"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Race

Hi there! I wanted to take a quick second to wish some special ladies in my life good luck in their races tomorrow...

Neighbor Melissa just recently started running for the first time in her life and tomorrow she is participating in a local 5k! She's come so far so quickly.


My old friend (old only in years of friendship, not years on earth ;) ) Casey is running in the Music City Half-Marathon in Nashville.
(She's wearing blue in both pics.)



This is her first half-marathon and she's been training for a couple few months. I am sooo very proud of her! Every week when I call her after my Wednesday weigh-in, she updates me on her progress.
(Oh and Casey, you're welcome for this picture of you and your disgustingly flat stomach.)



Aunt Sally is also running walking hoping to complete and not be mistaken for a sanitation worker at the end of the Music City Half-Marathon. :)


She's really new to the whole half-marathon business. You have to start somewhere, though!
This is the closest I'll ever get to anything marathon-related:



Yes, that is a chocolatey-caramely Marathon bar that I'm not even sure they make anymore.

Anyway ladies (and to anyone else out there who has a goal they are trying to reach),
whether your race looks like this:

Or this:


Remember, it's the finish line that matters.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

WW Wednesday

(Warning: This post is longer than normal on Wednesdays because it spans 2 weeks and actually includes pictures!)

In case you didn't notice, there was no "WW Wednesday" post last week. I was out of town and while I DID look for a meeting to attend, none of them were at convenient times. Truth be told, I could have made one of them work, but I had no fear of falling off the wagon from just one missed meeting so I opted to skip it.

I didn't make the healthiest food choices while we were gone. There may have been one or two at least a dozen chocolate oatmeal cookies involved, too. :)
Spread out over several days, though! Come on now! I NEVER get to eat these unless Alesia makes them for me while I'm in!
I was going to take a picture of them but that would have involved two hands and one hand almost always had a cookie in it.
Alright haters, judge all you want.

So, obviously I was NOT expecting a good weigh-in. In fact, I told Melissa before we walked in that was hoping to keep it to an under-3-pound gain for the 2 weeks, just for sanity's sake.
I didn't track any points while I was gone so I really had no clue but I KNEW it would be ugly.

Turns out I was wrong. :) I had a nice loss, in fact! Crazy, but true.
I even broke into the next "decade" of numbers. (See what I mean by that here.) Melissa, my weight-loss buddy, did too! It was a good weigh-in indeed!

So, lesson learned this past week (actually 2 weeks): I didn't miss the fries with my on-the-road burgers. Two weeks ago I told you my goal was to skip them while we were traveling. It really wasn't even that hard. Half the time they disappoint me, anyway.
I think the biggest thing I learned was to just be thankful for the good luck you get thrown every now and then. I didn't deserve a loss today but I got one anyway. I'm just going to take it and run!

Goal for this week: Start tracking again, dang it! I'm ready to roll through the next 10 pounds!

Now, because I promised my sister Sally I would, here are the photos of me that have been requested by several of you.
America's Next Top Model-style, baby!



You even get a peek at my flesh-colored lunch-lady bra. Saucy!



Haha. Right. That's SO me.
This is more like it. Mid-sentence, eyebrows like the lost sister of Bert & Ernie, and holding a wiggly child.



We're keepin it real here, folks.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Fluff 'n' Stuff

Ok, let's lighten this blaaaaahg up a bit with a little fluff.
Hair fluff of babies, to be exact.

During my recent TN visit, I saw a framed photo of me as a child when I was approximately 18 months old, a few months older than BabyCakes in this pic.



Now, I know she's blonde, blue-eyed, and well another person and all, but can I get a shout-out from someone that thinks I might have possibly found a segment of one of my children that maybe looks a tad like their mother?

Their Mother
-- that not-so-easy bake oven that cooked those crusty/sticky creatures for a year and a half total, only to find out that that the cooking was indeed the easy part and she would never again drink an entire bottle of water away from home for fear that her now laughable bladder would not contain its contents during the rush to the Target restroom?
The woman who once sacrificed her own socks -- in the Winter no less-- to clean the Chernobyl of diaper disasters in the back of the car?
The woman whose mouth you (BabyCakes) vomited in when she was going in for a kiss?



Come on, give a mutha somethin!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Grayed Expectations

Through the green,
the new life
reborn every Spring.




Gnarled and broken,
gray and aged,




A relic.





As with all things that die,
no matter how soundly built or
closely held





Earth reclaims its own.


Over the river and through the woods...

In case you were wondering (and you probably weren't), the reason I only blogged once this last week was because we were out of town.
The children and I spent a week visiting family in TN/KY while J finished his last week of work at his old job before starting his new job today.
Knowing how difficult BabyCakes is in the car these days, he was a saint and drove in with us, flew home, worked all week, flew back, and then drove home with us.

I lugged the kids all over the place while we were visiting. (This is Aunt Sally, not me. BabyCakes isn't looking too happy, is she?!)


The week was a whirlwind of junk food, friends, and grandparents.



It was a good visit and it was nice to see our families, but in the end we were glad the road -- and Daddy -- took us home.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Easter Blessings

Whether you are in the city or the country,


Surrounded by Spring's finest,


Or blooms only a child can love...


May you embrace your abundant blessings,


And have a Happy Easter!


"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."
-- John 11:25-26

Friday, April 15, 2011

My butt really isn't this big.

To all my beautiful blaaaahg readers, I wanted to let you know that I will be mostly MIA until after Easter. Everything is okay but stuff comes up sometimes. I promise a future update.

While I'm gone from my blaaahg, here's something for you to remember me by:



HAHA, just kidding!

I just wanted to moon you on my way out this morning. :D

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

WW Wednesday: Having a Weight-loss Buddy

We all know it's often easier to do unpleasant tasks when you aren't alone -- painting, for one, comes to mind.

Because I share my (cringe alert!) journey with weight-loss on this blog, several people have asked me questions about it.
Today I'm going to share one of the biggest things that has kept me going -- having a weight-loss buddy.

Now, there are several people in my life that without whom the task of losing weight would be much harder.
Neighbor Stacy watches BabyCakes so I can go to meetings alone and spend an hour and a half as just "Cayce."
There are friends I check in with on the phone every week, and they mean a lot, too.
My husband, family, and friends are all very supportive.

Today I'm going to tell you a little about my biggest weight-loss buddy, Neighbor Melissa.

(Can you tell BabyCakes loves her?)

She's my rock. My mirror, of sorts. Instead of wondering if I will ever achieve my goals, I now (try not to) wonder when. I know I would have given up a long time ago if I didn't have her to help me hold myself accountable.

Unless absolutely unavoidable, we go to meetings together.

We are open and honest about our struggles and successes. We excitedly praise and discreetly console each other.

One thing I love about our relationship is that we can complain or whine all we want, but that conversation is always left on a positive note.
How will we try to change what we are doing? Change how we feel? Shake things up?
Tomorrow is always a new day. You don't have to wait for a new week to start over.

We are both committed to taking it slow and making lasting changes.
It helps that we both started at the same weight (although she is taller so technically I guess I was bigger ).
We can understand better the significance of clearing certain numbers because we've both been there.



(That's BigBoy with her sweet daughter Emma. )

If weight-loss is a pursuit you are really serious about, I would encourage you to enlist someone you really trust to join you on your journey, if only for their counsel.

Ok, now for this week's update:

At the weigh-in I was down... a smidge. I fully expected, embraced, and appreciated that smidge, though. I ate heavier foods this week than normal, but have no regrets. I want to enjoy life and part of enjoying it is indulging occasionally.

Lesson learned: The support I offer others not only helps them, but can come back to me when I need it as well. I phoned Melissa with a concern and she offered up the words I had given her recently. Those words ended up helping me, too.

Goal for the week: Skip the fries while traveling. That simple. Not worth it and I can never only eat a few.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
~Dr. Seuss

Monday, April 11, 2011

White Girls CAN Jump

The last time I shared a video on my blaaaaahg (yes, I still hate everything about this word) was during a plea for help.
It too featured a jumping BabyCakes but I wasn't quite so amused at the time.

I think the reasons I recorded her like this again are as follows:

1. Any other time she laughs and runs away from the camera. She's not much of a ham but in her crib she has no choice. Haha, gotcha now!

2. The grandparents love this sort of thing. This value can't be underestimated. Well, it can be when what amuses them is loud obnoxious toys. (Thank you for the crazy weird dinosaur, Papa. I'm thinking of making it sleep in the coat closet tonight. I swear it's watching me and I have no goats to feed it.)

3. She's pretty darn cute with her post-nap hair and toothy smile. If I tried jumping Jane Fonda-style in her bed like that, it would result in a room full of 10,000 white splinters. Maybe I should put same baby spandex and leg warmers on her. She could work that look, diaper and all.
Fitness apparel for babies and toddlers -- it's the next big thing!

4. I think we can all use a little jumping BabyCakes in our lives. She represents how it feels to have a GUARANTEED guilt-free hours-long nap every day, only to wake up to someone who will greet you with kisses and serve you food specifically prepared to your demands in a partially food-encrusted highchair throne of your own.
I ask you, who wouldn't have a little bounce in their step?



P.S., my Etsy shop is now on Facebook! Do you like me? (My recent blog posts will also appear under the thumbnail photos of some listings when you click on "My Etsy." Bear with me people, I'm still figuring this all out.)

The price I had to pay... for velcro anyway.

With Summer approaching, the brown shoes with stylin velcro closures that BigBoy adores so much are going to become useless. He already wants to wear them on the rare day it is warm enough for shorts (like today), so I thought it was time to break down and buy some new kicks.

Since he can't tie laces yet, he loves his precious velcro.
No help needed from Mom = a happy BigBoy (most of the time).

These were the only velcro option we found at Target. I paid $14.99 for Toy Story shoes.
Fourteen ninety-nine for when-I-have-kids-I-will-never-let-them-wear-those-tacky shoes.


"Actually," I thought, "they're not that bad."

But wait. There's more...

They have lights!


The picture doesn't do it justice but imagine super-obnoxious seizure-inducing red flashes with the slightest move of the foot.

Lighted shoes -- they're the scourge of the children's apparel world.

And I'm helping it spread.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

My Kryptonite

This morning we officially resumed attending church services.
Because BabyCakes no longer demands without sympathy requests a morning nap at home, the 10:00 time slot isn't so nightmarish anymore.

I stupidly stupidly dressed the kids and myself waaaaaaay to early (To be honest I was a little excited about how good I felt in my new clothes, too.) and they got crazy in the anticipation of leaving the house. Rookie mistake.


So I did what any self-respecting-overly-photographic-proud-of-the-$3-toddler-dress-she-found-mom would do.

I drug them out on the porch for some "pretty" pictures.

Ha.


I've talked about my photographic inadequacies in this area before.


"Pretty" pictures, I did not get.
Traditional photo ops are my kryptonite, it seems.



On second thought, I never claimed to be Supermom.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Little People, Big World

Well it's been a big, fun week. Everything seems to be big and fun when children are this age.
Well, BIG anyway. Big fun, big work, big hugs, big messes...
even big cheeks. :)


They are still little, though.



And that's no small thing.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

My First Pick

The next week is going to be busy for me around here. My etsy shop continues to grow and after yesterday (story to come), I'm getting more and more confident about it!



The upcoming week is going to involve a lot of preparing items for photos, photo shoots, researching, and listing my items. This is all leading up to a giveaway I'm sponsoring on Fussy Monkey Business soon. (More on that later.)
I don't want to put it off too long because I want to ride this momentum that's been created.
And that means a busy week ahead, so I apologize if my upcoming blogs are brief.

Yesterday I had the privilege to "pick" the garage of a local couple that is selling their house and moving into an RV for a retirement of travel. Mr. John is a retired scientist and woodworker, Mrs. Joyce was laughing at my "finds" the whole time.


I had to make a run to a grocery store for more bribery cereal (the kids were in the car with the windows down during the pick -- I was in the garage nearby) and more money, but it was worth it.



You can't see it now, but in that trunk is the future of my shop. :)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Day the Music-- Err-- Phone Died

That's right, friends and family. My phone had a little breakdown today. I guess it took one too many toddler bashes after all.
I thought I'd let you know because I know I have missed at least a couple phone calls/texts today. Hopefully I'll get this taken care of tomorrow. In the meantime, email or gchat is the best way to reach me.
You know, because I'm just that important.
:) Ouch, my mouth hurts just to virtually smile.

WW Wednesday


Today the WW stands for Wisdom Wemoval instead of Weight Watchers.
(Sorry, Bugs here made me do it.)



"Do these wheels make my butt look big?"

Anyway, my wisdom teeth surgery (I promise this is the last time I will mention it.) definitely affected my weight-loss this week. A semi-starvation diet will do that.
So yeah, I had a nice loss.
It was satisfying to clear the last of what I had gained a couple weeks ago.

Lesson learned this week: I'm again reminded of how blessed I am to have more than enough food to survive on, enjoy, and even indulge in. One week of eating small amounts of healthy (mostly) food is still so much more than millions and millions of adults and CHILDREN can count on. Having any choices at all about what I eat is a luxury.

Goal for this week: Adjust to the smaller portions I need to sustain/lose weight at my size. I'm not a thin woman but I'm a good amount smaller than I used to be.
A measurable goal? Intentionally serve myself less than what I think is a normal size for me, see how hungry I am after eating, and proceed as necessary.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Oh Happy Day!

Oh Happy Daaay! (Come on, sing with me now!)
Oh Happy Daa-aay!!

Is it bad that this song reminds me more of "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" than church?
Either way, I'm feelin it.
Know why? Lots of reasons, but most importantly, I actually ATE today!
No mashed potatoes that I promise taste no better when it is all you can eat, no smoothies, no oatmeal.
Real live people food.
Finally the pain is subsiding. I swear my recovery from childbirth was more pleasant than this weekend's wisdom teeth removal surgery. Blech.

Moving on...
Today we had the oh so fabulous Butler ladies over.



After that I priced some of my etsy items for shipping to Australia.


It killed me to miss a whole weekend of yard sales but I still have a lot to list anyway.



Last week I mailed a camera and binoculars to Singapore.



Crazy that I can't seem to keep a decent inventory, but who's complainin? I came home to take some more pics of items to list this week.



The little dude on the front of this vintage tool set cracks me up.



While I was out I realized how GOR-GEOUS this day is.

Beautiful.

Seriously, big props to The Man Upstairs for weather like this.

Check the flowers around Neighbor James & Noah's mailbox.


I love how the purple spills over the curb. Every year they get fuller.



And last but not least, my sister is in labor with her second child today. Ha, I just realized this baby will be born on 4-4 like how BigBoy was born on 6-6. :)
Lots of stuff to be excited about!

Oh happy day!