3/30/2011

Operation Spare Room: Phase...Derailed

Instead of spending an hour in the spare room I packed up the munches and we went to the gym, I needed to run and they needed 45 minutes of "mommy not yelling" time it turned out better for all of us. The run felt great, I kept up about a 5 mile an hour pace for about 25 minutes. Got my sweat on and then met Mutti at Sam's for some bargain produce and Moo juice.

We also bought the Munches the cutest Easter dresses. I usually make them, but these were just too cute to pass up. Unfortunately I can't show anyone picture before Easter because as soon as they get something new and fancy they want to wear it all the time. In the interest of good egg hunt photos and not wanting to have spent 12.00 a piece for nothing; we will be hanging them up until Easter.

I bought some grapefruit today at the market, and needed to eat one desperately, so I did. I have been craving them for days after catching a whiff of them at the produce stand earlier this week. I had never eaten one and I found that they are amazing Craving?...I haven't "craved" in a while, wonder what that's about...Oh well. (don't read anything into it, That has not happened, yet)

Making a cake tomorrow, another Mud Run donation bake sale thing, it's moving right along, the mud run. and the cake business is too, I've already got another order for Monday morning. So I guee tomorrow I'll bake the cake and then do some organization in the spare room while it cools. Well that's the plan anyway.  

3/29/2011

*snicker*

my foot - tastes like jerky..... - funny motivational photos
Motivational posters

Operation Spare Room: Phase 1

Day one of the great spare room clean-up has gone without a hitch. This morning I did a late start at work and spent about and hour and a half separating garbage/keep/donate into piles on different wall of the room. I bagged up the trash, and it is ready to go into the dumpster as it fits each week. I also bagged up all the donate items, Old toys, clothes, various crap and loaded it into the Batmobile and drove it to the goodwill. You should have seen the guys face when I started pulling out the bags. I filled about 7 grocery carts full of crap from my house.
I feel like I've gotten a good start. Tomorrow I am going to go through the piles of things I'm keeping and organizing them to be packed into the spare bedroom closet. The rule is that if it does not fit into the spare room closet it cannot stay.

It turns out that I have to go through the shit in my mother's basement. Gadzooks! there's a lot of crap down there, I see a garage sale/flea market in my future. Maybe more than one. Cripes

So last night I got to do my two hour workout with Piyo and Drills, today I can feel the hurt coming but am doing some cardio and another horrible session with Jillian to keep up the momentum. Pumpkin and Booger went to the Nursery at the gym and were very upset that they didn't get to go to class with me, so when we came home and I put on a latin dance workout DVD and they "danced" around for an hour. They enjoyed it and then we all went to bed early. Great for me, not so awesome for sleepy Jeeves who was at work until after 4 am. Porr guy.

Tonight my Brother, SIL and Niece are coming over to start the seedlings for our garden this summer. I am making them dinner and then we are going to plant our little peppers, squash, tomatoes and herbs in Dixie cups to grow indoors until mid-may when the calender says is a good time to transplant them into the actual garden.

We are doing raised beds and I found a really easy template for using cinder blocks to make a small raised bed. The girls wanted to grow flowers so we are growing marigolds because they are supposed to help keep the bunnies away. I am growing grape tomatoes so I am going to end up putting up a temporary fence to help them stay vertical.

This garden, tonight's activities, cleaning my house; these are all things that I have come to realize would not have happened had I not decided to make those small changes with house cleaning and work. I'm happier, I don't have CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), I'm getting things done that I've always wanted to do. I have another cake order for this weekend and I am doing a bake sale at the end of April to drum up business and benefit the MS society.  I'm thinking this could be a lovely and very busy summer.

3/27/2011

Sunday Night.

Went to the store with mutti and the munches for some supplies for the next week or so of challenge meals. Did really well today in spite of a wicked case of the hungries. When they would not go away I sat down with a half cup of non fat plain yogurt and a stack of celery. I munched until my teeth hurt and I was no longer hungry. At least it was under a hundred calories total, I doubt that's going to blow anything for me.

It occurred to me as I was sitting in my den playing peggle this morning at 7:30 am, that having your shit together does wonders for your stress level. I didn't have that dread feeling in the pit of my stomach thinking I had stuff to do for work that wasn't done, or that I should be cleaning the kitchen. I felt completely at peace knowing that a half hour of video games was perfectly alright, and since the munches were still in bed, I was all alone, Score!

When I found out stinker was coming a prepared for the insanity that would come along with her, I put some systems into place that  been amazing. A successful habit change to cleaning my sink out each night before bed and a schedule of getting laundry done that keeps both my clothes un-wrinkled and my closet floors clean are among the two most awesome changes.

This week I am tackling my spare room again, I keep starting this process only to be side tracked half way through. I am going to do one hour a day of organization and each day I am going to take one bag of junk out of the room and take it to the salvation army on my way to work. I think at the end of the week I'll have a clean room and be ready to tackle the storage space in my Mutti's basement. She's moving to an apartment and I need to finally be an adult and get the rest of my shit out of her house.

Tomorrow I'm taking the munches to the nursury at the gym and going back to the PiYo and Drills classes that I have missed for the past three weeks. It'll be good to get a nice sweat on. Funny, I used to hate sweating. Didn't like being the chubby uncomfortable sweaty looking girl. Now when I sweat it makes me feel awesome, like everyone can see how hard I'm working instead of how hard it is for me to get around in the world.

Boy, I can be long winded when I havn't got much to say.

3/26/2011

So Far, so Good

Cake is done.

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Classes have been taught
Going to the gym after class today
Mud run stencils are made
House is clean.

I'm having an annnoyingly productive weekend.

3/25/2011

Booger Style Cuteness


Weekend Update

On the docket this weekend...

1: Teaching a Class on Art history for adult with intellectual Disabilities.
2: Gluten Free Cake baking and decorating (note: buttercream frosting-completly gluten free, bwahahahaha)
3: T-shirt designs for Mud run
4: Visit with Jeeves' family.
5: Clean up my craft room and office.
6: Jog/Run 4 miles
7: Find a Zumba class.
8: Regret the Taco Bell. (It will not be pretty, but I will do it, seems like greasy food just makes me miserable these days, but if the challenge calls for fast food I'm going to take advantage. :0)
9: Try to get some sleep.

What's your plan for the weekend?

3/24/2011

Weighing In: Facebook

No news on the wieght loss front, still sitting at 176, This is me weighing in, like, "Hey! Ninja what do you think about..."

Issue 1- Facebook: and the way it is used today.
  • Point 1: Use fucking punctuation when typing updates that are more than one sentence long. I can't tell you how irriating it is to try to decipher 6 lines of words with no sentence structure, no punctuation and words like "effing" "TXT" and "ppl"
  • Point 2: The reason we pay therapists thousands of dollars is that they have specialized training, facebook is not an acceptable substitute for appropriate mental health care.
  • Point 3: Facebook is a social media; be social and realize that spewing juvenile nonsense out into the webisphere is not useful or appreciated.
  • Point 4: Does anyone else have a large number of "facebook" friends who are always, "sick" "tired" "so busy" or just plain whiney babies? Wow, if my life was that crappy I'd find a new hobby or try to get laid or something. I certainly would not stare idly at a facebook page clicking the refresh button hoping someone cares about my 4th "super bad headache" this week.
    • Note: I have posted about a headache before, and about my kids being sick. Really not knocking people who do it from time to time, just the constant bitching gets old.
  • Point 5 (mostly aimed at teenagers): The next time someone posts about how bored they are on facebook I am going to drive my children to thier house, drop them off with caffeine and playdough, and go to the gym. I can't remember the last time I was bored, or had nothing to do.
That is all.

3/22/2011

Photos and Blathering

Morning All,

I'm feeling a little better today, I enjoyed the evening with My Mutti, Gram and Munches. It was a girls night in complete with yummy dinner and kids movies. I spoke with the mother of Stinker and told her exactly what was on my mind, I was firm but not mean and it was very cathartic.

I found my computer cord and wanted to share some photos.

This is the cake I made on Sunday.
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the little boats, anchors and life preservers were made of fondant. it was yummy and turned out very cute.

This was my gift
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SIL's mother and father are pretty crafty and they made this cool box, which held a great bottle of wine to match my kitchen. I love sunflowers, and this made me smile. Thanks Mickie and Dan!!!

Pumpkin at the Parade
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It's a bummer when you only get smarties thrown at you instead of tootsie pops. (sad face Pumpkin)

This was me after the Saint Patty's day parade.
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At this parade I learned a couple things.
1. It is hard to use a port-a-potty when you have three toddlers and no other adults around that you trust.
2. Three toddlers weigh more than two toddlers.
3. It is difficult to direct a wagon while running after a toddler down a hill.
4. Going to the Zoo without another adult is a foolish plan.
5. Nothing tires munches out like fresh air and sun.

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I'll be making another cake this weekend. Hopefully my cake business is going to get off the ground. I'll never be as good as the cake boss, but that's okay cause I don't have room in my kitchen for that enormous mixer. :0)

Ninja Out.

3/21/2011

WTF!!!



32 Obstacles!!!!

I'm gonna die...

P.S: Wicked high post volume day today, I'm making up for lost time, :0)

P.P.S: I figured out how to re-size Youtube videos on my blog, SCORE!

for what?

So after speaking with DFS all day, the baby has to go back with her mother and the whole process must begin again. It seems we have been used by the mother to get DFS off her back and now we spent a week figuring out how to change our lives only to discover that we really don't need to change them at all. I'm having a hard time figuring out what we went through all of this for. What purpose did it serve to uproot our lives and make everything more complicated? It didn't help the baby, it didn't really help her mother, and it just seems to have been so pointless.

I really want to eat a whole box of girl scout cookies and drink the bottle of tequila in my fridge, but I feel like that would be a really bad plan...I think I'll go to the gym and run until I'm to tired to be angry anymore.

Shit has gone awry

So, really, really long story short: Stinker is staying with her grandparents for a few days until we can get legal guardianship of her. Her mother decided she wanted her back at about 8 pm last night and there was a bad scene. Our lives were disrupted, I didn't sleep well, and now I'm at work and I just want to crwal back into bed.

We need to decide what is going to happen with her, but I don't know if I want to sign up to be the permanent parent to this little girl, hell, I don't even know if that's what I'll be signing up for. Esh.

Before the drama of last night, the munches went to Mutti's, and Jeeves and I went out to dinner. It was nice to sit and eat with him, and have some quiet time with my husband. We are working on being kinder to one another, making sure that we are giving as much positive into the relationship as we can. We realized that we were bringing all of our stresses to each other but not reinforcing the bond with good things as well. That's starting to change and it feels good, we feel more like partners than roommates and it's making me happier.

Yesterday morning my Brother and SIL borrowed my house for a baby shower. I am going to be an aunt again and the original venue for the shower had an unfortunate sewage issue, so I volunteered my house, Which Jeeves cleaned for me while I was out doing other things. It was a good time and I made a really cute cake, as soon as I locare my camera cord for the computer I'll post a pic.

Well, I'm sort of done for now, talk to you all later.

3/19/2011

I love you verymuchalot

That's what booger said to me last night after brushing her teeth and reading a bedtime story. I love the way my children talk, I love that they feel inspired to just run over to me and tell me that they love me. I love that they will come up to me in public places and say, "Mommy, I need a hug." Granted they are still pretty little but it makes me happy that this is the foundation they have, one of spontaneous and happy love, every day.

I think that means I'm a good mom. at least I hope that's what it means.

Things are getting a little rocky with Stinker, she is not used to being in a home where the "mom" cleans and is busy. She stands next to me wherever I am and fusses and wants me to hold her, but only for a few seconds, like she's just making sure I'll do it? It's getting really old. Yesterday I ended up sitting on the couch for about an hour because every time I would get up to do something she would chase me down and fuss at me. How do you like that, a baby who whines at me if I'm not relaxing, maybe this might not be such a bad thing.

I'm afraid to really start loving her, she too cute and has a great personality, but I'm afraid to get attached and then have my heart ripped out when she goes home. If you know me, and by reading this you come very close to knowing me, my kids are my life, they are my reason for being. It would be so easy to add her to that, but I'm trying to protect my emotions. Is that wrong?

She's also letting more of her personality out, she's thrown a few fits and been irritating the munches. She thinks it's funny when they run away to keep her from taking a toy from them. She is talking a lot more, not sure what she's saying, it's all baby babble, but I think she's calling me ne-ne. She walks around yelling it until she finds me and then she smiles and runs to me. I hope she doesn't start calling me Mom, not only will that be terrible for her own mother if she visits, but it will confuse her if she does go home at some point.

Scale said 176 this morning, the downward trend continues. I've been remiss in my gym going this last week, but that will change soon, Jeeves and I have been working out a schedule, living by the seat of our pants is just not going to work with 3 kids, 2 jobs and 1 car.

I've raised my minimum donation for the MS Mud Run, still very much looking forward to it. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far and if you are interested in a donation, please check out the link in the sidebar of the blog.

Peace, my ninjas.

3/14/2011

Whoopty-fruit

So I didn't lose this week, I sort of knew that was going to happen, holding steady at 177, hoping that the extreme busy-ness of the week will lend to not snacking and better workouts. We'll see. I'm planning my menu for the week and shopping this evening to ensure that Jeeves and I both have the things we need to eat right. He is really sticking with this better style of eating. I'm proud of him. He is also really liking his new job, and I'm so happy he found something that works better for him.

PS: I've been giving in to grape cravings. I want them constantly, but only if they are sweet and cold. Last week I spent about an hour pulling grapes off of the vine and putting them in baggies and then in the freezer. I take them out on my way to work in the morning and after about an hour they defrost enough that they are soooooo good!

I made a pre-wedding cake for the sister of a friend yesterday. She is getting married in June and wanted to do a trial run with a smaller version of the cake she wanted, so we could tweak it for the wedding. It's going to be super-super cute. It's not traditional, it's round, 3 tiers with bright pink, green, orange and yellow icing and daisies all over it. I didn't take a picture but I am going to see if I can get her to send me one to show you all. This is going to be the month of cakes. Next week I am making one for my SIL, for her baby shower, it's going to have a nautical theme, I think I'm going to make a boat to put on the top. The week after that I have another cake to do, the birthday of the sister of a friend; but I'm not sure what it's going to look like yet.  Then I have Boogers birthday party on the 2nd of April. I'm going to see if Mutti will do that one, I'd rather not.

Stinker is cruising through this transition quite well. Booger and Pumpkin hate hearing her cry but otherwise they like her okay. Everyone is sort of getting to know one another and they are learning how to play. After going through Booger's clothes from last summer I've come up with a basket full of stuff that fits on Stinker pretty well.  Also my incredibly thoughtful friends have both purchased some things and gathered some lightly used things from their nieces and nephews to donate to the cause.

I am so touched at the outpouring of help and kindness we have received for this little girl since bringing her home. Both online and in real life the affirmations and offers of prayers, help and encouragement have solidified my resolve that we did the right thing. I'm not really surprised , the people I surround myself with are good people and this is the way I would respond if I knew of a child in need. You are all such lovely friends, and I'm so lucky to have you in my life. Thank you all.

3/12/2011

Thank You and Goodnight...

We are home, the munch who I've nicknamed Stinker, is on board and cuter than I could have imagined. She fits in quite well with Pumpkin and Booger, and chased them around the house for about an hour before zonking out.
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Thanks for the kind words and prayers, on the docket for tomorrow: we gotta get this kid some clothes, and since she's in a weird almost 24 month size and I'm not going to spend a ton, not knowing how long she will be here...goodwill here I come!
I'll make her an Easter dress, like I do every year for my munches, (and am doing for myself this year as well). Since nearly every stitch of clothing I own is from the goodwill/clearance/or other resale shops, I don't feel to bad bargain shopping for Stinker.

I may need a prayer or two

I've been putting off sharing this because it was not for sure until late yesterday evening. Jeeves has a cousin who is having a very hard time. At 30 years old she is a mother of four, and currently three of her children are being cared for by others, and tomorrow morning we will be taking charge of her last, a 14 month old baby girl. The situation is not a happy one, and while I won't go into details, because why drag someone down even further, it is true to say that the baby is not in a safe, stable environment.  

We will be driving the 3+ hours to Indiana to pick her up and then bringing her home for, well, we really don't know. I'll say as long as is needed to ensure that she is going to be healthy and safe if she returns to live with her mother. We felt that among the family, we were the most prepared to add a baby to the mix. Booger is only three and we haven't been sans-baby for very long. We have all of the accoutrement of baby-dom lurking in shadows in our home. Pulling them out and making them useful won't be that hard.

As a mother, my heart was breaking for this family. I know his cousin must want to care properly for her children and sincerely hope she gets whatever assistance she needs to do so. I hope this little girl feels safe here with us, and that we are doing the right thing for us and for them.

So if you've got a spare good vibe or prayer you can send our way, I'd appreciate it.
I've a feeling the next week is going to be a bit bumpy.
I'll try very hard not to turn to Mexican food if the stress becomes too great. but no promises...

3/10/2011

dreary...

In a rather lame attempt at trying to shake off the blahs I 've sunken into; I came home from work today and decided the girls and I were going to get some fresh air. It's still really cold out, around 40 degrees so I bundled them up and we went for a ride in our new wagon.

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I abandoned our double stroller a bit ago, deciding that since the girls are old enough now a wagon made more sense. They can climb into and out of it faster, and it's more versatile. So I purchased one that folds up into a three foot by two foot by 6 inch box that fits well into the trunk of my car.

It didn't work, I'm still feeling blah, but at least the girls had a good time. I'm sure a good night's sleep will help. I've taken a muscle relaxer for my neck. Thanks to everybody who commented and emailed after the last post. Here's hoping things look up, the sun comes out, and my head feels better. I've got to get back on the ball. I've a feeling this is not going to be a good weigh in for me on Sunday, it's just a hunch.

3/09/2011

Grumple-Stinky-Pants

I'm feeling disconnected from the blog world this week. I'm busy, and not commenting, and not getting comments, feeling like I'm sitting in a corner, blogging to myself. (Gah! I'm such a girl, needy and dumb, just ignore me.) Everything feels off, I even know what's going on and still feel kind of powerless and grumpy about the whole situation.

I have had stupid crazy hours and work to do this week. I keep telling myself I'm going to get my shit together and get into a routine of manageable workload days, but then I don't and I make myself crazy trying to fit too much crap into too little time. I'm heading in at 5 am tomorrow. I was in at 6 am this morning. I'm working from 5 until 9 and then working from home the rest of the day. Friday will be a more normal 9-5ish day, but yikers this has been the week from hell

I have been sleeping poorly and have a sore neck and upper back. I can't seem to figure out what the issue is and so for three days in a row I've been in pain, downing naproxen like nobodies business and doing every yoga pose I know of to help loosen the knot. I'm continuing with the pillow remodels to see if I can find one that works.

I've increased my intervals this week and I'm running for 2 minutes and then jogging for 3. My hips and upper thighs are very tight, I can feel the run and it feels pretty great, but I'm irritated that my workouts this week have been high jacked because Jeeves got a job. Not his fault, just life, still sucks.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm so happy he found this position, it's a good fit for us right now. Plus, he is going to do exceptionally well at it. His shifts are going to start and end a little earlier which will allow for a better sleeping situation for him.

In an effort to create order and possibly help the rest of my life fall into a more manageable array I have been cleaning. All of the laundry is clean and folded and put away in my house and my kitchen has been clean for three days. I have been doing the dishes before sitting down to do other things. It seems to be working and today Mutti came home over for dinner and I just grabbed stuff out of the fridge and cooked. No pre-cleaning or counter clearing at all, pretty cool.

Okay, so, it's late, the munches need some sleep and I'm tired of being alert, so bis dann.

3/08/2011

Sneaky Like a Ninja, with zucchini.

I really don't have a lot to talk about today. I went to the gym and now I'm getting ready to do some work from home. I have some stuff I really need to get done tonight and I have a long day tomorrow.  Luckily it's a long day that starts and ends kind of early. I'm taking the munches to Wally World in a bit, we need some produce and some beans.

I'm going to perfect my white chili recipe and post it for others to enjoy. It's creamy and has tons of veggies. I use fat free plain yogurt to add the creaminess. so yummy. I'll be making making that tomorrow, since I'll have to soak the beans tonight. I love beans, we eat them all the time at Chez Ninja .

Alright, I'm done yammering, I got nothing today, water's in, calories are out and I'm going to be done eating for the day in about an hour. Since it's pancake day We are having zucchini pancakes for dinner, I'm off to deceive my children into eating veggies, I'm such a rat.

3/07/2011

BMI FTW!!!

I did my BMI today, it's 28.6!

This means that I am now classified as Mildy Overwieght, not obese.
Apparently I have been in this category for awhile but have not bothered to check.
I did body fat calculations, it was about 30%. not great, but I'm on the right track.

Let's Be Honest

I didn't abstain completely on Saturday, but I didn't overdo it either. We had a good time and I saw some epic boobs, the woman had bedazzled them and was showing them to everyone. Keep in mind that it was below 40 degrees out. I'm sorry but no one's nipples are happy to be outside when it's below 40 degrees. It's a fact.

I also have a short rant about douchie dudes at the parade. FYI: When you are six and a half feet tall and standing at the front of the crowd, it is a dick move to stand up on the barrier fences to catch every set of beads thrown in your general direction. Also, realize that there are people behind you, when you attempt to do yoga poses to catch beads that are heading to the poor bead-less suckers behind you and you FALL ON THEM!!!!, you should
A.) realize you are being an ass
B.) Apologize for maiming people, and
C.) Just cut that shit out, Chief

Apart from the unfortunate ass kicking by Drunk Yoga Joe, the day was awesome. I had some light beer and a few jello shots. We found a Cajun-ish restaurant and I had red beans and rice and a salad. Very light meal but perfectly spicy and delicious.

Last word on the topic: I'm pretty sure the intense shivering that happened while I was at the parade resulted in a calorie deficit somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 zillion. Seriously, totally freaking cold. I was wearing four layers of clothing, thermal and fleece, plus two hats, and jeans, I was mostly okay until about the last half hour we were there. I lost some circulation in my hands and got low grade windburn on my cheeks, no lasting issues today.

I'll try to find some photos, my desktop is being a bitch right now so picture might be a few days out.
Happy Monday Everyone!

3/04/2011

Fat Tuesday?

I am going to the local Saturday debacle of debauchery this weekend. The home-town Mardi Gras parade. Being my crafty self I have made tons of fun what-not for watching the parade, including about 50 awesome jello shots made with sugar free jello. Who says a party can't be lo-cal?  I have also volunteered to be the DD, which will help me consume less calories than others who will be imbibing. I have a crazy hat, purple boots, a yellow poncho and awesome sunglasses. I won't look weirder than everyone, but I'll be close. hehehehe.

Because the weekend is going to be thrown off I am heading to the gym tonight instead of tomorrow morning and Will be doing my 6 miles really, really late on sunday.

I have collected over 70 dollars already for my Mud Run, and after watching some you tube videos I am very much looking forward to it. There is only one obstacle that gives me pause, and if I practice I bet I can do it, plus I'm working with a team, we'll do it together. I've decided I am going to get a sitter for the munches so Jeeves can be there to drive me home afterwards.

Speaking of MArdi Gras, I once had an argument with someone who did not believe that Mardi Gras was *actually* on a Tuesday. She kept saying "if it's on Tuesday, why did they have a big parade on Saturday?" Oy Vey

Keep warm and dry this weekend.
You would be safe in guessing that I will be neither of those things tomorrow.

3/01/2011

Fishnets...

Because I am an RHPS fan, I own a really nice pair of fishnet stockings. They fit well and they feel cool. I love them. I also don't have many places to wear them. Or so I thought.

Today I am wearing them with a skirt and knee high boots. They provide a suitable covering for my practically mother of pearl legs, and add a bit of edge to the ensemble. I feel pretty hot.

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What Do you think?
178 Pounds of Ninja Awesome.

Since the weather in Missouri is a little like sharing a hotel room with an un-medicated schizophrenic, I have pulled out many of my spring clothes for the days when they are appropriate. Most of my skirts and capris are too big. The skirts are fixable, I can just takethem in, but I'm going to need new short pants.
Yay shopping, not that I'm into that or anything...
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