Favorite Movie Quote: America's Sweethearts (2001)

Lee: You look fabulous.
Kiki: Thank you.
Lee: Look at you. What did you do? Is it your hair? What is it?
Kiki: It's my hair, and, err... I had a little sun.
Gwen: [bored] She lost sixty pounds.
[pause]
Kiki: And... And... And I lost a little weight.
Lee: I see that. Yeah. You look terrific.
Kiki: Thank you.
Lee: Sixty pounds?
Kiki: Yeah.
Lee: That's a Backstreet Boy!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Adventures in Waiting

Adventures in Waiting - A Non-Weight-loss Blog
It is day two in my quest to locate the elusive mythical creature called 'AT&T Repair Tech.' I'm honestly doubting all previous tales of this being's existence. I think I'm more likely to spot Nessie swimming in my bathtub but never the less I push on. Hope springs eternal and all that.

I'm currently lying in wait, hunkered down quietly in my humble abode trying to find ways to pass the time. It is amazing the revelations one can make when they are stuck at home without their three children running amok to keep them busy. Did you know it is humanly possible to splatter coffee six feet up a kitchen wall? Well, it is. I found proof just earlier today when I went to take out the garbage. I'm not sure when that happened but said proof has since been removed from white wall. What truly boggles the mind is how I'm the only one who drinks coffee in this house and I'm only five feet tall... Hmm. And also, have I mentioned that a home without children present stays neat and tidy for more than twenty minutes! And even better, I haven't had to remind a single soul to put the seat down or stop wrestling in the living room. All in all, my apartment is eerily quiet. If only I could here the pitter-patter of repairman feet on my front step... Well now, what I really meant to write about is this:

I love forced productivity. I'm not talking about the kind where someone is standing over you nagging you to clean your room or else... No, I'm referring to the kind that only happens when you can find absolutely nothing else to do but BE productive. For example, the Wednesday morning dishes that usually reside in the kitchen sink until I return home from school that evening are currently loaded into the dishwasher. And said dishwasher has already been run. Unbelievable, I know. I'm slightly startled by this every time I enter my kitchen.

Oh! And another gem of productivity I tackled thus far: mopping. As many of you may already know, I detest mopping my kitchen floor. I find it disgusting, pushing a dirty mop full of once clean but now thoroughly dirty water across the floor where it will undoubtedly pool beneath the baseboards. Yuck, yuck and yuck! Well, it turns out, when you have nothing but time on your hands and all the slightly more pleasant tasks that need doing require leaving your home (which is an absolute no-no since that is exactly the time the repairman will decide to show up) your kitchen floor gets scrubbed... by hand. Yes, she said by hand. And did you know that Cascade dishwasher detergent makes a wonderful floor cleaning agent? I didn't but as it turns out, my delightful children used all the Spic and Span (for lord knows what) and since I cannot leave my home for reasons previously mentioned, I was forced to be creative. My kitchen floor is quite literally clean enough to eat off of! Well, at least, in theory. But please, don't tell my children that, since I'm sure one or two would be inclined to test such a theory out but back to the story at hand...

Once the laundry was folded and put away, the apartment vacuumed, the kitchen mopped, dishes done and still no sign of the repairman, I was in need of other time consuming tasks. As they say, when the cat's away the mice will play... well, in this case it was vice-verse. This cat decided to play with the mouse's new keyboard. Did you know that playing piano is much like riding a bike? It's all about good form and once you know how, you never forget. (Thanks Dad, those lessons way back when are still paying off!) After an hour of awkward practice and a few dozen horribly wrong notes (sorry neighbors) I'm able to play Fur Elise like a pro! OK, more like a fifth grade, third year piano student but hey, it's still music. Sort of. And not only have Beethoven and I bonded but I whipped out a mean Mozart Rondo, a melodious Moonlight Sonata, and just for kicks and giggles, I unearthed the sheet music for the Beverly Hills Cop theme song! My son will be so thrilled! Now I say 'unearthed' because literally my front bedroom remains a hard-hat required disaster zone. I will take desperation beyond what I've encountered today, to motivate myself to tackle unpacking all those boxes and sorting through all those toys. Of course, the day is young... and as of yet (3pm) still no repairman so who knows, the desperation my come yet.

Now a few of you may be wondering, "Why isn't she exercising? This is a perfect opportunity to burn some calories!" To this I say, Ah... no. My luck would be that at the exact moment I'm midway through my workout, and I've worked myself up to a startling shade of red that implies need of emergency medical assistance, would be the exact moment my wayward repairman would arrive. So, no thank you. I'll have to wait for another perfect opportunity that doesn't mix copious amounts of sweat with strange people in my home.

Well now, I've killed about half an hour rambling here. And no, the tech has still not arrived, so I'm off in search of more ways to entertain myself. I wonder if Addie will mind if I organize her My Little Ponies magnets.... Hmmm. Well, tah-tah for now. Stay tuned for more Adventures in Waiting! Maybe I'll have photographic proof to sell to the tabloids if this so-called 'AT&T Tech Repairman' ever decides to show up!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Weighing In - Week Seventeen

Seventeen has always been my lucky number...
It's official! I've passed the 30 pound milestone! It was just on February 21st of this year (seventeen weeks ago) that I started this blog and was weighing in at 193 pounds. Although I've still got about 38 more pounds overall to go,
I'm just 3.5 lbs away from the half way point of my total goal and already I feel like a new person! Almost daily, somebody will comment on how much weight I've lost and each time it happens, I swear I stand just that much straighter and smile that much brighter. It's a wonderful feeling.

Now, I won't lie. I haven't been working out as much as I should. I'm not sure if it's just the stress of this particular time of year, the overwhelming exhaustion of working in the salon 30 hours a week or plain old me being lazy but at the end of the day (even the beginning of it, if we're honest) I'm just too tired and unable to motivate myself to workout. From about Mother's Day through the end of July, every year without fail, my life is overloaded with various events. I feel like I'm always rushing from one thing to the next without a moment of downtime. Life slows down considerably once summer is over and the kids are back in school so I'm expecting to get back into my regular workout schedule once that happens. Of course, the working 10 hour days in the salon won't change so I may continue to run into the problem of coming home each night barely able to stand let alone be coordinated enough to kick-box without causing myself serious injury. Fingers-crossed that as time goes by I'll get accustomed to the grueling go-go-go of working three to four clients a day. Time will tell.

And since I'm confessing, I should also mention that these past few weeks of birthday parties, holidays, and various end-of-school-year-events have been wreaking havoc on my healthy eating choices. As some of you may know, I had a day this week when I succumbed to the awesome deliciousness (and totally unhealthy goodness) of Panda Express. Not only did I consume enough sodium to mummify myself from the inside I out, but I ate chow mien, white rice, and orange chicken. All of which are on my naughty list of foods. But most surprising, for the person who had given up meat on Mother's Day, eating chicken was a huge no-no. And while I felt rather ill and insanely guilty that night (my stomach wasn't used to such heavy foods), I've since forgiven myself. I think my body needed a good binge but I'm back on track again. All things considered, I'm doing pretty good about not overdoing the naughty foods. At one point this week, I had three different cakes in my fridge (two birthday, one graduation) and I'm happy to say, two of the three are still there. That's not to say that I haven't eaten any of the cake myself... I have. It sounds gross but after a long day of scrubbing peoples feet and cutting hair, I really enjoy a small slice of cake and a big glass of V8. Hey, I'm balancing out the good and the bad with that snack! Oh well, I look forward to the end of birthday season in my family so these temptations won't be calling my name every time I open my fridge.

Overall, it's been a good week for my weight loss journey. I can't complain with results like this. And although I would like to proclaim that I'll be working out daily, I won't make any promises. I'm taking each day as it comes... baby steps. Now it's off to clean some house and then take the kids up to the Merry-go-Round and Steam Trains. Happy Father's Day to all you Dads and Moms-Who-Also-Play-Dad. Have a wonderful day! Have a wonderful week! See you next time!

Weekly Weight Loss: 2.8 pounds
Overall Weight Loss: 30.6 pounds