Friday, April 27, 2012

Rectifying weekend gluttony

Ah, my body is forgiving me. I'm back on track. So, to refresh your memory, I had 10 lbs. to go. I didn't post it (because I had forgotten to) but I had lost roughly 2 pounds of that. Then all hell broke loose in the part of my brain that dealt with self-control and I shot back, causing me to be 11 lbs. from goal as of last Monday.
As I've mentioned before, I know 10 lbs. (+1) doesn't seem like a lot. But these are my last ten pounds on my weight loss journey. They are the hardest 10 lbs. I've ever had to lose. They are clinging to me like nothing I've ever witnessed before. So while it may seem like a measly 10 lbs. to others, for me, it's two to three dress sizes. It's the difference between my body now and my body when I first started dating The Man. The end result of reaching my weight goal is a comfortable size 4 for me. For real.
And I'm happy to report that I've lost a few pounds from my weekend of gluttony and am now 8.5 lbs. away from goal.
I'll take it!
Do I slip up? Most definitely. Hell, I just ate the Godiva Truffles someone at work left for me (I know, bad girl.) But I'm doing my best to not just be lackadaisical. I know what works for me and I need to DO IT.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Well. That first week didn't go very well.

It's getting hard for me to kick my ass in gear. ARGHHHHHHHH! Why am I not disciplined? I know exactly what I need to do and I know exactly what works produces results. Yet ... I don't do it.

But I'm not giving up. I can do this. Even though I sabotaged myself this past week, I can get my booty in gear.

On a happier note, it looks like I have a future yogini on my hands! While I would love for her to dance hula with my old halau (they recently started offering a keiki class - first time, ever!), I would also be over-the-moon if I could share with my baby girl what both challenges me and bring me serenity and joy:
She's a natural! Her form in downward facing dog is better than mine.

Focusing on the yoga DVD.

Balancing out the vinyasa with upward facing dog.
How cute is she?? I know it's going to be a couple more years before she can go to class with me but I hope she learns to love yoga as much as I do:)

Monday, April 16, 2012

10 pounds in 30 days

It might seem too aggressive except that FIVE of those pounds shouldn't be there! I had lost them.
And, like a federal agent, they found me again.
Seriously? Seriously?!
Ah, why am I acting shocked? I knew I was pressing my luck. My body was my science experiment. I was testing its limits, seeing what I could get away with eating without gaining weight.
Well, I'm back in the game. Time to go with what I know works. I got comfortable when I lost 15 pounds and went back to my old habits. So, in my mind, the first five are going to be easy but the last five are the ones that have been here this whole time.
But who's to say I can't lose them? I was certain that those other 15 were here to stay. I'm determined to NOT psych out. I will stop being my worst critic and start being my best cheerleader. As corny as it sounds. And I know it sounds corny.
You there, 10 pounds, pack your bags. You're about to get the boot!!!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Bun's Easter Weekend

I can't believe it's already Sunday night (Uh, so, I wrote this on Sunday. It is now Tuesday night, nearly midnight. It took a while from completion to publishing - no judgment!;) This three-day weekend flew by. What was nice is that it was all about my daughter this weekend.
On Friday, my day off (whooo!), we went for a morning walk with the pups. Then we spent the afternoon with her Nana getting all our hairdos done! The Bun was so good. She watched Nana get a color & cut, then me just get a plain cut and when my hair stylist turned to her and asked, "Would you like to get your hair cut, too?" The Bun replied, "Yes!" She sat oh so still as her hair was being trimmed.
 

(Bad Mama, I forgot to take a photo with Nana so we could have all three generations. But this is one of the things The Bun and I did while Nana got her hair done so we could stay busy. Next time!)

On Saturday, we went to an egg hunt hosted by a Mom from my old Mommy Group. I have to say that this the biggest reason I love Facebook. I'm able to stay connected with people I might otherwise lose touch with. My mommy group never meets anymore, I guess you could call it defunct, but I feel like we see each other all the time because we're able to keep in touch on FB.
It was so cute to see The Bun with this group because we all remember when we first met and our babes were literally weeks old. Last year, we have photos from their first ever egg hunt. Even though they were all over a year old, they didn't know what the heck was going on their first Easter. It was the first time they all were able to toddle about and actually participate in an egg hunt. (On their official first Easter, they all were only six or seven months old.) Last year was such a funny egg hunt because none of the kids knew what they were doing. But it was touching to see them up and about because, after all, we remember when they were fresh out of the oven.
This year, though - what a change! Sure, they still overlooked eggs that weren't really hidden but they were movin' and shakin'. What a difference a year makes! Rather than drinking from a bottle, being breastfed or eating pureed foods, these kids were eating snacks, drinking from juice boxes and were full fledged toddlers. My goodness. Of course, I took only a couple of photos on my phone which turned out bad. Wish I had a few to post:(
The next day was Easter. The Bun had a two social outings! In the morning, we met up with Jen, her hubby and her son, K. Although they just traveled literally across the globe just the day before, they met up with us on our side of the Bay for coffee and a play date. The kids were so cute. While they're still too young to play with each other, they enjoyed playing in each other's company. They were walking all around the two playgrounds, going down slides, swinging on the swings and just being really cute toddlers. It was a great chance to catch up with Jen. It seems like just a couple of years ago when we lived in the same neighborhood but it's been over 12! When we met, we were footloose and fancy free. Now we're both happily married, have awesome kids and pretty fantastic lives. My how we've grown up:) (Ugh, guilty again for not taking photos. I'm hoping that Jen's hubby captured some precious moments with his camera that he wouldn't mind sharing ;)
Around noon, we said our goodbyes because we both had family engagements to attend. I shook the sand off Ava (that's when you know it was a good time at the playground), put her in a wonderful Spring dress her Auntie Nene gave her and we were off in less than an hour for our next egg hunt!
Side note: I wish I had taken a photo of the cheesecake I made. I was quite proud of it. It was my first plain cheesecake and it was actually pretty!  And by "pretty", I mean it hardly had a crack. Not an easy thing to do with a cheesecake, let me tell you. In fact, changed my mind about decorating it with blueberries and fresh blueberry compote because I thought it was so nice. I decided that if people wanted it, they could spoon it on themselves. In addition to being pretty, it ended up tasting good. Phew! I was really worried because the recipe was for a PUMPKIN cheesecake. I had to switch it last minute because my aunt told me she had bought pumpkin pie already. I'm not an expert baker so I had no idea if removing the pumpkin portion (canned pumpkin and spices) would make it fall, too thick, watery, taste funny or whatever. I searched around for other recipes and just decided to add 2 tablespoons of flour as it was called in another recipe. But I kept everything else the same. Thankfully, it turned out A-OK.
Back to the egg hunt now:) The Bun had a splendid time! Her cousins, and her cousin's cousins, are all so sweet. Most were older than her but there were a few youngsters, too. What I love about these gatherings is that ALL the kids are sweet. Yes, ALL. Not a rotten one in the bunch. Not that I would post about that child if one existed but I just wouldn't write anything. ALL the kids are sweet and kind. The older ones look after the youngsters which I find so heartwarming. I love that my daughter can have a great time and that these kids include her. Often times with older kids, they'll just ignore the little ones. And I get it, they're busy and they want to play! I don't hold it against them at all. But when we go to these family gatherings, they bigger kids want to hold The Bun's hand, or help her with something, like put on her shoes or gather her things. It's just so sweet! She loves kids and her eyes light up when they include her, even if she's a lot slower or doesn't get everything they do. They remember to include her enough that she's happy. And I love that.
Thankfully, The Man was with us and he took his fancy photo machine and took some great photos:

The Bun in her Easter finery. (Piko gave a sniff test of approval.)
Because we have to have a shot of Pili if we have one of Piko.


The kids were lined up according to height so that the little ones had a fair chance of getting eggs. See what I mean? Such sweet big kids because I didn't hear a peep or complaint.

Mama realizing The Bun needed an assist.
These two were the littlest walkers
(We had a few smaller kiddos but the babies weren't at Walker or even Crawler status just yet:)
Look at them go go go.
Look at these smiles. So much fun.

These cheeks are made for kissin'. Don't you agree?
After a fun filled afternoon, we ended her weekend with a visit to Nana & Papa's house. With Papa's knee replacement surgery, they aren't up for any social gatherings. With The Man and me working full time jobs, it's hard to fit in quality time with them. So it was wonderful that we were able to visit, show them The Bun's Easter outfit and just talk.  The Bun loves her Nana & Papa and they love her so much.
The Bun had a fantastic weekend. And being the softie mama that I am, I'm so happy she was happy so it was a fantastic weekend for me too. I love my little family and am so appreciative of my outstanding husband, my amazingly sweet daughter, our two pups and our superb family and friends. My heart is so full.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Busy little bee!

Work has been so busy! I had more than 15 meetings last week and I swear all this week has been doing all my follow ups from said meetings as well as catching up on anything I missed while being out of the office. But I am finally caught up. Perfect timing because today is my Friday!
Bless my work's heart, they gave us tomorrow off. This little mama is finally gettin' her hair done. I am in for a much needed trim. I'm also bringing my Ma and baby girl. That's right, three generations going to the salon. How cute is that? I'll be sure to take photos like I did last time. Hopefully, though, they will be cuter!

Monday, April 02, 2012

Self diagnosed addictive personality

Only when it comes to certain things. Which is why this is entirely speculation and a self-diagnosis.
My Kindle is an oldie but goodie. Yes, my Kindle is from pre-iPad days making it one overpriced mother effer. Seriously.
But I can't really complain because my Kindle was a baby shower gift from my Mama. (My Mama is one generous lady. Thanks, Ma!) I'm only annoyed on behalf of my Mama because it was really insulting for Amazon to charge so much now that we know how far $500 can really go (ah-hmm, say what you will about Apple but they really kicked Amazon in the tail.) Oh well, lesson learned.
I do still use my old Kindle, though! While we have an iPad, it's used mainly by The Man. I tend to use my work PC laptop or my iPhone. The Kindle makes an appearance now and then but I usually have to tuck it away because I have this fault. If I really like I book, I can't put it down. I know, many people have this issue. But it can get in the way. I will be up until 2 or 3 in the morning just so I can finish a book and find out how it ends. I know, it's just plain silly. But it's a huge reason why I put it away and don't read for a while. The Kindle revolutionized the way we read! Before, we would have to buy a book at the bookstore or check it out of the library. Now we can download a book in less than a minute. The accessibility to new-to-you literature is mind-blowing. And can be very distruptive to a person's schedule when the person is like me and has to finish the book.
So my dear Kindle has been in my bedside table for quite some time. Until I gave in to the masses and read The Hunger Games.
What a great book. I really liked it. So much more than Twilight (not winning any points with you literary snobs, am I?) I finished it one day so that night, before I went to sleep, I downloaded the second book so I could read it as soon as I woke up:

It was a blessing and a curse that I was not disappointed. Usually I lose interest in a main female character and it's because, unfortunately and typically, the character turns out to be helpless or indecisive. I can't stand that. But all the characters remain strong, including the lead female character. Love that.
Using all my control and frankly, it helped that I was ODed on books after a weekend, I decided that I was going to wait through the work week until April 1st to download the last book of the trilogy. A big reason why I decided to wait was because I was eligible through Amazon Prime to check out a book for free at the beginning of each month. Oh, Amazon, there you go winning me back again. You're just too amazing for me to stay away.
So yesterday I downloaded the final book:
I started reading around 8 PM and got done at about 1 AM. That's right. I just had to finish it. HAD TO FINISH! As I continued reading I knew that I should stop. The book would be waiting for me! But no, I just had to find out the ending and was soooo tired this morning.
This is why I don't read as much as I used to. Well, this and because I have a 2 year old daughter.
But I'm glad I got caught up in The Hunger Games frenzy. These really are good books and I highly recommend them! They are entertaining, easy, yet smart and well-developed.
(Although, who am I really encouraging to read these? I'm probably one of the last people to read the series!)