Buckling down

How was your Easter/Passover/just normal weekend? Mine was excellent! I’m thinking a Wednesday photo post is in order, and I can even do it as Instagram since they’ve released it for Android!

But for today, this is what’s on my mind. I have been horribly lax about my weight/ exercise goals this year. I haven’t been running (I ran two 5ks on no training –not good), and while I have been doing weights I’m not nearly as dedicated as I should be. I’m eating terribly, drinking soda nearly daily and hardly any water. I don’t know how I haven’t gained a ton of weight (maybe a couple pounds) but I’m certainly not in as good of shape as I was for awhile there.

So now I’m back on the horse. Weight training four days a week. Running 3 days a week. SOME sort of physical activity 7 days a week (gardening, bike riding with the kids etc). No soda, and 60 oz of water a day. Stairs at work (I’m only on the third floor; this really shouldn’t even need to be addressed, and yet it does). Alcohol no more than two times a week (I was getting used to an evening beer or glass of wine far too often). No candy, and keep a lower calorie sweet treat in the freezer for when I need a bite at night.

I’m not restricting my actual food except to be more cognizant of what goes in my belly. That is usually enough for me to make reasonable choices, and if I restrict myself too much I fall off the wagon that much quicker.

So we're going to ignore the 5 jelly beans I ate on the drive to work (what? They were in my purse and I didn’t want them to melt in there!) and say that so far today I had a good breakfast, a great weight/core workout on lunch, a reasonable leftovers lunch and I’m about 20 oz into my water goal. I’ve stayed away from the ridiculous amount of candy that my assistant keeps around her desk (okay, I had 4 Robins Eggs, but that’s way better than usual).

One day at a time.

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Wordless wednesday (on Thursday)

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March Books

Besides these books, I also finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I thought it was okay, but I wouldn't really recommend it. I didn't identify or connect with the characters at all, and once I could predict what was going to happen I didn't want to read anymore. I did, but I didn't care about it.

World I Never Made - James Lepore I enjoyed this a lot. It was slightly predictable but fun.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares I needed some light reading.

Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares ditto

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer - Ann Brashares and again

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer - Ann Brashares you know where this is going, right?

Red to Black - Alex Dryden I picked this up at the library because I downloaded the sequel, Moscow Sting, for free and wanted to get to know the characters before I read the second. I haven't finished it yet - it's actually really boring. I don't know if I will finish, or if I'll bother with the second. At least they were both free.

The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides I started this but haven't finished. I'm liking what I've read so far.

Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich More light reading. Not as good as the previous ones, but it's not like it's great literature or anything.

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand This isn't something I ever would have picked up on my own, but I absolutely loved it. Fascinating look at the Pacific POW camps and one man's journey through WW2. Excellent.

Proscrastination? Nah ...

I wrote this post on Wednesday with the intention of posting on Thursday. But then I wanted to add photos and that didn't happen so here we are on Sunday with the same post and no photos. So ... oops!

It annoys me that by this time, there isn’t a snapshot app for the android. I can live without Instagram and Siri, but it makes me sad that I can’t show you funny (or very very terrible, as the case may be) drawings from DrawSomething or strange emails or texts. It’s probably good that I can’t show you when I whoop someone in WWF (no, I’m not going to show you when I get trounced) and Scramble W Friends would never be shown here because I’m TERRRRRRIBLE at it (but still playing). (Oh, and PS – trying to excel at DrawSomething with a broken phone screen is very difficult. I apologize in advance to my opponents for my crappy drawings. Also, I can’t draw).

I don’t know if I said it, but Henry broke my camera on Spencer’s birthday. I wanted to get it fixed (I just bought the darn thing a few months ago!) but it turns out it will cost more to fix than it cost to buy, so now I’m on a mission to get YET ANOTHER camera. I’ve spent the last 7 weeks taking photos and video only with my phone, and while it’s a decent camera there is no flash (which is why I bought the camera in the first place; the flash on the last one broke), it’s not a real camera. There are no artful pictures of my beautiful offspring. There are no pretty pictures of the jasmine that is blooming or the flowers I planted over the weekends.

Last weekend I had another FABULOUS weekend. We started out with a date night where we hit the food court at the mall and people-watched before seeing Hunger Games (I loved it). Saturday we wasted the bulk of the day before my neighbors came over bearing veggie lasagna and then we went to a carnival where my children were plied for the first time with cotton candy and funnel cake and Spencer got an armband and rode every ride he was tall enough to ride a couple times, fished for sharks as his one game he played and then went home exhausted.

Sunday we had lunch with Hubby’s family at the Blue Dog Bistro. We planned on going to Ella’s but there was a TWO HOUR WAIT so … uh, no. Then my dear friend Becky was in town from Delaware so we spent the day being kids and drinking wine and taking funny pictures with Flat Chris-y, a mask of her hubby I made for the occasion since he wouldn’t be here. Throw in slow-cooker pot roast with potatoes and carrots and you have one FANTASTIC weekend.

One so fantastic, in fact, that I felt sick on Monday, came home after 2 hours at work and slept all day. Now THAT is a good weekend.

On to the next one! So far this weekend I had book club Friday night (awesome) and Saturday we drove down to Port Charlotte to watch a spring training game between the Rays and the Red Sox. Today we plan on going baby clothes shopping for a wedding coming up and to Ikea for hanging pots for my yearly attempt at herb growing (I kill them every time, except basil).

Perhaps this week I'll do a photo-only post (Wordless Wednesday?) with the pictures that were supposed to be included in this post. But right now I think I need to investigate some breakfast.

TOT - furniture!

1. Ikea: over-hyped and confusing or genius furniture company? a little bit of both. We have several Ikea pieces and I would love an Ikea kitchen and an Ikea billy-bookcase haven. But if I had the money I wouldn't be above looking into better places.

2. Your favorite interior-decorator-type person wants to makeover one room in your house. Which room do you choose and why? My living room/dining room. I actually like it, but I could use a change and since it's completely done it probably will never never change.

3. Describe the furniture in your childhood bedroom. Did you like it? Where is that furniture now? Oh, god knows. We did not hold onto furniture and it was mostly mismatched crap anyhow.

4. When you’re done with furniture, what do you do with it? Donate it to Goodwill OR Sell it on Craigslist OR Put it by the curb and hope the trash guys take it? A little of everything. If I know someone who needs it, I'll pass it on. If I think I can get some money I'll Craigslist/yard sale it. And otherwise it can hit the curb - we have so many curb shoppers here that nothing is out there more than 10 minutes anyhow.

5. My Pinterest furniture style could best be described as
funky/eclectic
antique/shabby chic
modern/minimalist
so random and varied it’s undefinable
none of the above - I don't pin furniture. Recipes only.

6. Name the most important furniture/toy in a toddler’s playroom. And why? The cars, because I have two boys and that's all they play with no matter what is there.

7. Your parents (or grandparents or other relative) are giving away all their furniture. Which piece do you really want? My dad has this great chest he uses as a coffee table, and I've already put dibs on it.

8. Your biggest furniture buying or home decorating regret? Not changing the tile in the kitchen. One day I'll rectify that.

9. $1000 gift card! Do you want it to Ethan Allen, ikea, Pottery Barn Kids? Only 1k? Ikea. I could do so much more with it.

10. Bunk beds, loft beds, trundle beds, or canopy beds? Bunk beds.

See, I'm not dead!

You know when you stop doing something that was a regular thing, like working out or running or blogging, how it's amazingly difficult to get back into it? Yeah, that's where I'm at with this blog. I love it and enjoy it and miss it ... But look! Blooming jasmine! And kiddie pools! And ... Oh wait, never mind.

But I'm here now, and here's what had happened in a nutshell in the past few weeks: lots of upheaval at work (better now) and crazy fun weekends that I don't want to end.

Have I mentioned that I love this weather? Slightly chilly in the mornings, hot as heck in the afternoon. Shorts and tank tops and swimwear weather. Summer is going to be boiling at this rate (we're 8 degrees hotter than average this year) but I'm going to enjoy it now and mourn the a/c bill in July when it happens.

So the past few weekends we've done seafood festivals and touch-a-truck events and swimming at my in-laws' pool and date night with the neighbors and haircuts (I have short hair now!) And good times. It's been good times.

Henry had not necessarily been a pleasure - he's working hard on his tantrum skills over things like having to wait for his waffle to heat up in the toaster and getting milk when he wanted water. It seems worse than when Spencer was that age, but I really don't know. Things seem to affect him so much more. Teething is still a bear. Tantrums are a pain. But he's such a little personality that I forget about all of it until it actually happens.

And Spencer. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how good he has been, generally. Funny and sweet and such a good brother. four is a good age.

This weekend is heavily planned. Hubs and I are going to dinner and Hunger Games (hold me now, I don't do well with crowded movie theaters). Tomorrow night my neighbors are coming over for dinner. Sunday we are having brunch with Hubs' family and my friend Becky is coming into town from Delaware for the day so I get to be a 12-year old girl around town with her. Good times! Hope your weekend is excellent too!

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Wordless wednesday

Front man spencer and his back up band, Henry.

(ps- I totally plan in beginning to post again)

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