New Do!

After going red yesterday, Andrea took me to get my hair cut.  I'm not very big on the hair cut thing.  Usually, I go in, give the stylist 'free range' with my hair and end up losing 4 inches and getting long layers.  Something I've grown tired of.  Andrea told me (and her husband did as well) that if these guys couldn't find something cute to do with my hair, no one could.  After about 15 minutes of playing with my hair, the stylist decided lots of layers (the shortest being about 3 inches, the longest keeping the length I already had in my hair) and he would teach me how to bring out the waves.  I'm really big into my waves, I like how it looks.  So he taught me how to diffuse my hair and put waves in it.  Which I LOVE.  Here are a few pics:

The Front:

The Back:

Andrea and I together:

Aaron has a love for making funny faces.  He and Andrea had a 'face off'

Aaron's:

Andrea's:

I think Andrea won.  Aaron screamed 'Monster' when he saw it.

Another interesting bit, when Andrea and I got in the car the odometer read 666.6.  Of course, we just had to take a picture of it!  Cause we're dorky like that.

I'm a red head!

Okay, not really.  But for a little while I am.

I got Andrea to dye my hair yesterday.  We took pictures, but they aren't a good representation of what my hair looks like.  Its actually much darker than the photo.  Nearly purple it's so red.  But I like it.  What do you think?

Before:

After:

Tastes Like Armpit, Don't It?

Andrea and I got away from the kids last night by going out to dinner.  I have been craving a shrimp po' boy from last time when I came, so we went to Times Bar and Grill.  Awesome place.  It's a small franchise and this branch is located in an old train station.  Halfway through our meal, a train rumbled by.

We picked the perfect night to go out.  Ladies night!  We weren't planning on drinking, but after our meal we sat down at the bar and decided to have a free drink.  I asked for a dreamsicle flavored drink.  Well, the bartender has Thursdays off and the substitute has no clue how to tend bar.  Basically, she filled a tea glass up with vanilla vodka and splashed some orange flavoring over it.  I was tipsy after one and really close to wasted after two.

As we were sitting at the bar, a 'regular' was sitting next to us, eating cajun flavored trail mix.  The bartender dumped out the mix and added some more to the glass while the getting-drunker-by-the-minute man protested.  He said he was enjoying eating the crumbs, even if some of them tasted like arm pit...

What?

Apparently, our surprise at what he said meant 'interested' to him and he spent about 10 minutes trying to get us to taste the 'armpit crunchies.'  Andrea sniffed one of them and he thought she ate it.  That's when he said the words "Tastes like armpits, don't it?"  Umm, no.  Like she's going to eat something that tastes like armpits.

4.5 Defining Moments

Some friends and I decided to take Uppercase Woman's blog challenge.  The challenge?  The 5 most defining moments of your life.

Since I can't put these in order of most importance, I'll keep them chronological.  I guess that's the easiest way.

1) My Parents Divorce.

Usually, this would be a cause of much sadness in a child.  I was 14 when it happened and was relieved.  I wasn't stupid, I could see things weren't working.  And they took it out on us.  When my dad finally told us our mom was leaving for good he broke down and cried.  So did my sisters.  I on the other hand sat stone-faced.  I knew it was coming and the only reason I wanted to cry was because I was happy.  I was tired of all the yelling and all the anger in our house.  My parents didn't love each other and even at my young age, I could tell.  In all the years they were married, I can't remember seeing them kiss.  Holding hands and touching was forced.  I wouldn't be surprised if they only did have sex three times, each resulting in the conceiving of a child.

As much as this event made me happy, it quickly turned things bad in our house.  Because of all the anger my dad had towards my mom for leaving, he would go into 'rages'.  And take that out on us.  I remember him telling me and my little sister that if he killed himself, it was because of us.  It was horrible living with him.  I began to resent my mother for leaving.  Not for leaving us, but for leaving us with him.  My older sister really did hate my mom.  Started telling my dad stories about her, saying she moved in with her boyfriend and that's why she left my dad, to be with a boyfriend.  She lived in her car at the time.  That's how bad she wanted to get away from him.  She lived in a car in the Summer in South Carolina.  But my dad believed my sister and told us that my mom was a whore and many other things that weren't true.  it was a really fucked up time in my life and I still have issues because of it all.

2)A Story About a Boy and a Girl

Once upon a time, there was a girl who really liked a boy named 'J'.  She flirted with 'J' every chance she got.  'J' had a best friend named 'A' who was also friends with the girl.  One night, at an overnight party for Civil Air Patrol, which both 'J' and 'A' were in along with the girl, one of the younger cadets decided that playing hide and seek on their instructors 50 acre farm would be fun.  Being safety minded, the oldest at the party, the girl, suggested they pair up so that if something happened while they were in the woods, there would be someone who would know about it and could get help.  The girl, knowing that if she went off with 'J' she might say something stupid or do something dumb to screw up their chance of a relationship chose to hide with 'A'.  'A' took her choice as a sign and the moment they were hidden, started trying to kiss her.  The girl freaked out a bit, told him to stop, which made him mad at her.  He pushed her down and started pulling off her clothes.  The girl was mortified because if she screamed or made any loud noises, the 'Seekers', a pair of 12 yr old boys, would know where they were and would find them, possibly seeing what was happening.  Instead, she slapped at him and then kept saying his name and that she would tell if he didn't stop.  Something worked and he stopped.  She told him that she wouldn't tell anyone what happened as long as he stayed away from her.  When they went back to the house and were asked why they were both so dirty, she told the instructor that they had tripped and fallen down one of the hills, getting dirty.  She could tell that he knew better, but didn't say anything to her about it.

The story should have ended there and probably wouldn't have been such a large part of my life if it had.  But it didn't.  'A' spent the next week telling all of our mutual friends, 'J' included that we had sex and that it was bad.  He told everyone that we both knew that I was a slut and that i had thrown myself at him.  It took his little sister asking me what happened, nearly a month later for me to tell the truth.  'A' came on to me, when I told him no, he tried to rape me and when I put a stop to that, his ego was so hurt he decided to hurt me.  We both had a lot of mutual friends, so believed me, some believe him.  By this time, I was dating 'J'.  When I told him the truth he got mad, threatened his friend, then they did that 'buddy-buddy' thing and made up weeks later.  I on the other hand had a really hard time with it.  For years after, I had nightmares.  It took me a while before I could sleep in the same bed with another guy without waking up screaming.  I also felt guilty for not telling anyone when it happened.  About a year later, 'A' did something similar to another girl and again, people believed what he said.  I still feel guilty about it and I still have nightmares about it.  I think in a large part, it was the betrayal by a supposed friend that hurt the most.  If it had been a stranger, I would have probably been able to handle it better.  

3) Joining The Navy

I'm not going to lie, I cried when I took the oath.  It was a huge thing to me.  I had signed the paperwork when I was 17 and needed my dad's permission.  He asked me "What are you going to do if I say no?"  His girlfriend looked at him and said "She'll do it when she's 18 and hate you for the rest of her life all because you wanted her to wait 3 months".  Which was right.  

The Navy was the first thing in my life I did that made since.  I had wanted to be in the military for as long as I could have dreams to be an adult.  I loved the Navy.  I felt like I belonged and what I was doing was for the greater good.  The military is a family.  Imagine having over 100 thousand brothers and sisters, all who would risk their lives to save you.  It was the family I was missing in my life.

I cried when I realized I would be getting out as well.  Nick was in and I didn't want my kids to have parents constantly leaving.  If I stayed in as well, Nick and I would be on alternating sea to shore rotations, one of us leaving every year or so for six months at a time.  I didn't want to do that to my kids.  So I got out.  

4) Having Kids.

Yep, it's true, 'Having a Baby changes everything'.  I never really wanted kids.  But not wanting them doesn't keep you from getting pregnant.  Now that I have them, I wouldn't give them back (well, except during the temper-tantrums.  Ask me then and my answer might change)  I've never been a party person, so having kids didn't change my social life that much.  But it has changed just about every other part of my life.  I realize it's not all about me anymore, my life is about my kids and their needs before it's about mine.  I also enjoy watching them change and grow.  This is an ongoing thing, which provides loads of entertainment.

5) To be written later

I'm only 26.  While many things have happened in my life already, there have only been four that I would consider 'defining'.  I could use my #5 for 'getting married' but I don't see my husband as a definition of me, more like an extension of me.

I think I'll save this one for when my kids get married or go off to college.

Friday Feast #195 (My #2)

Friday feast time.

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live?

Where I live, it's a high of 91 with chance of thunderstorms.  Were I'm staying, it's pretty much the same.  The TX/LA part of the gulf is weird like that, they have just about the same type of weather, even though it's a 9 hour drive through them.

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you?

Right now?  A 0.  I'm a SAHM right now, so a career is the last thing on my mind.

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.?

We have blinds and curtains.  We live in an apartment and I hate the damn blinds.  The kids are always tearing them up.  Once we get a house, no more blinds.  Especially not in kids' rooms.

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up.

The song 'Hey Ya'.  Sorry, but no one can be sad listening to that funky beat.  Oh, and kittens.  Kittens cheer me up.  My daughter screaming "mommie" as loud as she can because I know that means she wants a hug.  And my son, saying he wants a snuggle.

Well, that's 4 somethings.

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning?

Not at all.  During the school year, I set the alarm to right when I need to get up and as soon as it goes off, I jump up and take a shower.  During the summer, No alarm, so no snooze.

Friday Feast #194 (#1 for Me)

Cathy sent a link to a blog prompt called 'Friday Feast'  The prompt is on Feast 194, but since I've just started, this is my first.

Appetizer

If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?

I would love to live in Asia.  Backpacking through Asia, seeing all the different cultures, all the different people would be amazing.  Of course, I'd probably spend more than a fair amount of time in Japan, it being one of my dream countries to visit.  But I'd also love to see China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines and all the other countries of the area.  Asia has some of the most beautiful scenery, and some of the most interesting history.  It'd be nice to see it first hand.

Soup

Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?

Mostly Safari, but when things don't function properly on it, I'll switch to Firefox.

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?

I'd like to think I'm a 5.  I know a lot, but would probably have to be prompted to remember it.  I'd probably rock a multiple choice quiz, but fail the essay portion.

Main Course

Finish this sentence:  Love is…

Eternal.  Even when someone breaks your heart, you still love them.  But you're so angry at yourself for being fooled, for being hurt that you turn that love into a negative feeling.  If you didn't love them so much, you could never feel that anger towards them.

Dessert

Have you ever been in or near a tornado?

No, but I've been in a hurricane and an earthquake.  About 2 years ago, a tornado passed right by my dad's house.  The house I'd lived in for 10 yrs of my life, on the land I had know for since I was two.  It's amazing the selective damage a tornado can do.

Bowling!

Tonight, Andrea and I got the great idea to go bowling.  Neither of us are very good.  I haven't bowled in years (nick is an expert bowler from his childhood days and I don't want to compete with that).  While picking out the perfect ball (which took about 15 min.) I told Andrea the story of Nick's Best Friend who lost his finger in a freak bowling accident.  According to Best Friend, the ball got stuck to his finger and when he threw it, popped his ring finger right off, at the knuckle.  After that, all small-holed balls were described as 'the nub' and were feared by us.

Here are a few pics from the night.

We're so awesome.

At the end of the night, Andrea ended up beating me by less than 10 points.  BUT, she got 2 strikes and I only got one, so I was more consistent in my suckiness than she was.

Afterwards, we went to get daiquiris.  I have to admit, I love Louisiana.  Many other states have drive through alcohol shops.  They give you the daiquiris in a sealed cup that you open when you get home.  Get pulled over with the seal broken and it's a driving with an open container.  Not Louisiana.  It's a Styrofoam cup with a lid on it.  And a place with a straw.  The only rule in  LA is that the straw cannot be in the lid if you get pulled over.  But anyone can pop off the lid and take a few gulps from it.  And that's why I love LA.  Like any state in the union, driving while drinking is frowned upon, but here, they only make it a little inconvenient.  I wonder what the stats on the DUIs and DWIs is.

Hello from Slidell!

Hi!  So, as some of you know, I got to Slidell okay.  The drive was longer than I remember.  It's only 9 hrs but I took nearly 10.  Last time, I did it in 8.  One thing that didn't help is that the kids wanted to take an hour to eat their lunch.  An hour.  For 1/2 a pack of french fries in the McDonalds Happy Meal!  Towards the end of their meal, I was laying with my head on the table, taking a nap.  Also, there was construction on I-10 in Houston.  A normally 3 lane road taken down to just one.  We were crawling.

Add to that the fact there was a wreck on the other side of the interstate at one point and everyone had to stop to look, plus the 50 horses that people were riding, that again, everyone had to look, it took an hour and a half longer than I had planned.

Three of Andrea's six kids, the older three, are staying with family, so the house is realitively empty.  And also, we're able to go places.  Her van only holds 8, so with all the kids here, we're taking two cars.  Yesterday, my first full day here, we decided to go to the mall.  I've been needing some new tennis shoes and since I can't make decisions on my own, Andrea helped me pick them out.

Also, we found another shoe store that was having a great sale and I picked up some cute red heels for only $7.

And, I've been wanting a pair of sunglasses, but since I hate my nose, I had Andrea there to help me out.

Who doesn't love 'buy one get one free'?

We've decided that living far apart is probably a good thing, we both spend way too much money when we're together.

Today, we just took the kids to the park and let them play for a few hours. Also, we stopped and bought them a kiddy pool and a sprinkler to keep them entertained while they're outside.

We don't really have plans to do much during the week. We have 5 kids here and Ray (her DH) doesn't get home until late, so there's not a lot we can do. But this weekend, we have plans to go out drinking and to go to the French Quarter in New Orleans so I can take pictures. I'm so doing the touristy thing. We're also hoping to meet up with Cajungal from Maya's Mom. She lives about an hour from Andrea and they've never met. Should be fun to meet someone I've been talking to for so long.

Well, that's all in the way of an update. Sorry we're not more exciting. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures later to post and more exciting stuff, but for now we're being boring and just enjoying each other's company.

Today, my in-laws came and took the kids swimming.  Two years ago, Aaron was all about the water.  During the summer, I'd take him two or three times a week and he'd have so much fun.  Last year, we only went once and he screamed and cried the whole time.  This year, it started out the same.  Screaming and crying.  But after about thirty minutes of forcing him in the water, he was splashing and playing like his old self.

Zuri on the other hand hasn't allowed her near drowning last March (she fell in my Dad's pond) put a damper on her love for the water.  As soon as she saw the pool she was excited and couldn't wait to play.  Also, we got her counting to three and then jumping in.

A few pictures from the day:

Aaron waiting to get in the pool

Zuri with Grandpa

Aaron swimming

Zuri relaxing in her floaty

In other news:

Nick is past the halfway mark of his deployment to Bahrain. Today, the OIC (Officer in Charge) asked Nick to be grill master for the command BBQ they were having. This is a big deal to Nick, he loves to grill and getting to cook for 100 of his co-workers makes him super excited. He also got to meet Hinder last week (he has pictures, but the wi-fi signal isn't allowing us to file transfer)which was really exciting for him. He's enjoying what he does out there. It's a lot of work, but that's why he joined the Navy, to work. Also, he's lost over 30lbs so far. Sitting in over 100 degree weather all day will do that to you. Practically melts the fat right off you.

I leave tomorrow morning for Slidell. It's a 9 hour drive with two kids. Sounds like fun. I was originally only going to be gone for one week, but since my MIL is quitting her job on the 3rd, I figured I'd wait until then to come back. The plan is to drop Aaron off with her for two weeks, giving me a break of sorts and allowing him to have time as the 'only child', something that he's been missing since his sister came along.

That's all for now. I hope to stay caught up with my friends while I'm gone.

26 Things, Photos From A-Z

I'm doing a photo challenge type blog with a few of my friends.  The challenge is to take photos of things, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

So, here's my entry:

A is for Aaron

B is for Buddha Statue

C is for Candle

D is for Doll

E is for Envelopes

F is for Fan

G is for Guitar

H is for Hat

I is for Ice Cream Sandwich

J is for Juice

K is for Knives

L is for Lamp

M is for Magazines

N is for New York Yankees

O is for Ottoman

P is for Piggy Bank

Q is for Q-Tips

R is for Ring

S is for Soccer Ball

T is for Tokens

U is for Umbrellas

V is for Vase

W is for Watch

X is for X-Mas Kitty (I know, it's stretching it.)

Y is for Yukata

Z is for Zuri

My husband finds me boring

After being gone for 3 months and talking everyday, N. has decided I'm 'boring' and that he doesn't want to talk to me but ever other day, at the most.  

Wow.  I find that funny.  I told him in the beginning when he was super excited about the fact we could talk via messenger this deployment that it'd get boring.  That we'd run out of things to talk about.  He blew me off, saying 'We love each other, we should talk everyday and we can do a web cam to keep it interesting.'  The daily chats are fine, if you're exciting.  But I'm not.  Somedays, I take the kids places and have cute stories to tell him but most days, we chill here or we go out to the park and nothing interesting happens.  I can't help that, I can't make funny things happen.  I can't fill my life with drama.  

But N. thinks I should.  I guess we're here for his entertainment, his amusement.  After 40 minutes of sitting on the computer, staring at each other on web cam, he announces "Okay, I'm not talking to you anymore, you're boring.  Ping me if anything interesting happens."

I'm thinking it's going to be a while before I send out that next ping.

It has begun.

Z has been carrying around a toy with a handle like a purse for a while now.  She's been putting stuff inside it and treating it like it's her purse.  Really cute.  I gave her one of my old purses, just to see what she'd so with it.  Then, she grabbed a toy cell phone a pretended to talk on it.  I thought it was really cute, monkey see, monkey do.

Day 26; The gym and the aquarium

I got to the gym again today.  A was actually good at the kid's place and behaved like the perfect little gentleman he should be. (yeah, right).  Since I'm going to Slidell, LA in less than a week, I have to get my gym time in now.  Even if I wanted to transfer my membership while I'm there, I can't.  There are no Gold's in all of L.A..  I'm hoping I'll be able to get some sort of physical activity going on while I'm there.  Probably will mostly be walking with the kids at the part and shopping, but that's still better than sitting on my ass.

After we did the gym thing, we did the aquarium thing.  I paid for the membership so we're going to be going a lot this summer.  One of the perks is that you don't have to wait in line. They scan your card and give you a parking token and you're on your way.  Well, not today for me.  I get to the counter and there's only one chick working and she's trying to sign someone up for membership.  I waited 5 min.  Doesn't sound too long, except when you have an anxious 5 yr old screaming 'I wanna see the fishies!!!'  So, I went in the 'commoner's line'.  And she tried to refuse to help me.  Said I had to stand in the members line.  I told her that was ridiculous because one of the 'benefits' to the membership is not having to wait, but people who were walking in the door were getting to go right in, while I had to stand in line.  I asked 'Is it really a big deal to scan me here instead of there?'  They had a scanner, so I don't see the difference.  Finally, the other chick scanned me in and gave me a parking token.  If the regular line was busy, I could understand it, but there was no one in line and all they were doing was giggling about the hottie who walked in before me.  I want my perks damn it!  I don't want to wait 15 min while some old dude and his wife discuss whether they should add their college age son on the membership or not, whether it's worth the extra $15 to put his name on there.  Especially not with a 5 yr old who'd been promised the aquarium for a week now and damn it, mommy better deliver.

A longer intro about me

This is a more 'formal' introduction to me.  Mostly because I realize some people who don't yet know me might happen upon my blog and want to know about me.

I'm a 26 yr old mother of 2 and wife to one.  My kids are 5 and 1 1/2.  My husband is in the Navy and we've been together for 6 1/2 yrs now.  No pets, but that's because they either die or run away.

I am a SAHM which to some people sounds peachy, but when you realize I spend 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week with my kids, it doesn't sound that great.  Yes, I love them very much, but sometimes, I'd like to speak to someone who doesn't scream at me when spongebob doesn't magically appear on the TV.  Being that my husband is military, I have a limited amount of time with him and his help with the kids is based on whether or not he's in town.

I maintain what little sanity I have by playing games online and talking to friends and family via instant messenger. 

I started my online social interaction on a 'mommy site'.  Which is actually, if you're a mom, a good place to start.  You can get advice, give help to new moms if you're a veteran and someone's always posting something to brighten your day.  Lately though, I feel like doing more with my online writing and that's why I started my blog.  It is also a way for me to keep up with friends who are either no longer on the site or who don't have time to get on as much but still want to know what's going on.

Another bit of information about me...

I'm over weight.  I'm trying to fix this.  In April I got a gym membership to Gold's Gym and have been working really hard to lose the extra pounds.  So far, Since I started, I've lost 15 pounds total.  Hopefully, by the time my gym membership is up (two yrs) I'll have lost the weight I want to lose and will once again be able to wear the clothes I like.

Instead of feeding this into my journal on the parenting site I was on, I plan on keeping these separate.  But I will be bringing some things from other there to here, mostly so I can keep the things I really want together in one place.  Mostly my 'gym journal' but maybe a few other things.  So if you see any duplicates, that's why.

Startin' a 'Blog-thingy'

Well, this is my first official blog post.  Sure, I've 'blogged' on myspace and kept a journal on www.mayasmom.com, but this is my first attempt at real blogging.

The hardest part is picking a name.  Who knew?  I sat at my computer for about 20 minutes trying to think of something interesting, but still me.  I've developed an online persona known to many as Noodleio.  Nicknamed 'noodles', 'noods', and 'the noodle'.  Since many people have come to know (and love... well tolerate) me as 'noodle', I thought putting that in my blog title would be a good idea.  

And so now, I give you 'Twisted Noodles', because sometimes what comes out of my head is a little off.

Day 25; Weight Loss and a Heart Attack (MM)

I got to the gym again today.  I managed to get a full workout in without any interruptions.  Yay.  

Then, I went to pick Z up from the kids' center.  I walked in, expecting her to be watching TV.  She wasn't.  And she wasn't playing with the babies by the tables.  And she wasn't hiding in the bathroom.  The care giver looked up in the slide and called Z's name, saying "mama's here" Nothing.  I started to get a little freaked.  They take IDs and make sure your child doesn't just walk out, but the older kids are constantly opening and closing the 1/2 door to the waiting area and a baby could just sneak out and get out the main door.  I'm about 5 seconds from yelling at them when one of them crawls up into the slide and finds Z, sitting in the bend, chilling.  We got her to go down the slide and all was well.  I was really surprised she even went up there, she's very adamant about her feet not getting too far off the ground.  And she's also scared of all the big kids climbing everywhere.

Oh, I've also lost MORE weight.  I'm down 15lbs from when N left :)  Yay!

Day 24; Waiting list

I kept A from school today and took him with me and Z to the gym.  i get there and in the entrance to the kids' area, there is a line.  A waiting list to put them in child care!  I wait about 15min and get them in there, jazzed up to get on with my workout.

I stretch and get on the bike for my warm up.  About 8 min into it, the child care lady comes to get me, A is flipping out.  Since he's learned how to talk, we haven't had this issue, but something set him off.  And he was having a major melt down.  Screaming, trying to climb over the door, crying "Why did you leave me?" over and over again.  I have no clue what happened, but he reverted big time.  I got him calmed down and we went out to lunch.

I don't know how I'm going to make this work during the summer until my MIL can come and take him to her house.  School is over on Friday and MIL can't/won't take Aaron until mid-July.  That's nearly a month of trying to find something to keep him occupied at the child care center.

Day 23; feeling good and swimsuit body (or close enough)

I went to the gym again today.  Yay.  Only Wednesday and I've gone 3 days this week.  I've been having really good workouts.  Feeling good, having energy after.  Yesterday, I was cleaning upstairs when I'd normally be sitting on the couch, watching TV.  In fact, outside of what I've been watching in bed to help me fall asleep at night, I've probably only watch an hour of TV a day at the most.  Instead, I've been reorganizing pantries, cleaning out drawers and digging through closets.  I already have 3 bags of stuff to donate and have thrown out 2 bags of trash.  Another weird thing, I get full really quick now.  Before, I would be able to eat two sushi rolls and still be hungry.  Now, one fills me up and I'm still not all that hungry when dinner time comes.  One piece of Pizza is all I need as well.  I remember when I was eating a 1/2 a large pizza all by myself and drinking 2 cups of soda with it.  EW, I was so gross.  Because I don't want to screw up my progress, my brain actually tells me to stop eating, before I feel like I'm going to pop.

Speaking of progress...

I got my body fat done today.  I've lost nearly 2% body fat!  Yay.  Also, I realized that while I've only lost 7 lbs since I've started working out, I've actually lost 10lbs since Nick left.  3lbs melted off while I was doing all that family crap the first month.  So I'm counting this as my 10lb mark.  My long term goal is 150.  Hopefully before my gym membership is up, a 2 yr membership, I'll be down to that.  Right now, my short term goal is 180.  I want to be 180 before it's too cold to wear a swim suit anymore, which is around OCT down here.  Not that I think I'll wear a swim suit.  But it'd be nice to have the option.

Day 22; Mindless TV and Boobies

Feel the burn baby!  I had a great day at the gym today.  I think I'm going to keep using the ellipticals with the TVs in them.  I hardly notice the time passing while I'm watching Spongebob.  Mindless TV keeps my brain distracted.  

I treated myself to new workout pants and sports bras.  I noticed my boobies are jiggling way too much and it's probably because my sports bras are falling apart, not because they're so big.  Also, the only thing that I've noticed to get smaller has been my chest!  How sucky is that?  I know, it's one of the first places the fat comes from, but I'm not all that big to begin with.  I was hoping as I lost weight I'd be able to keep some of my post baby size, but it looks like if I get skinny again, I'll be back to pre-teen boy tits :(.  Not fair.  Oh well, I guess If I get small enough, I can get some fake ones put in.  I'm not opposed to plastic surgery if you've worked hard to get yourself looking better but nature needs a little help.  I'm only opposed to taking the easy way out and getting stuff stapled, tucked, sucked or cut off just because you don't wanna try.

Day 21; Weight loss and Coupons

I lost almost 2 more lbs!  In the last 2 weeks, even with missing a whole week of the gym, I lost nearly 2 lbs!  I was scared to get on the scale, but figured the plus sign in my gym journal would be a motivator to work harder this week.  Instead, I got a different kind of motivation!  I'm losing even while being lazy, so imagine what I can do when I'm actually working out!  Since the great house hunt is over, I can commit fully to my work out and maybe lose a good amount before N gets home.  Yay!

I also had to go upstairs to do my cardio.  There are only 2 Elliptical machines in the Lady's area, so I had to hunt down a new one.  The one's upstairs have their own TVs on them!  I watched Sponge Bob while listening to my iPod.  There wasn't much else on and since I know nearly every episode, I could practically say the words along with it.  Thanks A!  I wasn't even tired when I was done and I burned more calories than ever in 30 min!  A great, great day at the gym.

I also went to the post office afterwards, to mail Leesmommy some coupons.  Because she's military and stationed overseas, she is allowed to use expired coupons at the commissary for up to 6 months after they've expired!  Want to help out a military family?  Send them the coupons you don't use out of your Sunday paper (really, what's a few more snips?) or the coupons that expired while you weren't looking.  Sending them to one person in a large package is cheap, I just sent about 100 coupons or more priority and it only cost $5.  That person can take them to spousal meetings and distribute them among the shoppers.  If you need an address, ask in the military spouses group, I'm sure a few of them will gladly volunteer their addresses.