9/15/11 "A Magical Week"

-2.0!!!

A rather pleasant surprise after playing hooky last week!  I was feeling less than optimistic when I went in to the meeting tonight, but now I'm pretty happy!

I think I had a sign to get back on the ball.   I got one of the weekly WW emails Monday & it was about following the plan 100% for one week.  I didn't read the email, but that subject line lingered in the back of my mind.  Last night I decided to give it a try.  When I had a few minutes at work today, I read the email & also broke out this little notebook I got like 2 months ago and wrote down the P+ values for the items I most commonly order from fast food joints (I am a self-proclaimed Tim Horton's addict. Damn those Canadians anyway!!)  I plan to carry this around in my purse for tracking when I'm not near a computer.

Then I went in for the meeting tonight & it was about the same thing!  9 steps to having a "Magical Week".
(yeah - we got notecards, so I'm looking at mine)
1. Track track track !!!!
2. Exercise
3. Portion correctly
4. Power foods - 75% of the day's food should be these
5. Good Health Guidelines
6. Weekly P+ allowance - don't be afraid to use them!
7. Confirm P+ values on favorite foods
8. Stick to daily P+ target
9. Drink water 

I really needed that reminder of the GHGs.  I can't remember the last time I intentionally consumed oils, other than when I occasionally use it for cooking.  I used to simply dump the 2 teaspoons in my oatmeal in the morning!  Tomorrow, I will do that again.

Carol, my leader, also suggested planning for your success story.   
Envision yourself at your goal.   Think about how you'll look and imagine how you'll feel.
Remember what your turning point was. Mine was stepping on the scale at the doctor's office and seeing 270 lbs!!  It really opened my eyes.
Surround yourself with positive people.  People who support your goals & won't sabotage your efforts.
Plan for new priorities.  She didn't really explain this one.  I take it to mean that my priorities should be for a long life and good health. 

This is my wagon.  

I am back on my wagon and my butt is firmly strapped in.

She made the team!

I cut & pasted this from Facebook last night....

UTICA DANCE

ANNOUNCING THE 2011/2012 UTICA JV DANCE TEAM!

Allison, Antonetta, Marissa, Tyler, Kayla, ***Angela***, Hannah, Kelsey, Taylor, Lindsay, Rachel and Brittany!

So now the chaos and craziness begins!  I haven't heard yet when the first practices are or when the obligatory parent meeting will be.  Football season is already in full swing, so I imagine they'll be soon.

I know Angel is really excited about this and I know I should be more happy for her than I am.  Maybe because I never did anything like this when I was in school?  I was never cool enough to be a cheerleader and the concept of a dance team was totally non-existent.  I can't ever remember anyone taking dance classes, let alone a school-sanctioned sport.  Clawson still doesn't have one! 

I know its going to be crazy.  But I'm there for her, cheering her along!

GO TEAM !!

Dance team, too?

Miss Angela is going to be the death of me.

Try-outs for the high school dance team were Monday & today.  Of course, she had already told me that she was only going to dance at the studio this year, no cheerleading or anything, so I didn't bother getting her the required sports physical when she went in for her regular "well-child" visit before school started.

So Monday, we had stopped at Mom's after Angel's ortho appointment & all of a sudden it was imperative she get to try-outs.  Luckily, Mom told me about a little clinic near her house that does walk-in physicals, so we stopped in.  It was 5 when we finally left the clinic & try-outs began at 4:15. 

Then we weren't even sure where try-outs were being held.  So it was easily 5:30 when she finally got in the room.  I wasn't in a hurry, because I assumed try-outs were just that & there were 2 days to actually go in & do your thing.  Guess not!  They apparently had to learn a couple short routines and actual try-outs are today.  Luckily, she was welcomed in & one of the varsity girls took her to the side & got her caught up on what they'd covered already. 

I have to work this out in my mind, since it already sounds pretty likely she'll make the team.  The varsity girl I just mentioned was really impressed with her skillz.  And Angel said what they covered was pretty easy, too.  She was tickled with doing a kickline! 

I emailed one of the coaches & she told me that they dance for both football & basketball home games.  I get the impression that the dance team performs at half-time and the cheerleaders do their thing on the sidelines for the whole game.  And the dance team competes, too. The varsity team has already qualified for Nationals! 

The issue I have is making sure that school dance team & studio dance team don't conflict.  She's got classes at the studio on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday ((insert eye roll here)) and school practices on Monday & Wednesday.  OK, groovy. 

However.....games.  Yeah.  Football is nice & straight forward.  Games on every other Thursday at 4:30.  Basketball is nuts!  They have them it looks like random dates & times!  It's too confusing to even list!  WTF ! ! !   And I'm afraid to think about competitions!  3-4 for school team and 2 for the studio team.   On the plus side.....only one costume for school! 

I did manage to talk her into dropping 2 of her studio classes if need be.  She could easily drop 3 / all of her Tuesday classes - but she really likes lyrical, so I will be nice. 

So I guess you'll be hearing back probably tomorrow if she made it or not!  Tonight is also open house at school, so Randy & I get to go thru a shortened version of her day and meet the teachers and learn about her classes.  Woohoo!  But at least its not conferences.  Don't even get me started on those.

FMM - All About ME !!

Had a nice lazy weekend.  I should have taken advantage of the nice weather & went walking, but I didn't.  Friday after work I went grocery shopping & then cut the grass.  Saturday was extreme nothingness (and I loved it!!) and yesterday I finished up a couple of my larger Halloween props.  Now - I can't wait to participate in FMM with my new Disqus comment platform!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: All About Me

1. What are your talents? I'm creative & have a good imagination.

2. What is your best habit?  Um. I make the bed every day?

3. If you had to be stuck with someone in an elevator for 8 hours, who would you want it to be?  Alive or Dead?  John Wayne would be awesome!!! 

4. Share one odd fact about you that we’d never know to ask.  My hair used to be stick straight.  Its gotten wavy with age.  But it's still thin!

5. What’s your latest project (work, home, whatever you care to share?)  My Halloween display.  I have a whole blog about it at Maple Grove Cemetery

6. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?  My thin stringy hair. 

7. What do you do in your spare time? Read, blog, walk, make stuff.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve?  Lousy drivers!!!

9. Why do you blog?  So I can talk about what interests me without making my family listen to it all the time.  And I enjoy reading other people's too.

10. Are you tidy or messy?   I confess.  Messy.  I love when my house is neat, but I can never seem to keep it that way.

11. What’s the last song that played on your iPod? The Arrogant Worms - Me Like Hockey

12. Do you cook?  Yeah.  Nothing terribly fancy, but my family isn't starving.

13. Do you like sports?  See #11 - me like hockey!  Especially the Detroit Red Wings. 

14. How often do you read and/or watch the news?  Usually every day.  The hubby likes to watch the news from Canada - which is weird, but they seem to be less biased and more to the point when it comes to world news.

15. Did you stick to your new Year’s resolution this year?  I didn't make one. So Yes!!!

16. What are you looking forward to most in the remainder of 2011?  My 2o year reunion in October, the girl getting back into competition at the dance studio, watching the kids dance for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show during the Lions game.

17. Shoes, sunglasses or handbags?  Sunglasses!  I wear mine as a headband.  Plus my eyes are really sensitive in the sun, so it's good to keep them close.

18. How do you feel about sleeping on satin sheets?  That could be fun.  I think it would also have to be without nightclothes, tho.  And all 3 cats would have to be banned from the room.

19. Do you sing in the shower?  Occasionally & not really songs with words, just LA LA LA type stuff.

20. Describe yourself in one word. Unique !!!

We Shall Not Forget....

I've seen a lot of other blogs with beautiful, moving posts about September 11 and what they were doing & how they felt.  This isn't going to be entirely about that.

I was at work with the radio on & since we had hit-or-miss internet access, all I could do is listen in horror to the people on the radio. I finally got to see footage that evening when I went to pick Angel up from daycare.  I have to give them credit for trying to keep the day normal for the kids, but there was a TV on in the infant room.  Anyway, the older kids could tell that something had happened, but they didn't know what.  Angel asked me about it when we got in the car.  So it was tough trying to explain the days events to a child who wasn't even 4 yet.   I choked up for a minute, but was able to tell her that some really bad people had stolen some airplanes and made them crash so a LOT of people had died.  Luckily I didn't have to go into any more detail than that, and she was OK with it.

This was not long before I met Randy.  He told me it was really eerie seeing planes being turned around at the US border.  We live in SE Michigan - we can go due south 25 miles and be in Windsor or go about 40 miles NE and be in Sarnia.  And him being into weather events and such, it was actually neat not seeing any air traffic at all.

This is the most beautiful shot of any of the footage I've seen.   I love this.

And now.....to lighten up......things that make me smile!

Randy with the elusive Spaminole.

 Angel & Lulu singing from the top of the fun house at the Romeo Peach Festival.

 Chester with laser eyes.

 Da puppy.

 Maggie buried under pillows.

Skeeter in mid-stretch.

 A big ol' katydid on the garage.

 A peach brownie.

Or a sugared butt, take your pick!

WINE!