Thursday, September 30, 2010

Halfway Gone

Yesterday I jumped onto the scale...

AND I AM HALFWAY TO MY GOAL WEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo-hoo!

Let's all do a little dance now...boogie in front of your computer screen because I'm dancing and I don't like to dance alone...unless I am in my bathroom (where I am a prima ballerina).

I did it...
I did it...
I did it...

I can feel you all giving me a fist bump (or is it a fist pump?) right now...

Put on a smaller skirt today...wore that smaller skirt...didn't care if it made me look like a fat old Cheerio (that is a "Glee" term for cheerleader)...

Saturday I am taking all the "fat" clothes to Goodwill.

I never want to wear black stretchy pants again unless they are leggings and I am wearing something cute on top.

I have wanted to write this blog for a few weeks now...so happy I got to do it today...because I didn't have time yesterday.

Because the Cutest Boy in the World had a football game...and I had a new camera to try out.

My friend sold me his "old" camera...it is a huge step up for me...I have to adjust things with this camera. But when I get the hang of it I will feel all "Sports Illustrated photographer" with it. So I am also looking for a new HUGE lens...you know, one of those big ones that make me look all "I know what I am doing with this camera and I'm taking pro-style shots and they are GOOD".


I took the camera to the game and warned Coach Dimples that I was maybe not going to get the best shots this time but I would try. I gave myself a B+ this time...but I didn't care because I am halfway to goal weight...

My friend David-chi (rhymes with Da Vinci) was there. I am giving him this blog name because he is an artist with the camera. He takes amazing photos. I treasure the ones I have that he has taken. So he came out with his big camera and BIG lens and shot with me and tried to help me...but he shoots a Nikon so he could only help me so much with the camera...but he was good with the tips on shooting better. I even let him take a photo of me...might share it but I have to see it first.

I also had fun hanging with my sideline pal, Trainer Girl. She's awesome...wish she was a teacher at my kids' schools. We talked about our vampire crush and our love of crushed grapes. I'm going to have to bring her a bottle of red next time because she takes such good care of our boys. At one point the ref called my son for holding but she ran over to tell me that he WAS NOT holding and that the coaches knew it...love her for that...I was feeling sad for my boy because it cost the team a touchdown. The next play he took out the boy that was going for the quarterback and the QB scored a touchdown so it was all good. They got the goal...

and I am halfway there...to goal...and I don't want anyone to call "holding" on me! I'm not going to hold back...I'm going to go out there and hit like a tackle...

So being halfway to goal got me thinking...how am I going to make sure I fully commit to going all the way with this?

The answer...all of you...

and this blog...

I feel accountable now. I feel like one of those people on those reality shows where you have to re-do the house and the cameras are rolling. You have to get it done. The cameras are rolling...

And then...God willing...I will go on Oprah.

And she will give me my wish...a Vera Wang dress.

I met Vera Wang once when I was with my mother and Ke$ha Barbie. I told her that one day I would be thin enough to wear one of her dresses. My mother had one. I cannot find it. It depresses me because I once was small enough to wear it but chickened out. It was small, tight, short, and backless. I could wear it but chickened out. If I can find it, I will not chicken out.

Back to Vera...

When I met her and told her that one day I wanted to be small enough to wear one of her dresses. Even if all I did was clean the house in it. She told me that she wanted me to lose the weight and wear one of her designs. Maybe she will give me one...if Oprah asks her.

That is my fantasy...I go on Oprah...I walk through the "fat" photo of me wearing a Vera dress and Vera is standing there clapping and telling me that I don't have to give the dres back after the show is over. And then I come home and put on the dress and clean the house...

the house cleaning is part of the fantasy too...

I know I can go to Kohl's and buy a Vera Wang from her line there. And I think I will as a litle promise to myself. But I want the real deal...

So I need the body for the real deal...

I will have the body for the real deal...

And maybe Oprah will call...I have until May...

Until then I will wear Vera perfume and let it inspire me...

Inspiration music: "Halfway Gone" by one of my very favorite bands---Lifehouse...

Bye Darlings!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Ready to Start

So the comments I got on my last blog have inspired this one...

This is where I am going to go all Ann Landers and Dear Abby on you and give advice.

Not that I am an expert...because I am not...but I think a lot of people don't want to always ask an expert about something but would rather ask a friend...

things like:

"How did you get started on your diet?"

"What do you eat? How much do you eat?"

"What do you think has been a bigger factor---diet or exercise?"

"what do you do at the gym"

"where did you find that adorable dress?"

"what is your favorite Fit Food?"

"Mrs. D, where is my costume?" (whoops...that just slipped in...hear it all the time)

all of those questions, and more, will be answered in this episode of "As the Shrinking Violet Blog Turns Young and Restless and Bold and Beautiful" (I am a CBS soap fan).

You need experts for things like the following questions:

"how do you do a Venetian plaster effect on a wall?"

"how do you find "x" when y=mx+B?" (some of you can do that...I can't remember how)

"how do you sou vide something?" (I watch Top Chef so I know what it means, but not how to do it)

"if the other team runs a shotgun offense, what defense do we run?"

I am an expert in NOTHING.

But here are my qualifications to give advice on this weight loss stuff:
I have gained and lost enough weight to have made several clone versions of myself
I have tried every fad diet and even phen-fen
I hate going to the gym as much as any of you
I have a closet full of clothes that I want to wear and a closet full of clothes I never want to wear again
I am a prima ballerina, in my bathroom, when no one is looking...

OK, I threw in the last one for fun...but I do dance in my bathroom when no one is looking...

Last time I told you about "the incident"...the one on the stairs where I think Precious and Adorable History teacher thought he might have to go find the school nurse to save me. That is what got me going on this journey.

So that sparked it...but how did I start...

First, you have to be ready to start. After the incident on the stairs, I knew I WAS ready to start...to start losing, to start to get in shape, to start wearing cute things again, to start going up stairs without needing an oxygen tank.

For me the gym was THE MOST INTIMIDATING PLACE IN THE WORLD. So I started with my diet. Basically if it was fried, had sugar, had cheese, had a lot of butter, or had bacon in it, I had to NOT eat it...basically it felt to me like "if it tastes good, spit it out".

I did not quit wine. A girl has to have something to look forward to and I regularly look forward to shiraz, gigondas, merlot, chardonnay, savignon blanc, pinot grigio, pinot noir, malbec, granache, etc. etc. etc.

Then I discovered My Fit Foods. Well, that was a "no-brainer"...fresh food that was portion controlled and tasted good. Sign me up! I have lived on Fit Food breakfasts since March (breakfast tacos...that is what I like) and eat Fit Food for lunch at least 4 meals a week. Right now my current addiction is the "Give me more chicken salad"...I literally crave it.

Fit Foods encouraged me to eat 3 healthy meals a day with 2 snacks...so that is what I do. For snacks I eat:
Fage Yogurt (any flavor)
Oatmega Bars (any flavor)
fruit
Fit Food black beans
Fit Food ginger chicken
breakfast taco
Special K crackers
Fat Free Feta
edamame
lowfat cottage cheese
cilantro shrimp from Costco
Skinny Cow Dulce de Leche ice cream (sooooooo good)

I drink a lot of water. Sometimes I add Crystal Light.

I drink a "liver cleanse" every morning. It tastes sooo bitter but I swear it works. Most of the fat you eat is processed through the liver. This liver cleanse combination is the way I start my day...every day...and I really think it makes a difference.

Combine the following in a glass...I use a wine glass for irony...
4 ounces pure unsweetened cranberry juice (Knudson's...see note below)
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tablespoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1/2 ounce liquid B12 (optional)
1 ounce liquid glucosomine (optional)

you can dilute it with up to 8 ounces of water...but I drink it straight.

You can get the juice at Fit Foods or Whole Foods or a health food store. You want the real, pure stuff...not Ocean Spray!

I started doing this juice cleanse after I had my divirticulitis episode and had to take massive dossages of antibiotics.

Once I got the diet going I hit the gym.

Let me tell you, the first day I walked in and faced the elliptical machine I was afraid the EMS was going to have to come. I didn't start working out until I had lost about 10 pounds (which was not much considering how much I have/had to lose).

I climbed on the Precor elliptical and...

I did an hour...

And the EMS did not have to come!

I know that an hour seems excessive but I have a little OCD in me that makes me sort of crazy-commit to things when I decide I have to do something.

I forced myself to go back the next day and the next day and the next day...and so on...

I didn't take a break for almost a month.

Excessive, I know...

I even had a few days where I did more than an hour of cardio. The first time I did an hour and a half I threw up.

After a while I added spinning to the mix.

Spinning is my favorite form of cardio. I would spin every day if there was a class I could take. I schedule meetings around my spin classes. I actually cancelled an entire year's worth of scheduled committee meetings and rescheduled them to another day because the club gave J'taime Jamie (finally gave her a name) a spin class.

I. am. obsessed.

If you have never given spin a try, and you can find a class...DO IT! It is so fun. Don't be scared...you are in control. You are in charge of how much tension is on your bike. And if you don't want to be "up", stay in the saddle. A good instructor will not be bothered if you modify.

And don't use bad knees as an excuse...I have had 2 meniscus surgeries...

But an instructor can make or break a class for you. A good instructor will keep the pace balanced and play good music. If you watch a class and see that they are out of the saddle and going crazy on the bike the whole time, find a different class and instructor.

Sometimes I give myself a spin class on Sundays when the club doesn't have any group exercise classes. I just pull a bike into a room and hit a playlist on my iPod and go. I use the same playlist for the arc trainer and elliptical.

Here is some of my playlist...it is a funky combination...

"Tell Em"---Sleigh Bells
"ghost inside"---Broken Bells
"Waiting for You"---Seal
"King of Anything"---Sara Barielles
"Where You Goin Now?"---Damn Yankees
"A Dios Le Pido"---Juanes
"Help I'm Alive"---Metric
"Sooner or Later"---English Beat
"I'm Still Standing"---Elton John
"Stupid Girl"---Garbage
"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"---Sting (from his Symphonicities albumn)

Strange mix, but it works...sometimes I throw in a Glee mix, sometimes I add in things like Nine Inch Nails...depends on my mood...

Find some music to get you moving...that's all you need...get moving!

I started doing weight training about 2 months after "the stairs" incident. I started working with a trainer and once I got comfortable with what she wanted me to do I felt I could do it on my own. But I have to confess, I don't like it very much and I do better if I have Fitness Goddess standing over me yelling. I told Coach Dimples today that I might start working out with him but only after football season is over---I don't want to be yelling at the man who is in charge of my son on the football field. I need to love him right now and I know I won't love him when me makes me do squats, lunges, and push-ups. But the reason I am considering him is that I think he can take me to another level and I can seperate that training time with him from what I do at my club. He doesn't work at my club but has his own business so I can have him punish me away from my friends. But right now I just want him to keep coaching my son and thinking I'm a nice, helpful mommy who takes lots of great football pictures. Like I said, I can hate him later...but not his dimples...can't hate those dimples...

Since I am not very disciplined with the weights I decided to try Body Pump. Body Pump is available at a lot of clubs so if your club offers Les Mills classes (Body Pump is a Les Mills class), give it a try. It is a weights workout to music. It is fun and it gives you a total body workout in a little over an hour and I like having music to keep me going. I am now addicted to Body Pump. I often do a cardio workout in the morning and then go back to the club in the evening for Body Pump.

Yes, I do two-a-days...

I told Coach Dimples I did that...his response was "wow, you do that every day?" (He started backing away from me like I was crazy)...I said "no, just 3 days a week"...and that is when he asked me what I did in the class and when I told him and asked if it was good, I got the dimples (a smile)...and then he told me to be sure I always took a day off in between my weight workouts (I do) to let my body recover...

So there you have it...my diet and exercise plan that has let me lose 74 pounds since March.

What is the most important component? I think they are ALL important.

Just dieting helped start me off but it was the exercise that made it start to melt away. My husband walks every morning but doesn't watch his diet (and he should...he is very overweight too) but he hasn't lost any weight...why?...because he will walk and then eat a plate of enchiladas.

That works when you are at your goal weight...

but not when you need to lose 100 pounds...or even 10 pounds...

And the weight training is helping to sculpt me as well as helping to burn additional calories and fat.

So maybe you don't need to lose anything...but maybe you just want to do something different...or maybe you want to just feel better and tone up...or maybe, you want to lose the weight of a 5th grade child that you are carrying around on your body...or maybe you want to get your legs in shape for ski season...

or maybe you want to learn a new skill? or maybe try a class? or maybe go back to school? or maybe go back to work?

it can be anything...anything to improve your life...change your life...

are you ready to start?

All it takes is deciding to do it...

that's all...just say "yes, I am ready' and go...

no excuses...just do it...

Inspiration music:
"Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire...on my playlist...gets me warmed up every day...

bye darlings!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Tell 'Em

Tell 'Em...

tell 'em what?

I haven't blogged for a while...I've been super busy and not had much to say. Not anything relevant...not that I think I ever say anything relevant.

I'm getting close to my halfway mark...sliding down the scale...clothes fitting differently...I feel different! 2 pounds and I am there...HALFWAY there. Halfway gone. I have lost enough weight to equal the weight of a child...a 5th grade child at that.

I imagine carrying that kid on my back and realize that is what I was carrying around on my body every hour of every day for the last several years.

I actually looked around the REGULAR sized department at Dillard's the other day and realized that I did not need to go to the plus-size department.

That felt good.

That felt DAMN good.

I didn't buy anything because I didn't see anything I couldn't live without, but I saw things that I could easily fit into.

And this was after taking Ke$ha Barbie shopping for a Cotillion dress.

Ke$ha Barbie wears a size "0" (zero). Sometimes a "00".

I don't ever need to fit into a zero...I'm just glad I don't have a zero after another number as my dress size.

Usually a shopping trip like that would have made me ultra-depressed, but I actually left the store feeling pretty good---even after the SECOND trip I made to Dillard's because Ke$ha Barbie left her shoes in the dressing room.

It also helped that we stayed UNDER budget for the dress...and we had the cutest guy helping us who I want as my new best friend because he complained about his husband as much as I did mine...and I really loved him for convincing Ke$ha Barbie that she indeed looked amazing in the dress and that it did not need to be altered. Adore him!

I look forward to buying a dress for ME from him.

In the meantime I purchased some great little dresses to "throw on and go" in that were NOT in a plus size. That was awesome.

I told GOTT the other day that I was really happy because I got to order my "show" t-shirt (we always do a shirt for the kids and us to wear) in a smaller size. He was proud of me. Love love love GOTT...

So what else is new?

The Cutest Boy in the World's football team is undefeated. He is having a blast. I adore the coaches---even the one who I thought hated me.

In fact, I had the following exchange with the coach yesterday(the one I thought hated me). We were at the football game. It started to rain pretty hard. Then it quickly stopped. I was drenched but thankfully wearing fast-drying clothes (because I was going to Body Pump afterwards).

Here is the play-by-play...and I must admit the witty quip I gave him came from my new favorite chica, Trainer Girl, who is the trainer that comes to the games to make sure the boys aren't hurt. She is cute and fun and shares my total infatuation with Alexsander Skarsgard (our vampire...I will share him).

Me: Sooooooo, Coach....look at me...I got wet and didn't melt...it proves I am not a witch!

Coach: hahahahha...(and then he gives me a wary look)

Me: just sayin'...not a witch...

Coach: OK, and I get it ....

and we laughed some more.

We are "good" now...and I am glad because my son loves him...

Told Coach Dimples (the head coach...he has cute dimples!) the same thing...that I didn't melt because I am not a witch...nor am I made of sugar...I am just somewhere in between. But I do have witch powers and can call out the flying monkeys when I need to.

He liked that...I got dimples for that...

So what has kept me from blogging?

Well...I taught for GOTT for a few days while he needed to be out with his son (I love teaching drama and I will always teach for GOTT). My art history lessons (we call it Art a la Carte) are starting tomorrow and I am the organizer for our group of moms so that has kept me busy. I am costuming Seussical. Football and football photography have occupied me. Just stuff...

So when I thought about sitting down to blog I thought "what do I have to say? What do I have to tell them?".

I realized that I hadn't shared my "defining moment" with you as to what made me finally get my inner skinny girl to wake up from hibernation.

You would think that having a father who had bypass surgery at 59 would be enough. You would think that hating how I looked would be enough. You would think that approaching a really scary horrible number on the scale would be enough (I never weighed myself). You would think that my dress size being a scary number would be enough. You would think that my doctor suggesting lap band would be enough. You would think that friends telling me they we worried for my health would be enough.

But it wasn't.

Like a chemically dependent person, I had to hit rock bottom and come to the decision to change by myself.

"Hello, my name is Anice and I am totally addicted to sugar, fat, bacon, cheese, fried foods, and cupcakes!"

I got used to being fat. I got used to feeling bad about myself and how I looked. I got used to shopping in the fat-chick stores and accepting it.

So that defining moment?

Not such a big deal. And I guess that is why I haven't specifically written about it.

It was a tiny thing. Just a little incident. But boy did it wake me up...

So here it is...here is what happened that made me say "woman, get hold of yourself and CHANGE and lose some weight and get in shape and stop hiding behind your fat"...

You will laugh because it is so insignificant. It was literally nothing...but it was everything...and it changed my life.

It was simply, a trip up the stairs.

I was walking up the stairs with a teacher friend. We were discussing a project I was helping him with. He glides up the stairs with ease on his young, healthy legs. I huff and puff my way up the stairs.

And then we go into his room and I can't catch my breath. I am breathing heavily. He tries not to look concerned. I make a crack about being so winded.

And then thunder struck...

When I left his room I made a promise to myself that I would beat him up the stairs and not be winded and worried I was having a heart attack.

I have...beaten him up the stairs...

in heels...

he even "raced" me a bit...I reminded him he was a lot younger and wearing loafers and I was in a skirt and heels...big wedge heels...

we got to the top of the stairs and I took a deep breath and smiled...

so did he...

because he knew that I couldn't do that 6 months ago...but now I can go up the stairs with him and not have to stop the conversation because I am out of breath...

and I do it in heels...

Love love love that man...

So that is what did it...a trip up the stairs!

My wake-up and smell the fat moment.

Everyone struggles with something. Everyone has things they want to change, improve, or re-define. I am not alone in this. I have all of you. And I am not the only person I know going through a change and struggling with it. I don't think for one moment that there is anything special or inspirational about myself. I just know that I didn't want to need to sit down after climbing up one set of stairs and I know that I feel better when I share how I feel and what motivates me.

So tell 'em....what do I mean by "tell 'em"?

Its not the story of why...its not what is going on in my life.

I'm telling you...here is the "tell 'em"...

THANK YOU

for being on this journey with me....for supporting me...for every time one of you stops me and tells me that you are proud of me or how good I look.

Because I need a lot of positive reinforcement...because I can't have cupcakes...and because GOTT is going to get tired of clapping for me (about the weight loss...he still has to clap for my costumes)...

Inspiration Song..."Tell 'Em" by Sleigh Bells. Alternative pop/rock but don't let it scare you. It is a great song to work out to. And it has a great line that I always sing to myself:
"did you do your best today? Did you do your best today?"

Make that answer a resounding "YES"...

Bye darlings!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Mamma Mia

Oh, Spinderella...why art thou so awesome?

Because, my friends...she is...she is AWESOME.

Today's spin class was like the best one ever...ever...ever...

Because our video selection for the day was..."Mamma Mia"...one of the few movies that I will watch repeatedly. Seriously, if it is on, I am mesmerized and must watch. I have even stayed up way past my bedtime to watch it for the 367th time.

I have a few other movies that I do that with:

The Sound of Music
Gone With the Wind
Auntie Mame
(not "Mame" but Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell)
50 First Dates (I can tell you where on Oahu almost every scene was shot because I literally traipsed all over the island to find them...)
and
The Fifth Element---I can't really explain my fascination with that movie...but I love love love it

so add "Mamma Mia" to the list...

On the video screen is our diva, the Divine Miss Meryl (Streep...like you didn't know that, right?) and friends and Greek Chorus dancing about and singing to Colin Firth (sigh), Pierce Brosnan (sigh), and Stellan Skaarsgard (I don't really swoon over him but his son, Alexsander, now he is my crush...my one blonde crush ('cause I think Brad Pitt is more of a brunette)...my hot vampire..."my" Eric Northman of "True Blood" fame...so I will allow a "sigh" for dad since he sired the object of my affection).

I so want to go to Greece where they filmed that movie...

I need to go to Greece...

I belong in Greece...staying in some cute all-white place wearing white filmy skirts and dancing about on the beach with the heavenly water...and cute Greek boys who bring me cute Greek drinks (but not Ouzo...)

Yep...I'm going to Greece...

someday...

But for now I will obsessively watch Mamma Mia and dream about Greece...

So Spinderella put on the video and gave us a good dose of ABBA music (in case you don't know, the whole musical/movie "Mamma Mia" is based on the music of ABBA). We rode those bikes like Lance Armstrong and forgot the pain as we sang to "Money Money Money" and "Dancing Queen" while we watched Madame Meryl and Co. entertain us on the video screen all while Spinderella told us how much tension and speed we needed to get us to the point of death...

It. Was. Awesome.

To top it off, Spinderella is an incredible jewelry designer and she promised to make me a few necklaces after I told her I was obsessed with one she made a friend.

Note to Houston friends---email me for an invite to the jewelry show I am having with a friend in October...

Back to the blog...

Ah, Spinderella...between spinning and jewelry, you will make me lovely...

I cleaned up and headed to the school so I could keep working on my costumes for the show that is in 6 weeks...a terrifyingly short amount of time. And then I found out from GOTT that the headmaster wants to move all my costumes off site when they aren't in use...

Note my use of the word "my"...I think of them that way...

Mamma Mia...

Not good...

I have been known to change a costume 5 minutes before curtain.

My my...I could never let you go...(the costumes, that is...)

So now I scramble...because I don't know when they are getting packed off...I hope I can talk her in to waiting until after the show so I can really organize it into boxes and so I can find what I need when I look for it.

Mamma Mia...

Just thinking about it is making long for a (big) glass of wine.

Or vodka...

I have settled for wine, having just poured myself a glass...which means I need to finish this blog before I finish my wine...or heaven knows what I will say...

Mamma Mia...here I go again...my my how can I resist you? (the wine, that is)

I am ALMOST halfway to my goal weight...re-read that sentence...not almost to my goal weight, but HALFWAY to my goal weight. It has become a way of life---the gym and my eating habits---so I hope I can hold onto it.

I've been watching "Thintervention with Jackie Warner" on Bravo. It's a good show if you want some diet tips along with your reality television. She has great tips and if you go to the Bravo website you can get more.

Like this: cottage cheese is a good diet food...not just for the calcium, but the casein in it is a fat burner...and less sugar compared to yogurt.

I think I have a bit of a girl crush on Jackie...she is so pretty and fit. But I think she would still make me cry like she does the people on her show so the crush would evaporate pretty quickly.

I think I'll keep my vamp crush instead...he might suck my blood but Jackie would cause me pain...LOL

Check out her show...you might get a girl crush on her too...or at least pick up some diet tips so you can counterract what you see on "Top Chef Just Desserts" (I am a Bravo afficianado).

Mamma Mia...dessert and fitness tips...all on one network.

I've also been Mamma Bossy lately. Last week I noticed Coach Dimples (one of the football coaches...) moving the boys backpacks that they threw on the field after running off the bus. (because they were late because heaven only knows where the bus went but it wasn't straight to the field). I went over to him waving my arms and yelling for him to STOP and let me do it so he can "go and coach my son". I got a "really?" and some dimples for that and shooed him off and called my minions (the dads) over to move the backpacks.

So I talked with him after the game and told him that he needed to let us (the parents) take care of some of the field set-up (we are on an off-site field while our school fields are re-sodded...a process which was supposed to be done in August) and we could take care of getting the Gatorade and water to the field.

Again, I got a "really?" and some dimples...

I talked to the athletic director and he said "if it is good with the coach, it is fine by me". I emailed Coach Dimples and said "just let us handle this because basically I will bully my way into getting my way so just give up and let me help you" and then told him he could confirm it with Precious and Adorable History Teacher/football coach (that I would bully him to let me help).

Sure enough he says something and P&A History Teacher/Coach tells him it is way easier to give in to me than argue and that thus far I have been only good help so use it. I love P&A History Teacher...he learned quickly...

Poor Coach Dimples didn't stand a chance...now I just have to make my minions (the dads) do my bidding...because I want the coach to follow or lead the bus and I want him focused on coaching and not on Gatorade...

Mamma Mia...here I go again...

Yesterday I did a "two-a-day" and did cardio in the morning and went back to the gym for "Body Pump" at 6:30.

So I am going to close this out, finish my wine, swallow a handful of Advil, and go to bed so I can do it all again...because tomorrow is another two-a-day and Thursday I get my spin date with my other favorite spin girl (I have got to come up with a good name for her because she is so darn cute and awesome). And then my son has a football game Thursday afternoon where Mamma Mia is going to make sure Coach Dimples takes care of her son and not backpacks.

Bye Darlings!

Inspiration song: "Mamma Mia" by ABBA or from the movie soundtrack...I do love me some ABBA...

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I had some fun this past week as far as working out has gone. It has actually been an interesting experiment in just what I can handle...

Last Saturday two of my favorite spin instructors gave an "all 80's" spin class on Saturday at the gym. All 80's music. And they showed the movie "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on the video screen.

That hour passed so quickly...

Poor Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt...they were the stars of the movie...SJP must be happy to have the stylist working for her now as her clothes in "Sex and the City" were way better.

Of course, maybe it was the 80's clothing...

Did any of that stuff ever really look good?

No way...like totally fer sure it was groddy to the max and like barf me out...

Bows on our butts? really?

Permed hair that was as high as Everest? really?

Dropped waist dresses? really?

Lets. Not. Go. There.

Not now anyway...

But the class was like totally awesome and I was like totally ohmygod...

We so have to do it again...I even wore my t-shirt ripped up like "Flashdance".

And a side ponytail...which drove me nuts the whole time...

spinning + side ponytail = annoying

So that was fun and then I took The Cutest Boy in the World (TCBITW) to Rockport so we could go out on the boat and not catch fish. At least I caught some rays and worked on my tan. No fish but it was still fun...and I sacrificed a few calories in favor of some ice cold Miller Lite while swimming in Little Bay. Because I wanted to have fun...

What was NOT fun was waiting in the rain while husband loaded the boat onto the trailer. I was dressed. Then I had to go and change. Not fun...

When we got home I took TCBITW to the gym with me. I had my hour love affair with my new favorite machine (ARC trainer by Cybex...yes, the one I have complained about...but I can burn 1/3 MORE calories on it than the elliptical so it now has my love and affection). TCBITW did the elliptical and ran on the treadmill and got all the cute young girl trainers to say "awwww...he is so cute!" (because he is).

Next day was Spinderella's class...she decided to bring along a Pussycat Dolls video for us to enjoy.

Now here is where I go back to the 80's clothing friends...because a big satin bow was perched on the backside of the lovely winner of last season's "Dancing With the Stars" (she is, after all, a Pussycat Doll)...perched right up there on her perfect butt. But I can tell you that not once did I ever see a big satin bow perched on the backside of myself or any of my friends during the 80's that looked that good. Bows on the butt are never attractive but I guess when you are built like the live version of Barbie it works...

Wednesday I was forced to do what I consider to be pure torture. I had to get up at 4:45 and hit the gym by 5:15 so I could be showered, dressed, and blow-dried and at school by 7:30. Then I had to repeat it the next 2 days.

So 3 days in a row I was at the gym by 5:15.

It's not a habit I want to make. It wasn't awful, but it didn't kill me. But it wasn't fun...the 4:45 was not fun, the 5:15 on a machine was not fun, the in the shower by 6:30 was not fun and rushing through my morning was not fun.

And I even managed to make it to Body Pump on Wednesday.

Now about that Body Pump. If they offer it at your gym, DO IT. I HATE HATE HATE to do weights in the gym. I am not disciplined enough. I can only do it if I have fitness goddess yelling at me or if I am working out with a friend. But Body Pump puts you through your paces in all the muscle groups (and even dreaded squats and lunges) in an hour (with music) with an instructor. It love it. It is now part of my routine....even if it means I have to go back up to the gym. And TCBITW took the class with me and enjoyed it so I think he will want to make it part of his routine.

So that was fun...

What was fun was putting on a couple of my new dresses and feeling pretty for the first time in a long time. Dresses that did not have bows on the butt. Grown-up dresses. With heels. I even pulled out the hot rollers and did the starlet thing with the blond locks.

Getting compliments. THAT was fun.

Training for the art history classes we give the kids at school...fun
Hearing a lecture from a Rice University Art History professor...fun
watching the 8th grade kids learn their music for the musical...fun
arguing with my friend Bacchus about geography during his parent night presentation...fun (any time I watch him do his thing it is fun...he is an awesome teacher)
hearing what my son's teachers have in store for him this year at parent night...fun (because they are an amazing group of teachers and TCBITW is blessed)
My son's team winning their football game 33-6...fun
drinking wine with my friends after the game...fun
sweating at the game while taking 1398 photos (yes, you read that right)...not so fun...but watching the game was fun and my photos are fun...

getting up this morning and hitting the gym at 8:00 for Body Pump after consuming about at least 1/2 bottle of chardonnay...notsofun...

and I could only manage about 35 minutes of the spin class that followed...

So, like our precious Lord, I think I will pronounce it all "good" and take tomorrow as my day of rest.

And maybe on Monday I will get to the gym at 5:00 again...but maybe I'll wait and go later...but I will go...and I will go back that night for Body Pump...

The pounds are starting to slide off again and my body is reshaping itself. I am down 5 dress sizes (yes, that is a lot...I was very big) and I am trying to get used to it. I am almost halfway to my goal weight.

It has been a hard 6 1/2 months...and it hasn't always been fun.

But it has been worth it...

Because putting on a dress and having someone tell you that you look pretty IS fun.

But putting on a dress and having your daughter say "Mom, you look gorgeous and your hair is awesome" is PRICELESS...and fun...

Inspiration music: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper...because it is FUN...

bye darlings...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Children Will Listen

The other night I went to my daughter's high school for a meeting that the college counselors were having with the Junior class parents.

I sat in the meeting and pinched myself that Ke$ha Barbie is lucky enough to attend her school because she is getting the most amazing college counseling in the world. They (the college counselors) call themselves the "deans" because they not only help the kids get into college but they are also their schedulers, problem-solvers, advocates and, basically (and especially to the juniors and their parents)....THERAPISTS.

These people give a damn...

WOW...

I remember when she (Ke$ha Barbie) was a freshman and we survived Hurrican Ike. The deans were in a panic because the server for the school was down and they needed to be in communication with "their" kids who were seniors. So they used facebook. Because kids will check facebook. Because the deans give a damn...and anyone who has ever had a kid who was a senior knows that mid-September is a time that you NEED to be doing some "get my kid into college" stuff.

My college counseling pretty much consisted of her (the college counselor) telling me to take the PSAT (I did because friends were taking it...and I think some boy I liked told me to take it because he was), her telling me my scores were good (months later), sometime during my senior year she asked if I was going to college and where I wanted to go---I said "A&M", she said "you are top 10% so as long as you put your name on the SAT you will get in". That was it...pretty much it...No recommendations, no talk of campus visits...that was it.

At the end of the meeting at Ke$ha Barbie's school I started crying because I cannot believe that my daughter gets to have Goddess Dean (her dean...so amazing) as her hand-holder and helper. Because Goddess Dean is crazy-good at helping her kids get into the RIGHT place for them. I plan to have a marble statue made in her honor...of her as a goddess...I will crown it with laurel leaves and leave roses at the base if she gets my kid into a school that won't make me crazy for her to attend.

I am an Aggie. Ke$ha Barbie's daddy is an Aggie. We don't like burnt orange very much. It is not in my color "season"...I am way better in maroon (or "wine" for my sorority). Orange does not flatter natural blondes.

BUT...

I learned a few years ago from a friend that if I brainwash my daughter about A&M one of 2 things will happen. She will either:
1) Believe that A&M is the ONLY place to go (and then maybe not get in...)
or
2) HATE tu (ok, for you UT people I will call it UT...but to Aggies it is always "tu")...so, she could end up hating UT so much that she feels that it is not acceptable for her to go there and it might just really be the RIGHT place for her to go, but she might refuse...because she is brainwashed.

That happened to some friends of ours. Their child grew up with a bias against A&M. Then he didn't get in to UT. And this kid, above all kids I know SHOULD have gotten into UT. He is an amazing man. He had great grades and great test scores. He won awards at camp. His parents went to UT. Family went to UT. Someone in the family once was a big wig at the university. People, the boy was an EAGLE SCOUT. I would marry him off to Ke$ha Barbie in a heartbeat. He is a child I would happily claim as my own and I have watched him grow up. This kid would be a credit to any college.

But he didn't get into UT

But he would have been an amazing and great Aggie. He would have been a better Aggie than 99% of the kids at A&M. He would have been a better Aggie than Longhorn. It was probably a better fit for his personality.

But he just couldn't do it. And his dad said "don't do this with your kids"...don't allow them to rule out a school that might be right for them just because of an age-old rivalry.

So he is a senior at an out-of-state college. They (the out-of-state university) are lucky to have him.

Children will listen to what you say about things and places and people...and your opinions will mold them...

Another perfect boy I know decided against A&M (even though his parents went there and he has deep ties) and considred UT. His mother and family (and I) were having heart attacks. But his parents let him decide for himself. He is at an out-of-state school. They are lucky to have him. He can also marry Ke$ha Barbie. I learned from his family and how they handled it...I hope I can be so lucky.

So Ke$ha Barbie is saying she thinks she wants to be an engineer and maybe UT is where she wants to go. I'm going to roll with it but her father isn't so sure.

I loved going to TAMU. It was perfect for me. I got a great education. Albeit, it was an agricultural economics degree and not very useful to me, but I had fun learning about fertilizer ratios and tractors and how to judge pigs and slaughtering animals (ok, that was not fun because I hated hated hated that) and the creamery at the university was the BOMB! I even got to take a class, for credit, in flower arranging...

I excelled at drinking at the Zephyr club...could have had a 4.0 in that...

I made great friends. I joined a sorority (shout out to my Pi Phi girls!) and got "sisters" that I love and still communicate with to this day. Not that I NEEDED any more sisters (I have 6) but these sisters have been very special to me and I am so happy to wear the arrow with them.

Ke$ha Barbie can go to college wherever she wants...she just has to pledge Pi Phi.

She better listen...

So the talk with the deans also got me thinking about my teacher friends and how wonderful they are and how blessed my children are to be taught by them. GOTT has given many a child way more than acting lessons...many of his former students will tell you that they went on to do some amazing things in high school because he put them on the stage in middle school. One kid said so this week in a speech he made to the middle school. Amazing kid. He credits GOTT and TTG. I agree. Again, GOTT is a god...so is TTG.

My son has my friend Bacchus this year for a class. My son hangs on his every word. He listens to him. Even when he says crazy things like "ice cream sandwiches are the hot dogs of the ice cream world"...he has an explanation for that I refuse to share. Bacchus talks really fast. I don't know how my son keeps up. Sometimes I get lost in our conversations and I think I might need to take meds if I am going to be his room mother this year. But I love love love him...

Children will listen...even to the silly, crazy stuff...

My son can pretty much quote everything Precious and Adorable History Teacher said to him last year...and this year he regularly visits him because he loves him...so do I...any man that can get my son to love history AND teach him how to be a better man (all while being Precious and Adorable) is someone to love love love

The Cutest Boy in the World can also quote GOTT and TTG...

TTG is also the EYC (church youth group) leader...he says REALLY GOOD THINGS to the kids...I am so glad they listen...love love love him too...

Chilren will listen...so tell them the good stuff...

And Science Goddess 1 and Science Goddess 2 and Science Goddess 3...well, they are just flat-out incredible women who know how to stand up in front of middle school kids and get them to not only pay attention but WANT to learn what they are teaching. How do they do it? I don't know, but I wish I was their student...

In fact, pretty much all of my kids teachers are or have been amazing and wonderful and I am grateful for the things they have said and taught my children.

Except for one crazy one or two...thank goodness they are gone gone gone...bottom line on the crazy ones---they had poor communication skills and said WRONG THINGS.

Children will listen...

While at the college counseling meeting the deans told the parents that they wanted all the kids in the junior class to take the Strengths Finder test. It is a test that you can do if you buy this little book that talks about your strengths. They pointed out that using your strengths is a whole lot more effective than trying to change your weaknesses...

I totally agree...

BUT...right now I am trying to overcome some weaknesses...but they aren't so much personality weaknesses as they are PERSONAL weaknesses...like eating badly and not exercising. But I HAVE changed that...

I noticed GOTT had the book. He told me that the teachers all did the test during inservice this year (yet another reason to love the amazing headmaster). He told me his results. I was not surprised at all. He told me I should take the test. I told him I thought I knew where I would end up---he wasn't as sure but said "yeah, perhaps..."

So I bought the book and took the test. I was so not surprised by my results.

So so so not surprised by my results. GOTT will laugh. I nailed it.

I hesitate to say what they were, but since one of my "strengths" profiles says I have a tendency to be very open, I'll summarize it by saying that it said that I am a person who likes to win others over, loves to communicate, has empathy, is positive and, strangely---strategize. Yep, that is me.

So when my friend V told me to blog, she knew what she was doing. Part of my "action plan" says that I should write...tell stories...put my words down...communicate...

and with this I hope I am doing so to win others over...to inspire...to let you know that there is someone out there struggling like you...or wants to hear your struggle and help you...

I need to be liked and accepted...

Said it before and I'll say it again:
I am Tinkerbell...I need applause to live!

I need to be liked...loved...

I am so Sally Field at the Oscars...

There is someone I know who I don't think likes me. More than one friend has told me to get over it. I'm trying...but it is hard on me. At least this person likes my son. And my son listens to him so it is good that they like each other.

So where does all of my strength stuff tie in to the children? Because I like to teach. I wish I was a teacher. That is why I love working at the school and love working with GOTT and TTG and Bacchus and helping Precious and Adorable with projects...because I love teaching the kids...but only middle school ones...the little ones try my patience.

I wanted to be a teacher but I listened to my father and didn't do it. He told me that I would never make a good living out of being a teacher. He wanted me to be a lawyer...because I like to argue and talk. I listened to him. But instead I got my very useful (ha!) degree that Daddy later referred to as "the worlds most expensive real estate license" (because that is what I did for years). I would have been very happy as a middle school teacher. But not a math teacher.

Maybe science...or history...I love teaching art history...I love communicating with the kids. I love hearing them tell me what they are thinking.

When I help GOTT I am often the shoulder for the kids to cry on...I dry a lot of leading ladies tears. They mess up, GOTT calls them on it, and, because they are 14 years old, they cry. HE doesn't make them cry...they cry because they are 14. And I remind them that he is being their director...it doesn't mean he doesn't love and care for them...empathy...communication...positivity...that's me...

So I tell the kids things that support GOTT and what he does. It is easy for me because I know how he works...

Children will listen...

But sometimes the kids hear stuff we wish they hadn't heard...

Like...
gossip

or

they hear you talking to another adult saying something the other adult understands but they misunderstand it.

I have a pet name for a teacher friend. A kid overheard me using the pet name when I talked to his mom. So the kid tried it out and called the teacher by the name. Not good. Teacher wasn't mad (he knew I called him that) but kid shouldn't have tried it...especialy around other children. But I shouldn't have used the pet name when kids could have overheard me. Not fair to anybody. The kid thought he was being funny but I called him out on it and told him not to do it again because although when I said it, I was just talking about my friend (my ADULT friend), children can't call adults by pet names like we can because it is very disrespectful. I will be more careful now...

Children will listen...

Now if only my daughter would listen to me...

Here are the words to the song...beautifully written by Stephen Sondheim...I think it is way better than anything else I can say on the subject...the deans played this at the end of the meeting...I was a puddle of tears...it was napalm to this musical theater mama...

How do you say to your child in the night?
Nothing's all black, but then nothing's all white
How do you say it will all be all right
When you know that it might not be true?
What do you do?

Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see and learn
Children may not obey, but children will listen
Children will look to you for which way to turn
Co learn what to be
Careful before you say "Listen to me"
Children will listen

Careful the wish you make
Wishes are children
Careful the path they take
Wishes come true, not free
Careful the spell you cast
Not just on children
Sometimes the spell may last
Past what you can see
And turn against you
Careful the tale you tell
That is the spell
Children will listen

How can you say to a child who's in flight
"Don't slip away and i won't hold so tight"
What can you say that no matter how slight Won't be misunderstood
What do you leave to your child when you're dead?
Only whatever you put in it's head
Things that you're mother and father had said
Which were left to them too
Careful what you say
Children will listen
Careful you do it too
Children will see
And learn, oh guide them that step away
Children will glisten
Tample with what is true
And children will turn
If just to be free
Careful before you say
"Listen to me"


Inspiration Song: "Children will listen" by Stephen Sondheim...any version you like...I like Barbra (Streisand...is there any other?) or Bernadette (Peters? is there any other?) or any "Into the Woods" soundtrack...

bye darlings...