So I'm back on the Weight watchers wagon. I promise I won't blog about it constantly or anything but I made a decision this week to try get myself back to a happy place with my weight. I was to the point where I was extremely unhappy with my weight, then before my wedding I lost 35 lbs on WW. Then before I had N, I had just lost 20 because I had stopped WW after the wedding and gained it all back. Then I had N and lost alot of weight from breastfeeding and tried to start WW again on my own after I stopped bf'ing but that was not happening. So it's been a bit of a roller coaster because if I'm not counting points, I have no will power.
So there it is. I'm back on WW. I'm on the new plan which I really like because I don't seem as hungry as I did sometimes on the old plan. I have lost 3.8 lbs but it's only the first week and the first week you always lose a little more. Hopefully I'll keep losing 1-2 lbs a week so that for my big 3-0 I canlook fabulous :-).
Maybe this is my personal 1/3 life crisis? I'm not really worried about turning 30 but I am thinking alot about how good I want to look at the party :-) Maybe that's how it's manifesting itself. Who knows! I just know that I'm glad to be back on WW. As I said I'm not going to let it take over my life so I won't be blogging about it again (well until I hit an awesome goal) but it was what I did this week. I will have at least one more exciting blog post after next weekend. My parents are coming to CT for my Grandmother's 93rd birthday. So N and I are going to "party" with them as well. My Aunt and Uncle from England will be there too which should make for an interesting post!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Not slackin' yet
So yes, I only posted once last week. It's ok though, because blog-worthy things were still happening. Or should I say blog-worthy shopping was happening!!
I love to shop but I used to have no $$ (no not my family, I just drank my $$ away when I was young) so I'm very tentative about shopping. Which is actually a good thing. I'm just always thinking that I can't afford things so I don't spend alot of money. Recently, however, our dishes have been pissing me off. I LOVED them when we first registered for them. They are cool and "trendy" square plates in earth tones, square bowls and gigantic mugs. They were awesome. About 20 minutes after we got one the first one chipped. No biggie, but I soon realized that that was not the first time they would chip. Especially once we bought a house with granite countertops.
So last week, there was a sale at Macy's and I saw these dishes and I really liked them. So I bought them. That is so not me but really, how do you pass up Buy One Get One on dishes!! So here they are!
I love to shop but I used to have no $$ (no not my family, I just drank my $$ away when I was young) so I'm very tentative about shopping. Which is actually a good thing. I'm just always thinking that I can't afford things so I don't spend alot of money. Recently, however, our dishes have been pissing me off. I LOVED them when we first registered for them. They are cool and "trendy" square plates in earth tones, square bowls and gigantic mugs. They were awesome. About 20 minutes after we got one the first one chipped. No biggie, but I soon realized that that was not the first time they would chip. Especially once we bought a house with granite countertops.
So last week, there was a sale at Macy's and I saw these dishes and I really liked them. So I bought them. That is so not me but really, how do you pass up Buy One Get One on dishes!! So here they are!
I know they aren't anything fancy, but I love them! They make me very happy. Normal round plates, with a nice pattern. Sometimes I look at them and I think, does this make me old? I'm am coming up on the big 3-0. Does this mean that I'm not as fun and funky as I used to be? Is this the last of my youth, slipping away with the dishes that we gave A's brother? Nah....these are so freaking cute I don't care. I LOVE THEM!
Plus apparently A is planning some ridiculous big bash to say goodbye to all my youthfulness so I can't say goodbye yet...
Monday, February 14, 2011
The hubby's 31st birthday...
So Sunday was A's 31st birthday. We had his parents and brother over for dinner and cake and it was a great time.
The day started off with A completing his one duty of the day which was to make me pancakse and bacon for our "Valentine's Day" breakfast. I know, making him make breakfast on his birthday seems wron g but it was literally the only thing I asked of him and since we had agreed not to get each other anything for V-day (he lied, I got jewelery and chocolate!) and we weren't going out for it I didn't think it was that bad. Plus he loves making breakfast (I think).
After that I told him he didn't have to do anyting all day long and that he had full control of the TV all day long. Not that he actually relaxed, I couldn't keep him from folding laundry and doing dishes. I know I shouldn't complain about that but really I just wanted him to be able to relax for one day and he is completely incapable. At least I tried! He did however get to go and wander around Costco for an hour or two which is one of our favorite things to do, he just got to do it sans me and N.
Before that though he spent 30 minutes "coaching" his Irish/Scot/English wife on how to make gravy. Not brown gravy, italian red gravy. Otherwise know as spaghetti sauce :-). A is Italian, his mother is an Italian caterer. As a kid he always had ravioli for his birthday so that was the plan. I was going to make ravioli and gravy and antipasti platter for dinner for him and his family. The only problem was that I was cooking for him and his parents (italian caterers) and I've never made gravy before. So A walked me through the process from the right spoon to use all the way through the seasoning. It turned out great! Despite the birthday boy hovering over my every move. We just used frozen ravioli and his parents brought up bread from the bakery they use for their catering business in NJ.
I got him his favorite cake from a local italian bakery, it's just a cannoli cake and it was delicious. It reminded me of our wedding since that's what our cake was. It looked a little something like this except with only one cannoli and Happy Birthday A.. written on the top. All in all it was a good day. My in-laws all complimented me on my gravy, which is definitely blog-worthy! Happy Valentine's day all!!
The day started off with A completing his one duty of the day which was to make me pancakse and bacon for our "Valentine's Day" breakfast. I know, making him make breakfast on his birthday seems wron g but it was literally the only thing I asked of him and since we had agreed not to get each other anything for V-day (he lied, I got jewelery and chocolate!) and we weren't going out for it I didn't think it was that bad. Plus he loves making breakfast (I think).
After that I told him he didn't have to do anyting all day long and that he had full control of the TV all day long. Not that he actually relaxed, I couldn't keep him from folding laundry and doing dishes. I know I shouldn't complain about that but really I just wanted him to be able to relax for one day and he is completely incapable. At least I tried! He did however get to go and wander around Costco for an hour or two which is one of our favorite things to do, he just got to do it sans me and N.
Before that though he spent 30 minutes "coaching" his Irish/Scot/English wife on how to make gravy. Not brown gravy, italian red gravy. Otherwise know as spaghetti sauce :-). A is Italian, his mother is an Italian caterer. As a kid he always had ravioli for his birthday so that was the plan. I was going to make ravioli and gravy and antipasti platter for dinner for him and his family. The only problem was that I was cooking for him and his parents (italian caterers) and I've never made gravy before. So A walked me through the process from the right spoon to use all the way through the seasoning. It turned out great! Despite the birthday boy hovering over my every move. We just used frozen ravioli and his parents brought up bread from the bakery they use for their catering business in NJ.
I got him his favorite cake from a local italian bakery, it's just a cannoli cake and it was delicious. It reminded me of our wedding since that's what our cake was. It looked a little something like this except with only one cannoli and Happy Birthday A.. written on the top. All in all it was a good day. My in-laws all complimented me on my gravy, which is definitely blog-worthy! Happy Valentine's day all!!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Mealtime
So as I said, I do like to cook so cooking a good meal, especially while home, alone with a toddler, is to me a blogworthy accomplishment. So a few years ago I got a subscription to Cooking Light for Christmas. I was on WW at the time and I loved it. They take things that we love and make them lighter, they make some fabulous recipes and they give you all the nutrition info which made it easy for me to calculate the points and to menu plan. As of right now I have a gallon zip-loc bag filled with envelopes, that are filled with categorized recipes. Since I'm trying to start menu planning to make shopping and deciding what to make/eat easier I use this baggie alot. In a recent Cooking Light they had a recipe for Chicken with Lemon-Leek Linguine. It looked delicious and kid friendly and the time was 30 minutes. So since we eat about 30 mintues to an hour after my son gets home and I knew that 30 minutes magazine time was 45 minute real life with a toddler time I thought it would be a good thing to make.
So that morning I defrosted the chicken and then during my lunch break (one of the benefits of working from home) I pounded out the chicken and put it in the fridge until I was ready to cook. Before I went to pick up N from daycare I took it out of the fridge to come to room temp so it would cook faster when I got home. From there I just followed the directions! I did add more salt and pepper and garlic than they said (I like things a little bit more spiced) and for the sauce I added more lemon (3tbs instead of 2). I also was using dried parsley since fresh hebs go to waste in our house.
So the whole thing did take about 40 minutes. My son was FAB-U-LUS the whole time he kept himself occupied playing with books and trucks in the kitchen. The only thing that made me paranoid is that when you are pan searing the meat there is splatter that happens with the butter. So I had to be careful while the chicken was cooking that he staying on the other side of the kitchen.
So then N and I sat down to eat. I cut the linguine in half so it would be easier but he loves noodles so he enjoyed it all. The chicken was delicious as well even though it was just very simple. I think this coule be jazzed up even more. Even with the extra lemon and seasonings I added it still could have used a little something...I'll have to try it again to find out. Iwas thinking that this would be good with some asparagus as well, maybe chop it into chucks and saute it before adding the leeks and garlic. As with any pasta, it was even better the next day. At least that was was my husband said when he got home and ate all the leftovers!
I've meal planned for the whole month of February so far and there are a couple recipes I'm not so sure about. I'm sure there will be some epic type failures in the future where N ends up eating chicken nuggets and banana (mananana as he would call it) and I end up with a sandwich. This week however was a good one, I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, the cooking and the eating and N did too! Thank goodness he was able to occupy himself that night....
So that morning I defrosted the chicken and then during my lunch break (one of the benefits of working from home) I pounded out the chicken and put it in the fridge until I was ready to cook. Before I went to pick up N from daycare I took it out of the fridge to come to room temp so it would cook faster when I got home. From there I just followed the directions! I did add more salt and pepper and garlic than they said (I like things a little bit more spiced) and for the sauce I added more lemon (3tbs instead of 2). I also was using dried parsley since fresh hebs go to waste in our house.
So the whole thing did take about 40 minutes. My son was FAB-U-LUS the whole time he kept himself occupied playing with books and trucks in the kitchen. The only thing that made me paranoid is that when you are pan searing the meat there is splatter that happens with the butter. So I had to be careful while the chicken was cooking that he staying on the other side of the kitchen.
So then N and I sat down to eat. I cut the linguine in half so it would be easier but he loves noodles so he enjoyed it all. The chicken was delicious as well even though it was just very simple. I think this coule be jazzed up even more. Even with the extra lemon and seasonings I added it still could have used a little something...I'll have to try it again to find out. Iwas thinking that this would be good with some asparagus as well, maybe chop it into chucks and saute it before adding the leeks and garlic. As with any pasta, it was even better the next day. At least that was was my husband said when he got home and ate all the leftovers!
I've meal planned for the whole month of February so far and there are a couple recipes I'm not so sure about. I'm sure there will be some epic type failures in the future where N ends up eating chicken nuggets and banana (mananana as he would call it) and I end up with a sandwich. This week however was a good one, I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, the cooking and the eating and N did too! Thank goodness he was able to occupy himself that night....
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The epiphany weekend.
So this past weekend A and I went to Vermont to ski for the weekend for a friends 30th birthday. It was the first trip we've taken since our son was born. We've been gone for overnights but not for 2 whole nights before. That, however, is not what this post is about. As much as I love my son and was torn, it was amazing that as soon as we dropped him off and I knew he was happy staying with this Aunt, I felt free. Did I miss him, of course, did I worry a little, yes, did it kill me when I called and my sister told me that he had cried "mommy" for 20 minutes before he finally fell asleep, YES. Did I know he was cared for and loved and would be just fine when we got back on Sunday, yes. You know what else I knew? I needed a break! With a traveling husband and working from home, I'm home alone ALOT. On the weekends ( or one of the 1000 snow days we've had this year) I'm usually home alone with our son. So when this opportunity came up (thanks to my friend!) I jumped at the opportunity, because not only was it good for me, I was SUPER excited to be with my friend for her birthday.
So off we went! We drove from Boston where my sister is up to Okemo to the most awesome house! It has something like 25 bedrooms (ok, exaggeration but it was 7 at least) with a great kitchen (2 actually!) a hot tub and a view of the mountain. We were with a whole group of friends. The first night we just ordered pizza and hung out. Some of the group had been there all day skiing and were tired some stayed up and drank. The next day we went skiing....
Now, I skiied alot as a kid, granted it had been at least 5/6 years since I been last but I grew up skiing with my Dad. So I'm a fairly confident skiier (despite showing off and making an ass of myself at least once). My husband however, had only been skiing once or twice before and while working up to the weekend he was all confident about it, when it actually came time to ski...it was a different story.
So we started off easy and I realized quickly that he had no actual skiing experience that taught him anything. He must have just been throwing himself down the mountain the first couple times he went. So I gave him some instructions and we kept working. It was really good for me becuase it made me start off slowly and not push myself too hard. After a while he got better and I was able to relax a little instead of following and watching his every move.
We went all the way to the top and the view was spectacular! You could see all the way to Mt. Washington and past, it was so clear. NH/VT/ME is my favorite part of the country so you can understand that I was just in heaven. We skiied all the way down the mountain, then went back up and by this time, the clouds had come down and it was snowing. Skiing while it's snowing is awesome. I just love it. We had such a good time all day, we skiied until they closed. The fresh air and the excercise were exactly what I needed. We went back to the house and showered and had an awesome dinner and then went into the hottub.
Sunday, we went home, stopped by my sisters to pick up Nathan, who as I expected was happy and well fed and had been introduced to chocolate milk (thanks sis). Then drove home. We were exhausted but completely refreshed.
That weekend was exactly what I needed and what made me realize that I had let the "easy way" take over my life. We could have said no. Nathan won't be ok for a weekend with my sister, or it's too expensive but we didn't and I'm so glad we didn't. It gave my husband and I some time to help repair our relationship and just be husband and wife again. It gave me time to have adult conversation and reconnect with who I am. It prompted my change in direction.
It also made me want to get back into skiing more and get my son and husband into it as well....but that's another story...
So off we went! We drove from Boston where my sister is up to Okemo to the most awesome house! It has something like 25 bedrooms (ok, exaggeration but it was 7 at least) with a great kitchen (2 actually!) a hot tub and a view of the mountain. We were with a whole group of friends. The first night we just ordered pizza and hung out. Some of the group had been there all day skiing and were tired some stayed up and drank. The next day we went skiing....
Now, I skiied alot as a kid, granted it had been at least 5/6 years since I been last but I grew up skiing with my Dad. So I'm a fairly confident skiier (despite showing off and making an ass of myself at least once). My husband however, had only been skiing once or twice before and while working up to the weekend he was all confident about it, when it actually came time to ski...it was a different story.
So we started off easy and I realized quickly that he had no actual skiing experience that taught him anything. He must have just been throwing himself down the mountain the first couple times he went. So I gave him some instructions and we kept working. It was really good for me becuase it made me start off slowly and not push myself too hard. After a while he got better and I was able to relax a little instead of following and watching his every move.
We went all the way to the top and the view was spectacular! You could see all the way to Mt. Washington and past, it was so clear. NH/VT/ME is my favorite part of the country so you can understand that I was just in heaven. We skiied all the way down the mountain, then went back up and by this time, the clouds had come down and it was snowing. Skiing while it's snowing is awesome. I just love it. We had such a good time all day, we skiied until they closed. The fresh air and the excercise were exactly what I needed. We went back to the house and showered and had an awesome dinner and then went into the hottub.
Sunday, we went home, stopped by my sisters to pick up Nathan, who as I expected was happy and well fed and had been introduced to chocolate milk (thanks sis). Then drove home. We were exhausted but completely refreshed.
That weekend was exactly what I needed and what made me realize that I had let the "easy way" take over my life. We could have said no. Nathan won't be ok for a weekend with my sister, or it's too expensive but we didn't and I'm so glad we didn't. It gave my husband and I some time to help repair our relationship and just be husband and wife again. It gave me time to have adult conversation and reconnect with who I am. It prompted my change in direction.
It also made me want to get back into skiing more and get my son and husband into it as well....but that's another story...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Change in direction
I'm obviously not a good blogger. I'm a sporadic blogger. The reason for that is mostly because I don't feel like I have anything worth blogging about going on in my life. Why would you care what I wake up and do in the morning? Why would you care about my stresses, my highs, my lows. You don't even know me. Nothing happens thats exciting in my life. Half the time I don't even think my husband should really care about what happens in my day. So instead of letting my boring life control my blog, I've decided to go the opposite direction...
I'm making a decision. From here on out I will do something "blogworthy" at least twice a week. My life has been shitty lately. Marriage, work, and everything. Obviously my son is always a good thing in my life but I sometimes think that's it. My husband has taken some responsibility in this and has made huge steps to make changes for the better. I can't, however, blame it all on him. I am a firm believer that we create our own happiness in life. We cannot depend on others and our current circumstances to make us happy. We have to choose to be happy.
One of the things that has made me unhappy lately is that I feel like I'm stuck. I'm stuck in my position at work, I'm stuck in a town where I know no one, I'm stuck far away from friends and family. I sit at home alot because of these things and because it's easy. It's easier to sit at home and play with Nathan than to take him out somewhere. It's easier to eat frozen chicken tenders and sweet potato fries than to try to cook something (especially when A is out of town). It's easier to stay home than to go visit my grandmother, or family, or friends (the few) that are within driving distance. It's always about what's easiest.
So every week I'm going to do at least 2 blogworthy things. There are blogs out there about everything from cooking, to adventures, to sports, to TV shows, to kids. Twice each week. Now, the TV shows one I'll try to avoid because (no offense to TV bloggers) I feel like that's one of those easy ways out for me. It's easy to watch TV. So, whether it's cooking a great meal (which is a pretty big accomplishment with a toddler and 30 minutes and a traveling hubby), going somewhere, doing something new or something I don't do often, or any number of other things I'm going to do it and blog it. The pressure of the blog (all 9 of you) will hopefully force me to do something. Hopefully that in turn will help me feel a little more satisfied with my life and be little entertaining for you, as I'm SURE to fail at some of the things I attempt and I will blog about those too. The failures, the successes and all the in betweens.
So to those of you who have read my blog in the past thank you, to those who are reading it this time and those who read it in the future, I'll see you soon. The adventure that prompted this will be blogged about soon...
I'm making a decision. From here on out I will do something "blogworthy" at least twice a week. My life has been shitty lately. Marriage, work, and everything. Obviously my son is always a good thing in my life but I sometimes think that's it. My husband has taken some responsibility in this and has made huge steps to make changes for the better. I can't, however, blame it all on him. I am a firm believer that we create our own happiness in life. We cannot depend on others and our current circumstances to make us happy. We have to choose to be happy.
One of the things that has made me unhappy lately is that I feel like I'm stuck. I'm stuck in my position at work, I'm stuck in a town where I know no one, I'm stuck far away from friends and family. I sit at home alot because of these things and because it's easy. It's easier to sit at home and play with Nathan than to take him out somewhere. It's easier to eat frozen chicken tenders and sweet potato fries than to try to cook something (especially when A is out of town). It's easier to stay home than to go visit my grandmother, or family, or friends (the few) that are within driving distance. It's always about what's easiest.
So every week I'm going to do at least 2 blogworthy things. There are blogs out there about everything from cooking, to adventures, to sports, to TV shows, to kids. Twice each week. Now, the TV shows one I'll try to avoid because (no offense to TV bloggers) I feel like that's one of those easy ways out for me. It's easy to watch TV. So, whether it's cooking a great meal (which is a pretty big accomplishment with a toddler and 30 minutes and a traveling hubby), going somewhere, doing something new or something I don't do often, or any number of other things I'm going to do it and blog it. The pressure of the blog (all 9 of you) will hopefully force me to do something. Hopefully that in turn will help me feel a little more satisfied with my life and be little entertaining for you, as I'm SURE to fail at some of the things I attempt and I will blog about those too. The failures, the successes and all the in betweens.
So to those of you who have read my blog in the past thank you, to those who are reading it this time and those who read it in the future, I'll see you soon. The adventure that prompted this will be blogged about soon...