Grumps-ville

The saga continues.

Another day in grumpy town passes after an hour of working out and a trip to the grocery store with mutti and the munches. I can feel the exhaustion kicking off and hopefully after dance class tomorrow I will be back in the sunshine. I have my favorite day of work tomorrow, after 10 days in the office I get to go out to my homes and see the folks I support, and that always makes me feel great, so hopefully tomorrow as a whole will conclude with a Scarlet Ninja, glowing with the moist satisfaction (yeah, I'm going to use this as much as I can now) of a day well spent and an evening of epic and amazing tush shaking (thanks to MrsFatAss for that terminology) 

Horray! tomorrow is Friday! Fidays are good, well usually fridays are good. I have entirely to much to do on the weekends. This weekend beging on friday evening will contain
Zumba,
Leadd Classes
1st birthday of Neice ( and happy B-day to my amazing SIL who I love bunches!!!)
Cleaining out Spare Room
Church
Sunday School
Traing Ride
6 hours of work.

See, this is why i'm so fracking exhausted, I need a vacation from my own damned weekends (grumble, grumble, kick a trashcan, grumble)

Night John Boy...

Funk: The Sequel

So I did workout yesterday,  did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and I made it count, got my heart rate up and kept it there for at least 20 of those minutes. And then I went home and laid on the couch while the munches jumped all over me. The energy boost that typically comes from my workout did not arrive and I felt even more drained then before. Gracious.
Okay, new plan: I am going to work out everyday this week. I have done it before and it helped me jump start when I had stagnated, hopefully the same will happen this time.

I also thought focusing on something positive would help me jump out of funky-town. I tend to see negatives a lot, I find it hard to focus on positive things. So I figured I would turn my tendency toward negs-ville into a way to show how far I have come.

Things I don't
1. I don't eat entire bags of chips. Not that I don't want to, but I no longer need to, and that's kind of huge for me.
2. I don't have closet full of clothes that are too small. I do however have a pile of boxes full of clothes that are too big, WOO-HOO!!!
3. I don't feel ugly everyday, just sometimes when I have very bad hair days, or when I don't realize my pants are too big and need suspenders by the end of the day.
4. I don't hate my swimsuit, I am actually going to love wearing it next summer, it's so cute and only cost $8.00. Of course maybe it won't fit next summer, *gasp* I may have to buy a new one!!! Say it ain't so...
5. I don't despise sweating, I still don't like just sitting around being hot, but the moist satisfaction of knowing I have spent time building muscle and sizzling fat makes me feel pretty great. ( Wow, the words "moist satisfaction" just came out of my brain, that hilarious, I could change it but why, it's funny) 
6. I don't buy XL clothing, nope I don't. HA! I still own XL jammies but they are favorites and i am in the process of altering them cause I love them, plus I like my jammies to be really big and loose.
7. I don't frown at myself in the mirror, well sometimes I do, but not because of the size of my ass anymore. Usually I frown because I have overslept and have to hurry to the office, once I even forgot to change my pants and had to wear my pajama pants at work all day, luckily they were black and knit. Everyone probably thought I was having a fat day or something.
8. I don't have to wear maternity pants. (but I do sometimes, cause damn those things are comfy! and besides they are size 14 maternity pants)
9. I don't hate photos of me, unless Jeeves takes them, that dude has a hard time figuring out how to use our camera, maybe I'll get him an easier to operate one for Christmas.
10. I don't feel like a failure, I am a turtle, I am a duck, I am strong, I can do this, I am not an island, I will stumble, but I am NOT a failure.

Irritating

Can't figure out what the issue is, but I am freaking exhausted. I wake up tired, I go through the day tired, I just want to lie on the floor and sleep for three days. Perhaps my stupidly busy, can't sit still schedule is finally catching up to me.

I thought a few days a the grams house would be the cure for the sloth but nothing wears me out faster than being the only parent within a 100 miles for two days. Being Mommy with no Daddy around really stinks, I like the whole co-parenting thing, I love that I can tell Jeeves my breaking point has been breached and I need a hand. I have crazy respect for any parent going it alone, its tough, really tough.

I skipped out on Zumba last week and didn't work out yesterday. I feel like I'm in a place where if I don't start workoing out again I never will. It's so much easier to just say, "I'll do it later, I'm tired, blah, bleh, blerg!"
Gotta get out from under the funk,
please make me accountable,
tell me to get my ass in gear...

Tell Me Something Good!

Mornin' Folks.

Today I want to talk about days off. It's great to be able to stay in my jammies and snuggle under the grannie quilt on the couch with the munches. (that sentence makes me giggle!) We are going to be heading home soon, and the girls are very anxious to see Jeeves again, they keep telling me how much they miss him, I miss him too. But sometimes it's nice to have a few days to ourselves. Life can get hectic and being apart makes me remember to be nice and appreciate how much he really does for all of us.

Days off are also good for getting your house back on track. When I get home I will workout to get my burst of energy then I will be tackling my spare room that we want to convert into our bedroom to be closer to the munches so maybe they will start sleeping in their room. I need to get them into thier own beds before baby ninja number 3 comes along. Also the spare room has become they weigh station for my moutian of fat clothes, I'll post a picture later of the boxes full of clothes I can't wear anymore, it's kind of epic.

Happy Monday Everyone, Tell Me Something Good!

Feeling Not So Hot

So for my first Hot One hundred challenge post I am not at home and cannot post a recipe with photos because I don't have access to my photos. I will have to add the photo later.

I have not yet had the chance to get down with working out, the walk around the lake didn't happen because after the second piece of ham steak with breakfast this morning I just gave up. I haven't had a day when I went over my maximum calories in over a month, everyone is entitled, right?

The size 14 jeans still slide all the way up but they don't button comfortably yet, I have a very un-attractive cupcake-top when I fasten them. I would call it a muffin top but it really deserves a little more, so the frosting visual is just about right.

My recipe posts will be done through the red-headed stepchild blog, Nellie's CookBook

Marshmallows

Are. The. Devil.

I was out shopping with grandma today and there were flavored marshmallows at IGA. They are delicious and apparently made by Satan.

Boy, was I right about the food at Gram's, I am pleasantly full of yummy dinner and feeling pretty great about it. Also adding to my lovely happy glow is that I have maintained my deficit today. I am done eating and it is sitting nicely at 600 for today. Go Me! (think Hillshire Farms Commercial Go Meat!)

Tomorrow I might not do as well, but there is a lake here and I may go for a long walk around it.
God, I love it here!

and marshmallows are from hell, which is weird since they melt so easily, gotta wonder how that works out?

Wings?!?!

With the exception of a brief period in high school when band camp whipped me into great shape, I have never been "fit girl" I hated working out, it's sweaty, embarrassing, and generally I'd rather stick a pencil in  my eye. Workouts = not fun, right?

Wrong!!!

I LOVE going to the gym now, the sweat running into my eyes during my cardio feels like the hot sting of success. I also feel like the little devil who sits on my left shoulder gets really bored during the workouts so she takes a nap and doesn't bother me as much, so I'm a nicer person.

My most recent reason for loving the gym is that now the horrible flabby arm wings are starting to shrink into slimmer sorta sexy arms. I may never have the razor shoulders that my Zumba instructor bounces around with, but I think I am starting to dig the svelter ninja out from under the cloak of fat, I can feel mucsle in there when i flex now. The baggie full of pudding is no longer attached to my armpit.  WOOT! Seriously though, zumba lady, -tiny- with like creepy thin shoulders, I bet she is no fun to hug, I wouldn't know she scares me too much to try to hug her.

Also in news that doesn't suck. All of the workout clothes I bought at the beginning of this weight loss excursion are too big. I have taken some of them in but have also had to donate some to the Salvation Army. Seriously that pair I put on last night made me look like one of those crazy before and after shots. My girls got in one leg and I slid into the other, forgot to take a picture but it was pretty funny. The munches then each got in a leg and ran through the house like a pair of fat ghost pants.

Icing on the cake

Yeah, I know, still with the damned icing, I can't freaking help it. I put in on a cake and  then put it back in the fridge. It's harder to eat it by the spoonful if its spread over a cake and somehow I don't really want to eat the cake.  It is still calling to me but now the voice is weak and petulant...

No joke folks my tomorrow is going to be nutso. Starting at 8 am I have about an hour point five to prepare for a meeting at 2pm. Then I need to be at one of the homes I oversee at 10, another at 11 and back to the campus by 1:30 to prepare the conference room for my meeting. Very stressful meeting from 2-4, then home to clean the kitchen, pack for the munches and I for the weekend at grams, make black bean patties and hummus and then zumba from 7:15 till 8:30. Problem then is that I have to come home hyped up on zumba and try to rest. It's like speed, you just can't sit still after you are done, your legs feel like they are going to melt, but you're still bopping around...

In completely unrelated news I feel like dirt this week, lemons have stopped helping and I just want to lay in bed for days at a time. If I start dropping weight or having heart palpitations I'll know its time to head back to the endocrinologist. I have Grave's disease which is a thyroid function related auto-immune disorder. My last flare up was quashed by becoming pregnant with booger butt, I am sort of waiting to see if its gone for good, or if that was a quick fix.

I kept from consuming every food in my kitchen be preparing a carrot and cauliflower soup with onion, a little chicken and lots of broth. I added some yogurt to make it creamy and at 200 calories a bowl it was a good alternative to frosting. I had two enormous bowls of it, I feel like I'm going to explode but the thought of licking frosting off a spoon makes me queasy right now so...Score!

What Doesn't Suck?

"Over the river and through the woods, across a bridge, past some pig farms, and lots of cows...well, sort of in the middle of nowhere really"
Yep, going to Grandma's doesn't suck. Do any of you have childhood memories of going to Grandma's house and having her make your favorite things to eat, getting to spend the night and do cool stuff? My Grandma taught me how to crochet, and make gravy, and thicken up a pot of chicken and dumplings when you're a bit heavy on the broth.. My grandpa took me out for ice cream, and helped me change light bulbs on my car turn signals, and still calls me love even at 27.

I'm wicked pumped that this weekend I get to pack myself and the munches a few changes of clothes and go with Mom to hang with my awesome grandparents. I am really very blessed that as an adult I get to have such a great relationship with my grandparents. Many people my age don't know theirs, mine are some of my favorite people.

It also doesn't suck that my grandma likes to cook for us when we are down visiting so I'll come home rested and full of old style, family recipe, feed my spirit food. We eat and play farmville on facebook, watch say yes to the dress and Mom and grandma take turns giving me crap and shaking their heads about how strange I am, it's completely therapeutic, really.

It's great to go back to her house and be in such a different place then I was back in May, the last time I was out there. For those of you who have not read since the beginning; which I can't say I blame you, it took awhile to get started and I'm sort of long winded; Grandma's was where I weighed myself and saw 232 staring me in the face. (I'm a little emotional as I write this) It's been a long road and I have lost 30 pounds in 4 months.

Oh! and the frosting will stay frozen until I leave on Saturday when I will use it to make a snack for Jeeves' football buddies who will be invading the house while I'm gone. Take that Eddie, you British, fat-ass-producing, bastard. Oh, who am I kidding, I can never stay mad at you...

Twitch!

Leg presses happened in the gym yesterday and now there is a muscle in my right cheek, not the one on my face, that keeps jumping. Not sure if it's from the workout or something else, but it seems to jump in time with a nerve in my left eye. Well, now that I have shared the odd butt twitching that is happening as I type this, we can move on.  

The Butter cream is still in my fridge and even though I am feeling okay emotionally; Physically, I am so exhausted I can barely walk in a straight line. So Exhaustion, voiced today by Eddie Izzard, keeps telling me that the answer to my problems is in the fridge, with a spoon. The gritty creamy butter and powered sugar will give me enough energy, he says, I'll have the energy to stand up to the British inquisition, "Cake or Death?". I have resisted, for the most part, sort of, you know what, sometimes Eddie can be very persuasive.

In 202 news I am only 2 lbs away from opening my food processor. I gazed longingly at it while grinding chickpeas by hand in my mortar and pestle yesterday. Randy was right, it will mean more and serve as good motivation if I leave it sitting in the box until I reach my goal. 200 is not that far away and if I can stay away from the damned frosting, I will make it by next week.

Oh! Its Wednesday, so...
- I wish I could sing. I blend well enough but a solo voice would be awesome.
- I wish that I will lose 2 pounds by Thursday so I don't have to make black bean patties by hand, I need that freaking food processor.
- I wish I could throw the damned icing away
- I wish I could sleep better, more, soundly, uninterrupted, some kind of different way than I am sleeping now.

Backsliding with Buttercream

So I got a troubling email from the Queen of the World(my boss) and spent the majority of my afternoon yesterday freaking out about  the possibility that I might be in trouble. This caused a rather troubling rash of stress induced snacking that included chips, salsa, pretzels, hummus, and frosting.

Who remembers the scene in "Death Becomes Her" when Goldie Hawn grabs a spoon and a container of icing and digs in? Well that was me, no joke, I probably ate a half cup of the stuff before my stomach, full of carbs, salt, tomatoes and sugar, crawled out of my body and knocked me unconscious.

The situation turned out to be less troubling after a follow up email came from the Queen and clarification was requested about an issue that is well in hand. "Phew, dodged that bullet... Wait, I think I'm gonna throw up!" 

Amazingly my weigh in showed me down a pound from last week, sort of freaked me out a bit. 202 is the new total, pretty sure I'm going to have to wire my jaw shut to lose this week. I feel TOM lurking, because I'm starting to have that Nosferatu-esque hunger...   "I Vant to suck on Hershey Kisses!"

Happy Fall Everyone! Who wants Pie?

Tell Me Something Good!

It has been a trial to figure out something that makes me happy to be awake this monday morning. All I want to do is climb back into bed and sleep until thursday. Making it doubly hard to leave home this morning is the fact that Booger Butt was snuggled in with me all sweet and warm, and when I went to get up she hugged me really tight and told me she wuved me. I teared up a bit, sort of bawled all the way to work.

Being sort of done with food today my "Tell Me" tidbit this week is Pumpkin Pie! not the food, my four year old.

She is an amazingly sweet and empathetic child and even though she is constantly on the move, yesterday she spent a few hours sitting with me on the couch watching Muppets from Space. It's one of my favorites and we laughed and I tickled her and she gave me so many hugs that it made the craziness of the weekend sort of melt away. I love my girls and as Jeeves and I get closer to the decision to add another little human into the mix I find myself watching a little more closely as the last vestiges of baby slide off my girls and they fully embrace the toddler/kid role.

Oh, okay..then there's these

I only eat a few every once in a while but they do make me smile and the combo of crispy shell, peanut butter and chocolate, awesome.
Okay Folks, your turn, Tell Me Something Good!

Another Wild Weekend, (I know, right?)

So this weekend has been a little crazed, let me share...

First, I woke up early Saturday and went to teach at LEADD classes which are continuing education classes for adult with disabilities. I have been chosen to teach about world cultures and Saturday was Mexico. The reason this is significant is that I made salsa for the class to enjoy while watching a few clips of traditional folk dancing. I made said salsa with the new Ginsu knives which arrived via fed-ex from my lovely pals over at CSN Stores. I just have to say WOW! these are the greatest knives I have ever owned. They do exactly what they claim to do, they are well made, fit into my hand well and make me a happy ninja, plus the Ginsu is totally in keeping with the Ninja aesthetic. See photos of me below cheesing with my new knives and happy as hell.

 
After class on Saturday I began baking a cake for the baby shower of a freind and found that I didn't have any crisco for making frosting and that my mixer wasn't working anymore. So I used butter for the frosting which made it less stable, but ZOMG was it delicious. I nibbled a little more than I ought to have, I admit it. I bought a new mixer which will only have to serve until I get to 190 or so and then the new stand mixer will be coming home. While I was out buying the mixer, in a rain storm that suggested Jesus did not want me out on the roads that night, Jeeves called and said that I had worked hard and even a few pounds shorter than my goal I deserved a present. He told me to go ahead and buy the food processor, so now this is in my kitchen I'm sort of hesitant to open it, I keep thinking that maybe I should wait until I get to 200 to open it, Do you think it means less if I open it now?

Sunday morning was Pumpkin Pie's first day of Sunday school. She melted down no less than 4 times, once into a loud screaming puddle on the floor. The only thing that made this okay was that couple of other kids had similar issues. Maybe next time will better. I signed up for this very involved bible study with homework, eh what can I say, I'm a big nerd, gotta flex my nerd muscles to keep them strong.

Then I went to the baby shower which was so great. It was a very small affair only 8 folks, very in keeping with the dynamic this group of friends has always had. Good food, yummy cake, a la me, and fun conversation, plus cute baby stuff, can't be bad, right. Had a ball, ate too much, wayyyy to much. Didn't go over my calories for the day, not even close but the sugar and salt, boof! bad idea, been sucking down water and took a water pill to make sure tomorrow's weigh in doesn't make me cry.

BTW Hannah is Pumpkin Pie and Reagan is Booger Butt. I know it's not exactly equal but the names truly fit.

Stealth Zumba

So the pink pants and I went to my third Zumba class last night. I had been feeling pretty great about zumba, thought I was getting it pretty good, boy was I mistaken. The instructor, who has the vocal stylings of feivel, from an American Tale, threw in all these new dance moves, which were really fun, but wow it didn't hit me until halfway through my classes today when I suddenly could no longer move my arms. Kind of hard to teach about Mexico's heritage and traditions without the use of your arms. So now I hurt, alot, but pain is gain eh? or maybe in this case pain is loss???

I made the meatloaf again and post workout three of my friends came back to the house, I love those guys, we ate yummy stuff and my girls kept them entertained along with the help of "Spike Can Dance" Look it up on you tube and don't have food or anything in your mouth when you watch it, seriously.

Baby Shower tomorrow, and check Nellie's Cookbook later today for the meatloaf recipe, with pictures.

BYOC

Here's me, bringing the crazy.

1. What do you miss about being a child? Okay I'm gonna say it, Food. I miss having parties where all of my favorite foods are there and having the stamina and iron stomach to chow on sour patch kids, apple-jacks, peach soda and pizza without waking up the next day bitching. My mouth is sore, I feel sick, I need a mylanta, sweet Jesus my pants won't fit, bitch, bitch, bitch...
2. When you make a life decision, do you use your head or your heart? I'd love to say my heart, because it would make me seem carefree and cool, but much like drazzie, I usually make lists, several of them, then i compare the lists, combine them, re-type them, review them, its sad really.
3. In relation to blogs, how do you feel about commenting. I wish I commented more, i usually check in, read up and click out, but I really do try to leave comments, sometimes my home computer is spiteful and won't let me then I forget...wait, what was I talking about???
4. If life was a flavor would it be savory, sweet or salty. I think savory, savory flavors tend to make me close my eyes and sigh in heavenly  food induced bliss...again, what was I saying? Yeah, so if life has a flavor I think it would be steak.
5. Blog-land question: Whaddya think? I am really excited this week because I got to do my first product review and I finished a cool giveaway,  so this week was pretty great, busy but great!

203

Really that's all I have to say, 203.
Only 3 more pounds until my next incentive, who thinks I can do it before next friday, that's 2 weeks to lose 3 pounds, I bet I can.

this is the next incentive. I told Jeeves that as soon as I get it I am going to start making cauliflower "rice" and we are going to have Chinese style yummy-ness at least once a week. Also the salsa will flow like a river through my house. I use salsa for all kinds of stuff. One of my favorite fast meals is to "bake" a potato in the microwave and put a couple ounces of grilled chicken, salsa and fat free yogurt. About 400 Calories and really very filling.
Stay tuned I should be receiving my product review item in the mail today or tomorrow, Its a Ginsu knife set, 8 pieces of pointy orgasmic steel, When I saw it online I almost wet my pants. I am so freaking pumped about getting to use it...not much funny in this post, sorry, I'll try harder next time, promise.

Blog Poll
Should I wear the dance style pants that look like Zumba pants or should I rock the hot pink ones? Thoughts?... anyone? anyone?...Bueller?

I Wish...

Since I'm feeling introspective and finding myself weighed down with the troubles of the universe I apologize, but today's wishes might seem a little heavy.

1. I wish people were as eager to forgive and move on as they are to anger and take offense. It seems that the world spins this web of "How Dare You" and everyone gets caught up in it. I am so blessed to have people in my life who help me remember to forgive and give people the benefit of the doubt. When I start getting to full of myself Jeeves or Mom will quietly remind me that everyone does and says stupid hateful things and often they feel bad about it but are too embarrassed to apologize and so it becomes a rift in what ought to be a good relationship.

2. I wish I was a little less impetuous. I sometimes get this surge of, "I'd rather be right than happy." Why does this happen to me? I don't know...perhaps someday I will develop the cooler head that will allow me to cut this out, cause it really doesn't feel better to be right, especially when its at the expense of your happiness.

3. I wish everyone appreciated the miracle that children are in our lives. My girls are the light of my day and the reason I get out of bed early each morning. I can't wait to get home from work and hear them talk and play with them. It saddens me so much when I hear stories of children in pain, unloved, uncared for. I would crawl on my lips through broken glass if they needed something and can't imagine letting them go without, or not loving them so much that they get sick of the hugs and kisses.

4. I wish I could eat all four of the cheesecake brownies that are sitting on my desk right now. I am feeling down today so depression (who sounds a lot like Vincent Price) keeps telling me that the brownies will make it all better. But he's a liar, so I had one, instead of four. I still feel sort of wretched, but at least I don't feel guilty and wretched.

In Happier News the apron Giveaway is now over and the winner is Erin, From Erin Has a Blog? Check her out, shes kind of funny, and now she has a cool apron. Erin, email me your address and I will get it in the mail. nelliemoellering@yahoo.com.

Coming Soon: Product Reveiw

Good Morning All!

I have been offered a wonderful opportunity to do a promotion with CSN Stores, which has an extensive online product line; you can pick out a beautiful coffee table, fantastic fitness equipment or new cookware and gadgets. I love the selection of cookware, its great quality, with lots of variety at a wonderful price!

I hope everyone will check out the many different shopping and check back soon to see my review of some fabulous items from CSN Stores
I have posted some of my favorite things from one of the cookware websites below.

So check them out and see if they have something that makes you drool too, but don't drool on your keyboard, it'll cause problems later, trust me.

My Ex-X

In today's breaking news: The ninja now has hot pink workout pants, and the news of the day is that they are large...large? freaking large!!!! Not XL, Not XXL not 1X...but Large, size 12/14, Large!!! Holy Crap, please see below and be amazed by my awesome neon-ness!

WOOT!!!

Don't Make the Ninja Angry...

BTW, hot pink pants do help with the rhythm issue I mentioned in an earlier post.

It's Monday, So....

Torani Sugar Free Caramel Flavored Syrup
This is breakfast more times than not. The sugar free, calorie free syrup adds a great depth of flavor to the health shake, and I put it over ice with a cup of regular coffee. 200 calories and my day starts with a shot of delicious.

Okay Folks, what makes you happy this fine Monday? Either do a post about it or post a comment and tell me what tickles you, makes you smile or helps your Monday go by a little faster.

Tell Me something Good...

Jeez? I don't see any Jeez...

Today at church Hannah provided me with some more fantastic to share.

First we sit in the back near some fairly ornate stained glass windows. She asked me what they were, and I told her "pretty stained glass windows" Her response was, "Wow those sure are pained ass windows!!!" I had to get up and leave the service until I could breathe again. 

Then my Mom was trying to tell her that on the window at the front of the church were sheep and Jesus. After looking around for a minute she said, "Grannie, there's no windows and I don't see any Jeez...Where's the Jeez Grannie?"

I was right, this weekend began with awesome and has kept on going since then. Hope Everyone else's was as great.

Oh!!!I forgot to bring the crazy on Friday so I'll do it today.
1. If a major newspaper wrote an article about you today, what would the headline be?
-Woman Missing! Last seen wearing a Ninja costume and grumbling about a nap.

2. Name one thing you like about being an adult.
- my dirty kitchen, it's shameful and not awesome but its mine. I can cook anything, leave dirty dished for as long as I can stand them and walk around naked if I want to, and I often do.

3. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon when you were a kid?
- Ren and Stimpy, and don't you dare say that yellow holey screwball reminds you of Ren and Stimpy, the comedic genius cannot be duplicated.

4. When is the last time you told someone HONESTLY how you felt about them?
- removed, the Ninja was being petty.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in life and in blogland.
- Life has been busy, really, really busy. But good apart from that. Blog land has been invigorating, since Drazil was so kind I now have almost daily dialog with others out in the world and it makes me feel good to be getting connected.

Zumba and Prolixis

Hilarity, times two...

1. Yesterday I learned why I need to buy some new pants. During my second Zumba class, which was, so much fun, I was grooving and shaking and then, my pants fell off, not once or twice even, but a couple times. Good thing my shirt was long and I caught them before they hit the floor. Another good thing that everyone else is as rhythm challenged as me and probably didn't see it. It was a horrifying way to learn that my workout pants are just too big, I could have safety pinned them to my bra!! Need. New. Pants...

2. On the way home I pulled through Sonic and got myself a diet Dr pepper with vanilla, yum. Then I was cruising home singing along with the radio and had to pull over becuase a commercial cause me to spit soda all over myself, the steering wheel and the windshield. OMG! There was some fourteen year old girl telling men how Prolixis (sp?) would solve their problems, because size matters, women don't care about length, it's width and fullness that drives us wild...green jumping Jesus, it was hilarious!!! After cleaning up the windshield I was able to drive again but then remembering the commercial caused me to inhale more Dr Pepper and I had to pull over again so I could cough up a lung on the side of the road.

How can a weekend be bad when its starts out with so much promise?

The Finger

I may have mentioned that I am the frazzled mother of two younguns. Last night I was trying vainly to complete 47 various things around my house including cleaning my shamefully awful kitchen, cooking food, doing homework, doing some work from home, and catching up with Anthony Bordain. The Munches were up to their typical hijinks's, which included destruction and shrieking. At my breaking point, the one where I sort of wanted to shove them in the dryer, I stalked into the playroom and sort of spazzed out on them. I don't remember exactly what was said but the general message was, "QUIET!!!!!"

They seemed confused but were wise enough to detect the crazy in the air around me and simmered, quick. For the rest of the evening when they would again reach deafening levels I would hold up my index finger. I believe this worked because we do the one two three thing in my house. I count and hold up fingers and if Mommy gets to three timeout or something being taken away is the result, so they generally chill at one. I like that it works, because it seems sort of fair.

So no one got whacked and at the end of the evening when they had sufficiently bruised their vocal chords, they both climbed up in my lap and fought over each other to kiss me and whisper that they loved me, then they feel asleep, I love it when they sleep. its so quiet and peaceful. To bad i was too dead on my feet to appreciate it, and I soon followed them into unconsciousness. damn, it's been a long week. 

I did manage to do a pretty good workout yesterday. I can tell it was good because I hurt today. I walked a mile and a half around my very hilly neighborhood in about 20 minutes. I felt kind of awesome.

It's Okay, I'm a Ninja

I got from from day 2 of this re-stink-ulously busy work week and realized I needed to cook something for myself and the Munches for dinner. Several issues arose with this realization.
1.) My kitchen was a nightmare disaster, awful and shameful, but true.
2.) I had no readily cook-able protein in my Frigidaire.
3.) I really didn't want to cook (gasp!...yeah I know, but the ninja is whooped)
So I loaded up the dishwasher and put some pasta on to boil thinking whatever I came up with need some form of carby-starchy base. Then I found the bag I forgot to unload from the produce stand! A handful of Roma tomatoes and some squash and zucchini, were a part of this surprise and a meal took shape. I chopped the tomatoes and threw them in the oven with some oregano and olive oil. then I diced the zucchini and squash and sauteed them with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. A quick mix and a pretty easy meal was born, with (triumphant fanfare here) leftovers!!! Now I have lunch for days 3 and 4 of the annoyingly productive week. And! the kitchen is clean and I have some ground turkey, thanks to a trip to the market, so I can make more chili tomorrow, because after all the promises, I forgot to take pictures and Jeeves is whining that he didn't get any of the batch from last week

I'm gearing up for part two of the Zumba experiment, in which the Ninja will see if her enjoyment of the first class was based on reality or wishful thinking. I find myself wanting to do another class in the interim, maybe I will buy the videos, that way I can dance like no one is watching before having to dance when they are...

In Zumba related news: I believe I need to buy a pair of hot pink stretchy cargo pants, since they seem to make Zumba easier and more coordinated. Maybe the glow from them does something to your brain chemistry giving you rhythm you never had before, I must look into this, 47.95 plus tax and shipping does not seem to high a price pay for coordination and Bubblicious awesomeness.

Does Anyone Want This?

This will be my very first giveaway, and I'm feeling a little self conscious about it. Since I like to create things my first giveaway will be something handmade by me. I made this last night and really don't want to part with it because it is so cool. It used to be a pillow case and belt, but in its current incarnation is a "Cooking It Off" apron! To enter just post a comment below, the winner will be chosen next Wednesday!

Oh! and there is a ribbon across the waist that was added after the pictures were taken, I'll take another picture tonight. P.S. like my haircut? I got it chopped off, I'll get a better photo of that too.

wow, thanks.

Holy Initial Blog Award Batman!

I have been nominated for a blog award by Just Me. Thank you so much, can't wait to find out who you are, very mysterious, we ought to start calling you the great and powerful OZ.(pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) Anyway, I am flattered and thrilled to finally be a part of the blogging community so here's my price of admission.

7 Things About Me
1. I know just enough German to order a hamburger, cuss you out and find a bathroom, oh and buy beer.
2. I have a brother who is the yin to my yang, the ed to my shaun, the donatello to my leonardo, and I wish I saw him more, he is a busy dude.
3. I hate canned peas, they are like little mutant frog eggs, blech!
4. In another life Jeeves would be Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows, I kind of want to have his babies, his depressed, socially anxious, drunken babies.
5. Every time I watch Steel Magnolias I cry like a baby.
6. My highest aspiration is to be as awesome as my Mom.
7. Today I weigh 204, new low!!!!!

7 Fellow Bloggers on which to bestow this award.
1.Alison at: http://doublechinned.blogspot.com/
2.Skittish Kat at :http://littlehelpfromfriends.blogspot.com/
3.Cazza at: http://cazza-just-as-i-am.blogspot.com/
4.http://maybethistime41.blogspot.com/
5.Randy at: http://rwaldrep.blogspot.com/
6.Erin at: http://erinojackson.blogspot.com/
7.Annie at: http://bandaidbaby.blogspot.com/

In the process of letting them know, but if you happen to see this before you see my email, grab the picture and post it to your blog and follow the rules...

Tell Me Something Good!

Mondays are henceforth going to be known as Tell Me Something Good Days!

As we all know the beginning of the work-week is seldom a cause to jump for joy. In addition to kicking off the grind, it is the day I do my weigh in's, yick! So, I try to find something each Monday, or in this case Tuesday, that tickles me in some way. Fair warning this will typically be food...he,he,he, like you didn't see that coming. So at the start of this work-week, and by way of kicking of my new feature I am going to feature three things that make me happy...yeah, they're all foods...
1.) Pumpkin Spice flavored Hershey Kisses: Really there are no words for this, only one really comes to mind, ZOMG!!!! I told Jeeves that these have aphrodisia-spastic qualities, so I expect I will not run out of them. They melt in your mouth and three of them is only 70 calories, three is enough for me.

2. Archer Farms Granola Mini Bags: I dig granola, anything crunchy is good. I bought these at Target the other day and love em, the granola is good and the bags are only a buck a piece. I had this for breakfast today over some low cal yogurt, not as good as Hershey Kisses but still pretty damn awesome.

3. Cliff Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo Bars: Since beginning the trek toward better health, the health food sections of my local big box stores have become frequent haunts, whenever I see something new, I have to try it. I did not have high expectations of this bar but was pleasantly surprised that it is delicious and only 200 cals. This is going to become one of the things I keep in the dufflebag I call a purse. I shared one with the Munches and they loved it, yay, health food that even babies love, WOOT!

HAPPY MONDAY!!! (okay, Tuesday...shut up)
All right, your turn, tell me somthing good!

Labor Day!

And I am going to work...blerg! I don't really want to but I do want to be able to take my vacation day a little at a time for the rest of the week, and the quietness of the empty frat house will lend to me getting way more work done, just me and the ghosts.  Ahh, the glory of salaried employment.

I don't work at a college, the frat house is what we call our office. Its a two story brick building where 14 people are packed into 8 offices and often, thanks to my office mate, music of questionable taste comes blaring out when any of the doors are opened. We have strange hours, look suspicious and are unruly and slightly reclusive. The current incarnation of my job title is Qualified Developmental Disabilities Professional, QDDP for short, and Q to those of us who do the job. We jokingly talk about attaching a large white Q to the front of the porch... TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

All kidding aside, I really like my job and this is going to be a stupidly busy week, but I almost prefer those to the alternative. When I finish the work at my job I am going to come home and clean my kitchen which is just awful, It kind of looks like a kitchen at an actual frat house, I have been neglecting it for a few days and it needs an overhaul. Oh, and while cleaning the kitchen I will be creating the first giveaway for my blog, Hopefully I will have pictures and giveaway entry information for everyone tomorrow.

Dino-babies!!!

I finished the munches Halloween costumes this weekend, they are going to be dinosaurs. So I figured I would share some photos.
Reagan

Hannah



 RWOWR!
  
And to make the munches day I am going to dress up too Mommy-saurus is in the making, as is Jeeves-o-saurus. It will be fun for the munchkins to see mommy and daddy dressed up. Halloween has got to be one of favorite holidays, its not the candy, which as a lard-ass would be the obvious reason. Its the season, the chilly air that always seems to smell like firewood, the constant threat of rain, the dappled sun through the changing leaves on the trees, the whole time of year just entrances me. Plus I get to flex my creative Mommy muscles and hand make costumes.

    I read somewhere that the best way to raise confident happy women is to let them see their mother being silly and having fun. If that is true, my girls are going to take over the world, I have got to be the goofiest person I know.

   I have decided that the Travel channel is a good appetite suppressant.  Bizarre Foods and No Reservations specifically. The massive amounts of grease on one and vomit inducing cuisine or the other make me think of eating with the same eagerness I feel about going to the dentist, yick!

My World is Changed!

Meet Mandie, my new Huffy 26" one speed cruiser with foot brakes!!!


Another Great Day!

Mad Skills

yeah....I don't really have any. But I tried really hard to look like I did while at my very first Zumba class tonight. For support and strength in numbers, I dragged to of my high school besties with me. So there we were; ninja, red the fraggle and navy pier, ready to shake it, but not altogether sure what was going to happen.

The instructor was, to put it kindly, insubstantial. She was a size zero, which she proudly pointed out was thanks to zumba (Jesus, I can't even imagine being a size zero, how do people still see you...). But she was excited, which was good. I can't imagine a Latin dance workout teacher being somber and sullen. The music started and she started moving, but didn't tell us what was going on. after crashing into each other and trying to avoid the mirror for about 2 songs I hit my stride and started having a good time! And then it was over.

The hour just flew by and by the end I was clapping and yelling along with her, I am so going back next week.

Thanks to the benevolence of Drazil I now have enough followers to do a giveaway, details on the prize and how to enter will be posted soon. I am so flattered that she took notice of me and that those of you who have followed me are interested in what I have to say, I'll try to keep it interesting, which may sometimes come in the form of TMI, but I'm good with it if you are...

Ha! My little munch just walked in totally naked and said, "Mommy I need a snuggle"

Ok, so I lied

Oh, I love Drazil as much as Ms FatAss, they give me assignments, its like creative writing from college only I get to use contractions and foul language, whop-de-doo!

So today its BYOC: Bring your own craziness, and away we go....

1. What is your favorite school supply?
    Pens: pens of every color under the sun, different shapes and one that Jeeves bought for me a few years ago that I call the enforcer, it's like 16 inches long, could work as a baseball bat, mmmmm, love em, pens.

2. Assume your house is on fire and the whole thing is going to burn to the ground and your loved ones are out and safe….and you have a few minutes to grab 5 things. Just five. What would they be?

1. Blankies, made by a good family friend, life would not be the same for the munches without these.
2. My crochet bag, a gift from Jeeves last Christmas, this has my prized collection of hooks and needles, if I didn't use them everyday I would put them in a lighted display case.
3. My purse, it has our camera and all of our SD cards of the munches lives in it, plus car keys would be nice.
4. The folder: which contains the title for our house, cars, wedding license, SS cards, Birth certificates, everything important, and the first picture each of the munches ever drew and brought to me to tell me they had done it just for me, *sniff*
5. My cookbook, which mom made for me for a wedding gift, it has all of the family recipes I love and my recipes that have come about since my diet started, It's full of her handwriting which is really iimportant for me to have for when I no longer have her.

3. what is your favorite drink – alcoholic or not?
   Long Island Iced Tea - made well with lemon juice instead of coke or sour mix, and none of that rail bullshit, make mine with the good stuff.

4. When is your birthday (if you want to say, no year needed) and what is your Zodiac sign. Does your sign match your personality?
January 20th which in some circles is capricorn and other is aquarius, I tend to go more with aquarius traits.

Among other things, this is said of aquarians, "Aquarians basically possess strong and attractive personalities. They fall into two principle types: one shy, sensitive, gentle and patient; the other exuberant, lively and exhibitionist, sometimes hiding the considerable depths of their character under a cloak of frivolity. Both types are strong willed and forceful in their different ways and have strong convictions, though as they seek truth above all things, they are usually honest enough to change their opinions, however firmly held, if evidence comes to light which persuades them that they have been mistaken. They have a breadth of vision that brings diverse factors into a whole, and can see both sides of an argument without shilly-shallying as to which side to take. Consequently they are unprejudiced and tolerant of other points of view. This is because they can see the validity of the argument, even if they do not accept it themselves. They obey the Quaker exhortation to "Be open to truth, from whatever source it comes," and are prepared to learn from everyone."
...damn, I'm cool!

5. How do I feel about blogland this week? (at least thats the questions I choose to answer)
   I feel a little green, you know, envy... I want people to read and like my blog and I enjoy seeing the triple digit number of followers on other blogs but I also know they were probably once like me, 7 followers, checking with OCD like tenacity 43 times a day to see if a new follower has shown up...well, maybe not that bad, but new like me anyway.

thank you, thank you very much.
Ninja

ZUMBA!

Not a big post today, but today might be the best day in a really long time for many reasons:

-I am super-psyched because I am going to my first Zumba class today, (kisses and hugs to my SIL who offered to sit with the munches while I go shake my ass for an hour.) I even bought some new pants for this excursion.
-aformentioned SIL gave me the awesomest pair of red kitten heel slingback shoes last night, -happy sigh-
-OH! and due to the incredible kindness of a mysterious benefactress I have news on the "Change" My World Project. Ha! my new total is 108.92!!! awesome bike here I come...so freaking exited...
-Oh! oh! and its a freaking gorgeus day out today, seriously like storybook weather, 77 degrees, in missouri, in september...

I may just explode.
Fair warning to all of you in the front row.
I'm going to Gallager all over you. seriously.

Peace, Love & Waterbottles

This looks way better in person, the glitter kind of funked up the picture.

I put these on workout shirts because I want to wear it on friday to my Zumba class, which should be awesomely embarassing.

I'll get pics of the shirts on and post them as well, but its hard to do that because Jeeves works midnights and I don't have the cash for a live in photographer.

And now, for somthing completly different. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of "Musings of a Lost Art Goddess," comes Nellie's Cook Book. I have turned my old artsy-fartsy blog into a cook book blog. I will now be posting my recipes there and will be linking them to this blog instead of including them in these posts. But you'll be able to get there pretty easy as I am follwing my other blog so you don't have to just look for it in my blog roll. I am going to be doing some enhancements so bear with the unfinished product for a bit. If you want emails when I put new recipes up let me know and I'll get them to you.

Oh! Heres a pic of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes from the other night, Wierd but it tasted better the next day and definatly needed gravy, oh well they can't all be winners.

All The Greats Had Nicknames

While idly flipping through my blog roll today I noticed that other significant others have nicknames here and mine (hubs) is not creative enough for me. So after some digging I have decided that the hubs new nickname is going to be Jeeves. He cleans up after me and sort of looks at me down his nose when he thinks I am being crazy so he has that British butler thing going for him, I think it works.

Another thing I noticed was a kid friendly term for lovin. In the spirit of TMI, I decided to share. My girls are still young yet for a "Mommy and Daddy Time" euphemism but we already decided that "reading" was going to be it. Jeeves and I read a lot(actual reading, you know, with books?) specifically before bed, so we think it will work.

Eggplant Meatloaf happened last night and was pretty good with gravy and potatoes but by itself really left much to be desired. I think adding more veggies and garlic will help and I will do that next time. Luckily the potatoes were mashed with squash and fat free plain yogurt so the whole meal was around 400 cals, mot too shabby. Chili will most likely happen tonight, loaded with tomatoes and beans, so much flavor and so good for you.

A new favorite posted her "I Wish Wednesdays" and asked what her readers wished for, well, I'll tell you.

1. I wish I looked more like an damned adult, no matter how I change my look I still feel pre-teen frump city next to other people my age, maybe its my perception, but it really irritates me.
2. I wish I was more patient. My mad meter goes from 2 to 12 in like 7 seconds, you know those 0 to bitch jokes, I think that's me.
3. I wish I could find a way to like dogs, I am not a dog person, the constant please, please, pet me, touch me, love me...its exhausting, just give me a break.
4. I wish I could finish things. I have 7 million started projects all over my life, from work to home, I need some consistency.
5. I wish there was more time. I don't feel guilty for the time I spend with Jeeves and the munches but when other things come up due and have to be done slapdash or on zero sleep it makes me wish there were more hours in a day or that we did not have to work as hard to have what we need.