before I did it. I wish I had so I knew what the actual moves would be. I am sweaty as I type this. My face feels sunburned like it did when I first started TurboFire. I coughed quite a bit, having to take a few extra breaks.

The format of the workout is in chunks of three to four minutes with thirty second breaks for water in between the chunks of time. I didn't make it through the beginning of the final circuit completely because that is when the mother of all coughing fits began. The moves are simple and are what you might expect from elementary school P.E. class. I'm talking jumping jacks, butt kicks, squats, push-ups, high knees and burpees. As high intensity and high impact as this is supposed to be, I can see how you can make it lower impact, but keep the intensity. As long as you are able to jump and run, you can do this workout.

After today, I am missing Chalene. I miss her upbeat personality and good music. The music on Insanity is kinda creepy like you would hear in a really low budget horror movie or an extremely dramatic moment in a Lifetime movie. Tomorrow, I plan to bust out the iPod and get some tunes going to enhance the experience.

What I notice about my body today is that I continued to sweat after a shower and with the wind of the car ride to work swirling around my head. Wow. I missed that. I love to sweat. I am also noticing that my shoulders have some soreness as do my inner thighs. The longer I sat in my chair at work, the stiffer I got. It was pretty interesting by the end of the day with stiff legs.

Day 3

Today was better for me with coughing. I coughed less and did more! It felt good! Mentally, I do really great because my brain is pushing me to go harder and faster. I do as much as I can, but I am nowhere near keeping up with the rest of the people. I am determined to "master" it all eventually!!!

My right calf was very tight this morning, but once warmed up, it didn't bother me one bit. I was pleased.

Today I opted out of the music and grabbed my iPod. Too bad it died ten minutes in. I had a good groove going with "Ace of Spades." Tomorrow it will be fully charged!!

What I really like about this so far, is that it isn't choreographed so if you have to go slower with some of the moves, you aren't behind in anything. The only time this proves to be untrue is when Shaun T has you do a certain number of pushups or jumps. In that case, if I am not able to do the number of reps in the allotted time, I do as many as I can and make a mental note for next time to do more.

What I like about Insanity and it not being choreographed, I like that TurboFire is. I felt like I could master certain things better knowing that Chalene set the bar. There is a lot of self-discipline in working out at home, but there is a new level of self-discipline AND self-motivation with Insanity not having preset benchmarks because YOUR PERFORMANCE is the benchmark.

I am still sweating as I type this a half hour after the workout. I will see how my body reacts again today. I sat too long a few times at work. Made for interesting times walking down the hall to the restroom.

I noticed today that I got the shakes two different times like I hadn't eaten in hours. I am hoping this means the workouts continue to work long after I have stopped the workout.

Again, please excuse typos as I am posting from my phone.

Signing off for now, too all of you near and far and to those of you considering doing Insanity, until next time...

Planning for the week

As you are aware, the last few weeks have been horrendous for planning ahead. This past week has been no exception. This past week, my brother in law and sister in law were in town. Great for me because little meal planning needs to be done during these times since we get together as much as possible as a family which usually means meals. I do enjoy not having to plan meals out. Not only does it take pressure off me, but it also sparks new ideas. Different families eat different things. I like that. I can get out of food ruts just by someone else dreaming of something good to eat!

I am proud to say that I during all of this madness in the preceding weeks, I have managed to keep the weight off! There is the silver lining in this mess!!!!!

The 2012 school year is coming to a close. My tutoring will be winding down, leaving another evening of the week to spend with Brett and the kids and more playtime with two doors down neighbor and her son. Woo hoo!! This will officially start the summer groove! I still haven't decided on whether or not I will sign Ty up for more swimming lessons or if we will just use that time to hit up the pool and let him get used to the water that way since he is too young to be in swimming lessons by himself not to mention he can't follow directions very well. Swimming lessons usually take up two days a week and are usually during suppertime, which is a lethal combination for Ty because when he's hungry, he is HUNGRY. Not to mention owly and naughty.

I probably don't have to tell you that I don't like to eat on the run if I don't have to. I also really think there is something to be said about eating as a family in a leisurely fashion. Ty is a terror when we are on the go too much and don't get the quality time together that we usually get. Even if we are doing something together, he is much better behaved when things are more laid back and less on a schedule, like going to swimming lessons at a specific time. Now, if we had our own pool and could get my sister's bff over here to teach Ty to swim, we'd be in business! So, if anyone would like to lobby for me on that note, please feel free to contact Brett in writing and don't forget to include a self addressed, stamped envelope so he can tell you "hell no" with a lovely handwritten note. Call it memorabilia.

With all these small schedule changes, including Brett's golf league once a week, upcoming vacations, day trips with Ty, sitter on vacation, etc etc. it makes it pretty difficult to plan more than a few days in advance because there is an element of flexibility that I need to have. I do know one thing for sure, with summer scheduling, it will be imperative that I get my workout in EVERY morning. This will ensure that my attention is undivided after work for all the fun outdoor things that we will be able to do. Ty loves going to the park. That is probably his favorite thing to do. He wants to go all the time. I hope he is as enthusiastic about going to the pool this year.

I'm tossing around taking one weekend to cook a multitude of meals and put them in the freezer for later. This might set my mind at ease if I'm not throwing meals together because we decide to do something fun after work instead of sticking around the house.

Wow, this post is really random! Sometimes it helps to get a rough map of what we are headed towards to just so I can see all my random thoughts to begin sorting it all out. Or maybe I just want to share my misery with you all! Ha! Who knows!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you getting a grip on your summer schedules, until next time...

Insanity Day 1

Today was the first day of Insanity and it was just the Fit Test to start the benchmarks for the next 9 weeks. Brett's cousin and her husband started Insanity exactly 2 weeks before I did. They confessed that they took a "puke bucket" downstairs with them when they went to do their first Insanity workout. Her husband said, "Godspeed, Trisha, godspeed" when he heard I was joining in on the fun of Insanity.
I am making a mental note to myself to wait until coughing from bronchitis has completely ceased before starting to workout again. It feels good NOW after having completed a workout after many weeks. The similarities between Insanity and TurboFire are incredible. I already felt "at home" when doing the routine for the first time. That was refreshing and made it less daunting. I also felt right at home with the giant "WARNING" scrolling up the screen!

I woke up at 4:15 this morning to get my week rolling. I had a pretty rough night last night again, but still getting better each night. I went to bed with and woke up with a stiff neck, but amazingly after doing the Fit Test, my neck is looser and I seem to be regaining full range of motion again! Anyhoo, the warm up is fast-paced like TurboFire with some stretching. I like these warm ups, but I would have liked a little bit more of a warm up and stretch on my arms and shoulders only because I'm still wiping the cobwebs from my eyes and my muscles are still sleeping as I slap on my Vibrams.

Shaun T is pretty easy to look at while working out. I pretend my jelly belly isn't jiggling at all as he "stares" at me through the TV screen. I did notice that I am going to have to turn the volume up a little more with his voice being lower than Chalene's, it is hard to hear him through the white noise maker of the crickets in the baby monitor.

I drank a lot of water before and during the workout, worked up a good sweat and didn't come close to vomiting. Yay, me! I was disappointed in myself for the results of my Fit Test because I know I can do better. I know in my heart that I did the best I could do getting back into "the game," but it doesn't change my drive to want to do better and continue to improve myself.

I am looking forward to seeing what the next workout will be and feel a sense of revival in the motivation department. I am soooo looking forward to doing it again and feeling that mental clarity I used to feel everyday. I am going to try and post about the Insanity workouts as they are happening. It may not be everyday as the workouts get longer and my time to blog in the morning will get shorter, but I will try to combine a couple of workouts in one post until I have talked about all the workouts.

I will also say that I love the schedule that is already laid out for Insanity. The day off from Insanity is Sunday, which fits right in with my Free Sundays. I can't decide what workout I will do on Sundays. Maybe I will miss Chalene by then? Maybe I will feel the need to get Hip Hop Abs? Maybe Billy will be waiting for me with open arms? I think if I get back together with Billy, I will put a piece of construction paper on the TV over his daughter Shellie so I don't have to see her overact throughout the ENTIRE series. Or maybe I will rock some Jillian Michaels? The sky is the limit and I'm loving the clear view!!!!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you just starting Insanity as well, until next time...

Yet another illness

I have been trying to keep my mood up and stay on the positive side, but it has been hard. It has been a long time since I worked out last. I caught a cold from my favorite 2 1/2 year old germ ball, which then turned into bronchitis. This bout with bronchitis is far worse than when I got it in October.

Before I continue, let me recap: got hand, foot and mouth disease from my little germ ball, re-injured my foot from a while ago from a dog toy, then I get the cold that turns to bronchitis. This whole ordeal is now going on four, count 'em, FOUR (4) weeks. It's not been a good time for me.

I'm going to complain a bit: I haven't slept an entire night in bed and haven't worked a full day for a week. My neck is stiff as I type due to sleeping on the couch on and off all week. I'm just not feeling the love of life right now except for the fact that I am alive, coughing while I breathe and my family is healthy. I guess I should be counting all the lucky stars shining in my direction right now, huh?

It is hard to stay motivated and positive with all of this going on. I've been doing what I can, walking when I can and eating right, still counting calories and keeping it reasonable. It has been easier this week or so having bronchitis because I'm not all that hungry anyway. Thank all that is holy for small miracles.

I am starting Insanity, probably the day this posts. I'm looking forward to it and getting my groove back. It has been a mental challenge to get myself back to being mentally ready. Did you get that???? Good!!! In all seriousness, I let my attitude slip during all of this. I did okay when it was a few days of not working out, then that turned into a week and then another, then another. It took its toll on me, but I let it. I regret letting it consume me in a way that was anything less than positive.

I'm confident I will find my groove again and be feeling better about myself and carry a great attitude. Why am I sharing all of these thoughts with you all? Because even the most self motivated people have their moments if they let it slip away. It happens. And it FELT like I didn't have control over what was happening with my mentality. This, my friends, is what they call a "pity party." I partied it up and now it is time to get back to my reality!!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you still trying to find your groove, until next time...

I figured it out...kinda.

I spent time going through my clothes this weekend which included me trying on multiple pieces. I even had a soundboard!! He was a great help! I'm still not sure if it is a good thing for me to take the opinions of Tyson, but they worked pretty well in my favor, so I let the momentum take me where it wanted.

I found that many articles of clothing were WAY too big. Tyson confirmed all of those, as well. He gasped and had a pleasant look in his face when he saw a specific pair of khakis on me and exclaimed, "boofull, mommy!" I kept those khakis.

I posted before that the last time I did this, with every ten pounds lost meant a pant size down as well. To reiterate, this has not been the case. Well, I found a pair of jeans in my closet...if you want to call it a closet, that is because it is really the laundry room since the closets in our house are small and all are occupied...anyhoo, the pants I found didn't have a size marked in them, so I was left with no other choice but to put those puppies on. They were with my size 10's and the sizes bigger than that were kept separate from the 10's as are the smaller sizes. I put them on and everything was great on the thighs and the butt, BUT the gut was a definite issue. After this VERY scientific experiment, I determined that my butt and thighs are a size 10 while my big ol' fatty belly is still a 12. I can handle this for now. For now.

FOR NOW, I am enjoying wearing clothing that I haven't worn in many years. That, my friends, is a good feeling in itself. I am also enjoying some more room in my "closet" from weeding out the clothes that I just don't care for anymore and ones that are TOO BIG.

Unfortunately, I have some shopping to do before vacation and before my cousin's wedding. I hope to be a size 2 before August. I kid! I kid! I think the last time I was a size 2, I WAS two years old. We will see what I end up with for these two events. My sister wants to get matching dresses for our cousin's wedding. I said no to that because I would look like the slob in the dress because there is no way to get the exact same dress to flatter two totally different body types, unless it is a mu mu.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you enjoying clothes that haven't fit in years, until next time...

I Stop for Squirrels and Brake for Birds

The title of today's post is what I used to tell my jean-hiking dad when I was learning to drive. He disagreed with me very much, to say the least. He would tell me that I needed to plow right through them because of the obvious wreck that I could cause.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, Brett and I are driving to my sister's house and there sits two baby birds in the road, I try to move over just a little bit to ensure my tire didn't steamroll them. Well, I'm apparently not that great at doing that and misjudged where exactly the bird was in relation to my tire and I squished that baby bird. Yup, I cried. Brett, trying to console me in telling me that I did all that I could to try and save the bird. I was still sad.

Not too long after that, I was on my way to work, on the highway, right before sunrise, a couple birds flew right in front of my car. I tried to swerve to miss them, but I heard one hit my car. I kept looking and looking in my rear view mirror to see if it was lying in the road, but I never saw it. When I got to work, I looked under my car for any damage, but I saw nothing. I let it go and thought nothing of it until a couple of days later when my car seemed to start to smell. I kept checking my car. Under it. In it. Anywhere I could think of to look for that bird. I couldn't find it anywhere. I thought maybe I needed to get my car washed and then anything would be washed away. I left the house that day during nap time, went and washed my car with the touchless wash and then went to Wal-Mart. I parked my car, got out and as I'm walking into the store, I looked back at the front of my car. I would have never been able to fully prepare myself for what I was about to see. Out of the decorative opening in my front bumper, I see HUNDREDS of maggots pouring out into the parking lot. I was horrified and scared to even get back into my car. I went in, did my shopping in the hopes that the problem would subside and I would be able to get my car home without a hint of a horror movie starting in my vehicle.

I came out after I did my shopping. Problem still there and still just as gross and still just as frightening. I got home as soon as I could and was even scared to pull my car in the driveway. I didn't want those nasty little things anywhere close to the house. I came in and got Brett, explaining about the bird I had hit a while before, blah blah blah, insert Brett scolding me for not looking hard enough, blah blah blah. Once again, I popped the hood and looked in, still didn't see anything. The evidence was still pouring out of the decorative opening, but we can't see anything through there, either. Until we looked into the hole that houses the latch for the hood. Only there, were we able to see to the bottom of the decorative opening, which is now obvious that there is a shelf that sits lower than the opening and that is where the bird had come to rest. With the help of some pliers and a straightened out wire hanger, Brett got the bird out. My hero. I went and washed my car again, immediately following the removal of the bird.

Again, this story has nothing to do with anything, except for the randomness of my brain and the entertainment in which I provide. So, take it from me, check your car thoroughly if you ever hit any animal with your vehicle and don't see any trace of it. Stop for squirrels and brake for birds? Yeah, maybe not such a bad idea anymore.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you barfing in your mouth a little, until next time...

Battling the foot injury, again.

I've had a rough few weeks. First, the nasty hand, foot and mouth disease, then I seemed to re-injure my foot. You may recall a while back, I jammed my toes after so gracefully tripping on a Nylabone that was so carefully left in the middle of the hallway. I thought it was something that passed on its own. I was so wrong. The weather got nicer and I was going barefoot in the house after work until bedtime. I wasn't able to walk at all a couple of days in a row, but oddly enough, I didn't have much pain in my foot when I would wear shoes. I went shopping for an entire day, while chasing Tyson around and didn't have one hint of pain. The moment I got home, I kicked off my kicks and I was walking around the house and within a half hour, I could barely walk. I was limping around the house and I really thought something was broken in there. The next day, I woke up and it felt a lot better. At this point, I hadn't worked out for 3 days. I decided to take the rest of the day off and give my foot a little more time and I would hit the workout hard the next morning.

Monday morning rolls around, alarm goes off at 4:15, I literally jump out of bed and hit the ground running and... my foot was in so much pain. I yelled some expletives, went to the bathroom and returned to bed. I called my doctor and made an appointment. I got x-rays and he then referred me on to a podiatrist. Fortunately, the podiatry department had an opening for the next day. My doctor confirmed through x-rays that my foot was not broken (thank all that is holy) and the podiatrist said that I had capsulitis. The capsule around the joint in my second toe, right in the ball of my foot is inflamed and the more I walk barefoot in the house on hard floors, the worse it gets. So, his recommendation was to wear some sort of footwear at all times. Nope, I'm not kidding. When it is 86 degrees out, I'm wearing my red Muppet fur Acorn slippers around the house! Okay, okay, so it is a small price to pay when I haven't had any foot pain all week long. So, after my foot gets to feeling better, I got to workout after a week of foot pain! Oh and by the way, this capsulitis is a direct effect of the same injury from the stinking dog toy in the hallway. Seriously. The kicker? I got a cold immediately after. Great. Another break from working out ensued.

I have learned with all these curve balls that I am not good at adjusting things for myself. I want things to go the way I want things to go for myself and any other way is not acceptable. Did you get that? Good! I'm easy going when it comes to things with Brett, Ty or the pups, but not myself. Who would have thought? I know, it is a lot to ask for things to go the way I want them to when and how I want them to. I need to be more flexible and resilient.

Let me tell you, it has been a rough few weeks because nothing has been consistent. The only consistency has been my working out. That was always a sure thing. Not so much when injury and illness strike. It becomes an anxiety ridden, depressing time for me. I feel like no matter what I do, whether it be walking or getting in a short workout, is not enough and not good enough. I need to get over that and realize that I'm not on any deadline for this life change. I'm in this for the long haul and I am sure there will be PLENTY more times like these that I am going to have to roll with the punches. I'm just not going to give up. Even if it means that I have to START SMALL again, I'm not giving up. I've given up on myself enough times that this is not going to be one of those times. The time is now to buckle down and get back into it. I'm ready and I need to push past this bump and give it all I've got. It is a little corny to type this all out, but I do it for the benefit of someone else that might be on the verge of giving up. The time is now. Go do your thing!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that may have already given up, it's not too late and until next time...

I FINALLY found it!!!!!!

Cue the Hallelujah choir, I found it!!! Hallelujah! What did I find? EVIAN! Yes, my "treat" of a bottled water has been found in two grocery stores in town!!! Let me tell you, it was just as I had remembered it. Great water. Good stuff. Would you believe that I wouldn't share it with Ty? True story. He loves to drink out of water bottles or anything that isn't his, but that is mine. Most of the time, I don't mind sharing, however, he is 2 1/2 and he is not good at making sure there is no backwash.

Ty and I each have our own cups with lids and the hard plastic straws. I even bought different straws so that we could distinguish between the two. He likes the one that turns a dark pink with icy cold water. A lot of the time, my cup looks way more appealing and he and I fight over the cups. Seriously. It's ridiculous and even more ridiculous that I am admitting that I "fight" over a fricken cup with my toddler. I drink out of mine all the time at home, so at suppertime, he sees mine and wants to drink. I try to distract him with his sippy cup, but he usually declines and instead of an argument, I let him drink out of my cup. I was horrified to see there were actually CHUNKS swirling in my water after his swig. Gross. I showed him the chunks of cheese in my water. (I have a disgusted look on my face as I type this, by the way) He now knows what it means when I tell him that he can't have a drink because I don't want chunks in my water. This actually works in getting him to step off my water cup.

The other night, we were eating supper and we had grilled burgers, bananas and chips and dip. For dessert, I served up some yogurt cups with bendy straws. Kind of fun to drink yogurt with a straw. Entertainment for Ty, that's for sure. When Ty was sick a few months ago, he wouldn't eat much, so I tried the yogurt with a straw, he loved it and sucked down a couple yogurts. So, there we all are, sucking on our yogurts and Ty says, "mine's not working!" He kept trying and trying, so I ended up trading him. He happily sucked the yogurt down from the cup formerly known as mine. Without much thought, I started to swill down the yogurt only to have to spit it out immediately. Brett is laughing, Ty is looking at me in disbelief. I couldn't help it. Brett asked, "did you have a nice chunk of something in there?" I reply, "not only was there a nice chunk of burger jammed in that straw, but it also had the flavor of french onion dip and potato chip." (I really wish you could see my face right now as I type this. I am still disgusted.)

Lesson for the day, don't share straws with people that don't know anything about backwash. You will regret it if you do.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that now have an aversion to yogurt, until next time...

WWTC?

I don't eat out very much. Anyone who tracks their calories knows that it can be challenging to find something that fits in your daily allotment as well as being a quick meal during lunchtime. Fast food reigns because it is indeed quick and easy. No hassle, until you eat it constantly and you have an issue with your pants fitting.

Recently, I checked out the nutritional information available for Panera. The turkey sandwich I usually eat is pretty high in calories, even without the mayo. I opted for a Classic salad with the French Baguette side. The entire meal was a little over 300 calories. I must say, it was delicious. I have been thinking about that salad since I had it last week. It was that good. Well, at least I thought it was that good. I will definitely eat it again. I have also had their black bean soup. It is tasty and filling, but it is NOT appetizing to look at. If you are someone that needs your food to smile at you before you eat it, do not get this soup. Their French Onion soup is really good, too.

I encourage anyone to plan ahead when it comes to eating out. You would be shocked and unpleasantly surprised with the amount of calories in some of your favorite foods. I typically know when and where I am eating out and can take a gander at the menu and the nutritional information, if it is available. This is easy for the times when you go to a franchised restaurant and some local restaurants are nice enough to provide this information as well, but most of the smaller, local restaurants are not. What do I do in these situations? I take a look at the menu ahead of time and find something that I can alter or pick apart. Examples are a grilled chicken sandwich and choose a side salad with the dressing on the side. You can estimate the amount of calories in that depending on the size of the chicken, salad and type of dressing. Make sense? Good!

I just finished off my strawberry whey protein powder. I got vanilla whey protein instead and I am LOVING the vanilla way more than I liked the strawberry. It doesn't taste nearly as artificial in the flavoring. It tastes more like powdered vanilla ice cream with vitamins. How's that for appetizing?! Ha!

I am going to keep on scoping out options available at restaurants and try to find more healthy choices. Until I find choices that are good enough for my likings, I am going to continue to bring my own lunch. I try to shake it up and plan ahead using leftovers or components of my leftovers. For example, if we make chicken fajitas for supper one night, the next day for lunch, I may have a chicken fajita salad or make a quesadilla out of the chicken fajita fixins.

When I am cooking during the week, I utilize the crock pot whenever possible. A favorite around here came from a rendition of a Kraft recipe for BBQ chicken. You put bone-in chicken breasts in the crock pot, season with garlic salt and black pepper (season liberally), add in 12-20 ounces of water and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Pull apart, serve on toasted tea rolls and use BBQ sauce or buffalo chicken sauce, make regular coleslaw or ranch coleslaw. Delicious. What I do is FILL the crock pot with bone-in chicken breasts. Overkill? Nah, I'm just planning ahead! I only have to pull the chicken off the one time and have enough to last quite a few meals. The next two nights, we will have homemade chicken noodle soup, chicken quesadillas, casseroles, chicken and noodles, chicken salad sandwiches or chicken enchiladas. Whatever we cannot eat in the next two days, I freeze and am able to pull it out and make something homemade in less time. I do the same bulk cooking concept with pot roast. Only having to cook the main component one time is a lot quicker than having to remake meat for stew, beef and noodles, vegetable beef soup, beef burritos, beef quesadillas, etc. etc. It is great. I am fortunate that Brett and Ty don't mind eating the "same" meat for a few days. Works out well in my favor. I spend less time in the kitchen and we still get the same meals with less time than I would if I had more time. Did you get that? Good!

I have also discovered the ease in making taco pizza at home. Since I eat WAY less than I used to, we now always have enough taco meat to make an entire taco pizza. The taco pizza turns out really good and Brett actually LOVES it. This is a surprise because there isn't a whole lot that I make that Brett REALLY really likes. Not that I am a bad cook, he's just kind of difficult in that department especially since he really likes the heavier meals: chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes and pot roast with roasted potatoes and gravy. I like to eat quite a bit lighter most of the time. Impasse? Yespasse.

I got a cookbook on quick supper ideas for Christmas. Why do I find new recipes so daunting? I have no idea! Probably because when I am thinking about making a grocery list, the book is at home and I have no idea what is in it and then by the time get home and think about the cookbook again, I'm not in the mood to look at recipes? I don't know. Just a guess. I will add it to my to-do list.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that have more easy cooking ideas for me, until next time...

I just ate what?!

Oh geez. Today was a strange day. I had a doctor appointment late morning and was going to swing through Panera for a salad, but there were no parking spaces available. So rather than park across the street and play chicken with the oncoming traffic, I opted to return to work to eat out of my "work pantry." As I type this, i am just now remembering that I have a can of soup and a Barilla microwaveable meal in my "work pantry." Both would have been excellent options at around 320 calories. Sigh.

I get back to work and obviously didn't evaluate my inventory very well, because I made a meal out of dried fruit and pita chips. Yes, I did. Not the worst choice, but definitely a far cry from the best. The dried fruit is wicked awesome. I only wish it wasn't sweetened dried fruit. It is a tropical mix with mango, papaya, pineapple, kiwi and coconut. I thank my sister in law for making me try it the other day. I would also like to point out that the bag of pita chips was down to those crumbs that really feel like you aren't eating anything because you are eating two or three pinches of crumbs at a time. I was so hungry that I almost picked the bag up and dumped it in my mouth, but I didn't. After having my fingertips covered in my own slobber from my feeding frenzy, I gave up and threw the bag away. Sigh.

For breakfast, I had a cup of dry fruity Cheerios followed by edamame in the pods. Let me tell you, mix that with the dried fruit and you will turn into a gassy mess with a capital "g" and there is hardly anything cool about that. To paint the picture, I keep my cell phone in my pocket of my hooded sweatshirt. While at work, it is on vibrate. Today, I probably took my phone out 20 times because I thought I felt it vibrate. Nope, just the rumblings in my tummy.

As I was getting ready to leave work today, a gas bubble was knocking on my back door. I held it in until I got to my car. I get in my car and get myself in a position to fart on leather seats and apparently, I also had to pee. Yup, I wet my pants. In my car. In the parking lot at work. Nice. I had to hustle home, change my clothes and go pick Ty up. Yup, I just let you all know this. Even nicer.

The lesson in today's blog post is if you are going to eat a lethal combination of fiber, do the ozone layer a favor and follow it up with a Gas-Ex chaser. Call it dessert if you will.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that missed the part when I said I would talk about farts, until next time...

Vacation? Yes, please!!!!

For the first time since Tyson was born, I will be going on vacation. Let me tell you, it feels good to prep for the trip! I have no guilt and at this point, a getaway for me is long overdue. Taking time out for myself or even some vacation time for myself is unheard of these days. I am really looking forward to spending some girl time!!! Woo! Woo! At first, the thought of leaving for a few days about brought me to tears, now, I get all teary-eyed thinking about the fun ahead of me.

Yes, PIC #2 and I are taking our first annual trip this year. We hope this will be something we can do every year and continue for the rest of our lives. Okay, so maybe I hope and think this is how it will go, but I'm pretty sure she's with me on this one since we've already planned our retirement party together complete with a slip and slide. Why wouldn't she want to vacation with me once a year???? Duh.

Anyhoo, we are going to go to Vegas for my cousin's bachelorette party and my aunt is also coming with us!!! I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself!!! We have purchased tickets to Zumanity, a Cirque du Soleil show!!! Yes, exclamation marks mean excitement!!!! We will do some shopping and sight seeing and of course, party it up for one night with the younger gals. Hopefully, I make it through without a terrible hangover and ruin the rest of the trip. I somehow doubt that someone who goes to the grocery store on Saturday nights is going to get THAT annihilated.

I will most definitely miss Brett and the kids, but I also feel like I do a better job being wife and mommy if I can take a break from being wife and mommy for just a little bit. I need to recharge my brain and my motivation before it gets to the point of not being rechargeable. Someday, Brett and I will be able to recharge together somewhere without the kidlets. For now, I'm not comfortable leaving him anywhere overnight with anyone other than Brett. Period. When he's older, I hope I will feel a little differently, but for now, this is how I feel and this is how I am rolling with it.

Before Ty came along, I honestly couldn't tell you the last time that Brett and I vacationed together. No, not in a bad way, but mutually, Brett and I (most of the time) agree to spend our vacation time doing what we love, even if that means doing it separately. I'm okay with it because I cannot see myself spending a boatload of time in a tree stand or in a ground blind for 17 hours straight. I also cannot see Brett enjoying a Cirque du Soleil show with me followed by a day of shopping and helping me pick out my latest Coach purchase. It works for us to vacation apart. We will be taking a day to take Ty to the Omaha Zoo this summer. He is going to love it and it is way more practical to make a day trip with Ty rather than packing up his entire life and belongings into a vehicle to travel somewhere to stay doing the same things we do at home, but different scenery. I'm all for staycations with a little one. ALL FOR IT. Last summer, we did venture away for a few days to Michigan to attend my cousin's wedding, with Ty. He was great for the 9 plus hour drive and did amazingly well in the hotel. It was a successful trip and a lot of fun to test the waters on such a long haul. Ty even peed on the floor at the reception. That was great.

I'm giddy thinking about going to Vegas and spending time doing nothing and everything all at the same time!!!!! (lots of excitement on that last sentence) Brett will be spending his vacation hunting something with a friend. Much needed recharging time ahead of us, guilt free!!!!!!!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you planning your next vacation, until next time...

Groceries and Meals

I mentioned before how much I love Awesome Note. I still love Awesome Note. I have almost perfected my lists and use them DAILY. It is really handy to have my grocery list right above my meal plan list. I generally try to shop for the week, but find that I need to go to the store a few times during the week for more fruit, milk or something that Ty has been eating a lot of.

I think that some people are really good at grocery shopping because the more I do it, the more I feel like I suck at it. I'm completely serious. Who would have thought that it takes more than a credit card to be able to grocery shop? I honestly hadn't put much thought into it until I started spending way more time at the grocery store. I had a good handle on it before Ty and when Ty was a baby. Now that he eats more and is trying new things, I feel like my brain is working overtime in the food department. Ty is a kid that is completely driven by texture. If he doesn't like the texture of something, you can guarantee that it is not going to fly with him. I refuse to cook him a separate meal from us because I don't believe that hot dogs and American Cheese slices are the greatest diet even if you throw in a banana or grapes. He has been more adventurous lately and has eaten hard-shell tacos, Indian cuisine, mashed potatoes, meats of all kinds and that's just naming a few. Because he doesn't eat pasta or potatoes, nor does he eat vegetables (bummer), we still serve them to him in hopes that he will try it along with the main dish. We usually give him some sort of cheese and fruit with his suppers, too.

When I say fruit, I mean fresh fruit. We always have fresh fruit at our house, especially when things are in season. Ty is a huge fan of just about every fruit he has been given. He prefers fruit over anything else. That makes me somewhat happy. Because of his eating fresh fruit every single day, I find myself going to the store to replenish our supply a few times a week. Same goes for the salad that I put in a bowl in the fridge and any other fresh produce needed to create the weekly meals. I don't know that there is a way to fix having to buy fresh produce fresh. You get that? Good!

I find myself a little exhausted by the grocery store trips. We go through quite a bit of milk around here, too. Ty gets chocolate milk occasionally and Brett and I drink a couple glasses each a day. Why not buy two gallons? Well, because it never fails when I do that, it happens to be the week that we don't drink as much milk and we end up throwing away about an entire gallon.

Even the best meal plans with accompanying grocery list requires me to go to the store a few days later. Why? Maybe they didn't have an ingredient or I have to go to another grocery store to get a few things that the other store didn't have. Does this happen to anyone else? I find that one store doesn't carry all the products that I need/want/purchase frequently. Of course the store that I buy meat is closed on Sundays and they are also the ones that carry my edamame in the pods. There is a third store that I have to go to to get Tyson's favorite chicken because no other store carries this particular chicken. Seriously. I'm exhausted typing this. And as I type, I realize I didn't make it to the grocery store this weekend and I am going to regret that I let it slip my mind on Saturday night when I usually go grocery shopping. Yeah, I'm that wild.

I'm finding myself more and more overwhelmed trying to balance eating healthy, making healthier meals, incorporating new foods, getting Ty to try new foods, but making them kid friendly, making sure I have all the ingredients and not being wasteful in both the food and the trips to the store. Did you get all that? Good!

If anyone has any tips and ideas for me to improve my grocery shopping experiences, I am all ears! I would love to know if there is a better time to go, when the best time to go is, how you purchase groceries, do you go every week, etc? Such a simple topic so simply overwhelming for me. Sigh.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that think I am completely nuts making a whole post about grocery shopping, until next time...

A Few of My Favorite Things!

In case you didn't know, I don't wear makeup very often. In fact, I think the last time I wore makeup was in June of 2011 for my cousin's wedding. No joke. I think it will be June of this year before I wear makeup again. Wearing makeup so infrequently means I must replace my makeup just about every time I want to wear it. When I do purchase makeup, I go to the Body Shop. Since I have extremely sensitive skin, the Body Shop has been my solution.

Nicole (the Tanya Harding of roller skating and the queen of home Brazilian waxing), once tried the Body Shop makeup and the next day had a face swollen up. As she put it, "my face must need the crappy stuff in makeup." So, with that said, their products may not be for everyone, but I have found them to be extremely beneficial.

I love their lip and cheek stain, their Body Butters, lip glosses and hand creams. My skin is prone to eczema and the Body Butters have completely taken care of that. The bonus is that I am not limited to lotions and creams that don't have a nice scent. I can use these that have scent! I used to use the Bath and Body Works lotions, but I would break out in hives and/or a rash whenever I would use them and found out it is the heavy fragrance. I was sad about it for a long time. The Body Shop also has a Body Butter for babies! I have used that and my Body Butters on Tyson and his skin also tolerates them well. The bonus to that is that he will sometimes smell like a blueberry muffin or chocolate cake. Yessssssssss!

I found a solution to finding a good face wash. I have used just about everything out there. No exaggeration there. I finally decided to try Bath and Body Works antibacterial hand soap as face wash to see how that would work out. It has worked BEAUTIFULLY! Seriously. It is a great because I don't have to shop for a separate type of face soap and I tend to have a supply of this antibacterial soap on hand at all times. I also like having my face smell like apples or kitchen lemon. True story.

I love my electric blanket. I also love blankets in general. I still have a blanket that my grandma bought me when we went to Mexico when I was in 3rd grade. It has held up very well and only now is it showing signs of wearing. Brett got me a "World's Softest Blanket" for Christmas a couple of years ago. It is one of my favorites as well. I told him about where I saw it at a mall in Des Moines and he went and looked for it. As I was opening it, he says, "I looked for the only blanket that screamed 12 year old girl and KNEW that was the one you wanted." It is multi-colored stripes. I admit, it probably was made with a 12 year old girl in mind. It makes me happy, okay!?!!!!!!

I have a couple of those cups that are insulated with the hard plastic straws. I LOVE THESE! It makes the ice cubes last longer in the cup so I am able to fill up my cup a couple of times during a workout and still have it be cold. Love these. Ty loves these, too and it is fun for him so he actually drinks more water.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you wishing you had a multi-colored striped blanket to cuddle up with, until next time...

Clothing Old and New

My mom jeans are really big now. Since having Ty, I have found out something different about my body almost weekly. Sigh. Not really good findings, just different. I have realized that some parts of my body are smaller while others seem to stay the same. Maybe something is happening underneath the fat, (I call this the "protective layer") where I can't see it, but I'm more inclined to say nothing is happening.

My jeans are baggy and they are longer. So, I must be losing bulk somewhere to make them longer. Unless I got the jeans that get longer with time. That could be, too. I may not have checked the label close enough. I have a bin of clothes stored away. Some big, some smaller and all of my smaller sized clothes are still hanging in my closet. When I got pregnant with Ty, I decided to not get rid of them because I knew I would be revisiting this road one day.

I need to get all the clothes out and see if anything fits. Five years ago, I could count on losing 10 pounds and going down one pant size. This is NOT the case this time. Let me also say that I don't go to a smaller pant size unless I can SAFELY fit into them. I don't think it is attractive or healthy to squeeze my fat into a smaller pant size to just push the fat upwards and over the top of the waistband and then fasten with a belt. In my opinion, your pants DO NOT fit if this is how it looks on you. I don't care who you are, it just isn't right. You will not see that with my pants. And if I have a muffin top or a giant muffin top like Perkins' muffins, I will conceal with a sweatshirt. FYI.

With this round of weight loss, I will once again have to find a jean that fits my body shape again. I've been through multiple jean brands and I'm not one to spend a ton on jeans, no matter how awesome they are. My jeans aren't meant to make a fashion statement, but I do refuse to wear skinny jeans or tapered leg anything. The only thing skinny jeans do is make me look plumper and the only thing tapered leg pants do is make my thighs look bigger. Being a fashion faux pas almost all the time doesn't even warrant those kinds of fashion.

All sweatpants without drawstrings have been eliminated from my wardrobe. It has been bittersweet for me since some of those pants I have had longer than I have Dutch and Ruca. Sigh. I went on a nice shopping trip a few days ago and had Ty not been with me, I may have shopped for pants, too. It was hard enough for him to keep the dressing room door shut while I was trying on shirts. I will save the pants for when I have focus and patience to shop for them. Until then, I'm going to be wearing the baggy pants and pulling them up every time I have to sit down and then again when I stand up. Such a TERRIBLE thing! Ha!!

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you once again wondering how to get the last few minutes of your life back, until next time...

Sunday Afternoons

Today as I blog, the house is quiet except for the hum of the fridge, the occasional snore from the pups, the constant snore of Brett napping in the recliner next to me and the TV playing "Doom." Yes, this is quiet. Perfect opportunity to blog! I'm enjoying it, anyway! The weather is cool and rainy, kind of gloomy, makes it nice to be relaxing at home during nap time in my comfy sweats and red Muppet fur Acorn slippers. Ahhhhh...

You may recall that I injured my foot by jamming my toes when I tripped on a dog toy a while back. Well, I did something to it again! It is really bugging me because last night, after a long day of shopping and walking around, I could barely walk. I wake this morning and it is better, but the muscles along the outside of my ankle and the inside of my foot are tight and sore because of the overcompensation last night with my nice limp. I don't even want to list what I think could be wrong with it, so instead, I try to rest it and get better to start the week off with a bang, TurboFire style.

I have two weeks left of TurboFire and I am so incredibly glad to be moving on to something new for a change. I hope I miss Chalene and can take on a TurboFire workout here and there as I feel the need during my "off" days from Insanity.

Injuries are not part of any of my plans. I did say that I would join water aerobics and try to do chair aerobics, but I'm not sure I can follow through with that. I may have to get creative and create my own workout. We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping with another day of rest, I can jump back into it, literally and figuratively.

The rest of today will be spent putting away laundry, doing the last five loads of laundry and vacuuming. I've done everything else for the day and it feels good. Maybe Ty and I will bust out a little Billy Blanks later and he and I can workout like the good old days. Ty and I, not Billy and I.

Even though I've not worked out today, I have kept busy and active, except for blogging, which I don't think really has too much of a bearing on burning calories. Yesterday, as I mentioned, I shopped all day long. I also went way overboard with the consumption. Starbucks, then McDonald's, chocolate covered fruit, gyros for supper and Dairy Queen for dessert. Yep. I did that. I really did that. Yesterday was my free day. Free day is an understatement. Big understatement. I enjoyed every second of it. EVERY second.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you calculating the approximate amount of calories consumed yesterday, until next time...

Meal/Snack Replacements of the Past...

When I was on this journey five years ago (I seem to use this starter a lot, apologies), one day, I decided that Atomic Fireballs (the cinnamon jawbreaker candy) was just what I needed to curb the sweets cravings. In true Trisha style, I decided to go on the hunt for them immediately. This was when I actually had vacation time to spare and could use it for doing fun things like shopping for Atomic Fireballs.

I went to a few stores, Target, Wal-Mart and even K-Mart and then hit up the grocery stores. The only things that anyone had were the chewy ones. I didn't want the chewy ones, I wanted the jawbreakers because I wanted something that I wasn't going to eat a ton of in one sitting. One of those things lasts quite a while, so I figured they were just about perfect for me to satisfy my hunger.

Since I couldn't find them, I searched online and found that Sam's Club had them in the candy shop dispensers. Awwwwww, yeah!! Well, my parents have the membership, so I called my mom and told her that I NEEDED to go to Sam's Club STAT! She obliged. I got my Atomic Fireballs at a club price. Wicked awesomeness.

The next few days are anything but a blur except I didn't know what was happening until it was way too late. Way. Too. Late. The first couple of days, I was successful in using the Atomic Fireballs for satisfying my sweet tooth and only had a few a day. By the third day, I seemed to be slightly addicted to them. In one day, I ate NINE. Yes, nine of them. They just tasted so good that day, that I just couldn't stop at just a couple. Yeah, already defeated the purpose of using them to stop me from eating a lot. Doesn't help you out much when you eat about 700 calories in Atomic Fireballs in a day. Okay, I have no idea how many calories exactly are in an Atomic Fireball, nor does it matter at this point, I'm over exaggerating on the caloric intake and have strayed from the topic once again. Sigh.

Anyhoo, the day of the 9 Atomic Fireballs, Brett and I decided to go out to dinner. I had noticed that by the end of the work day, my face felt really tight. Tight from the inside out, it was odd, but I shrugged it off. We were eating our dinner, I had ordered a veggie grilled cheese and fries. When I was eating the fries, I couldn't help but notice that chewed up fries were getting stuck between my teeth and under my lips. I kept having to use my finger to get the fries out. It was so weird. Brett looks at me and asks what is wrong? I tell him, he shrugs it off, too. I kept biting my cheek while eating, too. The food tasted funny as well. I couldn't figure it out. Then, I smiled when Brett said something funny, he looks at me and asks, "why and WHAT are you doing with your face?!" I ask him to clarify, but he was unable to put into words. I went to the bathroom and took one look at my face to see that it appears that from my cheeks to my chin look puffy and swollen. I tried to open my mouth and couldn't really get it open that far, my face was incredibly swollen. Yep, still had fries stuck all the way around my mouth.

I get back to the table and ask Brett if he noticed how swollen my face was. He said, "yeah, but I thought you were doing something with your mouth on purpose." I won't even touch that statement. Apparently, I had a reaction to cinnamon. I took Benadryl for the next five days straight to contain the tightness and itchiness. Once it went down, a couple weeks later, I decided to give it a whirl again. This time, I only at two Atomic Fireballs to test it out. Sure enough, my face swelled up like a balloon and I had chipmunk cheeks.

Brett ate the rest of the Atomic Fireballs and my father in law thinks it is hilarious to offer me an Atomic Fireball every now and again. My idea was brilliant and would have worked had I not developed this allergy. This also includes anything cinnamon flavored and sometimes snickerdoodles.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you that are now wanting an Atomic Fireball, until next time...