Category Archives: Family

It’s Friday! Friday! Friday!!

Good morning, you FABULOUS people!!

I am in a really good place right now, and I can’t help but share some of that newly found joy with you!!! I have to confess, after my hour of morning pages, I started to get ready for work, and found myself doing some belly dancing to Rhianna!!! She has got such a GREAT beat in her music, it was fun!!

I am getting ready to head to work for the day, but I am hoping to get off a little bit early today, I do have a couple of errands that I want to run, and then I am thinking that my sweetie and I will go play in the pool for a while!!! Oh it is fun to be a kid again!!! 😉

I was telling my sis last night, that it I am just LOVING having activities in my life that I LOVE to do!! That is the key to happiness!! Oh, and having people to share those activities with!!! 😉

I am trying to decide what creative activity I would like to do this weekend. I am meeting Dawn in the morning for coffee downtown, so I am thinking that I am going to take my knitting, with extras (yarn and knitting needles) in case anyone would like to join me, and then people watch while visiting with Dawn!! Doesn’t that just sound delicious????

I am also needing to do some some serious kitchen overhauling and make a trip to the health food store to get some NEW groceries for our place. I have a restaurant that I just discovered last night that I want to tell you all about, but I don’t have time to get the pics ready before work today, so I  will post those pics and tell you all about my NEW FAVORITE RESTAURANT downtown!! In the meantime, I will tell you that the new restaurant has really inspired me to incorporate more FRESHNESS into my meals, raw vegetables are our friends!! LOL!! Hence the need to go to the Health Food store!! PRODUCE RUN!!! 😉

Anyway, I am off!!

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

Note to Chunky Dunkers: I have not forgotten about you, my lovelies!!! Keep up the hard work, it will be SOOOO WORTH IT!!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!! 😉

The Chunky Dunker’s Club, Week 7

Good evening!

Welcome to week 7, of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!! Where does all of the time seem to go??

Every week I post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

Tonight’s topic: Emotional Eating!

I am not sure about you, but I sure am guilty for eating, not because I am hungry, but because I am needing something emotionally. For example, I got home from a not so pleasant day at work not to long ago, and went right to the cupboards and ate two cookies. With nary a thought about, why I was eating those cookies. Was I hungry? What was I really needing? Were those cookies going to satisfy whatever those needs were?? Uhm…no, no, and no!!

What I am learning, as I go through this get fit journey with you, is that sometimes to have any kind of success, you first have to figure out why you do what it is that you are doing. It is all about pain and pleasure.

I believe there are two kinds of forces in this world that sway you to make a decision either one way or the other. Pain and Pleasure. What pain are you trying to avoid, and what pleasure are you trying to gain? Think about it, I ate the cookies because I was trying to avoid the pain of having to deal with my day, and to gain the pleasure of tasting some really yummy cookies.

How else do we use pain and pleasure in our get fit choices?

I am not going to get up to exercise because I want to avoid the pain of having to get out of bed early, and gain the pleasure of sleeping for an extra hour. I am convinced that this pain/pleasure principal applies to EVERY CHOICE WE MAKE!!!

HOMEWORK: Write down 5 choices you make every day, and what pain you are trying to avoid, and what pleasure you are trying to gain from each choice. Look at your answers, if you were to change you pain/pleasure that you associate with these choices would your physical life improve.

Underneath each choice, write what the reality of what you are doing here – this might be eye-opening for you.

For me, my homework would look something like:

Choice #1: I let Jason make my breakfast, snack, lunch and dinners, and whatever he makes I’ll eat
Pain I Am Avoiding: Having to take time out of my busy day to plan and do the work for this myself
Pleasure I am Gaining: It feels so good to have someone do all of this for me. I feel spoiled!! 😉
Reality: I don’t think it is wrong to have Jason help me in this way, but ultimately I have to be the one to be responsible for what I put into my mouth. I need to speak up and let him know what I want in my lunch box, so he doesn’t always have to guess, or over pack my lunch box.

Choice #2: I choose not to take time out of my work day and go exercise like most of my co-workers.
Pain I Am Avoiding: I am avoiding looking silly, sweating, or getting sore
Pleasure I am Gaining: I think that I can spend that hour a day doing more work at my desk
Reality: I think the reality is that the longer I sit at my desk, the slower my metabolism is going to get, the more weight I am going to gain and in 10 years, when I have all sorts of weight related sicknesses, I am going to look back and say, “why I didn’t I do something about my health when I could have?”.

Choice #3: Watching more than an hour of television every evening
Pain I Am Avoiding: Having to deal with chores that need to be done, or having to deal with negative emotions the might have emerged from my day
Pleasure I am Gaining: I get to zone out, and just stop thinking for myself
Reality: I spend more time watching other people “Live” than I actually do living myself. These people on television are not my friends, they don’t know who I am, they are not even real! Sheesh!

Choice #4: I choose not to get out of the house of the evening and go walking, or swimming with Jason
Pain I Am Avoiding: It feels like too much work
Pleasure I am Gaining: I make excuses for myself to not have to go out, “I have earned” being a lazy hermit somehow. So it is almost a sense of entitlement, plus I just LOVE being home.
Reality: I am really missing a great opportunity to not only increase my physical fitness, but to also spend some quality time with Jason. Realizing that makes me sad.

Choice #5: Not getting to bed early enough that I get at least 8 hours of sleep every night
Pain I Am Avoiding: I have this weird feeling that if I go to bed early then I will either “miss something”, or I will just have to wake up sooner to go back to work again
Pleasure I am Gaining: Uhmmm…getting to do one last chore, or cross off one last thing off of my to-do list
Reality: Who am I kidding?? This just makes me more tired, and irritable the next day, and it gets progressively worse until I get myself some sleep – that is not helping anyone!!!

What would your choices look like? Let me know in the comments above!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A New Take on the Tortoise & the Hare

Good morning!

Jason is busy telling me about his dream from this morning. He said that he dreamt that he was in boot camp for the Marine Corps, and he decided that he wanted to be an officer because he knew that would make me happy. He said he was the last in line, and wanted to get the attention of the drill sergeant.  Well, when he finally got to where the sergeant was doling out commands, he was surprised that he and another little skinny guy was chosen to do a race together. Jason was worried because he hadn’t heard the whole instruction, but he decided to use that to his advantage, by shouting at the other guy, “Well, what are you waiting for? Move it! Move it!!” Well, the little guy took off like a shot, and Jason waited, while the other guy got out of hearing distance, and said to the sergeant,

“Is there any thing you want us to do along the way?”

The sergeant, said “Yes, I forgot my hat, would you mind getting it for me?”

Well, Jason said he, took off at kind of a jog, and having watched where the other guy went Jason kind of followed him. By the time the other guy was shooting past Jason to get back to the sergeant, Jason was chuckling to himself because he knew something the little guy didn’t. Jason calls back over his should to the guy, who is now farther away from him, and yesll, “Hey, did you get the sarg’s hat??” The little guy immediately turned around to go back to the building from which he had just returned from. However, Jason had already gotten there, had the sergeant’s hat in hand and was jogging back towards the sergeant. Jason said the whole time the little guy kept hopping all around him like a cartoon caracter saying,

“Come on, give it me. Aw man, come on, please? please?” Like a little puppy to a giant great dane or something!!

HA! HA! HA! HA! I am not sure what that says about my husband, but if any of you would like to psychoanalyze him, I am sure the free counseling would be much appreciated!!! HA! HA! HA!!

Note to those of you who may not know: my husband is 6’8″, and is a gentle giant of a man!! which is why this dream is just so comical!!! 😉

I love you, Sweetie!! Thank you for sharing your dream with me, and letting me share it here!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

The Great Croissant Bake!!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I have just finished enjoying a few of the lovely croissants that I have made today! I paired them with some sugar free strawberry preserves as a nice dessert to go with an early grilled dinner. This picture is actually a picture of my end results. They really did turn out much better than I could have hope for.

That is one more thing crossed off of My Life List!! YEAH!!

These croissants were flaky, buttery, and delicious! They were quite time consuming and I made quite a mess in the kitchen making these, but I could definitely see doing these again for a special holiday like Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. I am still a firm believer that I don’t like baking – I am not sure I have the patience for it, but I am very thankful that I had taken the time and energy to make these!! 😉

I have spent part of the evening watching the British mini series Daniel Deronda. It is such a great movie, and Daniel Deronda is simply a charming gentleman!! Great story. I am on episode 3 of 4, I can’t wait to see how it ends.

I really don’t have any extravagant plans for this evening. I think I going to spend some quality time with my sweetie this evening, and we may still yet go swimming, which will be fun. Other than that, I am going to enjoy a quiet evening doing some reading and getting ready for another work week. 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

This Might Be Why I Don’t Bake!

Good morning!

I have been up since about 7:45 this morning! WHOO! HOO!! I slept an hour more then yesterday!!!

Today is the day of my great Croissant extravaganza! Well, it the day that I am tackling the task of baking homemade croissants from scratch off of My Life List! I am using Allrecipes.com’s Quick Butter Croissants recipe. So far I have been doing a lot of griping, and whining, and complaining, and grouching and that hasn’t been focused at the recipe, or how it is going thus far, but it has been towards my little computer! LOL! 😉 It just doesn’t seem to want to not go into powersave mode!! I am sure my husband thinks that I am just absolutely bonkers at this point, but it really is my fault for misplacing my printed recipe!! Oh well, I will have to go to my happy place when the recipe is ready for my attention again!! 😉

Anyway, the recipe is going alright so far, I think??? It is hard to tell when you are not sure exactly what it is supposed to look like at each step of the way, but I *THINK* it is working??? They should be done sometime this evening, so we will either have them with dinner, or I will pair them with fresh, sliced strawberries for dessert! YUM!!! I will take pictures and post them this evening, so you can see how they turn out!! Cross your fingers kiddies!!! 😉

I have a four-hour wait right now, while the dough is chilling in the fridge, which means I have some crafting time on my hands, so that will be nice!! Less stressful!!! and it looks like Jason is queuing up an episode of Bones at the moment. We are finally on season 4, and this season is just a weird season, especially without Zach. Plus the fact that they keep running through interns. However, the story lines seem to be really fun and interesting, which is good! I really love Booth and Bones together!!! He is such a champion for her, and I love that she is 15 degrees off normal!!! Too funny!!! 😉

Anyway, I will keep you posted on my croissant progress, but right now I am going to have to apologize to my little computer so she keeps behaving for me. I may have to go buy her a present!!! A new carrying case!!! WOO! HOO! she says!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

A Saturday Evening of Firsts!

Good evening!

Today has been such a SPLENDIFEROUS day!!! After getting off to a rousing start this morning, my husband was feeling froggy and decided to head out with me to do the few errands that I was wanting to get ran, and we got them all done and was back home by about noon – UNHEARD OF!!! WHOO! HOO!!

Anyway, we did quite a bit of grocery shopping, and even though Jason had woken up with his back feeling better, he had overdone it. I knew we would have to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon, which was cool because that kind of left me time to do some of the things that I had wanted to get done today anyway!!

After all of our errands, we were going to sit down and watch some tv, but I have decided that I have to wean myself off the need to “numb out” to the tele, so I asked my body what it wanted to do instead. I realized, I was really, really tired! So, I did the unthinkable and took a nap, Jason joined me and it was so sweet and peaceful. We woke up after a while feeling much better, his back and my energy level, and I knew it was time to get some cooking done!!! YEAH!!

I was very excited to start making croissants from scratch! I pulled up my croissant recipe, and realized, that it is going to 7 1/2 hour to prepare, so I had better start on them the first thing tomorrow morning – I will take pics of my progress. Change of plans!! So, for today, I decided to make a white sauce, something I had never done before! After the white sauce had thickened, I did a very Paula Deen kind of thing to it, and added about a cup of cheese to the basic recipe and, once melted stirred in some cooked whole wheat pasta – it was pretty tasty! I wanted to health up my white sauce, you know exchange some of the unhealthy ingredients with some healthier substitutions, so I used whole wheat flower, which made it a little grainy, so I will have to experiment with that. I also used skim milk – which is something my mom used to do all the time, so I was pretty pleased with the results. My sweetie didn’t seem to disapprove of it, although that is hard to decipher whether something is good or not because he is like “Mikey” and will eat just about anything!! LOL! But that is ok, I still love you, Baby!!! 😉

A friend of mine gave me a tea to try this week, more specifically a green tea. I have been looking for one that tastes halfway decent because I am hearing more and more how much it is good for me. Well, I am SOOO IN LOVE WITH THIS TEA!! I am going to pick up some more tomorrow morning – I had to find out online where it is sold, because I couldn’t find it at my grocery store this morning. This tea is called Mighty Leaf Tea, and the flavor is Marrakesh Mint Green Tea!! It is so delish!!! Which is really saying something because I don’t normally like green teas!!! I can not wait to have a stash of this in the house!! YUM!! 😉 I am going to pick up a few boxes of this, and gift one back to the friend who gave me the sample, as a thank you!! I really appreciated his generosity!! 😉

We did finally sit down to watch an episode of Bones this evening, and as soon as I am done blogging tonight, we are going to take our things and go head over to the pool to get some swimming in! I need to limber up for class this week, and I think the hot tub will do Jason’s back some good!!

Then when we get back, we may watch a movie while I do some crafting!! I am making all homemade gifts for Christmas this year, so I really had better get a move on!! I have a LOT of people on my list this year!!! 😉

It is so nice to just be, and not worry about what I “should” be doing, and just do what I WANT to be doing!!! What a novel concept!!! All-in all, I have to confess, this is a damn near perfect day!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

The Chunky Dunker’s Club, Week 6

Good evening!

Welcome to week 6, of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!!! Can you believe it has been Six weeks already??

Every week I post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

Tonight’s topic: Staying with the Program When the Program Gets Tough

We are at six weeks in our get fit journey, and I don’t know about you, but there have been a few times that I want to throw in the towel. WHY? I don’t know, there are lots of reason at different times:

  • I’m tired
  • What’s the point?
  • This is taking so much time
  • The weight isn’t coming off fast enough
  • This is too hard
  • Blah! Blah! Blah!

Have you dealt with any of this yet?? Or is it just me? I thought tonight would be a good time to talk about this. To get this out in the open so that we can push through this sixth week so we can keep going on our journey to get fit. How can we make the lulls easier??

  • Get support, reach out and talk to someone who will genuinely cheer you on and help motivate you to keep going!
  • Do at least one thing that you didn’t think you could do before. Once you accomplish that task it will empower you to keep going!
  • Change it up! Is the reason you are wanting to quit because you are bored? Try a new activity, recipe, or something that you have been wanting to do but haven’t taken the time to do yet!
  • Look at the “old you” versus the “new you”. For example, the old me would have eaten that whole box of cookies in one sitting, changes to, the new me was able to eat just two cookies, and walked away.
  • Find something fun to do as exercise, so you trick yourself into burning more calories. For example, tomorrow night I am starting a belly dancing class, something fun, but something that will also get me moving!!
  • Remember why you wanted to get fit in the first place. Me wanting to be able to walk all over Paris without getting tired is great motivation for me to keep going!

What are your thoughts on sticking through to your journey of fitness? Have you had any inclinations of quitting, or giving up? What were some of your reason? Do you have any ideas to add to help the group keep on keeping on?

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and how all of you are doing. If there is anyone new who has just stumbled onto this blog, feel free to join the discussion in the comments section. This is not a closed group – the more the merrier!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Great Ending!

Good evening!

This is going to be, yes you guessed it another short post! I just wanted to let you know that I have had a GREAT ending to kind of a not so hot day!!! I got to spend some time catching up with my soul-sistah from Arizona, Alex!!! Alex reminds me to live, laugh, and love life to the fullest!!! She is probably one of the bravest people I know, always marching to the beat of her own drummer! Something that I strive to learn how to be brave enough to do on my own!! She inspires me more than she may ever know. Thank you, Sissy!! 😉 You have made my night!!!

To all the rest of you…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Productive Morning!

Good morning!

Whew! This morning has been VERY productive!!! Last evening, I had purchase a book called “The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal” by Julia Cameron. Well, you can go read for yourself what that is, but basically it a guided journal that instructs you to tap into your inner-self by writing 3 pages of your thoughts first thing every morning!! For someone like me who seems to constantly be writing, that was a lot harder than I could have imagined!!! You are not supposed to “cheat” and type out the words, you are supposed to be engaging your whole self while you are being tactile with paper, pen, and writing your thoughts out long hand. Well, about a page and half into my writing this morning I was dealing with some serious writer’s cramp!!! All of my years of computer programming is catching up with me because my carpel tunnel is apparently just out of control! However, what came out on paper, kind of surprised me, and I can see how doing this exercise every morning, for the prescribed 12 weeks, could be VERY eye opening to what is going on inside of you. So, when I finished my third page, I had this strange sense of calmness, relief, and accomplishment. When I was finished I reread everything I had just spent the last hour writing, and I am not sure I would call it writing, but it is definitely a true representation of how my brain thinks, and my mind wanders from one topic of conversation to another. I think this Julia Cameron knows what she is doing, and I can’t wait to see what I discover about myself in the coming weeks!! I will keep you posted!!! 😉

Next on my self-appointed to-do list this morning was to get my taxes filed, both federal and state. Check and Check!! This was a lot more time consuming and more expensive than I was expecting, but it is done, and they are submitted, AND I am getting a nice return – WHOO! HOO! But, not that it is done, I am feeling very much at peace. I think balance might be something that may just be achievable!!

Next on my list is take Jason over to his truck, which is at his sister’s place, so he can go get some work done, and then I am going to take myself for a walk, and maybe watch a movie with the kiddos! We will see, I heard that they hadn’t watched Tangled yet, and now that Uncle Jay-Jay has bought it for me, and I LOVE IT, I thought it might be fun to share it with them!!! TOO FUN!!!

That is it for my plans today, but I know that after Jason is done working, we are talking about going out on a date! That should be fun!!! I may have to call our friends Dawn, and Erin and see if they are up for a get together!!! So, we will see where the rest of today leads us!!

Have a FABULOUS morning!!! 😉

An Evening In My Head!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I just got back from an evening that started hanging out with the family. After spending some time catching up with mom, we got the opportunity to hang out with the niece and nephews! Megan went on a walk with me through the neighborhood chatting up a storm, while Uncle Jay-Jay did some work on his truck. After we got back, and Jason finished up his work, we rounded up the kids around the outdoor basketball net and we played a game of H-O-R-S-E out in the street, which was soooo much fun!!! There was a lot of bantering and fun ribbing between the kiddos and us “old folks” (yes, unfortunately, that would be us!) 😉 I think I will have to swing by tomorrow and do that again!!!

Later tonight, Jason and I eventually found our way over to one of our FAVORITE places, Border’s. I did manage to find 3 clearance books to go home with me this evening! WHOO! HOO!! Only $12 – I LOVE THAT!! More importantly, Jason and I had a sweet evening just reading, walking around, people watching, and just enjoying each other’s company!

I really am so in love with that man of mine!
I realize what a fortunate girl I am!!

Jason and I don’t have any extravagant plans for this weekend. Jason is going to work tomorrow, and I am not exactly sure what I am going to do just yet, but I am sure that I will find something creative!! Maybe I will sweetly ask if we can sneak in an episode of Bones before bed! We will see!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉