Tragedy

Finally, a long overdue maintenance day. I managed to weasel out of the house shortly after My Baby's Daddy headed out to Cracker Barrel with both boys (God bless him!) for their traditional Saturday morning Man Breakfast. Floating on the promise of a day of freedom, I headed to the gym. Because even though my nature is best suited to a day of luxury and pampering, my ass needs me to get on the treadmill twice a day until swimsuit season. And truly, once I get in the groove I do enjoy working out. I also enjoy buying smaller clothes. So there.

After the gym (and requisite bottled water consumption), my next stop was Sonic for a heavenly 44 ounce diet coke with fresh squeezed lime. It's a good day to be me.

Until.

I signed in at the pedicure place & started looking around for Misty. A cute and sweet little Asian Monet, Misty has been responsible for such masterpieces as the snowmen on my big toes for Christmas, and the blingy rhinestone daisies I sported at the beach last year. But honestly, I was kind of over the whole artistic factor & was going to have my French pedi converted into some good old traditional OPI in a fabulous shade of red. Sure, anyone can do a plain old pedicure, but I would totally ask that girl to marry me for her massage techniques.

Me: Is Misty not here today? (unheard of on Saturday a.m.)

Cute little Asian guy who always remembers my name: Misty is gone.

Me: Well, when will she be back?

Cute Asian guy: She's gone...she had to move to Atlanta with her husband's job.

Me: (On the floor, crying) Noooooooooo! She can't leave me!!!!

Cute Asian guy: We'll take care of you, I promise.

Me: Sniff.

Though the leg and foot massage wasn't Misty-caliber, I have to confess, my nails are indeed fabulous. I hope it stays warm so I can wear flip flops. I loooooove flip-flops. And being barefoot. And summer. I'm ready for spring.

After the pedicure, I hit the tanning bed which was also blissful. Came home, took a bath, and am already lounging in my pjs.

AND Fat Baby & I are flying solo tonight...so if I can sedate him, it will be blogs, books, and early bedtime!

Valentine's Day and the Future MILF

I really am not a big fan of VD. Basically, it just adds a few more things to my already too long to-do list. Buy the kids a treat, chocolate goodies for My Baby's Daddy & Pop, parties at the kids' schools, a little gift for their teachers, cards & treats for classmates, and the obligatory sex for the husband...and so it goes. Tomorrow night The President has karate and I have Weight Watchers (happy freakin' chocolate whore holiday to me!) so the festivities will be....um, not happening. I I love to buy gifts and chocolates, and do enjoy an occasional round of bow chicka wow wow....but, geez the pressure of it all! And on a school night!

In other news...the year of "I've got to take care of myself or I'll be dead in six months" is still moving right along. Since I started back to Weight Watchers (January 8th), I've lost 11 pounds. I did not, however, get to the gym one single time this week and weigh-in is tomorrow night. I could sneak in an a.m. workout...maybe, but I do have the whole VD party thing to contend with.

I've started getting my tan on...so when the winter clothes start to come off, I won't be shockingly pasty. And until I reach my goal weight, brown fat looks way better than white fat.

I haven't been very consistent about posting about my weight loss efforts since I signed on with Lotta as a "Future MILF." But, I know the support helps me and maybe someone could use a tip that I have learned in this never-ending process. Here are a some of my favorite new discoveries:

Flatout wraps---only 1 point! Great for making rolled sandwiches. I like to get the light whole-grain wraps and fill with hummus, chopped rotisserie chicken (no skin), roasted red peppers, baby spinach and a little feta cheese. It's really good and totally a treat for lunch.

My new favorite favorite things are Fiber One bars. They have 9 grams of fiber (35% of your daily value). These are only two points, delicious, and really big. It's almost like having a candy bar!

Ziploc Steamer Bags are fantastic. They steam vegetables perfectly, and there is absolutely no mess to clean up! They come with some yummy, healthy recipe ideas, too.

Please let me know what works for you...it gets so boring doing the same things all the time.

And even though I'm not a fan of the VDay hype...you know how much I love you!

What's New in the New Year?

My attitude, for one! 2007 was really difficult for me. A lot of stuff happened, and a lot more happened that I did not even begin to address on the blog. Maybe someday, but not now. Bottom line is, sometimes blessings don't come easy. I've been given a lot of responsibilities, and like most women, I completely neglected to take care of myself. I'm sure that it showed by the end of the year.

Knowing I had to do something, I've started the new year off making myself a priority. I started back to Weight Watchers (lost 4.5 pounds last week!), going to the gym at least three times a week, and taking a little time off every now and then. I've been able to ask for help (which is completely out of character) and accept help when it's been offered (even more out of character). If I'm falling apart, I'm no good to anyone else. When I get totally hawt, I'm sure I won't be able to resist posting a picture. I lost 60 pounds after Fat Baby was born on WW, so I'm pretty confident in my ability to follow the program.

The new year finds us on a pretty tight schedule. I don't mind too much, because I really function better with maximum structure. Fat Baby is in preschool three days a week (hooray for preschool!). The President is taking karate two nights a week, and I have Weight Watchers one of those nights. I am working in the grant office one day a week (and occasionally more as needed). My dad & I are going to the gym together a couple of times each week, as well. My Baby's Daddy has his regular, full-time sales job and a evening/ week-end real estate job that is his passion. And we all sit down to a healthy, homecooked meal together every night except Thursday. (I am totally not kidding about that--it is very important to me...and Pop helps with the cooking sometimes).

I'll leave you (breaking my last-year rule of no kid pictures) with this image of our last day of Christmas vacation. It goes without saying that Fat Baby was ready for some structure, too!