Smitten
The family concensus on the dog was mostly positive.
Gabriel was the first one out of bed this morning, after hearing Lucy’s howls. As he walked into the room, a huge grin spread across his face. He had lots of fun playing with her today.
When she woke up, Mikaela walked into the room and pointed and said, “dog!” … She kissed and patted the dog repeatedly throughout the day, but didn’t like it when Lucy jumped up on her.
While I took the kids to the store tonight, Jay bonded with the dog – after licking him half to death, she snuggled up in his lap and fell asleep.
She did a good job peeing mostly outside today. She had a couple of accidents, but more times than not, she waited until I took her outside to go.
Lucy is nipping, and I’m giving her a firm “no” and a pat on the butt. I don’t know how long it will take her to realize that biting is a no-no. Any dog owners who’ve been through this, please advise me!
*Crabby*
I’m HUNGRY. No, really … I’m not imagining. My stomach is growling and I’m done with my food for the day. >:(
I’m not so sure about this diet anymore. I still want to find a plan that works, but the food so far has been mostly so-so – and a few things were awful.
Has anyone else tried a healthy diet that works and doesn’t leave you starving?
World, meet Lucy.
Lucy is our new, 7-week-old Beagle. Just got her tonight. She’s currently sleeping curled next to a ticking clock wrapped in a pillowcase.
The kids haven’t seen her yet – they were in bed when I got home. That should be fun – they LOVE dogs.
Nutri-system, day 1
So far, so good.
For breakfast, I had the NS cranberry-orange pastry. It was okay - not wonderful and not awful. I could’ve also had a protein or dairy serving and a fruit serving, but I didn’t.
For lunch, I had the NS grilled chicken pre-mixed with thousand island dressing, mixed with salad greens (it was okay, but the chicken was pretty dry). I had a protein serving as well – 1/4 cup of fat-free ricotta cheese.
I skipped my afternoon snack.
For dinner, I had the NS beef stew, which was good. I also had a whole tomato, some green beans, 1/8 of an avocado and a nectarine. I’m full and the meal was good.
For dessert, I had the NS Nutri-Crunch chocolates. They tasted a little odd for chocolate, but still good enough to give me my chocolate fix.
I only have 10 ounces of water left towards my 64-ounce daily goal. The only other drink I’ve had all day is about 10 ounces of diet dr. pepper.
Since night-time is the most difficult for me (I get the munchies!), I will probably have the protein and fruit servings I skipped from breakfast sometime before I go to bed.
All in all, I feel really good. I think this diet might just work.
Okay, I lied
I’m starting the diet TOMORROW (Wednesday). If I don’t, please come to my house and kick my butt. I still had a few diet-type items to get at the grocery store, so I decided to wait one more day.
“We’ve decided to pursue another candidate.”
In other words, I didn’t get the job.
It’s okay … I really didn’t want it after I heard how many hours they expected you to work every week.
The low-down on Nutri-System – Women’s Plan
I always wanted to know more about Nutri-System going into it, so for those of you thinking about it, I’ll give you the run-down. I got my package delivered via UPS today. It was heavy!
The basics of this diet: one months’ worth of pre-packaged breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts are delivered to your door. You add dairy, fresh fruits and veggies, and some protein. For the specifics, keep reading:
Below: Examples of different Breakfasts (to which you add 1 fruit serving and 1 dairy or protein serving [for serving guides, see last two scanned pages posted below])
Below: Examples of Lunches (to which you add 1 dairy or protein serving, Salad vegetables, and 2 tbsp. fat-free salad dressing)
* Mid-afternoon snack: 1 fruit serving and 1 dairy or protein serving *
Below: Examples of Dinners (to which you add 2 veggie servings, 1 salad or fruit serving, 2 tbsp. fat-free dressing, and 1 “Fat serving”)
Below: Examples of Desserts
Pages from NutriSystem’s Meal Planner/guidebook:
My first day of this diet is tomorrow. Sigh.
I’ll keep you posted on how things taste, how much weight I’m losing, etc.
Wish me luck.
Mass Hysteria
I am overly cautious about many things. Most people would probably consider me paranoid.
I’m sure a shrink would probably have a nice personality-disorder label for me. So I don’t go to one.
But anyway, I guess a part of me is always thinking about the worst-case scenario and wanting to be prepared for it. So when the weather guys are making an ice storm sound like a huge deal, you’d better believe I’m one of the idiots out at the supermarket stocking up with a week’s worth of food and drinks. And firewood.
Our regional newspaper’s humor columnist wrote a column poking fun at the situation.
He may laugh now, but I’m telling you, some day, it really will be bad, and I will be prepared. 
Open letter to summer
Dear Summer,
I’m sorry I complained about you. My toes are freezing off. Can you please come back?
Love,
Me
Sleep
I’m starting to think I’m nocturnal.
Most nights, I toss and turn a lot – anywhere from one hour to several hours.
Try as I might, I can’t seem to get my body’s time clock set properly … I’m awake at night and sleepy during the day. ???
Belated new year’s resolution
This is what I looked like in 1999.
This is what I look like now:
No, seriously, all joking aside, I am in pretty bad shape. I can give you a whole list of excuses about how I don’t have time to work out, and how I have no energy after dealing with my kids all day, but that doesn’t change what I see in the mirror every day. And it doesn’t change the fact that my blood pressure and cholesterol are both high – not good for a 28-year-old who wants to live to see her grandchildren.
I’ve been on many quasi-diets over the last few years – mostly the Atkins or South Beach approach – high on protein, low on carbs. But that weight loss never seems to last.
So, this time, I’m trying NutriSystem. I just put in an order. I can do anything for one month, right? And then, if I lose a lot of weight in this coming month, hopefully that will be an inspiration to keep it up …
I want so badly for this to work. The biggest obstacle I have to overcome is giving up Dr Pepper. Gosh, why does it have to be so dang good?!?!?
Anyway, if you see me and my head is spinning around a la the Exorcist, I’m probably starving and craving a Dr Pepper.
Wish me luck in my quest. And hopefully, I’ll look more like the top picture again soon.
More icy fun
Above: this was the block of ice on top of our trash can!
Below: anyone seen a vampire?
Jay is home from work today. We all have cabin fever but are trying to make the best of it. I just keep thanking God we aren’t huddled around a fireplace trying to stay warm in a power outage!! A good number of people in our area lost power, but we dodged the bullet.
So far, so good…
Well, for me, anyway. I’ve still got power.
The roads are icy, but it’s not bad enough to cause widespread power outages yet. Expectedly, there have been a lot of wrecks around town.
Jay has been gone for 2 days and is about to try to make it home from work. I’m sure he could use a good hot shower. I just hope he can make it home without sliding off the road.
It’s started to snow, but I don’t know if it will be enough to go outside and play in. This is Mikaela’s first time to see snow. So far, she seems under-whelmed.
More later, if the power’s not out …
… waiting anxiously
What a day.
After seeing today’s weather forecast, my sister decided she’d better leave early, so she flew back home tonight. Just minutes after her flight left, one of the major roads in Austin was closed due to icing, and since then, several more have been closed.
My husband is stuck downtown. With the inagural events tomorrow still set to take place, he is one of those responsible for making sure everything is set up just so. That means he has to be there, ice or no ice. With the forecast being what it is, he and a few co-workers have rented a hotel room downtown.
So, that leaves me here with the kids. I am well-stocked on diapers and food. And prozac.
I am nervous about the prospect of the power going out, though … I do have fire logs, but I have never made a fire in a fireplace before. I know the concept, but I am famously klutzy, and I’m hoping I don’t screw it up and burn the house down or something.
The forecasters don’t exactly know how much ice will accumulate – they’re saying between 1/4 inch and 2 inches. The weatherman makes it sound like the apocalypse is coming. He said that this could be the worst ice storm the area has seen “in decades.”
I hope and pray he’s wrong.
Prepared to hunker down
Firewood – check
Flashlights – check
Ice to put in cooler – check
Candles – check
Lighter – check
Enough food to feed half the neighborhood for the next week – check
So, it looks like Austin’s about to see a heckuva ice storm. Yea for having a gas stove for once. And a fireplace. Shoot, it’ll probably be nothing, and I’ll have bought the bread, pop tarts, cereal, and extra cans of veggies and tuna for nothing.
My sister and nephew flew in for a short visit – they got here today and are leaving Tuesday afternoon, if I can ice-skate them over to the airport to get them back on a plane! (That was a really bad run-on, wasn’t it? Oh, well, I’m too tired to fix right now. My apologies.)
Blech.
You ever had one of those meals where you wanted to go brush your teeth right afterwards to get rid of the taste?
I had gamey-tasting snow crab tonight. I think I’m cured of my seafood cravings for awhile.
The only good thing about the meal was watching my son say, “orange!!” then grab a slice of lemon and shove it in his mouth. Predictably, he shuddered. We all got a good laugh. And then he proceeded to keep eating it. Glutton for punishment, I guess.
More than a toy
My daughter loves this stuffed dog. My sister gave it to her when she was a baby. It’s a pink and white bag of beans, and if the house was on fire, my daughter would surely make me run back for it.
She drags it around everywhere (think Linus with his blankie), and it’s often covered in food and drink. She showers it with affection, giving it frequent kisses and hugs – even when she’s half-asleep. She’ll also come into the room holding doggie up and making barking noises.
I’m not sure what we’re going to do when the poor thing finally falls apart from being loved on so much. That will be a sad day in our household.
Does anyone want to borrow my kids for a week?
Fun happenings with the kiddos the past few days:
- Walked in on Gabriel intentionally peeing on his bedroom floor and giggling
- Mikaela stood on a rubber ball and fell back and hit her head on the train table, giving herself a large goose-egg
- Kids had a splash-fight in the bathtub, getting the entire bathroom and me soaking wet
- Every time you turn around, Mikaela has shedded her clothes and is running to the bathroom screaming “poh-yee!!” (potty, as in ‘I need to go potty’)
- From the second we enter the kitchen to fix dinner, both kids cry until they are served
- After Jay got down right next to Mikaela (they were playing), she slapped him square across the face
And now, our saving grace in the face of toddler tantrums: the cute stuff:
- Mikaela looked at Jay and said, “you da man!”
- Gabriel said, “gimmie five!” after picking up all of his blocks
- Mikaela found the hairbrush on the counter and said, “oh! bwush haiw!”
- After going potty, Mikaela toddled over and hiked her leg over the tub edge. I asked her what she was doing and she said, “baff” (bath) in a tone that was like, “duh!”
- Mikaela has learned the favorite phrase of toddlers the world over: “No, my toy!”
- Whenever Mikaela accomplishes something, she says, “yea! I di’ it” (I did it)
- Mikaela has started taking her pull-up (diaper) off and taking it to the garbage can to throw it out.
- Gabriel is obsessed with order. He always organizes the items in the shopping cart when we shop. When he’s done with his bath, he puts all his toys in a neat line on the side of the tub. Now, if I could just get him to voluntarily clean his room…
Spring wedding!
My husband just talked to one of our dearest friends tonight, to wish him a happy birthday. He is getting married in the spring, and we’re planning to travel to Nashville for it. I’m so excited!!
It is a little bittersweet, though. OK, a lot bittersweet. I miss Nashville and our friends and family there badly. I don’t know if we’re “supposed” to be here or there, but I often wish we were back there.
Interview update
I don’t think I did a great job on today’s interview. I did “okay,” but I think I could have definitely done better. I should have just re-scheduled it for some later date after I was better … sniffling through the whole thing definitely didn’t help.
Oh, well … I guess if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.
Speaking of the interview, I forgot how much I hated high heels. Those things are evil devices of torture. Why the hell we women think we have to clomp around in those things is beyond me. But clomp we do.
Footie PJ’s Rock!
I reserve the right to use these pictures for blackmail purposes when my kids are teenagers.
Second interview
I have a face-to-face interview tomorrow morning with the same people I interviewed over the phone with last week. I also have a raging sinus infection. I hope I can suck it up and interview well.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
I’m trying to teach our kids my name and Jay’s name. So far, they’re pronouncing my name “Meh-nee” and Jay’s name … well, Gabriel just said, “Papa’s Gay!”
Dead birds
A number of streets in downtown Austin have been closed off, and people are being told not to come to work due to a number of dead birds being found. Preliminary tests have shown that nothing is amiss, but the police are not re-opening the area until further tests are completed.
I’m more than a little nervous, since Jay works right near the capitol building near all of this. I swear, I’ve been jittery about stuff like this ever since 9/11.
Interview went well
Well, the phone interview went well. They talked to me for 45 minutes. They said they’d let me know something in a couple of weeks. Cross your fingers!
A little while after the interview, I walked past one of our end tables and banged my leg on the corner. I collapsed on the couch, gritting my teeth and saying ‘ow!’ Mikaela came over and patted me on the arm and said, ‘you aah-wite, mama?’
I’m exhausted this afternoon. I got up at 6 this morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep. That’s eaaarly for me. If I get this job, it’s going to be a major adjustment having to get up early and be at a job by 8 am, for the first time since … well, August 2003. Even though I’ve worked full-time since then, it’s been second shift.
I personally wish all jobs were second-shift. I think life would be so much easier. Well, I guess not for the morning people.
Interviews and dreams
I have a phone interview in an hour. For some reason, I’m a nervous wreck. I don’t usually get nervous about interviews. I feel like I do better in person, though – I’m not a fan of phone interviews. Maybe writing will help calm my nerves.
I had two very strange dreams last night. In the first, I was walking through the house in my underwear and noticed the shades were all open. I asked Jay to close them and he refused. An argument ensued and he huffed out of the house. We were planning to go to some kind of a Christmas open house with my family, and he wound up leaving with the kids and going through the whole thing without me, with my family. When I finally caught up with all of them, I let them know how angry and hurt I was and they all called me a spoiled brat. Not sure what that was all about!
My second dream was even stranger. I dreamed Jerry Seinfeld (must be watching too much!) and I were in some sort of public place with a secret back room. He was meeting five Asian women there – most of them were older women – for some kind of sexual tryst! Ha.
I’ve been having a lot of really vivid, weird dreams like that lately. I wish I knew what they meant!
Admire my restraint
There’s a chocolate Cadbury egg on my kitchen counter. And I’m sitting in here, not eating it. That’s almost like not eating a hot Krispy Kreme donut.
Oh, why does food have to be so darn GOOD? I don’t know how I’m ever going to lose weight.
And it all comes back to the toilet humor
As a mother of two toddlers, it seems like my life revolves around potty chairs, diapers, and toilet humor. Oh, ’tis but a season, I keep telling myself.
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when Mikaela announced, “pah-yee” (potty) and ran to the bathroom. I opened the door, and she took her pants off, climbed on the pot, and went. She made quite a production of straining and grunting, even though it wasn’t necessary. I guess eventually she’ll figure out that she doesn’t need to do that on every bathroom trip.
Since then, she’s gone several more times. All the praise we’re heaping on her must be going to her little head, because I overheard this from my little bragger on the monitor at naptime today: “Gee-bull, I peepee pah-yee!”
Just in case he hadn’t noticed the fanfare and ticker-tape parade.
Noah says hello
It’s “wainy ’side,” as Gabriel says (translation: it’s rainy outside).
Boy, is it ever. It’s raining dogs, cats, aardvarks, and llamas.
I guess this is a normal mid-winter rain, much like the kind we often got in central Tennessee. But, living in Texas for the last two years, I’ve gotten used to the warm, dry weather. I already knew I’d become a weenie about the cold weather (50 degrees = parka weather), and I guess I have to admit I’ve become a wimp about the rain, too. I don’t like it.
I especially don’t like driving in it, as I had to do tonight to take Gabriel to the after-hours clinic for a nasty cough. They prescribed him a $40 decongestant/anti-histamine. And that was WITH insurance. Geez. Well, I hope it does the trick. He’s had this cough since mid-December, and this was his second doctor visit for it. I was afraid it had developed into pneumonia, but thankfully, it hadn’t.
The boy gets it
I’m starting to think my collection of craft-making supplies is getting out of control.
I went to Michael’s craft store tonight to look for something on the scrapbooking aisle. While I stood there and perused the items on the shelves, Gabriel pointed to them and said, “Mama’s Toys!”
