BYOC

Since Draz said exactly what I wanted to say, I'll just go ahead and let her say it:

It’s FRIDAY – thank the ever-loving heavens above. I mean why is it that short weeks (after a holiday) end up being thee longest weeks on Earth? Oy.

Let’s do BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy. We answer 5 questions in an effort to get to know each other better and to give our blog brains a break. Copy to your own blog and ENJOY!

1. Do you drink coffee? Decaf or regular? Cold or hot? If not – what’s your go-to morning drink?

No. I love the way coffee smells, but hate the way it tastes. My go-to caffeine fix is either Diet Coke or Mountain Dew, depending on whether the restaurant I drive-thru that morning is a Coke or Pepsi restaurant.

2. What are your top six characteristics in a partner if you could hand pick them. And just for kicks – if you’re in a relationship – after you make the list of six – does the person you are with possess all five?

Honesty
Integrity
Sense of humor
Adventurous spirit
Musicality
Chub n' scruff

The Hubs is all of the above, except, he can't sing or dance, or play an instrument. And I should add that "chub n' scruff" is the physical appearance of men that I am attracted to. A little overweight with some sort of facial hair. I'm forcing The Hubs to keep a beard for me since he's currently out of work and doesn't have to impress anybody. I luuuuuuuuuuurve it. He hates it. But still, he humors me. :)

3. I’m going to pick a person – not knowing if this person even exists in your life – and you try to describe this person in 5 short words or sentences:

Paternal grandfather

• Lloyd
• Kind of mean
• Glasses
• Lived in VERY rural Tennessee
• I vividly remember him in his casket at his funeral

4. What’s your signature item? Color? Piece of clothing or jewelry? Accessory? You know – that one thing people know you will ALWAYS have on?

Sunglasses on the top of my head. Even when it's raining. Several years ago, I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a pair of Prada sunglasses, and since I spent so much, I wouldn't go anywhere without them. Now, I've traded them in for a $16 pair of Tarjay sunglasses, but haven't shaken the habit. They are ALWAYS there. Business meeting? Funeral? Shopping? Snowstorm? Yep, they're holding my hair back.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blog life.

Longest short week EVER. I haven't slept well all week and work has been nutso. I'm leaving on Sunday to go to Dallas (via Chicago) until I return on Wednesday night. Yep, I'm getting on two airplanes on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I'm not really concerned about safety, but more about obscenely long waits and security feeling up my hooha for explosives.

Blogland has been kinda slow, except for the fact that I'm Donna Reed, bitch! So, not too much to report there.

Love, my lovelies!

It's too bad...

...the Donna Reed show theme song didn't have lyrics. They would have made a great title for this blog post.

I'm Donna Reed, bitch!

First, I perfect meaty balls o' goodness, and now I make homemade chicken and dumplings?! Watch out now! Next thing you know, I'll be wearing pearls and high heels and bringing The Hubs his pipe while he reads the newspaper. (Sidenote: the mental image I just had of the confused look on The Hubs' face that says "What the hell am I supposed to do with that?!" just made me giggle out loud at McDonalds. Oopsie.)

At any rate, I did, indeed, make homemade chicken and dumplings. And it was, indeed, the bomb dot com.

Here is the recipe, and the changes I made (or will be making next time) in red. As far as "healthy" goes, I'm sure it's not the best thing out there, but I'd bet my pearls it's healthier than frozen pizza and mozzarella cheese sticks.

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

2 Tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. pkg. frozen mixed veggies (I'll probably double this next time)
12 oz. pkg. frozen peas (I'll omit this next time - TOO MANY PEAS!)
32 oz. chicken broth
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup (condensed)
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed in bite-sized pieces (uncooked)
2 C Bisquick
2/3 C milk
salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and saute until tender. (About 3 minutes). Add chicken broth, salt & pepper, cream of chicken soup, and chicken. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. (The original recipe called for cooked chicken, but I added my cubes in raw and made sure they were fully cooked at the end. I think it would have overcooked the chicken if they were added in already cooked, but you do what you want. I won't tell.)

Combine Bisquick and milk in medium bowl. Drop by spoonfulls into boiling mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, breaking up dumplings into bite sized pieces if needed. Cover with lid and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Et voila, you can be Donna Reed too!

Food photographer, I am not.

I served this with mashed potatoes (But don't tell Donna that they were the Bob Evans microwaveable kind). I don't know why the original recipe calls for mixed veggies AND a bag of peas - it was way to pea-y. So next time, I'll omit the bag of peas and either double the mixed veggies or just do one bag of mixed veggies.

It was super good even if it was all pea-ed out. Try it!

Victory tastes delicious!

I'm not Suzie Homemaker by any means. Just ask my husband. He'll tell you how he does the majority of the 'cooking' in our house, and that most of the time we cook things that are pre-packaged and microwaveable or frozen and heated up in the oven. There aren't many "made from scratch" dishes in our repetoire.

Well, yesterday, we took Bubber Man to his 8 month check-up. (He's healthy by the way, 29.5 inches tall and 20 pounds 6 ounces, finally double his birth weight.) At any rate, the doctor told us that she wants him to be on nothing but table foods and formula by his 10 month visit. And by "table foods", I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean frozen pizza and mozzarella cheese sticks.

She was rattling off a list of all the things we could "easily" cook that he could eat - lentil soup, hummus, anything with beans, indian food, sweet potatoes, etc. Somewhere in the middle of her list of things that The Hubs and I don't even eat, she mentioned homemade meatballs. At the mention of meat, both The Hubs' and my ears perked up.

There's only one problem - I don't cook. For one, I give up easily at the mention of anything that requires chopping, sauteing(sp?), or lots of herbs. For two, our kitchen is a postage stamp. It's what we call a "One Butt Kitchen", so anything you try to cook makes a complete disaster of the two square feet of counter space we have. It has to really be worth the effort if I have to cook AND clean up the mess!

But, knowing that Bubs needs to start eating something more substantive than pureed and liquified fruits and veggies, I got home and started looking for recipes. I came upon this recipe surprisingly quickly. A recipe with four normal ingredients and three steps?! Even I can do that!

After reading the reviews, I ended up adding in some salt, pepper and grated parmesan, and they turned out A-MAZING!!!

Meaty balls o' goodness.

We had my homemade meatballs with spaghetti, garlic bread, and the world's best sauce.

I am so impressed with myself! (She said ever so humbly...) Next time, I think I'll add some Italian seasoning because they turned out a tiny bit bland, but over all, I kicked turkey meatballs ass!

We're getting ready to let Logan try some, and hopefully he'll be a fan too. If not, The Hubs and I will have to eat them all, which is just such a shame. :)

Be proud of me, Bloglandians! I made meaty balls from scratch!

It's gonna take time..

A whole lotta precious time,
It's gonna take patience and time, oh,
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it,
To do it right.

(Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison)

Question. (I've been on a "The Office" kick lately, and have channeled my inner Dwight Schrute. On second thought...ew).

Anyway, I've got a question. How do you find the time?

I have a six month old baby, a 'full time +' job, a commute, an apartment the size of a postage stamp quite literally filled to the brim with life's junk (which means if you use one thing, the whole place is a disaster), a husband, three full sets of family, friends, and chores all competing for my time. Oh yeah, and sleep too. I have to sleep in there somewhere.

I know I'm not the only one.

I haven't figured out how to fit all of those things - that whole "living" part of life into the 24 hours a day I get.

My day:

• Wake up between 6:45-7:00. My MIL usually shows up around 7:05 to watch Bubbers for the day. The Hubs works third shift, so he's not home. If Logan wakes up during the night (like last night when I had to feed him at 3am) I get to handle it.
• Leave for work by 7:20. Drive 40-ish minutes (on a good day)
• Work 8-5, drive 40-ish minutes (on a good day) home.
• Spend 20 minutes staring at cabinets and refrigerator, willing something to pop out and make itself for dinner, when that doesn't happen, resign myself to a quick frozen pizza or pre-packaged meal. On fancy, well prepared nights, we'll have Hamburger Helper or Tacos, or something that actually requires more steps than "open package, microwave".
• 6:30-7:00ish: Scarf down food during the rare quiet moments when Logan is watching Word World or Dinosaur Train. I'm eternally indebted to Netfix since I don't have cable.
• 7:00ish - 9:00ish: Feed/change/play with/entertain kiddo, while possibly fitting in some time on crack FaceBook.
• 9:00ish: Give kiddo a bath (most nights) which is good for about 30 minutes of "Happy Kid" time.
• 9:30ish: Give kiddo last bottle and hopefully put him down for the night
• 9:45ish: Clean up around the house, catch up on emails/Facebook/blogs while watching something trashy on Netflix.
• Go to bed.

It is worth mentioning that my husband gets home from work anywhere from 9-11am, pays bills and does other house-typey stuff for a bit, then goes to bed. He usually gets about 4 hours of sleep - 6 is a treat for him - before he has to get back up so that {1} my MIL can trek it 45 minutes back to her house in rush hour traffic, or {2} he can be on call for work.

His job requires him to be on call every other week, from Friday at 5pm until Friday at 5pm, which means that while he is physically home, mentally he's working. Scheduling, managing, researching, stressing about whatever stupid Tech he has in Bangladesh or India or China who's not doing his job correctly.

He's exhausted. And if he's in between phone calls or emails or speaking veeeeery slooooowly to Chinese guys, he is as present as he can be. He helps me entertain Logan, or changes his diapers, or feeds him if he can. But it's hit or miss, and because of his stupid job, I can't rely on him to be available to help.

And whether he's on call or not, he has to be out of the house by 10:15 pm to physically go to work. So, not only am I having trouble finding time for life, I'm having trouble finding quality time with my husband.

Not to mention that damn treadmill that keeps nagging at me.

I know that the time after Bubs goes to bed is the "free" time that I have to play around with, but there's not much of it - especially if I want to get to bed at a decent hour. And frankly, when I do have a minute to myself, when nobody else is demanding my attention, I would rather veg than work out.

How do you do it? How do you fit it all in? How do you manage to find time to do the things that you WANT to do around all of the things you HAVE to do?

Help me, blogland!

"And I've made up my mind, I ain't waistin' no more time. Here I go again..."

("Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake).

Yesterday I made a deal with The Devil my husband.

Seeing as how I've been a total bum with the whole diet and exercise thing, and also seeing as how I'm completely, hopelessly, 100% obsessed with getting pregnant, I decided to take matters into my own hands. And it went something like this:

Mrs. B.: Honey, I've decided something.
Mr. B.: (looks scared) You have? What?
Mrs. B.: When I get to 195 pounds, we're having a baby.
Mr. B.: (turning pale and pastey) We are?! How about 175 pounds?
Mrs. B.: No! I'll be happy under 200, so 195.
Mr. B.: Where are you now?
Mrs. B.: Right around 250.
Mr. B.: (calculating in his head) How about 190?
Mrs. B.: Seriously?! What's the difference between 195 and 190?!
Mr. B.: ....190?
Mrs. B.: Fine. When I get to 190 pounds, we're going to get me pregnant. Deal?
Mr. B.: Uhhhhhh....ehhhhhh.....weeeell....
(Mrs. B. gives Mr. B. "the look")
Mr. B.: Okay...deal.

And then, partly in the interest of full-disclosure, and partly because I'm an evil wife who sometimes might just get a tiny bit of enjoyment out of seeing her husband break out into an instant sweat, I added this little bit:

"You know, honey, if I really kick it into gear, I could be at 190 by the end of this year..."

...and I swear to you, I think his heart just might have stopped beating for a second. He recovered, though, and now I'm back in the game. I've got new purpose, and I'm ready to go. You know, sometimes I think you just have to procrastinate on something so much until you just can't possibly take it anymore, to really kick it into gear and make a difference. Table for one?! Because that's pretty much where I am.

My weigh-in this morning said 249.6. Today's the day that I start working on my "baby wait". I'm pretty darn excited!

My goals for this week are:

1. Take all meds daily.
2. Test blood sugar twice daily.
3. Stay under 1,600 calories daily.
4. C25k Week 3 Mon, Weds, Fri at 1% incline.
5. T5k Tues, Thurs, Sat at 1% incline.

Here I go again...

And in other news...(I think I missed my calling as a news anchor, don't you?)

The Hubs and I took The In-Laws to Bd's Mongolian Grill on Friday. I was seriously concerned about this, seeing as I'm one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. I barely eat "Chinese" food, sticking mainly to Sweet & Sour Chicken and fortune cookies. But, seriously, it was so good! The place was absolutely packed so I did feel a little rushed. I didn't get time to sample as many sauces as I would have liked, but in the end I was not at all disappointed by my choices. Next time, I'll add more veggies, since using a small amount of sauce is a great way to 'hide' them in the dish. The website has a handy dandy tool where you can create a bowl and it will automatically calculate your nutrition facts for you.

I talked MFN into going there for lunch today. Yay veggies! (Wait... what's that I hear? The flapping of tiny pig wings? The crackling of icicles in Hades? Did she just say, "yay veggies!"? I think she did!) Yep. "Yay veggies..." I'm not the person I used to be. And that's a totally awesome thing.

Saturday, I grocery shopped. I also just happened to cook the most awesomest meal I've ever cooked in the history of my wifedom. I made steak, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes, and didn't ruin anything! (Where's The MIL when I need her?!) It was so freaking good! I mean, yes, I understand that there isn't much skill in boiling corn or in putting a potato in the oven, but the steaks were awesome! My George Foreman grill is officially my favorite kitchen gadget. (After the Kitchen Aid mixer, of course!)

Sunday, we hung out at my Step-Grandparents' house for Father's Day, and then lounged around the apartment for some quality spouse time. The Hubs starts his first full week of the quarter this week, and now we've got to find him a new job as well. Needless to say, he's a busy guy. He's a busy guy who's going to have a pregnant wife to deal with as soon as I get my ass in gear.

:-)

This is my life?

I just called The Hubs to share some really exciting news:

I saved over $40 with coupons at the grocery store and came in $30 under budget. And I bought him the fish he likes without him even asking.

Next thing you know, I'll be driving a Dodge Caravan full of screaming children to soccer practice.

I think I need to put on a skanky outfit and go do some binge drinking while ugly guys try to grind on me without my permission to really bad hip hop music at an 18-and-up club - just to recapture a teeny tiny shred of my youth before it's totally gone.

Or, I'll put away groceries, clean the bathroom, and watch Dirty Dancing again.

Then I'll look up the phone number to the Dodge dealership. Minivans are hip, right?

"I'm back in the saddle again..."

("Back in the Saddle Again" by Aerosmith).

This morning's weigh in? 248.0

I'll take it!

I've got a new resolve. A new strength. A new motivation. A week off was just what the doctor ordered. I've decided I'm going to push myself as far as I can go. I'm going to lose those last 8 pounds by May 23rd.

I'm going to do it - no excuses. And here's how:

• C25k Week 4 at least 3 times this week.
• 5k on the treadmill at least 5 times this week. (Including my c25k nights).
• 1,600 calories or less every. single. day. this week.
• Metformin every single day this week.
• V8 Fusion and fresh fruit for breakfast every work day.
• Drink at least 3 full Sigg bottles of water every work day.
• Continue crazy active work project at least 5 hours of every work day.

I'm excited!

On to other news:

Tonja cancelled her birthday bash this past weekend, so we didn't even have to miss out on it! I'm bummed for her that she cancelled, but excited that we might have a better chance of going when she reschedules.

We didn't see X-Men: Origins this weekend. The Hubs is wicked bummed. Maybe next weekend?

I cooked for The In-Laws yesterday. It was uber awkward. I made Chicken Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies, and Crescent Rolls. The Chicken Casserole turned out great, the Mashed Potatoes were still lumpy, the Steamfresh Mixed Veggies were disappointing, and I burned the bottom of the Crescent Rolls. So maybe The MIL has a point. :-/

Everything was actually pretty good, considering, and I think The In-Laws could tell that I was trying really hard. And no one got food poisoning, that I know of. Yet.

So I guess that's it. This week, I'm focusing on diet/exercise. The Hubs is focusing on schoolwork. And we're both focusing on not having nervous breakdowns.

Waisting time...

(Heh heh, get it? It's a pun. About how I'm wasting time, and it's affecting my waist? *Tap, tap*...Is this thing on? Crickets.)

249.8

I'm up a 1/2 pound, which is to be expected. I've boycotted diet and exercise this week, just because I can. Now that's dedication for you...

Actually, I've been doing a very physical project at work that involves LOTS of lifting and moving and general running around. It basically means I leave work at the end of the day feeling like I got hit by a train. I just couldn't bring myself to go through c25k this week. I knew the consequences, and this morning, they were staring me in the face.

Unfortunately, until I took a look at the calendar this morning, I didn't realize just exactly how much I was counting on this week to help me get to the -20 mark by May 23rd. Now I have made it so that I have to lose over 3.2 pounds per week to reach that goal. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but...

If I get there, that's great. If I don't, don't expect a big, whiny post about it. It's my responsibility, my job to do the work. If I don't reach my goals, I have no one to blame but myself.

And that's all there is to say about that.

Current events-wise, Tonja's birthday bash is this weekend, which The Hubs and I can't afford to go to. Bummer! I'm sure it will be an awesome time.

Since The Hubs has to work on Mother's Day, we're having The In-Laws over for Mother's Day dinner this Sunday. Wish me luck, as this is my first chance to prove to her that I'm a capable, adult, human being. I'm going to cook a family favorite that I've made about a thousand times. I had better not mess it up, since she already has about zero confidence in my cooking/baking/breathing ability, and she's not been shy to make it known. The hope is that this will turn her attitude around, without The Hubs having to have the talk with her. Wish me luck!

(p.s. While she can be a little too much to take sometimes, she's totally cracking me up lately. The woman keeps asking me how my 'marathon' is going...no matter how many times I tell her it's just a 5k, it's a 'marathon' to her. Okay, Jack's mom, sure...I'm running a marathon in a month. Let's go with that.)

The Biggest Loser Challenge final weigh in by my boss is on the 18th. I know I haven't won the challenge, but I just really want that fricking scale in her office to tell me a number below 250. It seems as though I've been going down, down, down on my home scale. Every fricking Friday, I try the scale in her office, and every fricking Friday, it says 251.6. How is that possible?! I figure, losing those 10 pounds by the 23rd, maybe...just maybe I can get that scale to say 249. Ugh!

Aaaand...I had 115 chances to become a millionaire on Tuesday, and it didn't work. Mega Millions was up to $181 mil - $117.4 mil cash option, which would have worked out to just over $2 mil after I shared it with the other 56 people at work who put in money. I have 129 chances tonight, and would have to share $220 mil ($143.5 mil cash option) with 58 people. In case you're wondering, that would be just about $2.5 million dollars.

Don't you worry your pretty, little blogger-friend heads...I will blog, even if I become a millionaire. I promise. :-)

Wish me luck, because my good karma from last week - I saved a girl from walking out of a bathroom with her skirt stuck in her underwear, and I saved a deer from getting hit by my Speed Racer of a husband - didn't help at all!

Guess that's all the news here in Mrs. B-ville. Hope you have a great Friday!

"And often times we're lazy, it seems to stand in my way..."

"...cause no one, no not no one, likes to be let down."
("Flake" by Jack Johnson).

I'm a bum. A lazy, lazy bum.

The Hubs has been working like a crazy man this week, trying to get a lot of things done before he starts school. He tore everything out of a huge closet in our entry, and has spent the whole week chipping away at it after dinner. Me? I've been doing my part by thoroughly enjoying the new cable he installed in the bedroom. Yep. I'm a bum. And quite possibly, a horrible wife.

While I completely admit that I'm lazy, and have absolutely no desire to do anything around the house after I get home from work, I do have one little teeny tiny explanation excuse: I look at cleaning completely differently than The Hubs does. If I am going to tackle a big project, like that crazy closet, I would rather do it somewhat early on a weekend day. I want to have it done. It drives me nuts to start a big project, and then have it sit there all week. My philosophy is 'don't start it unless you have the time to finish it'. That's not how The Hubs looks at it, and to be honest, he does end up getting more accomplished by his method. I just can't do it that way.

To add to the "Mrs. B.'s a big, fat, lazy loser" mentality, we're going to his parents' house this weekend. Where they all run around like Stepford people and accomplish all sorts of things, and I'm just kind of left spinning in their wake. When The Hubs still lived at home, I would come up for the weekend to visit. I used to really try to jump in, and help with whatever was going on.

See? I'm helping put the numbers on the race car.

Here, I'm modeling the stickers I stuck. (Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever told you that when I first met The Hubs, he was a race car driver...well, now you know!)

But anyway, back to the laziness thing. Now, I don't really try anymore. It's probably a combination of The MIL and my interpretation of The MIL, but when I do help around the house, or attempt to do something, she has the uncanny ability to make me feel completely inept.

Before The Hubs and I moved in together, I always got the distinct feeling that she didn't think he was going to survive living with me. Like I was going to starve him because of my inability to cook. The thing was, I can cook. I am just really uncomfortable doing it in her kitchen, with her stuff, with her watching my every move. So I just kind of shut down, and try really hard to be friendly, but blend in with the background, and let her do her own thing, thus making me look even lazier than I already am! It's a vicious cycle. Luckily, the guys (Jack and his dad) are usually out in the "shop", which is a big, huge garage where they do manly things that don't require the help of any measley, lazy women. So I'm safe there. :-)

On to other things:

I give up on Cardio Dance. We were up to 4 whole participants (including myself), and then one dropped out, one severely hinted that she'd rather be out enjoying the beautiful day, and one (MFN) was really sore from attempting the Basic Training class the night before. Although, to her credit, MFN was totally ready to shake her booty in my class. In the end, I just decided to cancel, and give up on the concept. There's really no point in trying to force people to do something they don't want to.

One exciting bit of news: we're having a Zumba instructor come do a free demo class on the 30th. I'm really stoked for it because I've been wanting to try Zumba for a couple of years now, but haven't had the chance. Now I get to try it out for free! The BFF, Tonja, MFN, and our friend Jason (JMcQ) are going to join in, as well. I'll let you know how it goes!

Another exciting bit of news: I'm sure you've seen the little blog sticker, but I've signed up with 130 other people to do Ash Is Fit's 20/20 Challenge. She's accomplished a pretty amazing feat - she lost 80 pounds - and has found herself struggling to lose the last 20 of her goal. She had this great idea to make it a challenge, and ended up having over 130 people join in. The goal is to lose (at least) 20 pounds in 20 weeks. We're having weekly weigh-ins, and she's even crazy enough to organize a buddy system for all of us, so that we can motivate ourselves and others. It starts today, so I'll keep you in the loop on that as well.

In other random news:

-Thank you, President Obama, for the extra $20 in my paycheck last week. The Hubs found some extra money in his as well. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're living paycheck to paycheck like we are, every little bit helps. I hope we'll be able to get even more good things going for the country here in the next few months. (Taking away all those exorbitant bonuses from AIG would be a great start, guys!)

-Today was a jean day at work. They are very rare, and very beloved.

-Today I learned (unfortunately) what a 'goatse' was. If you don't know, do yourself a favor, and resist the curious urge to find out. If you can't resist, then don't say you haven't been warned.

-I want to find information on becoming a freelance copy editor or proofreader. I think I would really enjoy that job.

Okay, guess that's enough for now. Have a great weekend all. See you on Monday!

"I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag..."

(Gorillaz, "Clint Eastwood")

Soooooo....guess what?

Give up?

Thought so. I lost weight! My official weigh-in weight for this week is (drumroll please?!): 255.8! (Okay, so maybe that was a tad dramatic for a 2.8 pound weight loss, but I'm happy, dude!)

What's working for me? Well, a couple of things. First of all, I've broken down my weight loss by month. Meaning, I started at around 260 (that's where I've been hovering for months now, so that's what we're going with), and I want to lose 2 pounds per week, so that's 8 pounds per month. Instead of focusing on that big ol' number in October, I'm focusing on 252. So if that's my goal, I've got 12 days to lose about 4 pounds. Seems easy enough now that I'm actually moving in the right direction!

What else is working? That damn treadmill is kicking my ass! (In the best way possible). I walked/jogged three times this week for an hour each time. I have found that it helps if I take a little 5 minute break at the 1/2 hour mark, and then get right back up and go for another 1/2 hour. According to my treadmill and TDP, I'm burning somewhere between 375-400 calories every hour. And what is helping me make it through an hour on the treadmill? Oy with the Poodles, already - The Gilmore Girls. LOL. It's one of my favorite shows of all time, and I own all of the seasons on DVD. Each one is about 45 minutes long, so one episode gets me almost all the way through a workout. Then I get 15 minutes into a new one and get to relax and watch the rest of it when I'm finished! It's an excellent plan! And since there are 7 seasons, and I just started the 3rd season (for about the 5th time), I've got a long way to go before I run out.

And just to give me that extra little push when I'm struggling on the treadmill, I also posted a sheet of paper under the tv that says 01/31: 252. Just to remind me what I'm working towards. And last night, when I was having a tough time trying to get there, I'd shout to the Hubs (who was on the computer in another room) how much longer I had to go every 5 minutes. "25 more minuuuuutes!!!" and then I'd hear a random "Woo Hoo!" or "Yay!" from the other room. LOL. He kept me going.

I'm starting to get the hang of the whole calorie counting thing. We had dinner with one set of my parents and some family friends (10 of us all together!) Saturday night at Mimi's. I checked out their website for nutritional information and narrowed down my choices before we even got there. (Which meant staying as far away as possible from the bbq baby back ribs - almost 3000 calories in the ribs alone! Eek!) In the end, I chose pretty well, and again limited myself to one piece of bread.

Sunday, I attempted to be Suzie Homemaker - and failed miserably! LOL. I have had this idea in my head that I wanted to try to make a pot roast, envisioning tender meat falling apart, sitting in juicy gravy, covering tender potatoes and carrots. What did I get? Tough, hard meat that was an adventure to cut, let alone chew, in a watery, flavor-less gravy, soaking potatoes and carrots. Yeah, I've got a long way to go to get that "Donna Reed Wife of the Year" trophy. I tried, though, and the Hubs (amazing man that he is) ate his, and mine too! LOL. He's a good guy, that Hubs of mine.

At any rate, crappy roast kept me from over-endulging. Actually, it kept me from endulging at all. LOL. I ate a couple of rolls and was on my way.

Oh, and I would be a bad citizen if I didn't mention the fact that today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I truly believe we should all take a minute today to reflect upon the history of civil rights in this country. We've come a long way, but we've still got so far to go! Hopefully when Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office tomorrow, it will be a new dawn for the American people, and he will set us in the right direction towards providing true equality for all.

At any rate, that's where I stand. I'm "officially" 2 pounds down, but I'm calling it 4.2 from 260. I'm the one working my ass off here, so I say I can choose to look at it which ever way I want. LOL. I've got 3.8 pounds to go. *Puts her game face on* Oh, it's (and I'm) goin' down, man! It's goin' down...

Have a great week!

"...Saturday I said I'm Sorry, Sunday came and trashed it out again..."

(Billy Joel, "You May Be Right")

258.6.

Oy.

So that's +0.8 lbs, if you're keeping track.

Last week? Awesome. Friday night? Awesome. (We went out to eat at Lone Star and I did so good! I had about 1300 calories to use, and I got the 6 oz. sirloin, when I would usually get a much larger cut of meat. I had a salad, with ranch on the side, and barely used any of it - which is a feat for the girl who doesn't like salad! And I used very little butter on my potato, and didn't eat the whole thing. I was uber proud. We came home and I burned off some calories helping the hubs lug in and put together this monstrous cabinet that we bought.

Saturday was Girls' Day with the BFF and Tonja, so I knew that would be a challenge. We had O'Charley's, where I (amazingly!) limited myself to only one of those deliciously evil rolls. I did okay there. Then we went and burned off some calories with a little shopping therapy, and saw Bride Wars. The movie was pretty good. Not the most awesome movie in all the land, *cough* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button *cough*, but it was a satisfying chick flick.

Sunday, bloody Sunday. Uugh. I so want to lie and tell you I was good on Sunday. I made Chicken Casserole, which we ate at like 2pm, so of course, we were hungry again right before bedtime. Oh, but that's not the worst part. Nooooooooo...I, this girl who has finally turned over a new leaf, the girl who has sworn that she's going to do it differently this time, the girl whom you've all come to know and love...made a cake.

Phew...now it's out there. Somewhere on Sunday this craving began creeping up inside me and I caved. Part of the problem (I know, excuses, excuses...) is that we have all this awesome stuff from the wedding that we haven't used much - a new Kitchen Aid mixer, new cake pans, a new cake plate, etc. So, one, I want the cake, and two, it's fun to use all the new stuff. Double Whammy, still a fatty. Bah.

The good news?

"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, and I'm feeling good." (Oh, Michael Buble, you're added to my celebrity boyfriend list, too.) It's Monday, and I'm back at work, where I do really well with this whole diet thingamabob. My treadmill is no longer a shelving unit - how embarrassing is it that when we finally freed it and I got on for the first time yesterday, I didn't remember how it worked. Uugh. lol. And I'm ready to go. Even with my slip-ups this weekend, I'm still under 260, and I'm still in a good mood about this whole thing, dammit! Now we're going to kick it up a notch, stick with the calorie goals, add in some exercise, and get this thing going.

Have a great week guys!