Weight, What Happened?

At some point, you just have to get serious about the weighty issues.  In late September, I did just that.  I took matters in hand, and dedicated myself to the weight-loss cause (also known as Bebe's Great Transformation).  I knew that I had to do something different, after all, doing what I had been doing would just keep me going in the same direction...  And that direction wasn't giving me any wiggle room in my jeans!  So, I made some changes, some of them drastic, and I set some goals.

The best thing I did was buy a BodyBugg.  I love that thing!  I've worn it nearly as faithfully as I would a pacemaker!  I watch what I eat like a Nazi, and I'm brutally honest when I log my daily food intake.  Because I remain vigilantly aware of my choices, I was even able to lose weight over the Christmas and New Year's holidays!

Two weeks ago, I met my goal.  I stepped on my bathroom scale (not the Mister's body fat scale *shudder*) and was pleased to see the digital display reflect that magic number.  Unfortunately, I guess I had a somewhat idealized notion of what I would look like at my goal weight.  So, I set a new target.  It seems so unfair that this weight, on my nearly 40 year old body, isn't as cute as it was on my 30 year old body.  Unfair, because I've worked harder to achieve this weight at this age, and the results just aren't as pleasing...

My work in real estate has taught me the importance of location, location, location...  My "curves" have seemingly relocated--to less desirable locations...  But the truth is, even with the migration from desirable neighborhoods to more questionable areas, I'm generally satisfied.  There's nothing like trying on a pair of jeans, and needing to go back for a smaller size.  Of course, there's also nothing like actually being able to find jeans in readily available sizes!  I'm no longer shopping in the Nether Land of Denim. Hurray!

PS.  If you haven't checked it out, scroll to the bottom of the page to see my SkinnyR Graph!

If it can go wrong, it will...

Ours was an interesting weekend.  After months of training and rehearsing, this weekend was the long-awaited Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition.  We packed our bags and set out for the regional competition in Denver.  The flight was on time.  Our seats were fine.  None of our luggage got lost...  That was the end of the smooth ride...

YAGP is a well respected international competition with regional events in the USA as well as in Italy, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil. I knew that The Princess had her work cut out for her.  After all, most of the other dancers have probably been studying ballet for years.  With only about five months of real training, she was certainly at a disadvantage. 

Of course, I thought her disadvantage would be limited to her lack of proper training.  As it turned out, that was the least of our problems!  During each of her solo classical variations her music quit.  Other dancers had musical malfunctions as well, but having problems with both pieces was very trying.  HRH handled it like a pro, but it really shook her confidence.

Later, on the evening before we were checking out, the power went out in our hotel.  We slept through several hours of power-free quiet, only to awaken to a dark hotel.  I made the mistake of jumping in the shower and washing my hair...  Big mistake!  No blow dryer!  I got to spend the cold, windy, Colorado winter morning with wet hair.  Joy.  And if the frozen ears weren't discomfort enough, I got to endure the hideous hair for the remainder of the afternoon.

I do have to admit, however, that it was a bit of a novel experience.  We opened our room door to find glow sticks carefully placed in the hallway outside each room door.  The stairwells were similarly lit, with glow sticks on every other stair tread.  Breakfast was tasty and (surprisingly) warm.  A buffet (undoubtedly cooked on a gas stove) was kept warm with assorted chaffing dishes heated by Sterno cans.  Each dish was illuminated by additional glow sticks and the tables were all candlelit.  It did make us smile!

After our morning and early afternoon in the cold, we were lucky enough to catch a break.  To our good fortune, the kind woman at the Denver Double Tree North took pity on us.  Feeling bad that we had checked out, despite having nowhere to go, with wet hair and make-up that was applied in the dark, she offered us a room for the remainder of our wait. 

The room was a suite, complete with kitchenette and king sized bed.  We snacked on hot, Double Tree chocolate chip cookies, and popped popcorn in the provided microwave, and sipped steaming mugs of hot chocolate.  The best part is that our kind hostess provided the room to us free of charge.

So, for the rocky weekend, we had a satisfactory ending.  HRH took second in the Contemporary category, and first in the Ensemble category.  Our studio took the Best School award, and our choreographer won the Best Choreographer award.  We got to fix our hair and makeup, and lounge in a comfortable suite...  I guess it wasn't so bad after all...

Makin' Whoopie

I have to confess to a new obsession.  OK, maybe not a new obsession, but a growing obsession of which I am feeling especially ardent.  I just don't know why I haven't been able to get it off my mind.  I've been planning this surprise for a while now...  I considered waiting for Valentine's Day, but I just don't want to wait!  Some people have suggested some great ideas for spicing things up a bit...  Some of those suggestions may prove interesting, but I don't know how adventurous I'm feeling just yet.  I think I'll stick to the standard, maybe not as exciting, but always reliable, right?  Yep, I've been daydreaming about makin' whoopie (pies) for about a week now.

What did you think I was talking about?!

So, with today being a holiday from school...  And with the kids all stuck indoors due to the snowy/foggy weather, I decided today was the day!

I'm always hesitant to try a new recipe.  Especially since moving to our current elevation.   It's just a fact that some baked goods don't turn out well up here.  And I loved the idea of pumpkin spice whoopie pies, but I decided to start with the basics.  So, that's just what I did.

I'm not sure I'm gonna call my whoopie pies a rousing success, but they were pretty good.  Not pretty, mind you...  But they tasted good...

Anyone else out there in the mood for makin' whoopie...  pies...?

Sunday Shoes

With four boys, some would think that we could save a little money by using hand-me-downs.  If you thought that, you'd be wrong...

First off, The Boy is twelve years older than The Buddies...  I don't know that anyone has noticed, but styles have changed a little in the past twelve years.  Even if I had kept his out-grown clothes, I'm not sure anyone could be persuaded to wear them.

And, while Z secretly adores the color pink, I'm not sure that I could even convince him to wear anything that had previously belonged to The Princess...

We try to do a little swapping from Buddy to Buddy, but that hasn't really worked out too well either.  One reason is because Z is the biggest of The Buddies, but he's also been voted "Most Likely to Shred the Knees of His Jeans" and "Most Likely to Tear the Sole Cleanly Off a Pair of Perfectly Good Shoes."

And then there's M.  I had high hopes for swaps between M and J.  M could easily hand down shoes and jeans to J, but M has a really bad habit...  He loses things...  Lots of things...  Case in point:  Sunday Shoes.

These were M's Sunday Shoes.  Were, did I say?  Yes, were, because they no longer fit him.  Why do we have perfectly new shoes that don't fit M?  And why don't we give them to J?  Because these shoes were M's previously lost shoes.  Because, they were lost (and then remained lost) for so long, they will no longer will fit anybody, including J...

The Buddies got new Sunday Shoes last spring.  They wore them to church only a couple of times before M's inexplicably disappeared.  Seriously, they just disappeared!  We looked, and looked, and looked (for months!).  Inside the house.  Outside the house.  In the car.  In the garage.  In the yard...  We couldn't find them...  Well, I finally found them (both of them!) just before Christmas.  It was an exciting event.

Usually the lost remain that way, so it was with great jubilation that I presented my triumphant discovery to The Mister.  But it was to no avail.  At some point during the Lost Season (approximately March to December), everyone had grown.  ***I guess I'd worry if they hadn't.***  In the meantime, I had refused to buy M new shoes...  I kept hoping we would find them, so we kept taking him to church in sneakers (the horror!).  But now it's been confirmed,  we get to buy new Sunday Shoes for M and probably for everyone else as well.  I'm so excited.

Anyone need a perfectly good pair of size 13.5 shoes?