The ugly truth

Well here it is, my friends, the ugly truth. However, I know this was the right thing to do because last week I weighed 170 so it was motivating enough for me in the last week to try and lose a pound or two because I did not want to post a weight of 170!
Last year at this time I weighed 160. I was easily wearing size 10. My goal is to just get back to 160 again (Yes, when I set a goal, I reach for the stars, ha). I realize that according to the charts and the professionals I should really lose about 20 or so pounds but the reality is I feel good at 160 and I'm happy wearing size 10's. Plus, the biggest reason why that weight is right for me is because I feel I can maintain 160 lbs. for a lifetime. I can still indulge in a treat now and then and I don't have to kill myself with working out.
And believe it or not I wasn't drunk when I posted this blog! But I know as soon as I hit the publish button I'll wonder why the heck I did this.

A weighty issue

Remember my blog from last week when I was ranting I never have enough time to work out? I came up with an idea, inspired by my good friend, Melissa (thanks Mel). Last year Melissa was on a mission to lose weight so every week she took a picture of herself on the scale (Yes, the numbers and all) so everyone could see her progress. My main goal in doing something like this is so I can be be accountable. If I post it on my blog then I know people are reading it. My hope is it would jump start my weight loss. I announced to my friends at work that I too was going to do the same thing (however, there is a big difference between Mel and me....like 30 lbs!). They were horrified but admired my courage. There is no doubt that my friends will be encouraging me every step of the way and everyday I come into work they ask me........"Did you do it, Amy?" I haven't done the "deed" yet. I had every intention to post my weight last week until I got on the scale and realized that people might have mistaken that particular blog as a recap of our most recent trip the zoo!
So, everyone has been pre-warned. Please, keep your children from viewing the blog during the next several weeks as some content in this blog simply isn't appropriate for their innocent eyes. Ha!

Potpourri - In other words, a hodge-podge blog

Before the neck slimmer

After the neck slimmer. Clearly, I wasted $30, which I can't get back! Grrr! My good friend, Debbie, came for a visit the other day. These are her boys with my boys. They range in age from 8 years to Nick, the youngest, who will be 4 on April 30!

Notice the pretty placemats. My Great Grandma Clara (R.I.P. Grandma) crocheted these. I used them at dinner tonight and Mike (the neat freak that he is) said I was nuts to use white, handmade crocheted placemats with two little boys who were about to partake in messy tacos. I quickly pointed out to Mike that I knew Grandma would be smiling down in heaven to see her great, great grandsons using her placemats. When dinner was over, there was taco meat/sauce all over the placemats but I didn't care. I'll wash them and they will be good to go for the next meal. It gave me joy to use something my great grandma took so much time in doing.

We have a game player

I come from a family that loves to play games, especially cards. However, I was always the "black sheep" game player, in other words, I hated playing games growing up. Going into adulthood, nothing has changed. Fortunately, I married a non-game player and we live in our non-game playing house and do just fine. When we go to my extended family functions and they all huddle together after the meal to play cards, Mike and I go to a corner and point fingers at them and make fun of them (just kidding). Needless to say, my mom and sister have always been disappointed in my lack of a game-playing. As it turns out, Jay is just like Mike and I, he prefers not to play games. He is highly competitive and my mom quickly found out that playing games with Jay was a "work in progress," but bless her heart, she kept at it. Jay still doesn't like to play games but when he does play, you have to watch him, he likes to cheat.
The tables have officially turned in the Siebert house. Nick LOVES playing games. My mom and sister finally got their wish! This week I've spent time playing Sound Bingo, Hi Ho Cheerio and Leap Frog. Thanks to my sister, god love her, there are games all over my house and Nick looks for anything he can get his hands on and begs us to play with him. Jay and I have played countless games of Hi Ho Cheerio. Nick has tried to enlist Mike but thus far, Mike hasn't had the pleasure. As a mother I'm happy to participate in something that brings my children joy but I won't lie, it would be a stretch to say I've been converted to being an active and happy game player.

The Glass is still half full

In January I made some resolutions. How have I done in keeping them? So/So! My efforts in getting to church have been about 50/50. A few Sundays ago, Jay was the acolyte so Mike attended service with us. What a difference it makes in the boy's attitudes to have their father in church! It was such a relief for me. Normally, I'm chasing Nick out from under the pews. I've actually had church members touch my shoulder when the boys get up for children's time and tell me to keep with it.
My finances are coming along. Unfortunately, Ann Taylor, has gotten a hold of me of lately. Ha! In all seriousness, I'm coming along and learning as I go.
I've been able to spend a lot of time with the boys lately, which has been really nice. Nick and I spent last week at the park and Jay and I are headed to visit his great grandmothers on Thursday.
I left my last resolution for last because it's the most depressing! This working out/watching your weight thing is for the birds. It annoys me when when I hear people say, "You have to make yourself a priority." Really, how do you do that? I start my day at 5 a.m. - If you're saying to make myself a priority (to work out) I have to get up at 4:30, NO THANKS, to me that is not making myself a priority, that's just making me more exhausted than I already am. Last night I worked out after Nick went to bed and barely slept a wink because I was so wired. I've come to the conclusion I have no idea when I'm going to make time for a work out during my day which translates to eating NOTHING which makes me cranky! But again, I'm learning as I go. I'm sure I'll figure out something. And on anther note but somewhat related, my neck slimmer really let me down, in fact, I think my neck looks worse. I'll need to add that to my finances resolution and start saving for neck surgery!

A day with Nick

I volunteered in Nick's Pre-k class this morning. Since I know I'll forget someday I would like to start off this blog by saying the school year of 2009/2010 will certainly leave it's mark on my heart for me. Nick has a wonderful preschool teacher and Jay's experience in second grade has been phenomenal. I had Nick's conference this week with Mrs. Brutlag. When I asked Nick what Mrs. Brutlag would say about him he hesitated and then told me I should talk to Mrs. Melick instead! I've blogged about Mrs. Melick before and her and Nick have a bond - Ha! Mrs. Brutlag had a lot of nice things to say about Nick but he does have a spitting issue which as one can imagine, is annoying to the other children. Today, a little girl named Lauren told Nick that she was going to invite him to her birthday party and she asked him if he would come. Nick replied that he would come but Lauren was quick to point out a stipuation. She told him he had to promise not to spit because her parents had new furniture. Nick put up his hands (as only Nick can) and said, "I won't do it, Wo-ren, I won't!" I just had to laugh and shake my head. The picture above is of Nick at breakfast. Since it was his day he requested pancakes, eggs and sausage.

Nick and I spent the afternoon at the park. He convinced me to go down the "scary" slide with him. All I can say is it's a good thing I had my kids young because dang, I'm exhausted tonight from all the "scary" slide rides.

Truly, a perfect day

What a glorious day it was, weather-wise. I love this time of year when you can finally start to get outside. I get excited knowing that spring and summer is right around the corner. I woke up this morning knowing the weather was suppose to be nice. We had Jay's conference after school tonight and it went really well. Jay has progressed nicely but most of all I'm so happy to see him excited about school and feel good about it. He's come a long way. At the beginning of the year Jay spent too much time focusing on what he couldn't do and what everyone else around him was doing. Now he's much more confident and is well aware of his strong suits.
We ended the evening by having fish on the grill with homemade muffins from Tastefully Simple and the boys played outside until dark, truly a wonderful preview of the weeks to come!

The calm before the storm

Dave, a co-worker of mine, is raising a son in middle school. We often laugh together over "boy stories." This week he told me raising children is like the term, "the calm before the storm." That really got me thinking because it's so true. For example, on Wednesday this week, Jay thought it would be funny to give his brother a push (Remember what I wrote about Nick's gross motor skills?) and Nick lost his balance and fell in the mud, at the very second the bus drove up. I had no other choice but to put Nick on the bus with his very muddy pants (I knew he had a clean pair at school). That night when Jay got home from school he had to scrug Nick's pants in the kitchen sink until every last mud stain came out. So, that was that and then I had a few days of calmness in my house, in fact the week ended really well. However, as is always the case in human/mother nature, the storm returned with a vengeance. The boys spent the night at their grandparents house and were playing in a chair that swivels. The boys were taking turns on the chair, giving each other "rides" and Nick had apparently worn out his welcome on the chair. Jay decided to take matters into his own hands and abruptly pulled Nick off the chair. Nick landed against the corner edge of the woodwork, inflicting a big gash on the side of his head. Jay felt horrible and started to cry, Nick was crying and according to my in-laws, it was quite a fiasco. My husband is very resourceful when it comes to first aid "tricks" and super-glued Nick's gash. It was either super glue or a hospital visit that would require holding Nick in a head lock while they stuck a needle into his head, something neither Mike or I were really excited about. As I'm writing this, it's 3 hours post-accident and Nick is doing just fine, laughing and playing with his super glued head.
Now that the storm has unleashed its fury and moved on I'm anticipating a few days of calmness and sunshine.

Batman Nick

I always know that spring is close when the boys want to break out their short sleeved jammies. Tonight, Nick insisted on wearing his new Batman jammies. He was especially excited that the jammies have a cape!! It's probably still a little chilly for them but he zoomed around the house without a care in the world, after all he had a cape to keep him warm.

The Saw & The Chisel

Mike likes to compare Jay to a saw and Nick to a chisel. The reason being is Jay's gross motor skills are so good but Nick's excels using his fine motor skills. In Mike's wood shop, Jay will usually use a saw because it's bendable and he can move his body back and forth while using it. As long as Jay's body is in motion, he's a happy boy. For example, we have a large banister that goes from our upstairs to our main level. Jay wraps his legs around the banister and slides down it. I've seen Jay jump from such heights that he looks like one of those flying bats. Just yesterday I witnessed the boys running through the timber together, all the while, Nick was tripping on braches while Jay was gliding like an experienced ice skater. However, I've also seen Jay in tears over anything that requires his fine motor skills. On Valentine's Day he had to lace a piece of yarn through a heart and it was more than he could handle. Of course, Jay closely mirrors me. I refuse to sew buttons on and take everything to my mother in law (thanks Linda). My fine motor skills are awful and I try to avoid doing anything that requires them.
Nick is just the opposite. His fine motor skills are much stronger and Mike is right, when he goes to the shop, he'll grab a chisel and gently smooth a piece of wood, fine tuning it until it's perfect. On the other hand in the last 24 hours I've seen him run into an oak door, fall head first off our couch and just yesterday I was sitting down on a step putting my shoes on and he literally tripped right over me.
Certainly each of the boys have their own strengthens. I have visions of one day Jay and Nick helping each other build their homes. Jay, the dare devil would happily do all the roofing work and Nick, my son with an attention to detail would do the fine wood working on the inside of the house. What a team my boys will make!

Happy Birthday Mom

My mom celebrated her 59th birthday on Tuesday. Kim and I had a party for her last Saturday night. We had way too much food (of course), too much wine (typical) and lots of laughs. Happy Birthday mom/nana! Next year you'll be the big 6-0 and we'll be celebrating the fact you'll only be 2.5 months from retirement. Hoorah.

My Husband, a.k.a. Mr. Politics

My husband is obsessed with politics and history, something I thought I'd never see. This was a man who didn't even know who the president was from 1994 through the Bush years. In the last 2 years he has devoured books and I will give him credit, he knows what he's talking about. I have actually learned a lot from him but at a cost. After awhile he starts to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. For example, since health care is such a hot topic right now, I asked him about it and off he went, 30 minutes later I could barely keep my eyes open. All I could hear in my head was Ferris Buellar's teacher giving roll call, "Buellar, Buellar, Buellar." He gets annoyed with me because he says in order to truly learn the facts, he can't just can't give me the condensed version, which I've asked for time and time again. The problem is I'm interested in learning but he loses me after about 15 minutes and then he's ticked with me because he says I only want the watered down version. All I can say is had someone told me even 5 years ago that he would be this interested in our government and its history, I would have told that person that was the most absurb statement I'd ever heard.

My last 24 hours

Let me set the scene for this blog. Last evening I came home from work and the boys were wound like tops, Mike was in the shop and I was trying to go through the mound in Jay's back-pack when I noticed there was a talent show coming up at Jay's school in April. I quickly asked him what he wanted to do (if anything) for the school talent show. Jay told me he wanted to play his guitar and I said without even thinking, "Well, you're just not that good at it, Jay." As soon as I said it, I couldn't believe I was so careless with my words. Jay's face dropped and he yelled "Well forget it then, mom," and he stormed off. I tried to undo the damage and follow him, trying to talk it out which is such a typical woman/mom thing to do which only seemed to annoy Jay more. I decided to give him some space and when he came out of his room he was wearing a sign taped to his shirt that read, "I am stupid." I wanted to stick my head in a hole and die, I felt so bad, then his tears started. I apologized to Jay and explained to him I did not mean to say he wasn't good at the guitar. I actually think he has great potential with the guitar but he hasn't had a lesson yet and that's my fault. I asked him if he wanted to take guitar lessons and he said Yes so I'm now on a mission to find someone who will give Jay guitar lessons. This whole episode will just go down as yet another parenting mistake. We all make them but if I could undo the words that spewed out of my mouth last night, I would.
Fast forward to this morning. The boys and I are walking out the door to go to work and school when I noticed I had a flat tire. I calledy friend, Laura, my lifesaver, and she agreed to get the boys picked up for school. While I'm making the arrangements with her, Nick proceeds to jump on ice and falls through the ice and ends up being ankle deep in icy water, he screamed so loudly I think he woke up half of our neighborhood. So, while I was trying to figure out how I was getting to work, I was also trying to get Nick changed before Laura came. Once it was all said and done the boys got to school okay with Laura, I was able to put air in my tire and drive it to the repair shop, only to learn I needed to replace all of my tires so I'm officially $365 poorer tonight.
What a day! It can only get better.