Happy Groundhog's Day

The kids have off school tomorrow. They are under the assumption that we are going swimming at the gym in the morning and painting in the afternoon.  We plan on painting our basement as the colors are super dark, but I'm just not sure I want to let all of them help me.  Right now, there are a few dark brown walls, a few darker brown walls and a few deep purple walls.  We have bought a blue, gold and rust color to lighten it up, but plan on hosting a party on Saturday, so I'd rather wait on the paint.

It's a dreary day today, meaning Spring is on it's way.  The groundhog in Sun Prairie, "Jimmy," did not see his shadow.  The groundhog at our Milwaukee County Zoo gets to sleep till noon. "Wynter" will make her prognostication then.  Last year, we had such a blizzard that they actually canceled Groundhog's Day, so this year is bound to be much better.

Today, the kids had a technology day. For a quarter, they could bring in any technology to play with that they wanted.  My two girls both wanted to bring an ipod, so I hesitantly let my 2nd grader take mine.  Honestly, she's much more responsible than my older daughter, so I'm not concerned, but it could make for a long run at the gym without my tunes.

Happy Groundhog's Day!!

Light Bulb

We moved into our new house a bit over a month ago. Seems everyday I can find another lightbulb that was burned out...in the shower, under the kithchen cabinets, outside, in the bathroom, etc.

It's a constant adventure finding all the light switches that work the different fixtures. After a month, I think I have conquered the lights. The only light I can't figure out is a light in a shadow box in our entry way. Changed the bulb, but still have know idea how to turn it on.

One month. I should be able to conquer 7 pounds in a month, but again it's a constant adventure. Wish it were as easy as heading out to buy a new lightbulb.

Under the Weather

My 3 yr old is back to normal. By mid-afternoon yesterday, I felt horrible however. Just achy and having the chills made for a long afternoon/night. I did make it bad to the gym this morning and ran 3 miles. Less than I usually do on Tuesdays, but my oldest had an Ortho appointment mid-morning. She got her bottom braces on.

I got a call already for an interview, but the more I think about it, the less excited I am to go back to work fulltime yet. Just remembering the headaches when the kids were off school makes me want to wait at least another year. We'll see, an interview is always something goodto practice if nothing else.

It's a beautiful day today in Milwaukee. A high of 53! The only snow left now is the gross brown salt covered snow. I'm sure we'll got more yet.

Things Happen for a Reason

The territory manager for the new store that our Weight Watchers location is moving into, met with the staff of the Saturday meetings.  All three of us receptionists are over our Weight Watcher goal.  I am the closer being 7 pounds above my goal.  She told us what we already knew, sorry but because you are over your goal, you will not be able to work meetings in the new store.  I'm fine with it.  I haven't been tracking regularly for a LONG time and frankly, I don't feel comfortable giving advice to members when I know I'm not following the program.

So, Saturday instead of attending WW inservices, I surfed the web looking for part-time jobs.  Would love to find one that worked with the kids school schedule, allowing me to work only during the school day and on Saturdays. I had heard that the Activity Director from a nursing home I used to work at had been let go, so I even sent my resume their way.  We'll see what comes of it, but I think my time with Weight Watchers has run it's course.

We did make it to Applebee's on Friday night.  The kids were on cloud nine...they sang Happy Birthday to both me and my wife and we got the sundae to share as a family.

My 3 yr old had a wicked bug this weekend.  I'm keeping him home today as I would hate for the teacher to deal with the mess we dealt with this weekend.  Skipping the gym, maybe a good day to clean out the exercise room and actually use it.

Hoping for a healthy week.

Birthday Brownies

We normally don't have dessert except on the weekend. I usually have yogurt or fruit, but the kids don't call that dessert. Their desserts consist of ice cream or cakes or brownies. Wednesday was my wife's birthday, so my 7 yr old and I made brownies. The kids were extremely excited to find out there were brownies left last night for a second weeknight of dessert.

A few years ago, I don't think there would have been any left. I would have finished the pan after they went to bed. Proudly, I had one each day and there was a row left for my wife when she got home from her Masters class last night.

I'm still working on my exercise room. I seem to keep piling new boxes in there to go through. We got rid of a huge amount of boxes yesterday, and I cleared a bit of room out of our storage room. We ordered a new refrigerator since it was 0% financing for 18 months. We loved our frig at the old house, it was bigger and had the frig on top and freezer on the bottom. I am looking forward to getting that familiar friend back. We'll keep this frig in the basement for extra space.

Looking forward to a Weight Watcher weekend. I still haven't heard though if I'll be working there after next week. We're moving to a new location and had to reinterview in August. Would be nice to know before I spend the weekend training. I know the two receptionists that I work with have been told they will not be moving because they are over their goal. We will see.

Applebee's

Driving past the biggest mall in Wisconsin everyday allows the kids a fun glimpse towards a good variety of landmarks. One, landmark that my 3 yr old doesn't let me miss is Applebees. Each time we drive past he let's it be known that he would like to eat there. "Applebees NOW!!" we'll be going soon to celebrate my wife's and my birthday.

Another fun sign we pass daily is the Kopp's Custard sign. All of the kids try to read that sign before each other. Everyday, it seems one of them announces the flavor of the day is their favorite.

We drive past 5 McDonald's, 3 Taco Bells, countless banks and othe restaurants. It's fun to drive to school for now, but will be so much easier once the winter is over.

Kitchen Table

Last night, I picked up our new kitchen table. We have been using my wife's little round table passed on through the generations. It only has two chairs, so we've been using folding chairs to compensate. We had six counter height chairs to go around our countertop at the old house, but we couldn't steal the countertop without the new owners noticing.

To break in the new table, my toothless 7 yr old had cereal this morning. She seemed to enjoy being the first one to eat there.

Happy Birthday to my wife. We'll be celebrating both our birthdays over the weekend.

Exercise

My gym usually has free wifi, but for some reason it hadn't been working the last few weeks. Tried it again today, and here I am. I've been scolded for not writing since "Elvis' Birthday." I will try to do better.

I've been staying at the gym longer since I need to stick around this side of town while my little guy is in school. The gym got several new machines for the new year, so I've been attepting to like the Arc Trainer. I've had mixed feelings. I've liked the workout, but my feet have been numb afterwards. I'll continue to try it as it is an awesome workout.

The house is getting to be more like home. I bring my little guy home for lunch everyday even though we have to trek right back for speech, he likes the routine of having lunch at home.

My breakfasts have consisted of an oatmeal on the go bar. Thesehad been a trigger food in the past, but now that I know the serve a purpose, they haven't bothered me.

I haven't had difficulty snacking after school much either now that we're getting home a bit later and I can go right to making dinner.

So pong for now, I'll try to get in the habit of writing a short blurb daily, but you know it takes 21 days to form a habit, so give me time.

First Week of the New Year

It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a short amount of time.  We've moved!! December 30 was moving day and I am so glad that we hired movers to help us move.  They arrived at our house at 7:15 and got done as we were done closing on our house and becoming homeless for a few hours.  I woke up by 5:00am to start getting stuff moved into our cars as the movers would not move everything; plants, chemistry sets, charcoal, planters, lampshades, boxes without tops, etc. We ended up filling both of our cars and my sister-in-laws car, plus she ended up piling a few things onto our neighbors porch as she couldn't fit it in her car and we had already gone to the closing.

It couldn't have been a more smooth move. Everything went great and we are now enjoying our new house. Everyday we are becoming a little more comfortable and a little bit more moved in.

This has been a strange eating/exercise week.  I still haven't got into a good breakfast routine. I am driving the kids to school, which is now 20 minutes from our house.  We didn't want to pull them out of school in the middle of the year, so we're commuting till June.  I pack my gym stuff and head to the gym in the morning.  This means breakfast has been on the go so far.  After the gym, it's picking up the 3 yr old from 3K and then off to home for some lunch and downtime.  Lunch has been fine since I'm home.  I haven't eaten dinner regularly since working 5-8 two nights a week and being chauffeur a few other nights, so I tend to have a snack at that time and then again when I'm home at 8:30.

I am hoping to find a good breakfast as this has always tended to be my bigger meal. You know the old saying: Breakfast like a King, Supper like a Servant. 

I been unpacking a bunch, but seems my exercise room/music room has been the only room totally neglected so far.  Hoping to change that this week.  Here's our first family picture in by our new fireplace.

It's Moving Day!!

I know that I have been more than absent lately. And I've been reminded to write a little more often than once every two months. But, today is moving day. We sold our house! It absolutely took me by surprise. In early November, a young couple with a toddler and one on the way made us an offer we couldn't refuse. We had our eye on a house as well and luckily for us everything has turned out perfectly.

I've been doing fine weight wise, but eating wise the last few weeks has been a challenge. With Christmas and packing everything up without wanting to stock up on any food made it difficult to eat right.

Today, looks to be a snowy mess. Of course, seeing we haven't had snow all year yet, has to do it today.

I will have more idle time come the new year as I'll be dropping the kids off at school and hanging around town most days as it's a half hour drive back home and Ben Ben only has school for three hours. I'll hit the gym and surf the webs in the morning. That's my current plan. Happy New Year. Hope to have internet when we move, but for sure by the end of next week.

Funny Things Heard in a Meeting

I've been attending a WW meeting as a member that last few weeks.  I need to feel accountable to the WW gods and weighing in while I work just hasn't been hacking it.  Tonight, was a very good reminder of the importance of losing weight.  The topic involved not letting the scale dictate your entire week.  I love the leader and this group is one of her smaller meetings, so I do like it.  Her Saturday meetings average over 100 members per meeting, so this 35 member meeting is welcomed by me.

One of the funny quotes of the night came from a returning vacationer: What happens in Vegas, doesn't ALWAYS stay in Vegas! 

The best part of the meeting occurred when a longtime member announced a milestone.  She is a young gal in her early 20's and her ultimate goal was to lose enough weight to become eligible to join the military.  2 years of hard work, and 75 pounds later, she has reached her goal of being able to serve our country.  That was a huge goal that I would never had dreamed of accomplishing.  WTG! It was definitely a touching moment shared by all.

Next week, I'll be shooting for a loss! I've never weighed so late in the day 7:00pm seems like my bedtime, and I've been eating supper before hand as well.  The Halloween candy didn't help at all this week either.

I did get my bodyfat measured again today and even though the weight is not moving much, I have lost a fair amount of bodyfat in the last 25 weeks.  Went from just above 20% bf to just under 19% bf. An improvement, but I gotta work on the weight too.

Time Sure Flies

I've been keeping myself busy and had know idea that it has almost been a month since I checked in here.  Nothing much new happening around these parts.  Here in Wisconsin, we are just riding high rooting for the undefeated Packers and Badgers and cheering our Brewers onto the World Series. 

Last week, in the WW meeting rooms the topic was etools.  It got my butt remotivated to get online and track.  I've honestly tracked since Saturday, which is the first time I've tracked 5 days straight for a while. 

Our house went up on the market 2 1/2 weeks ago and we haven't had anyone look through.  Fine by me, we have a nice clean house now and the kids have been keeping it pretty tidy.

Everyone is off school today and tomorrow, I went to an early spin class and tomorrow we're heading to the gym to go swimming.  We haven't done that for over a month, so it is about time.

Hoping for a good weekend, our annual Weight Watcher recognition day is Sunday and we get the lowdown on any changes for the coming year, so I'm looking forward to the day.

Have a great weekend!

For Sale

No News is good news: I've been doing fine eating wise, exercise wise, etc.  I realize it's usually not that way in the healthy blogging world.  Usually, if someone doesn't blog for a few weeks, it means that they are struggling. 

I'm doing fine!  I went to the doctor a little over a week ago to obtain an updated goal of 205.  Even though this is higher than I'd like, I know it is maintainable for the long haul.  I can always stay below it and no harm, no foul.  First, I need to get to it.  I was 207.6 today, so it's close.

We have been cleaning out our house like madmen lately.  Last week, we contacted a realtor and got started on selling our house.  By the end of this week, it should be on the market.  It's tough to keep up with four kids messes and the messes of the Mommy and Daddy too.  I'm trying.  Tomorrow, the carpets will be cleaned and then we'll be good to go.  My basement has never looked so clean.  I've rid the basement of an old water heater, two old bathtubs, an old safe and lots of other assorted "stuff."  There is so much room in my basement now!  It's amazing.  We found an awesome house in a location we would like to live yesterday, but we'll see if our house has any takers first.

Actually, I haven't been hungry as of late, I've been busy keeping everything clean and put in it's place.  Eating is just one of the activities that I like to do when I have nothing better to do.  Now, I have something better to do.

Stay well. 

HAPPY LABOR DAY! Now Get to Work!

Today is Labor Day.  The gym has had special Labor Day hours this weekend.  I usually don't go to the gym on the weekend unless I've missed a day throughout the week.  However, today is an extended weekend and I didn't track so much this weekend, so off to the gym it was.  I was amazed at the number of "regulars" who had come to work out on the holiday ,but it's their routine, their WORK!  Everyday workday these same gymrats are there and today I was no different. 

Happy Labor Day! I will be enjoying it at home with the family and it is cool outside.  Unfortunately, seems summer is on it's way out the door.

Put the Seat UP!!

I've been home with the boys going on 3 years.  In that time, I've always kept the toilet seat up during the day and tried to put it down after school.  It's an easy habit for me to remember, I really don't mind putting it down.  We're an equal household~3 boys, 3 girls, so really we shouldn't worry about this should we?  Yes we should!  The boys are slobs, plain and simple.  They are lucky to make it to the bathroom and when the do, their aim is not always the best.  To top it off, they rarely put the seat UP!!  This means that I am always watching the bathroom first to make sure the toilet is flushed, second to make sure the toilet seat is clean and dry.  These little boys are not putting the seat up.  I'm not fighting it right now cause frankly, I'm just glad they're making it to the toilet and I don't have to clean up messing throughout the house.

So what's next?  Habit forming. How do I get these boys to go to the bathroom without me pestering them.  Then, how do I get them to put the seat up before taking care of business.  It's a work in progress.

Today, I met with my territory manager for Weight Watchers.  She is fairly new to our territory, but not to Weight Watchers.  She's been around for a long time, just not around Milwaukee, closer to Green Bay.  She's been meeting with all of the WW staff in both of her territories just to touch base and see how we are doing and what our goals are.  I was pleased with our short chat and remotivated to get to a healthy BMI.  She encouraged me to see the doctor to make sure my goal is still appropriate.  I've been lifting more and working out regularly so I know my body composition has definitely changed since the last time I went to the doctor close to 4 years ago.  It's time.