It's Fall Break here at the Simpson house! Technically, it is Fall Break everywhere in the Bartlesville, Ok-area but, since this blog is primarily about my family and me, I'm focusing on our break time. I have no idea why the schools here have a Fall Break one month before Thanksgiving but I am not complaining one bit. I love it and I am excited about how we are going to spend our time.
This year we are spending our Fall Break time getting ready for TWO Halloween parties on Saturday. Yes, you read that correctly: TWO parties...at OUR house....on the SAME day. We will be having a "Kids' Party" from 12-2 and then, after we recuperate for a few hours, we will have a "Family Party" with our grown-up friends.
I thought this would be a good way to meet some of Mac and Jack's friends from school and their parents. I've learned that, as the kids get older, it gets harder to meet parents. This, in turn, makes it hard for Scott and me to allow our kids to go to friends' houses. In fact, it doesn't make it "hard", it makes it impossible. We don't just let our kids go to any one's house. We have to know the parents first and know them well. Needless to say, our kids don't get out much.
I am also learning that parents in our neck of the woods do not know the meaning of RSVP. Three families have told me that they will be attending one or both parties. These families are friends of ours that we stay in contact with and, I might mention, they are not from Bville originally. I am not meaning to imply that native "Bartians" (yes, that is what they call themselves) are all devoid of manners. I don't know what the problem is. Maybe we are all too detached these days or maybe people are tired of reaching out and trying to make new friends. Maybe parents don't care where they drop their kids off on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe they don't really understand why responding to an RSVP is so important but, when you are planning a party with adorable Halloween-themed food, it is nice to know just how many "Mummy Pizzas" to make ahead of time. I'm just sayin'.
No matter how many people show up, I am hoping for a fun day. It will be very nice if it doesn't rain also. Everything I have planned needs to take place outside and I really don't want 10 kids running around inside my house. I'll be writing about the parties and posting pics, so be on the look-out for a new post, hopefully, on Sunday.
Onto another topic...my weight loss. This past week was harder than the others have been. I wanted to "cheat" fairly often and I was just hungry a lot. Of course, I am blaming that on my monthly hormones, rather than the fact that I simply like to eat. I weighed in yesterday and I lost a whopping .8 lbs. I am not looking at it as a failure; it is still a loss and not a gain. I have lost a total of 14.6 pounds in 5 weeks and that ain't too shabby, if I do say so myself. Yesterday was also the first day in 5 weeks that I have not eaten JC foods. I decided to take the day off and just eat what I wanted to. It wasn't a huge splurge-day for me. I didn't eat an entire pizza or scarf down a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. I had my favorite pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks and half of Jack's chocolate chip frappaccino. I ate creamy chicken and noodles leftovers and there might have been some pumpkin spice pop-tarts thrown in there somewhere... What can I say? I love pumpkin spice-flavored things! ;-)
I wasn't thrilled with myself but I think it was good to have a day like that so I can start fresh the next day and refocus on my goals. This morning, I had my usual Cain's coffee with Creme Brulee' creamer and a JC breakfast. When I am finished typing this, I am going for a walk. After that, it will be time to get this house ready for the parties and, hopefully, have some family time visiting a couple of Bville tourist-y places. Have a great day!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Short stories
These are just some short stories of things that have happened lately that I wanted to blog about but didn't feel like were long enough or whatever for their own post.
1. The Fair!
The kids and I went to the Tulsa State Fair yesterday. I let them play hooky from school so that we could go on a day that wasn't crazy-packed with people. We tried to go last Saturday but it was so packed, we couldn't find a parking spot! Yesterday was much better.
This was Mac and Jack's first time to go to anything like this. They have been to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo but they were so little, we only did the "inside stuff." This time, they were able to ride the rides and play some of the games and they loved every minute of it. Jack didn't understand why I wasn't riding the rides with them. I tried to explain many times that I just don't like to ride those kind of rides anymore (unless we are at Disney World, of course) but that I was having the most fun watching them ride. He said, "But you didn't have fun..you didn't DO anything!" Maybe when he is a parent he will understand. To them, I wasn't DOing anything but, for me, watching them DO stuff was a blast.
And, yes, we ate. I ate fair food! We went to JC before the fair and I told my consultant that I was going to the fair and that I was going to enjoy some fair food. She said to go on and do it, so I did. I wasn't nearly as "bad" as I thought I would be, actually. I ate a flavorless "jumbo" corn dog because it was right next to the pizza place the kids wanted to eat at. I also finished one of Jack's pizza slices and it was so much better than the corn dog. Later, I saw a stand with turkey legs and turkey burgers and I even found a place inside that sold grilled chicken salads but I was already full from corn dog/pizza. I was pretty much full for the rest of the day but I just wanted to eat more. This was, of course, after the kids and I walked around and did the rides for 2 hours or so. I was there, so I wanted to let myself eat whatever I wanted. I couldn't decide between funnel cake or ice cream. It was pretty hot outside, so I decided on ice cream. I searched and searched for a plain, small ice cream cone. Mackenzie was also searching for a Dippin' Dots stand. While we were looking, we settled for a slice of chocolate-dipped cheesecake and chocolate-dipped s'mores. I ate about half of the cheesecake, which really wasn't that good. Mackenzie didn't like her s'mores so she ate some of my cake, then threw it away because she didn't like it either. We finally found what we were both looking for and were very satisfied with the rainbow Dippin' Dots for Mac and a small cup of plain ice cream for me. While the search was on, Jack finished off a huge cinnamon roll. I sampled this also and it was delish! He said, "Y'all should have just gotten one of these!" He was right.
It was such a great day. The only bummer was that Scott wasn't there to share it with us. That, and the major sunburn I now have on the top part of my chest and all around my neck!
Ok, that story was longer than I thought it would be, so I'll just add one more and call it a day.
2. The Talk
Yes, I mean, THE TALK. We finally had "the talk" with the kids a couple of weeks ago but rest assured knowing we managed to continue the tradition of completely freaking out our kids with this new information. As I have discussed with a few of you before, I knew it was getting to be time to have this discussion. Scott and I talked about it a lot, I bought a book, etc but, let me tell you, nothing you do will actually prepare you for the moment you take your children's innocence away. I'm just sayin'.
I knew it was time when Jack told me he knew what sex was. It was the same thing Mackenzie had told us a few months ago: it's when 2 people get naked, lay down, and kiss. We almost had "the talk" when we heard this from Mackenzie but we decided to wait until Jack was ready, too, so that we could have "the" talk with both of them at the same time. Yes, you read that correctly. We had the sex talk with both of our kids at the same time.
Another thing you might want to consider before you tackle this milestone: practice with your spouse beforehand. I don't mean practice "it." I mean practice talking about it. Pretend you are both talking to your child/children and get a game-plan together. Otherwise, you will start having chest pains, as I did, when you hear your spouse say the following words: "Well, when your mommy and I have sex, she lies down and I get on top of her...." Oh, yeah. Ok, I'll wait for you to stop screaming and laughing. I'm twitching from post-traumatic stress disorder just typing these words. Finished? Ok. Yes, those are the actual words that came out of my husband's mouth in front of our children. I almost died! Afterwards, I told him, "I thought you were going to want to give them a demonstration, the way you were talking! Children are supposed to work up to imagining their parents having sex and then simply believe they were hatched instead! But, not OUR kids! They get the visual right away!"
I have to say, the kids took it well. Jack kept asking "How??" to everything and then he covered his ears and exclaimed, "Too much information! Too much information! I'm gonna have nightmares!" Mackenzie didn't say much, she just make a "disgusted" face and wanted to know more of the biology that goes on to make a baby. I told her we'd discuss that later, this information was enough for now. We made a point, though, to stress that sex is not what it appears to be on TV or the movies. It was made by God for a husband and wife to share, to show affection, and to make babies. I hope they focus on that more than anything else. I can honestly say I have no idea what they are thinking right now because not one of them has come to us wanting more information! I do know that I was still more traumatized than they were!
1. The Fair!
The kids and I went to the Tulsa State Fair yesterday. I let them play hooky from school so that we could go on a day that wasn't crazy-packed with people. We tried to go last Saturday but it was so packed, we couldn't find a parking spot! Yesterday was much better.
This was Mac and Jack's first time to go to anything like this. They have been to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo but they were so little, we only did the "inside stuff." This time, they were able to ride the rides and play some of the games and they loved every minute of it. Jack didn't understand why I wasn't riding the rides with them. I tried to explain many times that I just don't like to ride those kind of rides anymore (unless we are at Disney World, of course) but that I was having the most fun watching them ride. He said, "But you didn't have fun..you didn't DO anything!" Maybe when he is a parent he will understand. To them, I wasn't DOing anything but, for me, watching them DO stuff was a blast.
And, yes, we ate. I ate fair food! We went to JC before the fair and I told my consultant that I was going to the fair and that I was going to enjoy some fair food. She said to go on and do it, so I did. I wasn't nearly as "bad" as I thought I would be, actually. I ate a flavorless "jumbo" corn dog because it was right next to the pizza place the kids wanted to eat at. I also finished one of Jack's pizza slices and it was so much better than the corn dog. Later, I saw a stand with turkey legs and turkey burgers and I even found a place inside that sold grilled chicken salads but I was already full from corn dog/pizza. I was pretty much full for the rest of the day but I just wanted to eat more. This was, of course, after the kids and I walked around and did the rides for 2 hours or so. I was there, so I wanted to let myself eat whatever I wanted. I couldn't decide between funnel cake or ice cream. It was pretty hot outside, so I decided on ice cream. I searched and searched for a plain, small ice cream cone. Mackenzie was also searching for a Dippin' Dots stand. While we were looking, we settled for a slice of chocolate-dipped cheesecake and chocolate-dipped s'mores. I ate about half of the cheesecake, which really wasn't that good. Mackenzie didn't like her s'mores so she ate some of my cake, then threw it away because she didn't like it either. We finally found what we were both looking for and were very satisfied with the rainbow Dippin' Dots for Mac and a small cup of plain ice cream for me. While the search was on, Jack finished off a huge cinnamon roll. I sampled this also and it was delish! He said, "Y'all should have just gotten one of these!" He was right.
It was such a great day. The only bummer was that Scott wasn't there to share it with us. That, and the major sunburn I now have on the top part of my chest and all around my neck!
Ok, that story was longer than I thought it would be, so I'll just add one more and call it a day.
2. The Talk
Yes, I mean, THE TALK. We finally had "the talk" with the kids a couple of weeks ago but rest assured knowing we managed to continue the tradition of completely freaking out our kids with this new information. As I have discussed with a few of you before, I knew it was getting to be time to have this discussion. Scott and I talked about it a lot, I bought a book, etc but, let me tell you, nothing you do will actually prepare you for the moment you take your children's innocence away. I'm just sayin'.
I knew it was time when Jack told me he knew what sex was. It was the same thing Mackenzie had told us a few months ago: it's when 2 people get naked, lay down, and kiss. We almost had "the talk" when we heard this from Mackenzie but we decided to wait until Jack was ready, too, so that we could have "the" talk with both of them at the same time. Yes, you read that correctly. We had the sex talk with both of our kids at the same time.
Another thing you might want to consider before you tackle this milestone: practice with your spouse beforehand. I don't mean practice "it." I mean practice talking about it. Pretend you are both talking to your child/children and get a game-plan together. Otherwise, you will start having chest pains, as I did, when you hear your spouse say the following words: "Well, when your mommy and I have sex, she lies down and I get on top of her...." Oh, yeah. Ok, I'll wait for you to stop screaming and laughing. I'm twitching from post-traumatic stress disorder just typing these words. Finished? Ok. Yes, those are the actual words that came out of my husband's mouth in front of our children. I almost died! Afterwards, I told him, "I thought you were going to want to give them a demonstration, the way you were talking! Children are supposed to work up to imagining their parents having sex and then simply believe they were hatched instead! But, not OUR kids! They get the visual right away!"
I have to say, the kids took it well. Jack kept asking "How??" to everything and then he covered his ears and exclaimed, "Too much information! Too much information! I'm gonna have nightmares!" Mackenzie didn't say much, she just make a "disgusted" face and wanted to know more of the biology that goes on to make a baby. I told her we'd discuss that later, this information was enough for now. We made a point, though, to stress that sex is not what it appears to be on TV or the movies. It was made by God for a husband and wife to share, to show affection, and to make babies. I hope they focus on that more than anything else. I can honestly say I have no idea what they are thinking right now because not one of them has come to us wanting more information! I do know that I was still more traumatized than they were!
Shocked!
Let me just start by saying this was a hard JC week for me. Not because of the food or the plan or anything like that but, because of me! I was still impatient/bored/whatever...I also still have a hard time letting go of "negative self talk." The other day, the same day I wrote my last post bragging about a few bites of a scone being "enough", I made a fruit pizza for dessert. I thought I could "handle it" but I was wrong. I had a piece right after dinner, which was mistake #1. Usually, I wait 2 or 3 hours before I have my JC dessert. Let me tell you, that was some good fruit pizza! It was so good, that it was NOT "enough." So, I had a second piece. If you are keeping tabs, that would be mistake #2! The second piece was good, too but, it quickly became MORE than enough and I was miserable. Mistake #3, which is the worst of all, happened: I mentally beat myself up for it for the rest of the night.
WHY do we do that to ourselves? So what, if I ate 2 pieces of fruit pizza that night! Seriously! It was fruit pizza not a Krispy Kreme burger! But, even if I had eaten a Krispy Kreme burger, I should be able to accept what I did (and any resulting consequences) and move on. I HAVE to be able to let this negative talk go if I am to truly succeed in losing weight. I, honestly, believe the negative talk is Satan trying to get to me. Words of failure, sadness, giving up, and disgust do NOT come from God, so they must be from Satan. God loves me no matter what and He wants what is best for me always. He also wants me to love myself the way He does, mistakes and all. Praise God!
Needless to say, I was not looking forward to weighing in yesterday. I was going to be happy if there was just a 1 pound loss because I couldn't imagine there being more than that. But, somehow, there was. I lost 3.6 pounds...more than I lost the week before! I was shocked. I literally said to my consultant, "But that can't be right! I ate 2 pieces of fruit pizza this week!" But, even though, I ate more than I should have that night, I still was able to work it into my plan. I didn't have my JC afternoon snack or JC dessert and I went for a 30 minute walk the next morning. Of course, I forgot to mention those things to myself when I was letting Satan get me down. Does that mean I can have 2 pieces of fruit pizza every week and still lose weight? I don't know...maybe...maybe not. Is my world going to fall apart if I don't lose 3 pounds next week? I sure hope not! JC has a saying: "It's not about perfection; it's about progress." I like that. I think that applies to learning lessons, too. So, I guess, I made some major progress this week and I hope, no, I pray, that I continue to progress...not just in weight loss but in everything.
For those of you keeping tabs on my weight loss, I've now lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks! When I lose 1.5 more pounds, I'll have lost 5% of my total weight already! Whoo hoo!!
WHY do we do that to ourselves? So what, if I ate 2 pieces of fruit pizza that night! Seriously! It was fruit pizza not a Krispy Kreme burger! But, even if I had eaten a Krispy Kreme burger, I should be able to accept what I did (and any resulting consequences) and move on. I HAVE to be able to let this negative talk go if I am to truly succeed in losing weight. I, honestly, believe the negative talk is Satan trying to get to me. Words of failure, sadness, giving up, and disgust do NOT come from God, so they must be from Satan. God loves me no matter what and He wants what is best for me always. He also wants me to love myself the way He does, mistakes and all. Praise God!
Needless to say, I was not looking forward to weighing in yesterday. I was going to be happy if there was just a 1 pound loss because I couldn't imagine there being more than that. But, somehow, there was. I lost 3.6 pounds...more than I lost the week before! I was shocked. I literally said to my consultant, "But that can't be right! I ate 2 pieces of fruit pizza this week!" But, even though, I ate more than I should have that night, I still was able to work it into my plan. I didn't have my JC afternoon snack or JC dessert and I went for a 30 minute walk the next morning. Of course, I forgot to mention those things to myself when I was letting Satan get me down. Does that mean I can have 2 pieces of fruit pizza every week and still lose weight? I don't know...maybe...maybe not. Is my world going to fall apart if I don't lose 3 pounds next week? I sure hope not! JC has a saying: "It's not about perfection; it's about progress." I like that. I think that applies to learning lessons, too. So, I guess, I made some major progress this week and I hope, no, I pray, that I continue to progress...not just in weight loss but in everything.
For those of you keeping tabs on my weight loss, I've now lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks! When I lose 1.5 more pounds, I'll have lost 5% of my total weight already! Whoo hoo!!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Impatient!
Happy Fall morning to you! I went for a walk early this morning and it was wonderful! I love walking in cool, breezy weather. This morning, though, my hands were really cold, so I dropped my iPhone into the front part of my sports bra so that I could listen to my music hands-free and also pull my hands up into my sleeves to keep them warm. This worked out really well, except the light from the screen of my phone showed through my red shirt, right between my boobs, making me look like Iron Man!
I didn't post anything last week. Not because it was a bad week or an uneventful week. It was just a lazy week. Or maybe it was a busy week, I really can't remember. It was a successful week for my weight loss goal, though. I lost 2.8 pounds! I know that is really good but I, of course, wished the number would've been higher. Still, that is a loss of 7.4 pounds in 2 weeks! This past week has been a bit harder for me because I am getting impatient. I want the weight gone! Now! I don't want to wait 6 more months! I don't want to face the holidays while being on a diet! Now do you see why all of my previous efforts in weight loss have failed?
I know I am doing this the right way, the healthy way. Statistics show that, if you lose weight slowly, you are more likely to keep it off. I know, I know, I know! It still doesn't keep me from being impatient. The honest truth is: I want to be at a point where I have lost enough weight to "deserve" a treat. There, I said it. I am all about treating myself. That is why I am in the shape I am in, duh!. I've never been the kind of girl to "treat" myself once a week or every other week. No. I am so good and wonderful, I deserve a treat every day! Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day! Aren't we all that wonderful? The simple answer is, yes. Yes, we are that wonderful. That is not the issue. The issue with me is HOW I "treat" myself. Treats don't always have to be in the form of something edible. They can be something like a mani/pedi, a new shirt or shoes or makeup. You don't even have to spend money for it to be a treat. Spending time with my family is a treat. Here lately, getting on the computer without having to worry about Bella eating the wood trim on our walls is a treat!
Anyway, especially with the holidays coming up, I sometimes feel like I won't be able to "live" (meaning eat like a "normal" person not on a diet). Again, I never have eaten like a normal person, hence my Jenny Craig membership. I have to remind myself that the holidays are not about the food. We are not celebrating FOOD. We use food to enhance what we are celebrating. Besides, most people stuff themselves beyond misery and gain 5-10 pounds during the holiday season. This is not what I want. I want to be able to nibble, taste, and enjoy a sweet or two so that I don't feel deprived. But, guess what! I CAN do that. In fact, I ate part of a blueberry cream cheese scone AND took a bite from Mackenzie's chocolate chip cookie that were both bought at our local farmers' market on Saturday! I ate it and I enjoyed every single morsel that touched my tastbuds. Here's the great part: I was able to stop. It was enough. And I don't think I ruined my diet. Of course, I'll find out for sure Wednesday morning and then I'll let you know!
I didn't post anything last week. Not because it was a bad week or an uneventful week. It was just a lazy week. Or maybe it was a busy week, I really can't remember. It was a successful week for my weight loss goal, though. I lost 2.8 pounds! I know that is really good but I, of course, wished the number would've been higher. Still, that is a loss of 7.4 pounds in 2 weeks! This past week has been a bit harder for me because I am getting impatient. I want the weight gone! Now! I don't want to wait 6 more months! I don't want to face the holidays while being on a diet! Now do you see why all of my previous efforts in weight loss have failed?
I know I am doing this the right way, the healthy way. Statistics show that, if you lose weight slowly, you are more likely to keep it off. I know, I know, I know! It still doesn't keep me from being impatient. The honest truth is: I want to be at a point where I have lost enough weight to "deserve" a treat. There, I said it. I am all about treating myself. That is why I am in the shape I am in, duh!. I've never been the kind of girl to "treat" myself once a week or every other week. No. I am so good and wonderful, I deserve a treat every day! Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day! Aren't we all that wonderful? The simple answer is, yes. Yes, we are that wonderful. That is not the issue. The issue with me is HOW I "treat" myself. Treats don't always have to be in the form of something edible. They can be something like a mani/pedi, a new shirt or shoes or makeup. You don't even have to spend money for it to be a treat. Spending time with my family is a treat. Here lately, getting on the computer without having to worry about Bella eating the wood trim on our walls is a treat!
Anyway, especially with the holidays coming up, I sometimes feel like I won't be able to "live" (meaning eat like a "normal" person not on a diet). Again, I never have eaten like a normal person, hence my Jenny Craig membership. I have to remind myself that the holidays are not about the food. We are not celebrating FOOD. We use food to enhance what we are celebrating. Besides, most people stuff themselves beyond misery and gain 5-10 pounds during the holiday season. This is not what I want. I want to be able to nibble, taste, and enjoy a sweet or two so that I don't feel deprived. But, guess what! I CAN do that. In fact, I ate part of a blueberry cream cheese scone AND took a bite from Mackenzie's chocolate chip cookie that were both bought at our local farmers' market on Saturday! I ate it and I enjoyed every single morsel that touched my tastbuds. Here's the great part: I was able to stop. It was enough. And I don't think I ruined my diet. Of course, I'll find out for sure Wednesday morning and then I'll let you know!
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