Do you Wii??

About a year ago we got a Wii. MissyMiss and Daddy LOVE to play it. MissyMiss gets to stay up later than Bubby on the weekends and loves to curl up on the couch with Daddy and the Wii during this time.

I was never very into it....until.....

Daddy just bought Tetris...ugh! I usually do not enjoy video games at all...but I LOVE Tetris. It is just so addicting for me. The version he bought allows you to play head-to-head with someone in a Battle Royale. Now, not only do I love Tetris, but Hubby and I are very competitive with games. We used to play Scrabble together, but it just got too intense...neither of us can bear losing to the other one.

To prove how competitive we are, we once had an argument about IQ and both took a home IQ test to settle it. Despite the fact that I am often lacking in the common sense department, I have a really high IQ...like almost high enough to be in Mensa.

Once hubby heard me say "Let's play it by year" (instead of "ear") and "for all intensive purposes" (instead of all intents and purposes), he figured no way could I be telling the truth. My IQ determined by the home test was the exact same number I hold told him I scored back in elementary school. He was in disbelief. After some more of my common sense mishaps, he still seems to doubt the results. I know I proved him wrong with that one.

But...I just cannot beat him at this Tetris game. It is DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

Week 3 weigh-in

I must sadly report that I only lost .1 pound this week. (No...not 1 pound... .1, as in 1/10th of a pound) Ugh!!!! I have actually been so good this week. I ran or biked 6 out of 7 days and mall walked twice. I have been so careful with my eating too!

Oh well....I will have to just move on and hope for much better this week. Since I lost 5 pounds the first 2 weeks, I can still realistically reach my goal.

But...the good news is that I went shopping and was able to buy a pair of jeans one size smaller than usual...so something is working!!

I have been making healthy dinners...big salad, veggie chili, egg whites, etc. I have fallen in love with 100 calorie fudgsicles...they are awesome! They are nice and chocolaty and satisfy my sweet tooth for just 100 calories. They rock!

So...what is your favorite low calorie snack??

What's wrong with this picture?

First of all, we had a day off from school on Monday. Below are some pics from what happens when there is a day off of school and it is WAY too cold to even consider playing outside. Please ignore the very crooked lamp shade and children all a mess. They had a lot of fun...

Before I show the "What is wrong with this picture?", I need to tell 2 stories.

First, the other day MissyMiss and I were in Kohl's. Out of nowhere, she turned to me and said "Am I white or black?" I told her she was white, aka Caucasian. She then asked if Bubby and Daddy were white too. I replied "Yes." And she finally asked, "So we are all just a bunch of whites?"

This reminded me of a Seinfeld episode. Has anyone seen this one? Elaine is dating a new boyfriend and each thinks that the other is bi-racial. When they discover that they are both "just white" they seem disappointed and then Elaine says "So....you want to go to the Gap?"

I should have used this as a teachable moment, but it was a very crowded store, so instead I went with the "Isn't this shirt the cutest?" technique.

The other story... MissyMiss came home from school on Tuesday and told me that in class they were supposed to watch a parade, but instead watched "some man" talk. I asked her if she knew who "the man" was. She told me no, so I went on to explain who Barack Obama is.

Well....yesterday I was cleaning out her backpack and I found this picture....can anyone tell me what is not quite right here?? I think that maybe we need to get her into a more ethnically diverse school...pronto.

Week 2 Weigh-In

I did my weigh-in yesterday because I have joined a "Biggest Loser" style competition on my running forum and the weigh-in day for that is Sunday. While on the forum, we discovered that quite a few of us were interested in losing some weight. A challenge was made, and others joined in, and now we have a weight-loss competition. It officially started yesterday and runs through May.



I weighed in yesterday and I lost 1.6 pounds this week!! I am happy with that. My goal is at least 1 pound a week. When I reach my first goal (I have about 8 pounds to go), I am going to order this hat...love it!

I had an interesting run yesterday. It broke 20 degrees and the path I run on was clear, so I headed outside. I wore a lot of layers and would have been fine, but it started snowing. It was driving me crazy because the snow was hitting me in the eyes and my eyes kept tearing. But...it was still better than on the treadmill. I did 4.6 miles and felt great.

I was in our local sporting goods store and saw that Nike had some new shirts out. I had to buy these two:

I love them. Now...I would never wear the top one in a race for 2 reasons:

a. It would be rather obnoxious.

b. I am slow, so it doesn't really pertain to me at this point. :) But...I thought it would be fun to wear for my training runs.

A New Workout

I have been trying to come up with some more cross-training ideas to incorporate into my workouts. One night an infomercial came on for this ...what do you think?

I thought it looked rather interesting. Just look at the results! Could I really be a "flirty girl"?

I showed my husband the website and he laughed....a LOT. The workout appears to be a sort of stripper boot camp...definitely not my thing. For those who have not met me in person, I have been described as "a good girl", "the girl next door", "all-American girl", etc....definitely not "flirty girl" material. And besides, how does one explain the presence of a stripper pole in the bedroom to their kids?

The other night I was running on the treadmill in the basement and thinking a bit more about it. In the basement there are support poles that run from the floor to the ceiling. When I noticed them there, I almost hopped off the treadmill and tried them out. Can you imagine what my husband would have said if he walked down the stairs to find me swinging around the basement support pole??

So...I think that I will have to keep searching for workout ideas.

I still laugh when I think about it. Has anyone out there seen that episode of "King of Queens"? It is my fav!

Brrrrrr....

It is officially FREEZING outside!! Today's high is 13 and tomorrow's will be 8!!


I am trying to stay positive about this weather. This is what I was thinking....



My new little nephew lives down in the much warmer south, where it surely will be warmer than 8 tomorrow. But...that cute little boy likely won't get to do much sledding or snowman building in the winter. One of the great things about where I live is that we have all 4 seasons.



In the winter we can enjoy sledding, ice skating, building snowmen, making snow angels, skiing and hot cocoa by the fire.

In the spring we enjoy watching the new flowers bloom, sunshine, walks outside, and trips to the park.

In the summer, it is the pool, running through the sprinkler, blueberry and strawberry picking, minor league baseball games, smores, BBQs, and picnics.

In the fall, pumpkin picking, apple picking, raking and jumping in piles of leaves, cool and crisp weather and beautiful foliage.

So...when it hits at least 20 degrees, we will get back to enjoying all of the wonderful snow.

What do you love to do in the winter???

1st Weigh-In

I got on the scale today and I lost 3.4 pounds this week!!! Now, I thought that my initial weigh-in last Monday was a bit high, so it may have been a bit of water weight from too much salt. But...the scale is definitely headed in the right direction! I was very happy with that.

I have been good this week with my eating choices. I have been trying to eat a lot more whole foods, fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats. I have an awful sweet tooth, so I would never cut out sweets all together. I have been having a small piece of chocolate every day and of course my daily "tall, non-fat, no foam, no whipped hot chocolate" at Starbucks....I just can't give it up!

I have been trying to add more activity into my day, besides my running. On Sunday I went out and did the snow blower, then we took the kids sledding, then ice-skating with MissyMiss and then 4 miles on the treadmill in the evening...by that night I was beat! I have also been doing a lot of cycling and also got back to mall walking with Bubby in the stroller. (It is great for a snowy day, but can get expensive!) All in all, it has been a good week!

I have an arrhythmia and it has been giving me some trouble during speed workouts. I went to the cardiologist and they did some further testing and I went back today for a follow-up and was given an all-clear. Unless my symptoms change, I am free to exercise as much as I want to...thank goodness!!

So...what do y'all do to add more activity into your day????

That Ginormous Stocking

Do you remember anything from your childhood that you wanted so bad you can still taste it? I do....for me it was that ginormous stocking.

I grew up on Long Island, about 3 blocks away from our town's "Main Street". There was a very small grocery store not far from my house. When I got old enough, my mom would send me there if she needed a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk.

Every December they hung a truly ginormous stocking from the ceiling. It was full of stuff that a 10 year old kid would find awesome. Looking back now, it held a lot of junk. The kind of junk that you win from the claw game, or that you spend $10 to win at a carnival. But, to my little girl eyes, that stocking was truly amazing, and I wanted it...bad.

When you checked out, you could fill out a chance to win the stocking. I would go along with my mom, so that I could fill out those chances. Every year I was determined that I would be the winner.

My parents and siblings even remember how very much I wanted that stocking. My sister remembers that on the night when the winner was to be called, I would prohibit anyone from using the phone, so as not to tie up the line. I knew I would win.

I never won that stocking. I still get teased about how much I wanted it. My sister was trying to develop some scheme about calling me this December and pretending to be from the grocery store and that somehow I had won the stocking years ago but they weren't able to reach me and I could come pick up my prize. I would have never believed her...but that is how very much I wanted that stocking. My mom let me in on her plan...I think she remembers my heartbreak. Every December when I didn't win, she would console me by telling me that Santa would be coming soon.

Does anyone else remember anything that they wanted so badly as a child and never got....or am I just pathetic?

My Girl

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your wonderful comments and support. It really means so much to me. It also keeps me out of the snack drawer....don't want to let you people down!!! I am hopeful for Monday's weigh-in. :)

I have been blessed with 2 wonderful kids...everyday I think of just how lucky I am. Sometimes they do drive me nuts....like the time Bubby took off his poopy diaper, removed the contents and tried to shove it under his bedroom door...but that is another story for another day...

My first-born is my wonderful MissyMiss. She and I are like 2 peas in a pod. At least once every other week we go out together after dinner...just the 2 of us and leave the "boyzos" home. To show just how much she is like me, our favorite thing to do is go to Starbucks for cocoa and dessert and then clothes shopping. This is why I also call her my "little girlfriend".

We can't just go clothes shopping, we also must try on the clothes. For her it is no fun unless she can try them on and do her "moves" in the mirror. A few nights ago we did our girls night out. After a trip to Starbucks, we pulled into the Target parking lot and she said to me "Come on Mom, let's kick it!".....WHAT? Where did she get that phrase? I felt like she was more like a teenager than my little girl...let's kick it? It cracked me up...she told me that she just thought of it.

After we chose our clothes, she tried to convince me to let her have her own fitting room. Should I be worried here? Is she 6 going on 16?? I let her choose 1 item and she picked a cozy bathrobe.:)

Luckily, that night we laid in bed and read books, chatted about school and snuggled. Hopefully I have at least a few more years of that. At her school, I am able to join her for lunch whenever I want to. One day she was waiting to go through the lunch line when I walked in the door. She spotted me and turned to her buddies and yelled "Guys...she's here!!" It was like I was a rock star...everyone was so thrilled that I was there. I have to wonder....for how much longer will I be a rock star?

My mom said once when my brother was a teenager she was driving him and his friends to the mall. Before they left, my brother asked her if she could please not talk at all in the car. We all laugh about this, but it makes me wonder what the future has in store for me...

And so it begins...

I did my first official weigh-in yesterday for my weight loss goal....I have about 2 pounds more junk-in-the-trunk than I had thought. I will weigh-in each Monday and am hoping for a 1 pound loss per week.

In quilting news, I just finished a quilt for Bubby. It is a construction zone front panel with roadway fleece for the backing. I had bought the fabric quite a while ago, but got sidetracked with baby quilts and the holidays. I put the last stitch in today and gave it to him...
To say he was thrilled is an understatement. I would love that kind of reaction every time I give someone a quilt. First, he jumped up and down. Then he spread it out on the floor and ran and got his cars and lined them up on it. Then he ran circles around it cheering. It was the cutest thing I have seen. Here are some pics of him enjoying his new quilt:

Coopers test

Today I went out for a run on my favorite paved trail and it was COLD!!!! It was 20 degrees when I got there, brrrr!



I ran a total of 4 miles, but did a Cooper Test after using the first mile as a warm-up. Here are my results:

Total distance covered in 12 min: 1.25 miles or 2012 meters.
This puts me in the "Good" category, which I am happy with. My heart rate at the end of the 12 minutes was 138...not too shabby.


I had planned on running more than 4, but my legs were so cold they were stinging. I had a windbreaker on top which really helped. I think I need to get some wind pants to wear over my running tights on the cold days.


Tomorrow I will do my first official weigh-in and then use that to base all further weeks on. I have cleaned out the pantry of most of the holiday junk that had accumulated. :)


On another note, MissyMiss just started ice skating lessons and LOVED it. She is already able to rollerblade well, so she did really well on the ice. One of our local parks floods an area for outdoor ice skating, so we took her today...it was awesome! I am heading out this week to get myself a pair of skates. :)

Running Goals

While I was out for a run last week, I started thinking about my running goals for 2009. This year, I ran in three 5K races and my first 10K race. I ran 412.92 miles in 2008....I took off most of April due to an ankle tendinitis and part of October due to knee problems.

Here are my running goals for 2009:

1. Log at least 500 miles.

2. Run in at least 5 races.

3. Do more cross training....cycling, strengthening, walking, etc. Right now I exercise 3-4 days a week. My goal is 5-6 days a week with only 1 day off.

4. Lose 15 pounds. This is the big one. I am sorry to say, even with all my running, I am 15 pounds overweight. :( Currently I race towards the back of the pack. But, my 5K PR for 2008 was 28:20. So, it is very possible for me to move to the middle of the pack. I know that my speed will increase if I can lose those 15 pounds. As a fellow runner noted, running with 15 extra pounds is like running while carrying a turkey. Surely I can go faster if I can drop the turkey.

My plan is to do a weigh-in this Monday morning and the every Monday after that. My goal is a pound a week. My birthday is in April and if I drop a pound a week, I should be able to lose 13 by my birthday, just in time for the start of racing season.

So...there they are. I think they are quite realistic. I plan to report weekly on the weight issue and monthly on all others. The biggest one that I want to conquer is my turkey. I hope that by blogging about it, I will hold myself more accountable. We'll see.... :)